Today, for the first time this seasonm we had a squad of 12 players from which to choose. Although it was a nice luxury, it also creates a few problems getting valuable match time for everybody concerned. With a full squad, we made a few changes to start this game, George played further up pitch in midfield and we also pushed our skipper Reggie into a more advanced striker position.

The visitors were clearly a strong side, this was proven in their results today and how they started the game. We were on the backfoot for the first ten minutes trying to cope with their spells of possession and the ball being in our half of the pitch. But we weathered the storm and started to look lively on the break. From a long throw by Arthur down our right, this released Reggie who did well to lob the keeper from close range for1-0.

But Chiltern continued to look a threat in attack and deservedly got themsleves back in the game when their giant midfielder was allowed to drift into our box unchallenged and unleash a shot from an acute angle that beat Mason at the far post to level the game. But Stevenage continued to work very hard and were rewarded when another long throw into the visitors box was converted in a similar way to Reggie's goal, this time Arthur Leeke beat his opponent to net and give us a 2-1 lead going into the break.

It was still a tough battle trying to stay in front, but when jeremy beat the keeper and scored to make it 3-1 I thought we may have done enough to get a victory that would have been hard-fought. But Chiltern weren't finished and pulled another goal back from close range to make it 3-2. At this stage we relied on Mason to pull off a few outstanding saves from goalbound efforts as Chiltern pressed for an equaliser with time ticking away.

Just as I thought we'd held on under pressure, we allowed an easy/tame effort to be hit from the edge of the box with nobody closing down and it drifted into the far post to make it 3-3. To be fair, Chiltern deserved at least a draw, they are a strong side, but we also need to learn how to manage a match when we're leading late into the game.

But it shows how far we have come this season when we can come off the pitch disappointed after only drawing against a very good side.

Stevenage & District U11 Team

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