In glorious Autumn sunshine on Sunday 4th October, the U12 boys had their first tournament of the season with just the bare minimum 7 players for a team:

Dan Garlick - GK
Fred Hunt - defence
Ollie Merin - defence / midfield
Owen Reed - defence / midfield
Daniel Valentine - midfield
Joe Tart - midfield
Jack Foxley - centre forward

Due to last season's excellence, Thirsk's somewhat inexperienced team found themselves in Division 1 (of 6), so the opposition were always likely to be tough.
In the first game against Ben Rhydding, we started strongly with a series of attacks, particularly involving Joe and Jack, but once the opposition found their game, the defence were under considerable pressure, eventually conceding 5.
The second game against Sheffield was a similar affair although the 5-0 scoreline was a little harsh as the boys had some good periods in the game, including a series of short corners, which were well executed but without a goal.. Daniel V, Owen and Joe added some extra legs to help the defence, where Ollie also had a good game.
The third game against Harrogate B team was very evenly balanced with Dan G having some great saves at one end and Jack having some chances at the other. Owen had swapped from midfield to defence with Ollie, and this seemed to work well as both contributed well to the match. In the end 0-0 was probably fair.
In the final game against Harrogate A team, the lack of substitutes in the earlier matches meant tired legs and the strong opposition converted 8 goals.
Player of the day - Joe Tart - first at right midfield where he linked up well with Jack and Owen, and later at central midfield after the re-shuffle. Nice skills to beat players and then find a pass.
Special mention to Daniel Valentine who has been training in goal, but played all 4 matches as an outfield player, but thank you to all the lads (and parents) for the effort - next tournament we will be in Division 2, which should provide more balanced matches.