An early alarm call for Ajax today as they travelled to AFC Oakley U14 Eagles in the cup. After the heavy overnight rain, Coach Cooper was expecting an early phone call from his opposing coach to call the game off (for the second time) due to a waterlogged pitch. The call, thankfully never game so the team headed to north Bedfordshire looking to turn around their recent goal shy form.

Arriving at Oakley, the team were pleasantly surprised with just how good a condition the pitch was in. Freshly mown and marked, it looked like a carpet and was the type of pitch we could only dream of having as a home venue.

Squad wise, long term absentee Luke has about six weeks left in his recovery before he can don the black and green again and was joined on the ‘unavailable list’ this week by Benaiah who had other family commitments.

Benaiah’s absence meant Dylan was asked to play further forward and to try to add to the 4 goals in 6 games he has already this season as Cooper was keen to keep with his 4-3-3 formation.

Onto the game then and from the first whistle, it was clear both sides were playing different forms of the beautiful game. Ajax, keeping it on the desk and Eagles being somewhat more direct. It was from one of the home sides direct plays that the first chance of the game happened. A 50 yard hoof over the top caught the Ajax defence wrong footed but thankfully a combination of CB Foxy and ‘Keeper Ethan kept the goal safe. Credit to both centre backs Thomas and Foxy, as soon as they saw the oppositions tactics, they dropped the back line by 10 yards and nullified their opponents. When the ball did beat them, their rigid back line saw Oakley offside time and time again.

Going forward, Noah was having a blinder on the left wing. Turning inside and out, he was making me dizzy so I can only image what their right back was feeling! On the other side, Lewis was scaring the life out of the Oakley defence with his pace. Ajax were looking good in defence and going forward however this match was going to be won in midfield. With Owen shielding the back 4 and Harry and Finn able to find space, we were winning the battle for the middle of the park. We were winning the first ball and releasing well every time however that elusive goal was still evading us. Dylan and Jack had shots well saved and a Foxy freekick went narrowly wide but the scores remained deadlocked at half time.

Half time team talk done and whatever was said clearly worked! 60 seconds after the restart, some great closing down by Noah and Dylan caused panic in the home defence and Dylan stuck a toe in to put it past the Oakley goalie to leave himself clear with an open goal. Taking a touch to steady himself, he smashed the ball home from a yard out and into the bottom corner to give Ajax a deserved lead.

Ajax didn’t let off and barely a minute later had doubled their lead. This time Dylan found himself 1 v 1 and with the ‘keeper rushing out to him, smashed the ball home into the top corner from the edge of the box for his sixth goal of the season. 2-0 Ajax

The second goal woke Oakley up and they started to come forward, looking to get back into the game. William, twice in quick succession was in the right place to break the attacks up and send Ajax on the counter.

Clean sheets are super important to this back four and that was obvious to see when RB Seb slide in at the last second to deny a clear opening for Oakley and leave Ethan in goal with a routine save. Thomas then got into the action with an outstanding block on the edge of the area to stop what seemed to be a certain goal.

As the game went on, Oakley threw caution to the wind which left them vulnerable on the counter. After good work from Lewis and Jack, Michael was send through on goal but saw the keeper make an excellent save from his well placed shot.

The referee blew his whistle for full time and Ajax had progressed to the next round of the cup.

This week’s Gartec Player of the Match was George. He was outstanding at left back with both his defensive work and his assured distribution. He is maturing fantastically into the role which is still quite new to him.

Coach's Comments “I said to the players before the game that we just need to be confident and play with smiles on our faces. If we are doing that, the results will look after themselves. They did that today against tough opponents. Our midfield worked so hard, our defence was resolute and when we got our chances, we took them. All in all, a great day at the office”.