This morning U14 Lazio travelled away to face Ampthill. With the two teams occupying the bottom two slots in the table at the start of play, this certainly had the feel of a good old fashioned six pointer. Throw wind, rain, plus a boggy pitch into the mix and this was never likely to be a game for the feint hearted.

Lazio started sluggishly but actually woke up quickly and had the opening chance of the game. Good play from Josh R on the right saw him play a nice cross across the face of the goal which Blake looked set to finish at the back post but he just couldn't quite keep his effort down. Ampthill responded with a good chance of their own, a free header from a lovely cross which luckily for Lazio was also put over the bar.

The remainder of the half developed into a very even game, with both teams having periods of good play and half chances that they could have done better with. For Lazio, Josh Green came the closest to scoring, firstly firing a good shot across the face of the goal but narrowly wide, then, after a good run down the left flank, blazing a shot wide over when maybe a square ball would have been the better option.

0-0 at halftime, which felt about right.

The game seemed like it was there for the taking for one of the teams and the first goal was always going to be important. Unfortunately for Lazio it was Ampthill that grabbed that all important first goal just a few minutes into the half. A second goal for Ampthill followed not too longer after and Lazio suddenly had a mountain to climb.

Lazio continued to push forward looking for a break that would get them back in the game. Alfie hit the top of the crossbar with a long range effort, Blake came close from a wide free kick and Jelani saw his well hit volley go narrowly over. However, in general Lazio's play as a team wasn't good enough to create a really clear cut opening.

It was also far from one way traffic as Ampthill continued to look dangerous going forward. They too hit the crossbar and Chris pulled off several good stops to keep the deficit to 2. In the end though the pressure on the Lazio goal told and Ampthill grabbed a third goal a few minutes from time to completely seal the game.

3-0 Ampthill the final score.

A disappointing morning for Lazio. A decent enough first half from which we could have pushed on but we really didn't do ourselves justice in the second half. Never mind, we brush ourselves down, work hard in training and go again next week.

This week's Gartec Player of the Match went to Chris for a number of really good saves in the second half, well played Chris.

Well played to our two linos also, Tony R in the first half and Andre in the second, tough conditions for most men with the flag today but obviously not for our seasoned pros.