RANDLAY COLTS v TELFORD TOWN U15s

LEAGUE
Sunday 27th September 2026
Kick-off: 14:00
Venue: Wrekin College

OLD PROBLEMS RETURN AS CORNERS COST TELFORD DEARLY

Telford Town U15s welcomed Randlay Colts to Wrekin College looking to get back on track, but an afternoon in which they enjoyed long periods of pressure was ultimately undone by a familiar problem - defending set pieces.

With Evan returning following suspension, Telford started with Luke in goal behind a back three of Brad, Evan and George.

Kayden and Caiden provided the protection in front, with Fin, Bayley and Jacob further forward and Josh and Fin W operating as wing-backs.

Will, Ethan, Xavi and Zami started amongst the substitutes.

Watch the full match here or just view the highlights here.

FIRST HALF

Telford couldn't have made a much more difficult start.

Inside the opening minute George found himself penned in on the left and his attempted pass back towards Luke was intercepted. Randlay immediately squared the ball across goal and it eventually went in off Brad.

1' - TELFORD TOWN 0-1 RANDLAY COLTS

An unfortunate start, but Telford's response was excellent.

Rather than allowing the early setback to affect them, Telford took control of the game and began to dominate.

For a prolonged spell virtually all of the football was being played towards the Randlay goal. Telford pushed forward, won the ball back and created opportunity after opportunity.

The only thing missing was the goal.

Randlay were forced onto the back foot and Telford did just about everything except find the finishing touch, with their pressure failing to produce the equaliser their play deserved.

And then, right on the stroke of half-time, the old nemesis returned.

A Randlay corner was drifted into the Telford penalty area. The defence couldn't quite get the decisive touch needed to clear the danger and the ball dropped invitingly around five yards from goal, where a Randlay player tapped it home.

After spending so much of the half pushing for an equaliser, Telford somehow found themselves two behind.

HALF TIME - TELFORD TOWN 0-2 RANDLAY COLTS

SECOND HALF

The pattern continued after the restart.

Telford again pushed Randlay back and went looking for a way into the game, but despite getting into promising positions they simply couldn't make the breakthrough.

Then, 18 minutes into the second half, came another Randlay corner.

And unfortunately, another very similar outcome.

The ball was delivered into the area, Telford couldn't get it clear and once again Randlay were able to finish from close range.

58' - TELFORD TOWN 0-3 RANDLAY COLTS

Three goals down certainly didn't reflect the amount of attacking football Telford had played, but Randlay had been ruthless when their opportunities arrived.

Eight minutes later Telford finally got the goal they had been threatening for much of the afternoon.

And this one was all about Bayley's determination.

He harried the Randlay defence around the halfway line, refused to give up on the ball and eventually won possession. Suddenly he was through on goal.

Bayley kept his composure, rounded the goalkeeper and calmly rolled the ball into the empty net to open his account for the season.

66' - TELFORD TOWN 1-3 RANDLAY COLTS - BAYLEY

At 3-1 there was at least a glimmer of hope.

Unfortunately, within minutes Telford suffered another setback when Luke was forced off through injury, with Will taking over in goal.

Two minutes later Randlay restored their three-goal advantage.

A long ball over the top caught Telford out and, with the goal exposed, Randlay took advantage with a well-taken lobbed finish.

TELFORD TOWN 1-4 RANDLAY COLTS

That goal understandably seemed to knock some of the confidence out of Telford.

Having worked so hard to finally get themselves back into the contest, conceding again so quickly was a difficult setback and Randlay took advantage of the change in momentum.

Another corner was delivered into the Telford area and once again caused problems. This time the final touch came off George and ended in his own net.

TELFORD TOWN 1-5 RANDLAY COLTS

Two minutes later came another corner.

And unfortunately for Telford, another goal.

The delivery again found its way into the six-yard area and Randlay were quickest to react, converting from close range.

TELFORD TOWN 1-6 RANDLAY COLTS

The final whistle brought a difficult afternoon to an end.

FULL TIME - TELFORD TOWN 1-6 RANDLAY COLTS

The final scoreline was a harsh one on Telford, particularly given the amount of the game they spent on the front foot.

After conceding inside the opening minute, the response was really positive. Telford dominated long spells, created plenty of pressure and on another afternoon could easily have had more than Bayley's goal to show for their efforts.

Ultimately, though, Randlay were much more clinical with the opportunities that came their way, particularly from set pieces.

Four of the six goals came from corners and that gives Telford a very obvious area to work on in training. Getting the first contact, attacking the delivery and reacting quickly when the ball drops inside the area will all be important as the lads continue adjusting to the demands of U15 football.

The fourth goal was probably the point at which the game finally got away from Telford.

Having worked so hard to get back to 3-1 through Bayley's excellent individual effort, conceding again so quickly was understandably deflating and the confidence visibly dropped for a spell.

That's another part of the lads' development. There will be difficult periods in games and afternoons when things simply don't go your way. Learning how to reset, encourage each other and keep playing with the same intensity regardless of the scoreline will come with experience.

There were still positives amongst the frustration.

Bayley's goal was a great example of what can happen when you keep chasing and putting defenders under pressure, while the amount of chances Telford created showed that the final score didn't tell the whole story.

Most importantly, there are some very clear things to take back onto the training pitch.

MAN OF THE MATCH - JOSH

On a difficult afternoon, Josh produced an excellent performance.

Asked to operate in a number of different positions, particularly further forward, he worked tirelessly wherever he was asked to play and caused Randlay problems throughout.

He was unlucky not to get himself on the scoresheet, forcing the goalkeeper into a string of saves and continuing to provide an attacking threat right through the game.

Telford now need to put the result behind them, learn from the areas that caused problems and move forward together.

There is plenty of football in this group and plenty of the performance was encouraging. The challenge now is to combine those good periods of play with greater confidence and organisation when defending set pieces.

That's what development football is about - taking the lessons from difficult afternoons as well as the good ones and coming back better next time.