CTYFC u13s 6 Brackley Athletic 1

The u13s hosted Brackley Athletic for a KO cup semi final on Sunday. Despite constant rain and some delicate negotiations with the groundsman and officials, the game got the green light to go ahead.

Charlbury started well, and had the upper hand in the early exchanges, the breakthrough coming following a fine cross field pass from Tyra Aitken, which was finished clinically by Toby Ball. A couple of glorious chances were missed by Charlbury in search of the second goal, before the key moment in the match just before the end of the half. A rasping volley from Harry Hinton was bound for the top corner, but the Brackley centre back threw out a hand and tipped it over – resulting in a straight red card and a penalty kick. After a little bit of discussion over who fancied it, Tyra stepped up to smash it in the top corner – 2-0 at half time.

Brackley came out strong in the second half, and got their reward with a fine free kick struck in from 20 yards, reducing the arrears to 2-1 and threatening to make it a typically nervy affair. However, the comeback did not last long, with a Toby corner volleyed in by Tyra almost immediately, restoring the 2 goal cushion.

After this Charlbury completed the match in resounding fashion – Tyra adding two more goals to his tally to make it 40 for the season, and Ollie Jarvis scoring the final goal with a great header from a Toby free kick.

An impressive performance from the whole squad, defensively rock solid throughout and pacy and dangerous on the attack. Great credit to the players in reaching a major final in 3 straight seasons, and the attitude and teamwork of the squad is a pleasure to be part of. This will (hopefully) be played under lights on 27th April, and hopefully like the last two they can finish up with the trophy!