The first ever match of our new Forbes U10 team took place in glorious sunshine at Ravensbourne School against an experienced Junior Bromleians side.

This was the first time our full squad of 11 had come together and it was very encouraging to see the enthusiasm and commitment they all displayed. Against a team who had played last season together, this was always going to be more about experimenting and getting to know our strengths and players' best positions.

Bromleians showed their quality and broke through on a number of occasions in the first half, scoring four times without reply. Without the efforts of Michael Baldwin in goal, and good defending by Luke Fox, Sam Campbell, Dominic Furnival and Ryan Barry it could have been more, but Forbes showed tremendous spirit and never let their heads go down. Jack Parker as a lone striker was seeing more of the ball as the game continued.

The second half saw a much tighter game. Dominic Furnival, taking over the gloves in goal, made a number of excellent saves and Forbes gradually started to attack with more purpose. Daniel Addington shored up the defense with some strong tackling. A number of quick breakaways nearly went rewarded with Max Williams going close. Freddie Dolan, Ryan Vigor and Henry Mockler were beginning to have a strong impact and Forbes began to threaten more often as the game continued.

Eventually our efforts were justly rewarded with an excellent run and finish by Michael Baldwin just before the final whistle blew. No less than we deserved and ensured we ended the match on a high.

Despite the loss, the boys played very well and were not downhearted. All are looking forward to the start of the season next week.