Leeds v Nottingham ( 1 - 2 ) - Junior Star League - Sat 30th January 2010

Leeds u12's finally started playing again after a 7 week layoff.
On a beautiful sunny but very cold morning at St Theresa's, Leeds started well and took the game to Nottingham, with some good build up play in central midfield by Lee Rowley, Jacob Archer, and George Hamnett, and good wing play down the left by Tom Elliott and Oscar Bailey....however the strong Nottingham defence snuffed out most attacks on the edge of their penalty area and stopped Leeds having any shots at goal....it was inevitable that at some point Nottingham would build an attack themselves, which they did on 20 minutes, and despite the Leeds defence almost clearing a loose ball, an unlucky rebound fell straight to a Nottingham striker in the Leeds penalty area, and he turned quickly and fired a good shot passed Leeds keeper Lewis Wray....0-1.
This was so unlucky for Leeds as the defence of Ross Dickinson, Michael O'Donoughue, Lawrence Wilson and Tom Elliott had tackled really well and looked like keeping a clean sheet.
Despite Leeds stepping up the pace, they failed to find a break through and it was 0-1 at half time.
Leeds started the second half brightly with Scott Townend and Grady Marshall introduced up front, Joe Firth in midfield and Andy Slinger in defence...after about 15 mins, good play down the Leeds left wing created a half chance inside the Nottingham penalty area, resulting in Scott Townend getting in a left foot volley which just cleared the crossbar....
Leeds were all over Nottingham now, and you could sense an equaliser coming soon, but it was'nt to be....loss of possession in midfield resulted in a quick break away by Nottingham, and Leeds got caught short in defence, a Nottingham striker finding himself one-on-one with Leeds keeper Ross McKenna, and firing low into the net to make it 0-2 on about 50 minutes.
Leeds responded well, and a rasping Grady Marshall shot was tipped over by the big Nottingham keeper.
Then good strong play again by Grady Marshall on 55 minutes set up George Hamnett, and from 8 yards George hit a great right foot shot low into the bottom corner, beating the keeper on his near post....1-2.
A last minute corner for Leeds almost produced an equaliser, but Nottingham held on for the win.
Final Score 1 - 2.
Signs of better play by Leeds, hopefully a win will not be too far away.