Stoke Mandeville's U11 Stags Navy suffered a late 2-1 defeat at the hands of Wycombe Town on Sunday (1.12.24).

The away team started strongly, applying lots of pressure and stopping the Wycombe players from getting a foothold in the game. After a couple of good chances went begging, the Stags secured a deserved breakthrough mid-way through the first half.

After winning the ball on the edge of his box, defender Edward calmly slid the ball to centre midfielder Charlie who turned and neatly skipped a couple of tackles to lead the break. He then threaded the ball through the Wycombe defence to the feet of Eleutherius who raced into the box and cooly finished into the bottom corner. Stags had the ball in the net again a few minutes later, only for the home team linesman to wave for a dubious offside decision.

As the second half got underway, the Stags looked comfortable and created three or four good chances to extend their lead, but putting the ball in the net proved difficult.

Sensing they could get something from the game, Wycombe turned up the heat and applied lots of pressure as the game drew to a close. A flurry of corners eventually told as a mix-up at the Stags' front post allowed an unmarked Wycombe player to step in and slot home an equaliser from three yards.

Then with two minutes to play, another corner was sent into the Stags box and sailed into the net above the head of goalkeeper Rowan. The home team held on for the final minute to take a 2-1 win.

Player of the Match: Mason D'Cruz
A very impressive performance by the right winger, creating chances upfield and then defending stoutly when Wycombe applied pressure.