TAJFC Under 11's - True Grit.

A much depleted TAJFC turned out in the bitter cold, wind and occasional sleet at Pickering Town's new location at Carr Lane in Middleton.

Unfortunately, for the second fixture in sucession, Tadcaster had a pool of 9 players only to face Pickering's squad of 14.

Despite the mis-matched odds, the available players took on board Mick & Nicks' words of encouragement (with very vocal support from the travelling fans) and came out fighting.

For the first 20 mins of the first period play hardly moved out of the Pickering half, with 2 goals in quick succession coming from "Mr Dynamite" - Joseph Von Simon.

A clearly rattled Pickering battled back hard against Tad and superb defensive play from Harry, Adam and goalkeeper "JB" kept the sheet clean.

Pickering managed to pull a goal back just before half-time and the score remained in Tad's favour until the last 15 mins of the second half.

An exhausted Tadcaster side conceded goals in quick succession (with one goal at least resulting from a questionable tackle on John Broadley) Final score 4 - 2.

Mick & Nick felt unable to question Tadcaster's performance in any way. The players who attended gave 110% and on any given Sunday, with a full squad in attendance, the result would have been significantly different. Man Of The Match to Harry - with Adam coming in a close second.

Tad Albion U9s 'v' Heworth (8st March)

'A' Team Match Reports

Heworth 1 – 0 Tadcaster Albion
Squad: Alfie, Ethan, George, Jack, James, Scott, Tom

Tadcaster travelled to Heworth on a bitterly cold March morning and endured the most difficult conditions so far this season. Fierce winds and an extremely heavy pitch did not bode well for an entertaining match; however both teams can be rightly proud of their efforts.
Tadcaster played the first half with the wind at their backs and used that to their advantage as they spent long periods in Heworth’s half of the pitch. Heworth were strong well organized though and Tadcaster couldn’t find an opening other than with a couple of long range efforts.
Tadcaster went into the second half knowing that if they were to get anything from the game it was going to be real backs to the wall stuff. Credit to the boys though, they were playing to win the match and certainly heeded the coach's warning to keep the ball on the ground. Yes, they spent a lot of time defending, but they also played some lovely football on the break – causing Heworth plenty of problems. In the end luck was with Heworth as they broke the deadlock midway through the half and try as they might there was no way back for Tadcaster.
This was a fantastic performance from everyone today, especially considering the weather conditions. There was very little to choose between the teams and possibly the biggest compliment today was to hear the relief in the shouts from Heworth players and supporters as the referee’s final whistle went.
Man of the Match: James.

2nd Game report
Heworth 0 – 1 Tadcaster Albion
Squad: Alfie, Ethan, George, Jack, James, Scott, Tom
Scorers: Tom

As some of the Heworth players correctly pointed out, “second game doesn’t count”, but boy did they hate losing!
The lack of substitutes meant that Tadcaster fielded an unchanged side – with one or two of the boys hobbling on at the start of the game following their efforts in the first match.
Once again Tadcaster played the first half with the wind at their backs and once again they used that to their advantage. This time though they got the goal they deserved as Tom crashed the ball in from close range.
The second half saw Tadcaster doing a lot of defending highlighted by Jack’s goal saving tackle in the area and a cracking save from Ethan to tip a shot just over the bar. It certainly wasn’t all Heworth though and some great passing play created chances for Alfie who rattled the post and for George who raced clear only to have hit his shot well saved by the ‘keeper.
There will be a few bruises on the legs of the Taddy players tomorrow morning, but beating Heworth will make it seem worth it.
Man of the Match: Jack.