Junior Elite are one of the strongest teams in the age group , only been beaten by ourselves and two others since the season began and without Rory in goal and a late sickie by Nicholas we was left with no subs and Jack, Ben ,Max and Nathan to take turns between the sticks. Dan and myself have been debating for a while now the best formation , 2 3 1 or 3 2 1 and so this game we decided to go with the latter . My decision to kick uphill against the wind and sun in our eyes first half probably didn't help the lads but they started off spritely , bit cold and stiff but still got their passing game going and moved the ball about well into space . Jackson and Nathan were seeing plenty of the ball as Max , our central man at the back fed them it outwide and they either looked for Luke making the runs down the line or the shorter ball to Ben and Finn in the middle of the park . Luke really made some great runs in that first spell of the game , exactly what we asked of him . It was a tight game, Finn was soon putting his normal shift in but we also saw a more aggressive style to his game , he really went in to get the ball from the big Elite midfielder, they had a right battle . Max made some very strong decisive tackles from the off and he meant business, we needed him to be in that mood against a physical bunch. Jackson and Ben linked up well on the left both showing tidy footwork and confident passing under pressure . Unfortunately Elite took advantage of the elements and scored two very scrappy goals that Jack could do nothing about and going 2-0 down felt very hard done by , I felt for the lads as they were playing well and battling hard. Jack now up front got busy and Luke put a shift in on the left and we started creating chances ourselves, Finn had two decent shots that just flew over the bar , Jack placed one after dogged work by Jackson and Luke on the left but it just went wrong side of the post . Nathan made a couple of trademark determined runs down the right and managed to get a decent shot off himself and won us a corner, but unfortunately it came to nothing. As the first half was drawing to a close a goal back would've been a real bonus but not conceding another was more important. The boys were blowing and a couple of them looked despondent, I have to hold my hands up we should've kicked downhill first, my fault lads, apologies. We was praising and encouraging them as much as possible and the chat was positive, it didn't take much to get a smile on their faces, it never does, terrific group of lads and we knew they were going to have a real go getting back into this game.

Max in goal, Jackson went central and he seemed to be in a happier place , he was receiving the ball with more time and orchestrating our plays , we kept Luke on the left and Ben and Finn in the middle , Elite right winger, very nippy and skilful , we needed a player like Luke to dampen his spirits . Jack was busy but isolated at times against two big lads but he put a better shift in and earnt us about 15 corners from making runs out wide and drawing in the tackle or creating the space in the middle for Ben or Finn to run into , it was great to watch a football mind at work , well done. Despite all the pressure we couldn't find the net , an early goal back would've rattled them but it was 15 minutes of " please go in " but it just didn't fall to us kindly and when it did we squandered a few chances , maybe that was more panic than anything else. This is all part of the learning curve and when Elite caught us on the break through the middle and punished us with their only decent strike of the game it really was cruel on the lads and we all knew getting anything out of the game result wise was now nigh impossible. We switched Ben to the left and Luke in the middle and told Ben to play further up the pitch but just be aware of the no.10 if our attack broke down. He had his best spell of the game, tracking back when needed but getting his foot on the ball and showing a bit of wizardry was now upon us, he linked up with Jack far better from a wider position and with Luke and Finn constantly running we seemed to have more options . Jack put in some good corners but it just wasn't happening in the danger area so Ben had a go and it went low across the goal and just shaved the post and went out for a goal kick , another " get in ..grrrrr" moment.

We then was all fortunate enough to witness one of the best goals ever scored on a Sunday ; Nathan found Finn on the right wing who took on a defender before whipping it into the area at incredible pace with Luke gliding in he turned his body side on and volleyed the ball into the top of the net with thunderous speed and accuracy , it was a screamer and got applause from the Greencoat fanatics and Junior Elite coaches and parents alike . It really was a special moment and fully deserved . Luke ran his socks off and put himself about all game and got his reward , all the boys should take that into account if they want to take their football to another level in the coming years .

The game finished 1 3 but no sad faces at the end of it , the opposition said we deserved the draw and that's good enough for me.

Man of match Luke for his work rate, team contribution and quality finish .

It was nice to be back after the christmas break and a tough game in preparation for the cup final this Sunday .