North Norfolk youth football

CROMER YOUTH U11 faced their toughest competition so far, a strong, well-organised Old Catton B side whom they beat 6-1. Cromer dominated a fast and frenetic first half, passing the ball superbly, but it was nearly 20 minutes before Nathan Foulser broke the deadlock with a fine shot into the top corner. Ieuan Lightfoot followed up almost immediately with Cromer's second. Only some fine defending and a series of good saves by Cromer keeper Alfie Woodrow kept Catton at bay before Stevie Foster struck to give Cromer a 3-0 half-time lead. The pressure continued in the second half, with Tom Cox and Nyall Brown both going close before Jack Chapman made it 4-0. Old Catton pulled one back, but a good run and an unselfish pass by Nathan Foulser provided Jake Zelos with Cromer's fifth. Jake turned provider minutes later, setting up Nathan for Cromer's final goal, rounding off an excellent all-round team performance. Man of the match: Alfie Woodrow.

NORTH WALSHAM ANGELS U13 GIRLS were drawn at home to Reepham Town in the first round of the League Cup and recorded a 6-0 win. Their midfield trio of Zoe, Charlotte and Robyn were involved in all of their goals. Charlotte got them off the mark with a low shot following a pass from Zoe and increased the lead with a long-range drive. Charlotte returned the favour, passing to Zoe who blasted into the roof of the net. Kiera made the half- time score 4-0, pouncing to score following a corner kick. Reepham played a defensive game but looked dangerous on the break, and were unlucky with one first-half shot that rocked a post, however most of their raids were repelled by Sophie and Lucy and once again keeper Emily P did not concede. After the break the move of the match saw Charlotte find Zoe on the right and her low cross was fired in by Robyn at the far post. Charlotte completed her hat-trick with another long-range low shot for No 6. Lauren was unlucky not to hit the net but with Angels well in command Rowena and Emily G were given extended run outs.

NORTH WALSHAM PANTHERS played Sheringham U14. The Panthers played a confident, composed game, with the final score Panthers 21. Sheringham 0. The Panthers goal scorers were: Elliot (8), Jordan (5), James (2), Brad, Leon, Lewis, Max, Matt, and one own goal. The Panthers play was fast, clever and thoughtful, and most of their goals came from some stunning crosses or intelligent passes. The scoreline should not take anything away from Sheringham, who never once gave up trying. The Sheringham defenders worked so hard, and Joe, their goalkeeper, had an remarkable game, he made some excellent saves.

EAST COAST WARRIORS U10 played Cromer U10. The squad of S Howell, L Goodrum, J Boggis, H Southgate, A Little, T Oxley, A Galley, J Stearman And J O'Shea played well to run out 7-1 winners. The goal scorers were A Galley (2), A Little (2), J Stearman, L Goodrum and J Boggis.

CROMER YOUTH U11 continued their unbeaten run with their first encounter with North Walsham. Cromer took time to settle on the full-size pitch and came up against a strong Walsham back line. However, Cromer slowly began to dominate the game with Jack Chapman having an excellent game on the left and Stevie Foster coming close twice. Late in the half Adam Spruce turned in a lovely Harry Copeman cross to give Cromer a 1-0 half-time lead. The second half saw Cromer once more surging forward and at times their passing was a joy to watch. Jake Zelos was unlucky to have a 'goal' disallowed, but the second Cromer goal came from Nathan Foulser when he broke through to slot home to make it 2-0. Next, an outrageous back-heel from Adam Spruce saw Cromer go 3-0 up before Jake Zelos completed the scoring to give Cromer a well- deserved 4-0 victory in a good game against good opposition. Man-of-the-match: Adam Spruce.

CROMER U9 played superbly to come away from Firside with a richly-deserved 3-1 win that could easily have been more convincing. They conceded an unlucky early goal. Cromer mounted a series of strong attacks, but some bad luck and indecisive finishing combined to keep them a goal adrift. Just before half-time, Noah Downes got the goal the team deserved with a cool finish after a good run. Ronnie and William were strong in defence and the sides reached half-time at 1-1. Second half Christopher, Jack and Iwan all went close. It was one-way traffic, though, and Noah came back on to make it 2-1. Jack then made it safe with a simple finish, and solid defending from Henry helped Cromer see the match out. Man-of-the-match: Ronnie.

EAST COAST U9 travelled to North Walsham. Reece Tucker's deflected shot fell to Liam Copeman who slotted the ball home. Solid defending from Ally Sheridan made it difficult for North Walsham and Taylor Redgrave made it 2-0 when his rebounded shot went in at the second attempt. Alfie Neath made a blinding save to tip the ball over from a North Walsham free-kick. In the second half North Walsham increased the pressure but Liam Copeman added to the tally to make it 3-0 East Coast. Despite good battling in midfield from Rory Porter-Davis and Reece Tucker and some more fine saves from Alfie Neath, North Walsham brought the scores level to 3-3 in time added on. Joe Templeman made some important tackles and an unfortunate own goal in the dying seconds sealed the win for East Coast. Final score 4-3 East Coast.

EAST COAST WARRIORS U11 turned out a squad dogged by illness taking on Old Catton B at home. This showed team spirit and loyalty, but in the opening minutes it was obvious that they were not on form. Within five minutes Catton's Mayes had run rings around defence and keeper to dribble in an early lead. Coast were galvanised into some fine attacking play. Battling work in midfield from Lee and Captain Lubbock set up a cracking run down the right wing for Othon, who curled a magnificent ball into Catton's top left corner. Shortly afterwards Othon was again involved, crossing to Howell, who dropped the ball neatly at Lubbock's feet for him to volley in from 15 yards. Lee rattled home another. Catton were seen off by the fleet-footed Smith, and the resolution of Reid, Richardson and Wilkinson. Glasgow ran his heart out down the left wing, and threatened the Catton goal. The visitors conceded a penalty, but Lozeau sliced it just over. Catton came out in the second period determined to make amends, and ran a series of fine attacking moves down the wings, making life hard for the ECW defence several shots gathered by keeper Paterson. Each time Coast replied, Roffey striking a couple of good shots wide, before squaring brilliantly for Lee to tap in at the far post. Catton gave the Coast defence a torrid time down the right, Mayes eventually chipping over defence and keeper to pull back a consolation goal. East Coast ground out a 4-2 win.

HOLT UNITED YOUTH visited Stoke United in the league and came away victorious. Holt started well in the first half with good defending from Jack and Ed and some fine saves from Kyle. But some excellent work in midfield with Alfie and Cameron working the ball together rewarded Alfie with a superb strike to end the first half at 1-0. The midfield started the second half as they finished the first with Cameron setting up Alfie with his second goal 2-0. Stoke scored two quick goals in the last 10 minutes to make it 2-2 and could have easily won but for the hard work of Sophie, Bobby and Terry. But in the last minute Tyler broke away and thundered a 20-yard wonder goal for Holt to win the game 3-2. Man-of-the-match: Cameron Livesey.

NORTH WALSHAM DEVILS won 5-3 at Firside. The Devils found themselves under the cosh for the first 10 minutes with some stout defending across the centre, especially by J Edwards and G Ash. C Daniels rallied the team. Following a tight off-side decision Firside pounced on a loose ball to open their account. The turning point came when T Knight pulled off an excellent save and promptly released the ball upfield to C Kerry who had just come on, to slot home. C Harkness was dominating the right wing and putting in some wicked crosses. An alternative route was found through the centre following some nice interlink play between H Ward and D Crosby to provide C Kerry with his second goal. Despite some nice passing, F Henley-Hunter couldn't take his chances and with half-time approaching Firside equalised following a mel�e in the penalty area. With the score 2-2 at half-time, wholesale changes saw A J Johnson slot into a bossing midfield role and feeding the attack well, with M Seago starting to dominate the left wing. With J Cork operating with a new-found vigour, a forced error allowed F Henley-Hunter opened his scoring account for North Walsham to retake the lead. The Devils suffered a sucker-punch when a defensive slip-up allowed Firside to equalise from the penalty spot. F Henley-Hunter picked up a low cross that any of three North Walsham players could have intercepted and slotted home to make it 4-3. With 10 minutes remaining, the Devils were awarded a penalty which was well saved by the Firside keeper. The Devils made the game safe on 75 minutes when C Kerry completed his hat-trick.

NORTH WALSHAM U13 returned to league action after disappointment in the cup, and within seconds Walker had put them ahead. Foster made it two with a great volley on the turn. North Walsham continued to press, and Freeman-Hole made it three with a great strike into the top corner. Walker missed a sitter, blazing a shot right across the goalmouth to graze the far post. In the second half, Horsford had the best of the early minutes, but North Walsham soon got back into the game. Taylor made it four, with an opportunity he worked hard to create for himself. North Walsham missed plenty of chances to increase the lead, and late on Horsford netted but it was ruled off-side. North Walsham had some great individual performances right across the pitch, Springall putting in some great effort, and at times some excellent interchanges on both wings.

NORTH WALSHAM YOUTH U9 visited Thorpe Rovers and came home with a share of the points. Playing against the wind and uphill in the first half, Walsham were very resilient. Walsham broke regularly as they kept the ball on the floor to combat the swirling wind. Midway through the half the visitors took the lead when Sam chipped the ball into the area and Max finished superbly on the volley. George and Jordan held firm in defence with Connor, Ethan and Tom D working hard in midfield. Second half Thorpe scored an equaliser. Thorpe soon claimed their second when Walsham failed to clear a corner. Walsham really needed to raise their game and with the introduction of Mitchell and Taylor it paid immediate dividends. A little pass inside from Taylor saw Connor smash a shot from 20 yards, which hit the bar, hit the line and ended up hitting the roof of the net. It was a spectacular effort to bring Walsham level and despite pressure from both teams neither was able to claim a winner.

NORTH WALSHAM YOUTH U9 and East Coast Warriors provided an exhilarating game of football at Millfield. Both sides began the game unbeaten but East Coast were playing by far the better football. The visitors went one up with a neat finish from close in. East Coast soon notched their second as Walsham were caught in possession and the striker ran on to finish well past Jordan. A great ball by Sam found Ethan 15 yards out, who smashed a shot against the outside of a post. A 25-yard thunderbolt free-kick from George was tipped over the bar by the Warriors keeper. The half finished with Walsham on top but nothing to show for it. Some great play by Mitch and Ethan saw the later shoot just wide. Tom W saw his shot whistle just over the bar and then Max had his shot well saved by the keeper. Walsham were hit with a sucker punch as East Coast got a third against the run of play. Ethan beat two defenders to finish emphatically. The introduction of Taylor and Tom D provided extra impetus and with only three minutes left, Taylor scored his first goal for the club when he finished close in. This provided a grandstand finish. With only seconds of normal time remaining Walsham claimed an equaliser as a scramble in the area saw Taylor get the final touch. But that euphoria turned to heartbreak as deep into added time East Coast broke away and despite a great save by Jordan the ball found its way into the net via a defender.

SHERINGHAM WARRIORS U15 beat Sheringham Youth U15 10-0. The derby was played out at Sheringham Rec. The Warriors got off to a flyer with Jacob Knowles flying down the left wing and scoring after 17 seconds. Within seconds Jacob made it 2-0. Jacob then scored again to bag a hat-trick in under three minutes. Will Parker down the right was getting a lot of joy, with Jacob equally impressive down the left. Shane Cox sitting just in front of the back four was as solid as ever and his distribution was very good. Harry Carrington got a well-worked goal, making it 4-0, then Harry Stamatov made it 5-0 just before half-time. In the second half Jacob Knowles got his fourth and the Warriors' sixth. When Sheringham Youth did get forward they found the back four of Josh Dyde, Tommy Bywater, Ali Burghall and Tom Harrison in impressive form. Nathan Lomax in goal was assured. Cameron Humphrey then made it 7-0 when the keeper parried a shot to him which he coolly put away. Harry Carrington, who had not put a foot wrong all match, made it 8-0. Jodi Norris had played all over the park and was really unlucky not to grab himself a goal. Josh Glister, Tom Todd and Tom Dorey came on in a forward position and all had chances. Cameron Humphrey made it 9-0 with a glancing header. Cameron got another to complete his first hat-trick of the season.

STALHAM U12A were away to Reepham U12 and allowed them to score with only 10 minutes gone. Stalham responded straight away when Adam buried the ball in the bottom corner after seeing his first shot saved. Dom M then won the ball in the middle, passing it out for Aiden to chase down.Ryan won it, passed it out wide to Adam who buried it again past the keeper into the bottom corner. Dom M won the ball well again, hitting it nicely out to Adam who crossed into the box. Aiden won it and lifted a nice ball for Ryan to head home to make it 3-1. Dom M again won the ball hitting it out to Adam who put a lovely cross into the box, which hit a Reepham player and went in. Dom M then battled to win the ball, passing to Aiden who hit an unstoppable shot into the back of the net. Aiden won the ball and had a shot from the 18-yard box, which slipped through the keeper's hands to make it 6-1 at half-time. The second half saw Reepham score another early goal. Ryan dropped in from up front to win a goal-kick, which he passed superbly out to Matti who placed the ball across the goal into the bottom corner. Ryan then won the ball again, ran it forward and placed an outstanding ball into the top corner. In the last minute of the game Ryan passed a good ball out to Will who run it down the wing and sent a bullet into the top corner to make the final score 9-2. Player-of-the-match: Ryan.