This afternoon U15 Lazio faced Dunstable Town Youth Eagles in the 2nd round of the County Cup, knowing that the winner would progress to the quarter finals of the competition.

Dunstable started the game brightly and had more of the ball in the opening 5 to 10 minutes. However, it was Lazio that had the first real chance of the game when Charlie B connected with a loose ball in the box only to see his low effort come back off the post.

This close call seemed to settle Lazio as they went onto dominate much of the remainder of the half, at times playing some lovely football, which was rewarded with three goals. Firstly Theo was chopped down in the box for a stonewall penalty which Blake stepped up to convert to give Lazio the lead. Next up, after some free flowing football to move the ball from their backline through midfield and into Dunstable’s box, Harry latched onto the ball and tucked it away into the bottom right corner of the net to double Lazio’s lead. Then, a minute or so later, Josh Green made it three when he capitalised on a mistake in the Dunstable defence to nip in and slot the ball home.

Dunstable came back into the game towards the end of the half and nearly scored directly from a corner but Chris did well to tip the ball onto the cross bar before it bounced away to safety.

3-0 Lazio at half time.

The second half was a slightly different game. With nothing to lose Dunstable pressed forward and had more of the play for much of the half. That said, it was still the Dunstable keeper who was the busier and he made the first of several good stops when he tipped a Josh Green effort round the post early in the second half.

Although Dunstable were having more of the ball, their chances were largely limited to longer range efforts, as the Lazio back four looked very solid. Dunstable’s best chance came midway through the half when their dangerous left winger got in on goal but Chris came out to make a good one on one stop.

In general Lazio didn’t pass the ball as well as they had in the first half but they still looked dangerous on the counter and with 10 minutes to go they finally made the most of an opportunity. Good play from Harry, Josh and Theo led to the ball being squared across the face of goal for Blake to smash home at the back post. 4-0 Lazio.

The fourth goal really sealed the deal. Lazio could have had a fifth in the closing stages but for some good saves from the Dunstable keeper and also some last ditch defending to deny Blake his hat-trick right on the stroke of time. But with no further goals, 4-0 Lazio was the final score.

A really good display from the boys today. In the first half in particular we played some great football going forward but we also looked defensively solid and the defence deserved their clean sheet today.

The Gartec Player of the Match was a joint award this week. Harry was outstanding going forward with the ball today, looked really dangerous, created chances for others and grabbed a goal himself. Kingy was his usual self in anchoring the midfield and getting all the dirty work done but on top of that his passing range was excellent and he also confidently stepped forward with the ball at times today. Very well played to both Harry and Kingy.

Well played and thanks to both our lino’s too, Will in the first half and Steve in the second.