Mass Young Gunners - Commanders @ Juventus

 Young Gunners 2013 - Commanders


Mass Young Gunners - Commanders vs. Juventus Academy Boston

Wanderers Fields - Tyngsboro, Ma

Saturday, September 25, 2021


First Half

The game started off very rough for the Gunners. Maybe it was playing against a group of boys much larger or that they were confused that Coach Mike was reffing the game with Pat LaChance stepping up to run the team. Whatever the reason, the entire Gunner squad was standing around much of the first half on defense and offense, just watching their opponents dribble past them and blast shots on our keeper. Even with the constant reminders to be “goal side” of the ball and to show more aggressiveness on defense, the Young Gunners did not seem engaged in the game. This is commonly known as “Ball Watching”. The half ended at 10-0 for Juventus.



Half-Time Adjustments

The discussion was focused around defense for the second half by bringing more intensity by getting back on defense, going in for stronger tackles, since much of the first was spent swinging their legs at their opponents and moving without the ball. The Gunners did step up their effort in the second half and were able to create a few chances offensively, but in the end there were just too many holes to cover. We can contribute some of the deficits to being a much younger team, only having a few training sessions together, and it only being their second game, but the first half effort as a team was on us. The game ended with five more goals from Juventus with a final score of 15-0.


Players of the Match

Two players that stood out in the second half and made the greatest adjustment with their intensity and team defense were Jack McSweeney and Kai Hepler. Jack took a hard challenge in the first half that seemed to have shook him up. He didn’t let that affect him after the break and came out in the second half fighting for every ball. Most of the time I think he thought he was a superhero trying to win the ball since he was making attacking sounds as he was running. Kai also put in a great half winning many challenges. He also did a great job keeping possession for the Gunners, making several passes backwards to the defenders rather than force it through several defenders. This gave our team a chance to pass out of pressure.

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