English Schools' Football Association

England Schools' Rep. Team pictured before kick-off

The second match of the U18 trials was a very different affair to the first with both sides really pressurising the ball and denying the opposition space and consequently there were few scoring opportunities. The Royal Air Force started very quickly as they were determined to impress and prove why they are the current champions of the British forces, and with a defence marshalled by centre back SAC Wright from RAF St Mawgan they were a hard nut to crack.

It took a long ball fired straight to the feet of Daniel Jones after 9 minutes when his deft flick beat the advancing Wright and sent Joe Bunney haring away to goal and with coolness and skill he slotted the ball home, 1-0 and just about deserved on the run of play. Jones thought he had added to the tally 5 minutes later when he lobbed the ball over the advancing ‘keeper only to see the ball scooped off the line by Wright.

ESFA were gradually breaking down the RAF with Tom Fouhy exerting his influence in midfield, and it was he who broke with cracking pace down the left in the 16^th minute, only to turn his cross from the by-line just behind the rapidly advancing Bunney when another goal looked likely. Similar neat work by Jones and Fouhy in the 18^th minute resulted in a fine cross which had to be headed out for a corner. The same pair worked a way through the tough defensive line in the 27^th minute and as Fouhy was challenged by goalkeeper SAC Turner (RAF Marham) the ball squirted out to Bunney who slotted home but was denied any accolade as Fouhy was adjudged off-side. Both goalkeeper and Tom Fouhy were injured in the challenge, but recovered to play on.

Both teams made several changes for the second half and that seemed to improve the RAF as they began to make more progress on the ESFA goal, particularly on the wings. In the 56^th minute a corner for the RAF taken by SAC Franco (RAF Waddington) was met ferociously by Wright but his header was pushed over the bar by new goalkeeper Ciaran Gibson. The second corner was a real scramble and it needed a super reaction save from Gibson to push the ball round the post. The third corner was thankfully cleared up field.

For a long time the game became very much a midfield battle with no team looking like they would break down the other, until the last few minutes of the game. In the 85^th minute a lovely cross field ball sent Tom Ingham racing away on the right wing only for his cross to be put out for a corner, then almost immediately a lovely triangular passing move between George Newton, Tom Fouhy, and Luke Carr sent Carr into the box looking for goal only to be foiled by a last ditch tackle.

The RAF continued the dogfight to the bitter end and in the 88^th minute got what they deserved, an equaliser. After several crosses and headers away a weak header only reached the top of the box and the ball sat up nicely for none other than captain and best player SAC Wright to blast the ball home, 1-1 and the match barely kicked off again before full time was blown.

Photo courtesy of www.rwt-photography.co.uk