Hasland CFC U18s - Tansley JFC
Under 15s League Trophy Round 1
Our Hasland u15s finally managed to get their cup game played this morning having been delayed every week since 4th December due to Covid and the weather. Although the lads were well up for the challenge they had a tough job on their hands after been drawn against Tansley Juniors from the first division.
Now Tansley are having a tough season in division one and its probably fair to say Hasland have had a good season so far in division 2 so we definitely felt that an upset could be on the cards.
The game kicked off promptly at 10am with a very slight frost starting to melt under the bright winter sun and it was very clear from the early exchanges that these two teams were very evenly matched.
The first action to note came in the 13th minute when Jenson playing at left wing beat his fullback and after cutting inside the box was brought down from behind. Penalty to Hasland. Up stepped our resident spot kick taker who doesn't miss many and certainly didn't disappoint, tucking his spot kick low to the keepers right. 1-0
With Tansley having more of the possession in the first half, Hasland were having to defend and on 23 minutes Tansley drew a foul this time in the Hasland box to win a penalty of their own. The Tansley lad stepped up with confidence to make the score level 1-1.
The rest of the game again was very even with lots of strong tackles going in from both sides and neither team able to get on top. A couple of great chances for both teams came and went in the second half but the deadlock couldn't be broken. Final score 1-1.
So into extra time we go and to be honest it was another 20 minutes of exactly what we had seen up to this point. Both defences cancelling out any attacking play. And so it finished 1-1 after extra time and on to penalties we go.
Tansley won the toss and opted to take the first kick which was dispatched with confidence 1-0 in Tansleys favour. Then up stepped Evan who had already put one away during the game and once again made no mistake 1-1.
Tansley then scored there 2nd again with a very good spot kick. 2-1 Tansley. It was then the turn of Alfie to make the lonely walk (at this point my nerves went into overdrive as I quickly dropped back in dad mode) but Alfie went straight down the middle to a huge cheer from his team. 2-2
Tansleys 3rd spot kick was again converted to put the pressure on the next Hasland player to step up Jack. There is a back story to Jack as he signed for Hasland this season after playing for Tansley last season. He had a point to prove and prove it he did 3-3.
The next Tansley player stepped up and our No. 1 Ben pulled off a great save to start to make us believe. Lucas was next up who had confidently put his hand up to take one and he took a peach to put Hasland ahead 3-4.
The final Tansley player put his penalty wide which sparked a mad celebration from the Hasland lads who had a mass pile on in the middle of the pitch. These lads had battled for over 100 minutes of football and got their reward. We couldn't have been prouder as we watched them celebrate with each other.
Man of the match couldn't be decided today as everyone of them put in a shift and a half so it didn't feel right to single anyone out. We now move onto the quarter final to play Tibshelf away which is likely to be next Saturday.
Well done Hasland U15s you really are class bunch of lads.
