Lightning U-14
Matches
Sat 22 Jan 2022
Kingswood T U12 Blacks
3
2
Teddington Athletic FC
Lightning U-14
It matters not if they won or lost, but how they played the game.

It matters not if they won or lost, but how they played the game.

Jonathan Young22 Jan 2022 - 17:56
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.teddingtonathletic

A narrow loss, but a dazzling display of never-say-die teamwork was the real winner.

To borrow the great Eric Cantona’s famous gnomic utterance – “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.”. Like the press and the fans at the time, you may find yourself asking “What on earth are you talking about?” but, break it down and the eternal wisdom of Eric is there for all to see…Today, for those of us “seagulls” on the side lines, the Lightning “trawler” dumped a heaving net-load of “sardines” in their wake, as they put in one of their best performances of the season. As Eric himself would definitely have said, had he turned up, “C’était Magnifique!”.

But tortured metaphors to one side, it really was a game to remember. Due to various illnesses the Lightning side found themselves seriously depleted. No Louis, no Enrique and no Samuel meant that this game, against top of the league Kingswood T U12 Blacks, was going to be a real test for the remaining Lightning lads.

But challenges are there to be risen to, and Teddington Lightning are never afraid of a challenge. Kevin and Richard did sterling work to assemble a team of nine so the match could go ahead, albeit without the luxury of any substitutes, but once assembled at the ground and boots donned, the game was afoot!

With Samuel unfortunately unwell, it was up to George to dust off his old goalkeeping gloves and step into the breach. Having not done a stint between the sticks since the middle of last season, he approached this task with some trepidation, but also the knowledge that he had the skills to succeed - even if his Goalie top was now looking about two sizes too small for him! The team was bolstered by the addition of Zak, making his Lightning debut at centre back with James on his left and Daniel on his right. Ray and Joseph took up midfield roles, with Stanley and Matthew wing forwards and Luke on his own up front.

The game began with a familiar alacrity from the Teddington boys. Matthew instantly made inroads into the Blacks' defensive lines with some excellent running down the right wing. Zak stood firm at the back, providing good cover for George as he settled into his old role. Luke nearly got away from the last man thanks to a pin-point accurate through ball from Zak, but he just couldn’t get past. Ray and Matthew linked up well as Lightning ramped up the pressure on Kingswood. Stanley put in an excellent cross that Matthew picked up skilfully, but couldn’t find the killer blow.

George then rediscovered his ‘keeper’s voice’ and kept his defence marshalled admirably. Stanley had a promising shot that rattled into the side netting of the Kingswood goal, and Joseph went on yet another of his trademark jinking runs into the box, but agonisingly couldn’t get the shot away. Teddington were playing with confidence and panache, all we needed now was some goals. Joseph took an excellent shot directly from a free kick, but, despite a tantalising fumble from the Blacks’ keeper, it was saved on the line. Kingswood then broke, but a fearless charge from George sliding in on the advancing striker did just enough to put him off his finish and the ball was cleared.

James was then brought down in a crunching tackle that took him off the pitch. Hearts were in mouths on the touchline. We couldn’t afford to be a man down, but thanks to some excellent physio work from Richard he was bravely back on the pitch within a few minutes, limping slightly but ready to do battle once again.

Unfortunately, with only three minutes to go before half time, Kingwood penetrated Lightning’s defences and the ball was hammered past a diving George and into the bottom left hand corner of the net. It was a brave attempt from George, but to be honest, it was hit with such venom I don’t think any keeper would have stopped it.

As the half time whistle blew Teddington could be really proud of the way they had played in the first half. They certainly didn’t deserve to be a goal down and there was no doubt that they were definitely still in this game.

Half Time – Kingswood T U12 Blacks 1-0 Teddington Athletic Lightning

By necessity rather than invention, Lightning started the second half unchanged. Joseph and Ray battled away in midfield and Luke had another chance in front of goal but the shot went wide. George made a save at the other end, but then some slightly over-enthusiastic defending from Stanley saw the referee award Kingswood a penalty. As the Blacks player stepped up to take it, George correctly worked out exactly where he was going to put it and dived bravely to his left, but the ball was just out of his reach and it found the back of the net in the bottom right hand corner.

Two nil down, but definitely not out, Lightning turned up the heat. Stampeding up to the other end of the pitch where Joseph was brought down in the box and a return penalty was awarded. Luke stepped up to take it and calmly fired it past the Kingswood keeper to get Lightning on the scoresheet. This was followed three minutes later by another break from Luke who beat his man and showed impressive composure in front of goal to guide it past the Blacks’ goalie and chalk up a very deserved equaliser for Lightning.

How the wheel of fortune turns. Teddington were firmly back in the game. George made a solid save and Joseph continued to pile the pressure onto the Kingswood defence with his penetrating runs. Zak ran his heart out, covering the whole pitch as Teddington defended like lions. Running the line, John wielded his flag like Thor’s Mjölnir, administering swift off-side justice whenever the Kingswood forwards got out of line. There was a brief stoppage in play whilst the match ball was replaced due to a loss of pressure, but there was no such drop in Lightning’s intensity. Ray fought on terrier-like, displaying some impressive footwork, but then, with only eight minutes left on the clock, disaster. A speculative Kingswood shot from outside the area blazed its way through the Teddington defence and past a diving George to put the Blacks into the lead. Again, unfortunately for George, it was a pretty un-saveable strike.

But Lightning weren’t giving up without a fight. They battled on with a free kick that was delivered perfectly into the box, but no one could get on the end of it. Zak then nearly set Luke free again with another laser-guided through ball, but he just couldn’t get through the Blacks’ defences. George made another save and Lightning threw everything they had, including the proverbial kitchen sink at Kingswood, but time was against them.

As the full time whistle blew, the ‘seagulls’ had certainly had their fill of football ‘sardines’. It had been a rollercoaster of a game, with something for everyone. All of the boys had played their parts admirably and they had certainly deserved to take a least a point away from this game. On another day, and with a full strength team, perhaps they might have. Today though it was all about the performances, both individually and as a team. Everyone worked hard and battled to the bitter end. One of those days when a narrow loss actually felt like a win.

Full Time – Kingswood T U12 Blacks 3-2 Teddington Athletic Lightning

Goals – Luke (pen 40’, 43’)
Player of the match – James – he got knocked down…but he got up again!

Match details

Match date

Sat 22 Jan 2022

Kickoff

10:00

Meet time

09:20

Instructions

Please be advised we have limited car parking, so please park on the various side streets, and walk in and do not block or overload the car park or neighbour driveways. Please also do not park on any grass verges or kerbs which will cause access issues for pedestrians, wheelchairs, or pushchairs. Please do not park in Rookery Way.

Due to our limited parking availability at site, please use our secondary parking location; Stubbs Lane, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 7AS. From here you can walk through the woods past the recycling centre which is adjacent to the pitches or come through the entrance on the A127 opposite the Shell Garage.

Please note that we will have parking marshals on site to assist with parking and penalty fines will be issued by the Council if people park incorrectly or block residential access.

We play in: Blue and Black stripes, black shorts, and black socks.
Team overview
Further reading