The Under 16s travelled to East Grinstead this weekend to face a tough Meads side which narrowly lost out on the League title last season.
With a squad still struggling with injuries, and playing without a recognised striker, the task was always going to be tough after an early defensive error lead to Meads taking the lead in the 4th minute.
Throughout the reminder of the first half Cranleigh ran the show though, with some fantastic football being played throughout the team, the midfield of Tom Barker, Callum Price, Charlie Dyer, Matt Clarke and Marcel Kotowski got the better of their opponents who resorted to shirt pulling and other petty tactics to break up our play. But despite having the majority of the possession Cranleigh failed to trouble the opposing keeper.
The second half was a similar story and Cranleigh kept up the pressure, only to find themselves two down on the hour as Meads scored again with a high quality finish.
Cranleigh fought out the remainder of the match, and despite a few scares at the back, came close with a great turn and shot from Ben Coles and several mazy runs from Charlie Dyer.
Defender Jack Dowdall was a match for Meads’ strong striker, cutting his surging runs short with some pacy interceptions and well time sliding tackles, and overall the defence, marshalled by Callum Jones, looked comfortable with what was thrown at them.
The match ended 2-0 and Meads’ manager conceded that Cranleigh were very unlucky not to get anything from the game.
All performances have been good this season, and today’s was no exception. Sometimes you do not get the run of the green…
Man of the Match : Jack Dowdall
