PS Olympic U12 South 0 vs 8 Tipton Olympic U12

Here's another game where the final score doesn't match the performance and effort that the boys put in.

It was quite a change from the bogs that we've been playing on recently to the AstroTurf but the surface showed the team have the ability to pass, move and make good decisions.

In the first half we gave them a bit too much much respect, went in for the first ball well but stepped off and allowed shots from the follow ups. Let's not take anything away from Tipton, they finished each chance well, but getting out and in the way of the ball is something we've been working on in training. We had positive territory and breaks but didn't have that many clear cut chances.

Second half we stepped it up and had control for long parts. We closed down the second ball better, had multiple chances to score and battled till the end. Again, luck was not on our side, on another day we could easily have converted 4 chances into goals.

They had some good players - for context Tipton moved from a mid table Walsall league into ours and have been playing as a team for the last 3 years. The league we are in, while it is technically classed as the lowest division, holds some really good teams. Many players from other folded clubs, but also moves from other leagues.

Tipton are on a similar journey to the Gornal team we played in the cup. Lost a lot of players, rebuilt and had a year of struggles them came out the other side stronger.

Our boys have shown real promise in the last few games. We've played 3rd and 4th in the league, shown real character and pushed them, despite the final scoreline. It's that little 10% that we need to find - that comes with time, playing together and learning where people are going to run.

Let's keep those levels up, next week's game is an important one for us. Up our levels once again and we'll have a scoreline to match the performance.