HAVING recently recovered from a pretty significant injury, Luke Marsden has been showing a fantastic attitude in training and matches to get back to near his best form for the Under-13s, and he is included in this week’s Colwyn Bay FC Academy Players of the Week nominations.
There was a masterclass in defending from Rowan Maxwell for the Under-12s, while Andrew George made a big impact coming off the bench for the Under-14s against Newtown.
The full list of nominations is:
CAI HUGHES (UNDER-8s): Cai has shown his determination to develop in training. He is giving 100% in sessions, showing very good improvement on his passing, and is lifting his head up after his first touch and looking for the pass.
Along with this Cai is strong at making list ditch tackles and interceptions. He is adapting to new roles, but tends to play a defensive role as this suits his natural ability to read the game and be in the right place at the right to relieve the counter attack. He makes clearances up the pitch therefore this allows his team mates to get back into their shape and pick up their men.
He is really trying to play out from the back with wide and direct passes, including through balls. Fantastic Cai; keep up the hard work. Jonathan Tasker (U8s Head coach).
MACSEN HUGHES (UNDER-9s): Macsen has had a great week in both training and the match.
In training Macsen listened to details given and put them into practice. The match this week was against Newtown, where Macsen had an outstanding game.
Playing a lot of the game as a defender, Macsen understood the role really well, stopping any attacks and making it difficult for the opposition attackers. In training we had been working on the defender joining the attack, which Macsen did with great effect – creating two goals and unlucky not to score a goal himself. Well done Macsen; keep up the good work. Joe Fitzpatrick (U9’s Head coach).
HARRY SMITH (UNDER-10s): Harry was outstanding on Sunday against Newtown, being solid in defence, using his body to shield the ball whenever under pressure, always looking to receive the ball with confidence and make the right decisions when he has it.
Again, taking onboard information in training and applying it in a game situation is exactly what we ask of him. Mason Blackwell Jones (U10 Coach)
ADAM PRICE (UNDER-11s): Adam’s attitude was outstanding on Sunday, always battling hard with and without the ball, really setting an example to his teammates and never giving up in and out of possession. His recent training sessions, he’s grown with confidence and his understanding is always growing. Well done Adam; keep up the hard work. Mason Blackwell Jones (coach).
ROWAN MAXWELL (UNDER-12s): It was another absolute masterclass in 1v1 defending this weekend from Rowan, where he is just excelling and relishing the duels he’s faced with.
In the last couple of fixtures he has been tasked with defending against two outstanding forwards with real pace, skill, trickery and intelligent movement. Rowan has been able to match both and is fair to say he has limited them both to the minimum and marked them out the game.
In his game at the minute Rowan is so focused and alert to everything happening around him and is his reading and anticipation of where the danger is second to none. At times I’m not sure what is quicker, his brain with the intelligence to see and read the danger, or his lighting pace to get across and make the interception or block.
It really is a pleasure to watch such top draw defending. He is so brave,with putting his head on everything and then committing to every challenge he goes for making it his own.
Everything about his decision making is just improving week by week, and along with this his leadership he just continues to grow and have a greater influence on the team with his talking and organising. Superb work Rowan; keep up the hard work. Matthew Roberts (U12s Coach).
LUKE MARSDEN (UNDER-13s): Luke has recently recovered from a pretty significant injury. His performance and attitude to both training and match days has been fantastic and he has gradually improved to the point where he is getting back to his best.
This was evident in the weekend’s game away to Newtown. He put in a great performance against a very tough and creative Newtown side. His positional awareness was top draw and he read the play and stepped in well to cut out a lot of their switch play.
Luke’s renewed confidence on the ball was great to see as he received deep and tried to get us forward quickly, carrying the ball out to try and hit them on the counter. Overall another very good performance from Luke.
It is really pleasing to see him back putting in regular solid performances. It’s a credit to his attitude and commitment. Well done Luke; keep up the hard work mate. Lee Bubb (U13s coach).
ANDREW GEORGE (UNDER-14s): Andrew has been ever present at training and working hard to improve. This week it came together and Andrew made a big impact coming off the bench against Newtown. He ran hard, showed skills in 1 v 1 and made several chances to win the game. Good effort by Andrew in a team that performed very well. Well done.
EVAN FLINT (UNDER-15s): Evan has been exceptional for several weeks now, but has previously narrowly missed out on the player of the week award. Always looking to get on the ball in between the lines, and drifting into pockets of space, Evan plays a key role being a link from either defense or midfield to the attackers which is important when we win the ball back and look to transition from defense to attack quickly. Evan always works hard in his out of possession duties also. Well done Evan, Zac and Russ (Under 1’s Coaches).
REECE ROBERTS (UNDER-16s): Reece’s running and work rate on the pitch has always been good, but sometimes he could be ineffective. Now, however, he has more focus on when and where to apply pressure and is far more successful in dispossessing the opponents.
He leads the line very well and is starting to realise the value of playing on the defenders shoulders, rather than dropping deep to look for the ball. He was an example in his tireless will-to-win attitude in our game against Newtown and was rewarded with a very good goal. We would like to see this attitude in other members of the squad. Well done Reece. Paul Adams (U16s coach).
AL BEARDMORE (UNDER-19s): After a few tough weeks as a collective, where our results are not reflecting the performances for our young U19 squad, Al has been a constant throughout all games with his leadership qualities and desire to push his performances further. His skills away from the pitch is, however, what is separating his work rate and attitude above all others. Matt Sampson, Academy Director
