Dereham Wanderers Blues U10 entertained Heigham Park Rangers in a top-of-the-table league game. It was an extremely important match for both teams as victory for either side would almost certainly ensure the league title. The game started off at a tremendous pace with both teams battling for possession. Heigham had the earlier advantage as Dereham appeared nervous. However Jordan and Byron kept Heigham at bay with some excellent defending. Heigham then thought they had taken the lead after 10 minutes, but the goal was disallowed. Billy had bravely dived on the ball when one of the Heigham players kicked it out of his hands and into the net. Dereham then began to play more of their free-flowing game that has served them well all season. This resulted in Josh S opening the scoring for Dereham after an unforced error by the Heigham goalkeeper. Great build up play between Liam, Sam and Byron then resulted in Dereham increasing their advantage when Josh B coolly slotted the ball past the keeper. Just as half-time was approaching, Dereham appeared to be taking control of the game, but Heigham kept pressurizing Dereham’s defence and their pressure paid off with a goal just before half-time. As the second half began Dereham’s passing and movement off the ball was clearly telling on the Heigham players as they began to tire. Dereham subsequently increased their lead when a cross by Ben deceived the keeper and ended up in the back of the net. Reece, Adam and Sam then combined to open up the Heigham defence which allowed Liam to shoot and score a tremendously struck ball from just outside Heigham’s penalty box. In the latter stages of the game Dereham wrapped up the points when Josh B ran from the half-way line, shrugged off two defenders, and poked the ball past the keeper. With just seconds of the game remaining, Heigham scored a second goal but it was too little to late to have any effect on the final result. Final score: Dereham Wanderers Blue 5 Heigham Park Rangers 2. Wanderer’s Manager’s Man of the Match: Jordan Butler; Heigham Manager’s Man of the Match: Ben Gordon.

Dereham Wanderers Blues U10 wish to build on this excellent season and are already looking for new players for the start of next season, in particular a goalkeeper. This will be under the newly formed Swanton Morley Rovers. Also, due to the team moving up to Under 11 next year we will need more players in our squad. Therefore, there’s a good chance you’ll be playing in the team every week. Anyone currently in year 5 who might be interested will be more than welcome. We’ll be playing a few five-a-side tournaments during the summer so you won’t have to wait until September to start playing for the team. The first training session will be free and currently our training sessions run from 6pm – 7.30pm on a Monday evening at the Dereham Hockey Club. Please contact Adrian on 07908000845 if you would like any further information, or please feel free to turn up to training (even if it’s just to watch) and ask for Pete or Adrian.