Year 9s progress as Harley Hammers Home!
On Monday 30th January, the Year 9 football team secured another impressive victory and progression to round 3 of the county cup, after an away win at Colyton Grammar School
PA started very brightly and were very nearly 1-0 up in the early stages of the match with striker Harley Hooper hitting the woodwork from an acute angle.
The away team went close again soon after when a goal bound Sam Greaves effort hit the unlucky Jack Rowell who was positioned on the goal line and narrowly trickled past the post
Paignton continued to put pressure on the Colyton goal and went close once again when Riley Osman well struck effort flashed across the home team goal, with the goalkeeper well beaten
PA’s inability to secure the breakthrough allowed the home team to start making their way back into game, and it took a wonder save from Ethan Crocker to keep the game goalless, as the Paignton number one dived to his right to claw an effort out of his top corner of the goal
With the end of the first half beckoning, there was still one more chance for PA to take the lead, and it was only an odd bounce of the ball that stopped Hooper as he lifted the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper, only to see the ball spin out for a goal kick after clipping the outside of right hand post this time
The latest PA near miss saw the first half end on a 0-0 stalemate as both team’s continued to seek a breakthrough
The second half started in similar fashion to the first with PA in the ascendancy but still unable to score the opening goal
Chances were however still presenting themselves with Sonny Parsons testing the Colyton keeper after some good footwork in the box and Jonah Shaw firing just wide after a dangerous surging run, as the wait for the opening continued
With the game becoming scrappier and scrappier, it looked like it was going to take something special to break the resilience of both defences, and the quality of the opening did not disappoint
The move started with Parsons in the left centre back position, and he engineered a slick pass forward to the feet of Shaw who had just adopted the centre forward position. Shaw edged his first touch out of his feet as he set off on a jinking run in and out of the Colyton defenders before firing a superb drive into the top of the Colyton net to send his team into raptures
1-0 Paignton!
The opening goal seemed to breath new confidence into the away team, who began a spell of controlled possession in an attempt to grind their opposition down and silence the home crowd further
As PA continued to look after the ball with greater efficiency, Colyton began to commit bodies forward to try and win the ball back and it was this approach that brought about the decisive second Paignton goal
A well worked move down the PA right hand side saw the ball make its way to midfield player Ethan Ratcliffe who played a clever clipped pass over the top of the home team’s defence to the on rushing Hooper, who allowed the ball to pass over his right shoulder before hitting a thunderbolt of a volley into the back of the Colyton net to extend his team’s lead and end the game as a contest
With only a mere couple of minutes left on the clock, PA still managed to threaten their opponent’s goal one more time with Logan Aston firing a free kick just over the bar which he himself had earlier earned to further epitomise another combative midfield display from the PA skipper
As the final whistle went, the boys in blue were able to celebrate a safe passage to round 3 of the county cup, where they can look forward to another away to either Eggbuckland or Devonport High School for Boys.
Well done and good luck for the round!