EASTERN JUNIOR ALLIANCE
None of our EJA teams were in action this week as the U13, U14 and U16 games fell victim to the weather and frozen pitches. whilst our U15s progressed to the 4th round of the Herts FA U15 County Cup via a walkover when their opponents pulled out of the fixture. They will now host Cheshunt Youth U15 EJA Blacks on 15th January 2023.

The previous Sunday saw all four teams in action and another week of mixed results, the best of which saw our U16s winning through to the 4th round of the Herts FA U16 County Cup and a trip to Hertford Town U16 on Sunday, 29th January 2023, after a 4-2 win on penalties over Colney Heath U16 EJA following a 1-1 draw. This was a hard fought and well-earned win as we were forced to play most of the game with only 10 men after Callum was given his marching orders 15 minutes into the tie following a second yellow card. If this wasn't bad enough, all looked lost as we were 1-0 down going into the last minute but up popped Yusuf to bring us level and take the game to penalties, with our boys converting 4 and Colney Heath only managing to beat Jacob in our goal on two occasions. Colney Heath must be sick of the sight of us as our U16s have now put them out of two cup competitions this season, and both 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw, good old deja vu!

Other results on the day didn't exactly go to plan though with the U13s losing 7-3 at London Lions and the U14s going down 4-0 at top of the table Cheshunt Youth, whilst the U15s could only manage a 2-2 draw at bottom of the table Letchworth Eagles, to continue our recent run of poor form.

SOUTHERN COUNTIES FLOODLIT YOUTH LEAGUE
Our U18 SCFYL team were without a league game again this week so took advantage of the free week to play a friendly fixture against another SCFYL side in Potters Bar Town Youth. This was going to be a tough fixture for us, not only because the opponent is unbeaten in their league so far this season and sit on top of the Delphian League with a record of 8 wins and 1 draw, but because we hadn't played a fixture for six weeks! This showed in the opening exchanges as we struggled with the tempo of the game and our opponent's movement, and we quickly found ourselves 2-0 down. Changes in tactics and formation at half time didn't bring about immediate improvement as Potters Bar scored straight from the restart to extend their lead to 3-0. However, as the half drew on, the changes in tactics and formation started to take effect and we eventually took control of the game scoring twice to bring the scoreline back to 3-2 and with us looking the most likely to go on and score again. However, with 5 minutes to go and our boys tiring, having not played for six weeks, Potters Bar seized on a momentary lapse in concentration in our defense, to grab a fourth goal and that's how the game ended.

Although disappointed with the result we can take a lot of positives from the game having pushed a very good side all the way in our fist game for six weeks.