MK Wanderers U18 Hawk

Today’s game against Flitwick Eagles Green was a hard-fought contest that highlighted both positives and areas we need to improve.

The first half saw us take advantage of set pieces, with three well-taken goals putting us in a strong position after going down 1-0 in the first 5 minutes. While we didn’t play our best football, we did enough to go into halftime with the lead.

The second half, however, was a different story. Flitwick came out pressing aggressively, which disrupted our game. We struggled to cope under the pressure, with misplaced passes and a lack of composure allowing them to claw their way back.

The final result, 4-3 to Flitwick, is disappointing, especially given the strong position we were in. We will need to reflect on the second-half performance and make sure we work harder, stay focused, and communicate better on the pitch. We know what we’re capable of when we’re at our best, but that requires consistency, discipline, and effort for the full 90 minutes.

We’ll get back to work in training and aim to bounce back stronger in the next game.

Today’s match was another exciting chapter for the boys, and they delivered a performance to be proud of, especially in the second half. Here’s a quick rundown of how the game unfolded:

We started well, controlling the tempo and creating opportunities, though we needed to move the ball quicker through midfield to exploit the space more effectively. After 25 minutes, a fantastic move down the left led to Odai opening the scoring with a composed finish to put us 1-0 up.

However, just before half-time, a lapse in focus allowed Eaton Bray to equalize. Their big number 7 was given too much time and space to play a ball through, which they capitalized on.

At half-time, we challenged the boys to find the passion and desire to dominate the game. They responded immediately. Early in the second half, Jayden put us back in the lead with a brilliant strike, giving us the momentum.

From there, the team’s energy and determination didn’t let up. Andrew delivered a pinpoint cross from the right, and Musah made a lung-busting run to meet it and fire home our third goal. Later, Andrew tried his luck with an optimistic cross from deep on the right wing, and it sailed straight over the keeper’s head to make it 4-1.

This was a game where teamwork was the standout. Every player stepped up, did their job, and contributed to turning the match around. It’s impossible to single anyone out as man of the match because the result came down to everyone pulling together and showing what we’re capable of as a team.

Finally, a huge thank you to all the parents who helped with car park duty, setting up the respect line, sorting out the corner flags, and stepping in as linesman. Your support and involvement mean a lot to the team, and we couldn’t do it without you. 💚💚💚

Today we took on Eaton Bray in the League cup. Fresh off the victory against them last week in the league, we went into this match full of confidence and optimism. Mk Wanderers started the game extremely strong with attack after attack. Andrew with some impressive wing play, almost produced a carbon copy of his goal from last week which nearly caught the keeper out with a deep cross which narrowly missed the top corner. Down the other end, Eaton bray had a couple of break throughs on goal, but the defence cut out the majority. The break came around the 20 minute mark with Hayden putting in a good free kick which evaded all, but Odai was there following in to head home to make it 1-0. The game changed dramatically when Andre handled the ball on the goal line denying Eaton bray a goal and in result received a red card and penalty awarded, Eaton stepped up and put it into the back of the net, 1-1. With a few juggles in positions with Mk Wanderers down to 10 men, they were told by the coaches to remain calm and to continue to play the same football which made them
So dominant up until the red card. Half time 1-1.
We came out at half time knowing the task was a big battle and that battle got even harder, after losing possession in midfield and unable to deal with the quick counter Eaton Bray found themselves 2-1 up. MK wanderers continued to compete with only 10 men, holding the majority of possession and only being septavle to the counter attack. We began to regain control and after a tidy slipped through ball from Warren , Godwin drove into the oppositions box and shot which was saved but Andrew was there to see it over the line making it 2-2. With their tales up Wanderers continued to show that even with 10 men they were more than a match for Eaton bray and on 70 minutes took the lead with another goal from Andrew. The boys had worked so hard to get back in front and the work rate from them all was admiral, reducing Eaton bray to long balls, and a few long range shots. Around the 85th minute and long ball into the box unfortunately fell on to the foot of one of our centre backs and deflected right into the bottom corner giving mathew no chance reacting to. The hard work was undone down to a freak goal 😭.
The whistle blew and it went to penalty’s. Jayden , Andrew , Musah , Warren and Brodie stepped up to take the penalty’s. Unfortunately we missed our first penalty and Eaton scoring theirs, both teams continued to score their penalty’s and then with a penalty for Eaton bray to win the game mathew made a great save meaning we had to score our 5th penalty… but unfortunately we missed it and were out of the cup. It was a hard one to take given how dominant we were with 11 men and then the courage and determination to go from 2-1 down to 3-2 with 10 men we couldn’t have asked more from them. We finished the game with the loss but we walked away heads held high and proud of them all.

Recently we learned the news of former MK Wanderers football parent, Carol Georgiou , mother to Jamie , one of our original players sadly passed away. With the devastating news, today at Kent’s hill we marked our respects with a 1 minutes silence before kick off. We would like to send our love to Jamie and the rest of his family, from the coaches, players and parents at MK Wanderers u18’s 💚💚💚

Today we played our 3rd league game of the season, coming off the back of a great performance and our first league victory of the season against Bedford Park Rangers, we travel away to Eaton Bray Lions whites. Before the game both team showed respect to the fallen with a 1 minutes silence. An early kick off which started very level between the two sides, Eaton bray with some good wing play caused early problems against our defence and stand in keeper whilst our first choice keeper serves his final game of suspension. We didn’t start the way we would like to and after the first 20 minutes we finally tested the keeper from arwin coming close with a shot from the edge of the box. Eaton bray was a threat on the counter where they managed to get two players in behind which appeared to be offside but the flag stayed down and they made it 1-0 between the pair of them. Feeling hard done by Mk wanderers continued to pass the ball around to try and create openings but to no success, we forced a few corners and come close but the equaliser came on the brink of half time with a through ball from midfield into Andrew coming off the right side and slotting it pass the keeper into the corner making it 1-1. The second half started and you could see only one team who would go on to win the game, a ball played wide to Andrew who worked the right wing and crossed in a floated ball beyond the keeper making it 1-2. We kept creating chances which were cut out by Eaton bray , but finally Musah with some great footwork lost his marker and played a sublime through ball to Luca who powered his way into the box and finished brilliantly with his left foot. It felt game set and match but Eaton bray tested our stand in keeper Odai with a looping shot which he punched clear and a mix up in defence led to the ball hitting the post which was a big wake up call that the game wasn’t over!… Mk wanders then carried on to create chances with Jayden rattling the cross bar from a great free kick , and maybe with the right mindset we could have punished Eaton bray with 2 or 3 more goals but it wasn’t to be, the final whistle blew and MK wanderers were victorious. Man of the match goes to Andrew.

We look to next week where the roles reverse and we play hosts to Eaton bray in the first round of the League cup.

Game off due to waterlogged pitch

Mk Wanderers P-P Flitwick Eagles Blacks

A extremely strange game today with how the referee dealt with it. I have never been apart of such a tame match which had 7 yellows and a red 😳. However after a flakey start we manage to get back into the game just before half time and kept grinding away in the second to chase the game to the final whistle. Feeling hard done by, by both penalties awarded against us. But we take the positives and move on to the next game.

Flitwick eagles greens 4-3 Mk wanderers

After a great start at Sundays county cup game against Naphill FC, we unfortunately let a 1-0 lead going into the second half slip from the grasp of our hands and ultimately looked a shadow of the team we were in the first half. Naphill scored 3 goals in the second half as we manage to claw one back with 5 minutes to go but ultimately it was too little too late. We lost the game and go out of the county cup at the first hurdle. It’s not been easy to take as manager and i hope the boys look at this loss as a chance missed as we aim to put this behind us as we move into the weekend for the first official game of the league season.