U15 Lazio welcomed Crawley Green to Cedars this afternoon knowing they were in for a tough test against last seasons County Cup finalists and the team who were the early pace setters in the division this year.

It was Crawley Green that started the stronger of the two teams, enjoying most of the play in the opening stages and causing a few early scares for the Lazio backline. However, somewhat against the run of play, it was Lazio that opened the scoring after around 10 minutes when Harry latched onto a bouncing ball in the penalty box and smashed a looping volley into the top left corner of the net. A lovely strike to make it 1-0 to Lazio.

Lazio now started to look good going forward, with Josh Green, Theo, Blake and Harry all combining nicely, without quite being able to create another clear-cut chance that could really have given Lazio control of the game. At the other end Crawley Green continued to cause problems and in particular it became clear that any set pieces would be a threat. And sure enough within the space of five minutes midway through the half Crawley Green took advantage of this strength as their big number 9 headed in two goals, the first from a corner and the second from a free kick. Lazio could have defended both better but nevertheless Crawley Green now had a 2-1 lead.

Lazio had no time to feel sorry for themselves and had to dig in to stay in the game. Of course, the best way to do that is to grab an equaliser, which is what we did 5 minutes or so later. The source of the goal was unexpected, with Kingy not having previously got on the scoresheet for Lazio. When Lazio won a corner Kingy held the edge of the box as usual. A flat corner was played into the box which ended up at the feet of a Lazio player (in all honesty, I can’t remember who), before being laid off to the edge of the box for Kingy to run onto and unleash a rocket that went through a crowed of players, over the keeper’s arms and into the roof of the net. 2-2.

The period before halftime was end to end, both teams had chances. Lazio came closest as Tycho leapt like a salmon to meet a corner only to see his header go inches over. But with no further goals, 2-2 it was at halftime, probably about right.

The second half was a tighter and tenser affair, with both teams knowing the importance of the next goal. Crawley Green had more of the play in the first 20 minutes or so and certainly had the better chances. Thomas was in between the sticks for Lazio and he was called into action with two great saves, firstly denying Crawley’s big number 9 a hatrick of headers by tipping the ball round the post and then tipping over a well struck effort by a Crawley midfielder from the edge of box (at which point of course, all of the Lazio spectators were thinking, Kingy would have scored that). But Crawley Green’s best chance came from the penalty spot after Tycho was harshly judged to have made a foul, from what looked like a good recovery tackle. Justice was done however with the spot kick being blazed over and the score remained at 2-2.

As is often the case, the missed penalty seemed to lift Lazio as we finished the game strongly and started to create chances in the closing stages. A nice move down the right finished with a shot on target that the Crawley keeper saved, only for Theo to pop up and slot home the rebound. Unfortunately however the linseman’s flag was up, so still it remained 2-2. Next up it was Lazio’s turn for a penalty shout as Josh Green was kicked in the box. Josh stayed on his feet to begin with but clearly off balance went over and the ref pointed to the spot. Blake stepped up, hit the penalty firmly but the keeper guessed the right way and got down to make a very good save, still 2-2. However, the ball was only half cleared from the penalty and Lazio kept the pressure on. Eventually the ball was worked to Charlie B, he glided into the box and fired a shot high into the top right corner. The keeper got a hand to it but couldn’t stop the ball going in. A third great strike of the afternoon to finally break the second half deadlock and give Lazio a 3-2 lead.

The last 4 or 5 minutes were frantic, with a few scares, but Lazio managed to see the game out to take a 3-2 win.

Well done to all the boys today, a strong team performance against very good opposition and overall a really good game of football to watch. This week’s Gartec Player of the Match was a tough choice but went to Charlie B who, making his debut for the team today, showed great energy all over the pitch and capped it off with the winning goal – I’m not sure debut’s get too much better than that!

Steve wasn’t making his debut running the line but showed all his experience to navigate the game seamlessly, much appreciated as always.