Report

Having not played for several weeks, training in midweek focused on getting the boys back up to match speed and over all, it probably paid dividends.
 With Jack being unavailable through illness, Jon, who has been progressing very well in training over the past few months, was deservedly given a chance to prove himself and he certainly did not disappoint. Max was struggling for fitness, as was Tim but there was no way they were going to miss out. 
 We didn't know too much about our opposition, but they turned out to be a well mannered and managed team that played the game in a good spirit.
 Although Riverside had the better of the first five minutes, I sensed by the lack of panic from our boys that they would get a foothold before too long. Those first five minutes included Max having to make a penalty save following a handball and soon after making a brilliant diving save to his right to keep the scores level.
 After 10 minutes we decided to switch Tim into a defensive midfield role, moving Ben out to the wing and this was to pay dividends within a minute as Ted picked the ball up on the left wing, looked up and put a low cross in to Ben who was unmarked on the far post for an easy finish.
 Another four minutes had elapsed before Jared picked the ball up on the left and touched it through to Ted in a central position just outside the area. He picked his spot, got his head over the ball and hammered it into the bottom left corner for a 2-0 lead. Bourne's first change came after 20 minutes with Josh coming on for Tim and Ben moving back to his central position. Bourne were starting to look quite comfortable but the boys were getting a little frustrated that we didn't seem to be getting our fair share of luck with decisions, but luck has a habit of evening itself out in the long run.
 Six minutes into the second half and Riverside were awarded a second penalty for a slightly harsh handball, but maybe justice was done as the kick was put over the crossbar. The mood changed a little midway through the half when Riverside scrambled a goal, but Bourne are getting used to close finishes and therefore are gaining experience of how to close games out when the pressure is on.
 As mentioned earlier, Jon has earned his start and the Player of the Match award. He was very calm and assured throughout the game making numerous strong tackles, comfortable with both feet and made some very intelligent passes to turn defence into attack. His positional sense and awareness of what's around him at times is brilliant, but there are occasional lapses of concentration that will gradually be eradicated with experience and with his keenness to learn, I expect we will see improvement with almost every game.
 So, we await the draw for the semi-finals as the only remaining team from our league, with Powerleague emerging as the clear favourites and it would be great to play them to see in what areas we may already be competing with them and in which areas we need to concentrate future training sessions.