Today our u13’s travelled along the coast to face unbeaten side Hythe Town. The 2 sides had previously met in a pre-season friendly which proved a very closely contested game so it was a fixture we were very much looking forward to.
Dover were without a number of players including a goal keeper and at one point prior to the game barely had enough to field a team so it was a great relief when both Ewan and Jose arrived literally straight from the airport to make up the numbers.
Today’s challenge was for our midfield players to press hard to prevent long balls over into the striker, something that was evident of the opposition in the pre-season match.
Both sides started very lively and in the opening 10 minutes the ball barely left the middle third with both teams packing out midfield in an attempt to dominate play.
It wasn’t until the 18 minute when the dead lock was broken and Dover’s high press finally forced an error in the Hythe defence with Wade Hughes intercepting a pass and playing a sumptuous through ball into the path of Luca Ambriz who fired home with a great strike from the edge of the area.
This seemed to unsettle the Hythe defence and Dover began to take control of the game with some good attacking possession football and even when out of possession were very aggressive and quick to win the ball back.
Dover soon added a second when Wade Hughes again forced an error, this time driving into the box alone giving the keeper no chance with a powerful strike into the corner of the goal.
The game then opened up and Hythe responded less than a minute later. A lesson learnt, we must remain composed after scoring and not become to relaxed.
However this was Hythe’s only reply and Dover started to turn on the style with some lovely passing and build up play. We entered half time 3-1 up with Qimmarie Thompson added the third just before the break.
Second half and with confidence running high Dover pushed further forward and made it incredibly difficult for Hythe to string any passes together.
Jose Antonio added another 2 goals one of which was a superb solo effort adding some Spanish flair in the box with close ball control and a calm finish.
Wade Hughes and Qimmarie Thompson then capped off a stunning display finding the back off the net after some real creative possession play from the midfielders. The game finished 1-7 to Dover and well deserved.
