The Under 14 Representative side faced their toughest test yet when they went for an indoor evening match to face the West Bromwich Albion FC Academy team.

The game was played over 3 periods of 25 minutes and during the first 25 minutes the JPLS played good possession football and reduced WBA to a 1 goal lead but had chances to equalise following some good play through the midfield. The defence was very strong with Toby Wilcox making some fine saves to keep us in touching distance.

The second period was our best with 3 good chances to score going begging. WBA were slicker in their passing, as you would expect from a top academy side that trains and plays together, but the JPLS matched them in terms of pace and possession. Towards the end of this period WBA scored twice to make the score 3-0 but both goals were slightly unlucky on the JPLS.

The last period became a lot more open and WBA's class began to show as they scored 3 goals late on to make the final score 6-0.

On reflection the difference was that WBA worked the ball into spaces a lot more than we did and their ability to find this space and play off their first and second touch meant they were fresher coming into the last period of the game. It was a great experience for the boys as WBA are one of the top academy sides at this age group in the country.

A big thanks goes to Craig Filer & Dean Thomas for managing the team, WBA for organising it and all the parents for driving there on a week day evening.