University College School

The U15A team took to the field on Saturday full of a swagger that would befit a team that won their first fixture of the season extremely convincingly. The same team and formation was kept from mid-week, resulting in Ben Bowers being an unhappy substitute, but a real threat when he was to be introduced.

We kicked-off and UCS looked extremely comfortable with the icy conditions. Levi Levenfiche and Vincent Onuegbu starting where they left off in the last game, forcing the Colfe's goalkeeper into a fine early save. However, we once again found ourselves a goal down far too early, keeping Colfe's at bay for 5 minutes this time rather than 4 minutes in mid-week. Sam Greenberg made a fantastic close-range save but poor marking allowed an opposition player to tap in unmarked. The players responded fantastically; they rolled up their sleeves and forced Colfe's onto the back foot. Jake Perry and Carl Diebitsch were in a real battle in the centre and they more than matched their opposite men. Sam Shalson and Jake Barnett were once again extremely impressive in defence and limited Greenberg's workload behind them. Wingers Altmann and Ratnam-Evans were not used as much as they should have been, a fact highlighted by our equalizing goal coming from an Altmann cross after great work on the left by Chen. Altmann's cross was laser guided onto the head of Onuegbu for his first of the season and UCS were back where they deserved to be; on level terms. Levenfiche was causing more havoc from an attacking midfield position, where his dribbling and movement caused Colfe's trouble all morning, and he provided Onuegbu with several goal-scoring opportunities. The Colfe's goalkeeper kept UCS at bay almost single-handedly, preventing Onuegbu from extending his goal tally on many occasions. Comninos and Chen provided the centre backs with ample support (not that they needed it) and UCS were looking comfortable going into half-time at 1-1…until a through pass dissected our centre back and full back and the Colfe's player scored what was to be the winning goal against the run of play.

Bowers was introduced at half-time, and his pace was telling almost immediately. Ratnam-Evans moved to central midfield and UCS once again took a firm grasp of the game. Through passes for Onuegbu were plentiful, as were crosses from Bowers and Altmann, but despite knocking on the Colfe's door, it just wouldn't open. A penalty for UCS came and went, and as we pressed forward searching for the equaliser, Greenberg in goal was just a passenger enjoying the world as it passed him by. He was called upon to make just one save in the second half, and what a save it was. At full stretch, he clawed the ball out of the top corner and kept UCS in the hunt. Unfortunately the trip to South London was to prove fruitless as we failed to convert any of the many chances on offer.

UCS: Greenberg, Comninos, Shalson, Barnett (capt), Chen, Ratnam-Evans, Perry, Diebitsch, (Bowers), Altmann, Levenfiche, Onuegbu.

The performance by all twelve boys was most impressive and although they will be disappointed by the result, they have much to be proud of. Performances like this every week will certainly see more wins than losses, and the boys should be optimistic as they approach the match with St Paul's on Saturday.