Run Robert ..... Run Robert ..... Run ..... Run ..... Run ......

Sunday 4 October 2009 

Shelley 2 Shelf Panthers u-13s 7

Lightning-quick striker Robert hit a hat-trick in the space of 24 second-half minutes as the Panthers maintained their 100 per cent record at the top of the league.

With speedy winger Joe making a promising debut, and Adam Renard and Dylan continuing to sprint at defences, the Panthers’ new training regime is rumoured to involve tins of Winalot and a mechanical hare.

Shelf took a long time to get out of the blocks, though. Perhaps they’d all gone to sleep on the long journey to unfamiliar parts: were they playing Shelley in Shepley on the road to Sheffield, or should it have been the other way round?

An uncharacteristically subdued first-half performance saw the Panthers go ahead after 21 minutes through a typical goal-poacher’s strike by Tobias through a crowded penalty area, only to be pegged back to 1-1 by a good breakaway goal by the home side eight minutes later.

Coach Lee Marsh wasn’t impressed: it’s a good job there weren’t any half-time tea-cups around.

Worse was to follow. A minute after the break, Shelley made it 2-1. Time to whistle up the whippets.

Within two minutes, the Panthers were level. Tom Wood’s long through ball looked to be heading for the keeper, but Robert went sprinting into the penalty area to challenge him and then reacted first to tuck it into the empty net.

As Shelf piled on the pressure, Man of the Match Dylan had a good shot well saved, then Tobias made it 3-2 with a shot from inside the area after a goalmouth scramble to take his tally to 12 in four games.

Tom Wood almost repeated his 30-yard free-kick strike from the Hepworth match, but this time the ball crashed off the bar and dropped to Robert, who fired it wide.

Shelf had to wait till the 61^st minute for their fourth, hammered home by Robert after Jonny battled to win the ball in his own half before finding him with a perfectly-weighted pass. Robert’s hat-trick followed a minute later when he outpaced the defence and steered the ball past the keeper.

There was just time for another of Shelf’s sprint relay team – Adam Renard – to grab two goals in two minutes. The first, a sweetly-struck shot from just inside the area, curled into the top right-hand corner. The second was made by a great through-ball from Dylan and finished with a flourish by Adam.