After a wet and windy weekend, Herne Bay Harriers Juniors Under 12s welcomed Rising Stars Youth Blue Under 12s to Herne. As a chilly morning made way for sunshine, in the second half, the game certainly lived up to the weather in terms of action with the ups and downs it brought.

Around 10 minutes in and the Harriers were holding their own, with Josh F tipping a shot around his post and out for a corner to Rising Stars. Josh I, who battled well all game, fought for a ball around 10 minutes later and shot from distance which was easily saved by the goalkeeper.
With both teams cancelling eachother out Archie R shot just wide five minutes later, with the keeper stranded after a loose ball came back into midfield, the ball just trickling wide. The Harriers showing a good press from the front and causing mistakes. Then though came a goal for Rising Stars, a slip by one of our boys allowed number 8 to get in and strike past a helpless Josh F. Not to be defeated though, the Harriers struck back straight away. The Harriers again getting onto a ball that was cleared by the sweeper keeper for Rising Stars, falling to a calm Archie R again, on the bounce, he struck side footed, with a lovely half volley from all of 25 yards. Some finish and some finish to a evenly matched half against the team top of the league, though it must be stressed, after only two games.

The second half started in a frenetic fashion, as did the first. But this time a penalty was given for a foul on a Rising player. As he has before though, Josh F pulled off the stop to the delight of the home support. Then came heartbreak as Rising Stars retook the lead with a freak of a goal from out wide on the byline, with what can only be described as a cross by their number 14. Josh I came close to getting to a ball which the keeper just hacked clear in time, a minute later. Rising Stars did have their third though, number 17 getting through and finishing with aplomb after a missed clearance. Number 17 was providing tricky to to quiet, as he then scored again with another cool finish as Rising Stars really showed their worth and upped the ante in a 10 minute spell that the Harriers just seemed to loose their heads. Oliver then made a great last ditch tackle to stop a fourth from going in, in quick succession. Harrison made a good clearance and Kyle was barking instructions like any good captain would. That seemed to coincide with an upturn in performance for the Harriers as a team again.

First with 10 minutes to go, Archie T got in down the left hand side and muscled of his defender before firing just wide. Then an Adam Free kick was drilled into Archie T's path after he made a dart for the box and his shot was knocked around the post by a good save. And then with five minutes left on the clock Archie T and Archie R played a neat one - two, with the former only finding the goalkeeper with his cross from the left hand side. With 2 minutes to go, Herne Bay Harriers had themselves a free kick after a rough challenge by a Rising Star defender on Josh I. After a lengthy stoppage Adam stepped up and played the ball right into Archie T''s instep with his left leg, the ball found back of the net but to no avail as the flag was up. The call was as close as can be, but certainly a dubious one from the views of boys on the pitch aswell as off it.There was one final action before the full time whistle as Josh F made a cracking save to keep the score at 4-1. The Harriers gave as good as they got in the first half, and more than matched one of the best sides in the league for long periods. With abit of luck the scoreline could of been much different.

The team put in a good performance. Special mentions must go to Archie R, Josh I and Kyle A who all battled well and put in monster efforts but MOM went to Archie T.

Onto the next, next weekend down at Herne Bay Youth.

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