Nine-man Robins praised for making Tigers work for win

An illness and injury ravaged Roffey Robins Atletico under-13s put in the performance of the season against Horsham Tigers. With only nine players available it was always going to be a tough task against a strong team.
Roffey Robins' depleted under-13sRoffey Robins' depleted under-13s
Roffey Robins' depleted under-13s

Tigers fielded 11 players, which meant that they dominated possession and they quickly exploited the gaps to open the scoring. There were fears that they would win by a cricket score. However, Atletico battled hard and soon equalised.

Will Anderson received the ball on the left hand side and played a beautiful cross field ball to Romario Moratalla on the right who drove forward and crossed to Joshua Bellamy who met the ball with a sumptuous bicycle kick to equalise.

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Atletico continued to battle hard. Fin Ledingham and Tim Clifford both played their best games of the season with Josh Davidson and Dan Klamm solid at the back. Atletico never resorted to long balls and continued to play good football. Luca Harris never gave up in the centre of midfield. He covered plenty of ground to battle to negate the waves of attack. Tigers scored twice more in the first half.

The second half was in the same vein. Bellamy and Moratalla both had half chances and Anderson blazed over after a fantastic period of play. Theo Botevyle dominated his penalty area in goal, stopping shot after shot and giving the defence the confidence that they needed.

Tigers scored three more in the second half although there was more satisfaction for Atletico. Moratalla took a corner from the left hand side, it brushed Anderson’s head and fell to Davidson who slotted home.

Manager Ricardo Moratalla said: “I’m so proud of my players. Every single one of them gave their all, battled hard and put in fantastic performances. We showed what we were all about. We worked as a team, supported each other and showed that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I hope the players bring the same attitude and energy into next week’s game, although first they have all earned a rest.”