Football Report Oct 08
The U16s kicked off the term with the Area Football Tournament at South Craven School, where games were played against Aireville and South Craven. Settle began with a closely contested game against Aireville, with chances at both ends but no goals. The second game with South Craven saw an end-to-end encounter, with South Craven running out 5-3 winners. Davidson and Sagar were solid at the back in the opening game, and Cardus, as usual, was always a problem for the opposition, whilst Mitchell was having a real impact in midfield before he “succumbed to the pressure of the situation”. Having gone 2-0 up in as many minutes it looked like a cricket score might be in the offing, but Settle found their stride and came back. With two minutes remaining, it was 4-2 to the home side when Settle scored and were pressing for the equaliser, only to be caught with a breakaway goal on the stroke of full time.
The U14s played Aireville at home in a fixture to replace the cancelled area competition. They got off to a sluggish start and were 3-0 down at the break, but responded with a fine second half display to win 4-3. Cooper was influential throughout, as were Davidson and Crosdale in defence.
The Year 10 competition was held on home turf, and in somewhat sunnier conditions. The first game saw the footballers play a strong South Craven side and they went down 3-1, although they created enough chances to win it. A 3-2 win over Aireville left them in second place overall. Harrison and Armstrong played well in midfield and Arrowsmith ran himself to a standstill over the two games. Newcomer Dunn toiled in defence and Atkinson, who alongside Harrison had been on duty with the area U15 team the previous weekend graced the games with some deft touches.
