On Saturday, 21st May, Hereford FC’s U18 side defeated Newcastle Town Juniors to take home The Midland Junior Premier Cup.
Hereford Lineup: Seb Osment, Cameron Marsh, Nye Bennett, Mark Derricott, Ben Vine, Tom Rogers, Ryan Price (C),Jac Jones, Freddie Fox, Haydon Leek, Harley Morris, Joses Davies, William Goodman, Isaac Groves, Noah Galliers, Daniel Britton, James Atkinson.
The local side showed a dominant display from start to finish with flare and finishing excellence in this fantastic cup final victory. This was clear from kick off as Hereford FC piled on the pressure with some fantastic play from the young lads. Despite this, the boys trailed 1-0 in the early stages. However the opening goal for Hereford came and was set up by eventual Man of the Match Ben Vine, who intercepted the ball from Midfield before providing a defence splitting pass through to Haydon Leek. The wide player squared the ball across to a grateful Harley Morris, smashing the ball into the back of the net. Half time: 1-1.
Into the second half and Hereford follow up with a second as Tom Rogers rifled the ball into the net. Leek demonstrating great tenacity as he played the ball into the feet of Rogers to grab an assist brace. Hereford’s third came as a result of good combination play between Jac Jones and Morris, setting up Isaac Groves who was enabled to drift past the Newcastle defender and slot away a top corner finish with his left foot.
The team was flying and it didn’t stop there. Herefords fortunes continued, impressive trickery from an in form Harley Morris lead to a shot from Jones, stopped on the line, rebounded, and was eventually pounced on by Dan Britton from close range. An opportunity for a fifth arrived in the form of a penalty towards the end. Unfortunately, the spot kick was missed by Harley Morries, who happily still had high spirits by full time. The euphoric smiles of Harley and all of his team mates said it all, a great group of young players with a bright future.
When speaking to coaching staff we discovered more about this sides talent and work ethic. ‘The players have been tremendous’, as told by Jamie Edmund (leading coach), ‘and it shows how players from Hereford can compete and challenge established sides with the right technical and tactical training’. This was re-established by fellow staff, Kevin Griffin, who explained ‘the combination of coach planning, players and the support from parents have produced a well deserved cup victory and league position’. What we can recognise from these comments is that this team is determined to be successful and together at every step. Coach, Mark Griffin, felt that having the players available for training twice a week combined with Saturday games has really given opportunities for the lads to bond and gel as a team. All of this culminating into this great cup win. Congratulations to Hereford FC U18. A well deserved Victory!
if you are interested in attending a session then please contact U18’s manager James Edmonds on jedmonds.herefordfc@gmail.com or you can fill in the forms online at https://www.herefordfc.co.uk/u18s/
