Moreton 4 vs Blaise 1- 21/06/15
After two days of settling into Canadian life Moreton were clearly keen to get off to a good start in their first game against Blaze, pressuring high and moving the ball quickly. After 10 minutes a good cross from the right winger found its way to Moreton’s attacking midfielder who fired a half volley into the roof of the net. Blaze however reacted well and the next 15 minutes saw them enjoy long spells of possession. It was quickly evident that this was going to be a tough game for Moreton to win. With excellent passing from Blaze they cut through Moreton’s midfield on numerous occasions and looked very dangerous. 25 minutes into the game blaze scored with a volley from 30 yards. Although The goal keeper should have kept the shot out it wasn’t anything less than Blaise deserved. The final 15 minutes of the half saw Blaise continue to enjoy possession and stretched Moreton in very hot weather. Moreton did however look dangerous on the counter attack with the striker narrowly missing several one on ones.
At half time Jeff Ashton stressed the importance of holding our shape and looking to hit Blaise on the counter attack. Moreton took this on board perfectly and looked defensively excellent. Although Blaise had more of the ball they couldn’t penetrate at all. Moreton waited patiently and looked like scoring every time on the counter attack. 60 minutes in a great low cross from the left back found its way to the striker who tapped home to make it 2-1. 10 minutes later an almost identical goal was scored when the left back ran from deep with the ball, crossed into the striker who calmly passed the ball into the bottom right hand corner making it 3-1. The final goal came from the right winger. After a great run he cut inside and whipped the ball into the centre forward. His first touch was a great turn which allowed him to simply strike the ball passed the keeper for 4-1 finishing off his hat-trick. Although 4-1 would appear a dominant result Moreton had to work very hard against a very talented side. A lot of learning took place in this match.
