Team Profile, Information and Match reports 13/14
Under 14’s Reds
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Managers Profile: Name: Richard George What is your football background? Played football all my life But not to any decent level as if you see me play you can tell. I now follow Rochdale as I’m too broken to play anymore How long have you been involved with Pennine Juniors? This is my 6th season as a coach How long have you been managing a team? 6 years What do you like most about managing a team? Who said I like it??? What do you find challenging when managing a team? Everything but mainly keeping the players keen What has been your funniest/best/ most memorable moment? In 5 seasons too many to name, but probably the Dads v Lads games, but we have had to stop them as the Dads are all too old now! Describe your team: quiet but very effective when they are in the mood! What are you focusing on in training? Passing, passing and passing! It’s the best skill in the world! Tell us the best game to date and why: Failsworth Villa away 2012/2013 season won 5-6 best game of football I have ever been involved in, end to end stuff and we just had enough with only 11 players but they all worked so hard and deserved the win. What advice/tips would you give to young, up and coming footballers? Play as often as you can even if it’s on your own, and no virtual football doesn’t count
Contact details: Richard 07941 041199 Training times and details: Cardinal Langley Wednesday 7.30 - 8.30 Page | 2
Results at a glance: Pennine Juniors Under 14’s Red 2013 / 2014 Season Date
Home
07/09/13
Pennine Red
5
Chadderton Vipers
3
14/09/13 21/09/13 28/09/13
ROCS Pennine Red Middleton Boys
10 3 5
Pennine Red Failsworth Villa Pennine Red
0 1 1
05/10/13 19/10/13 09/11/13 16/11/13 30/11/13 14/12/13 01/03/14 08/03/14 Cup 15/03/14 05/04/14 12/04/14
Pennine Red Tottington Pennine Red Chadderton Vip Failsworth Villa Springhead Woodbank Pennine Red Pennine Red Pennine Red Pennine Red
3 4 0 1 2 6 3 1 0 1 5
Springehead Pennine Red Tottington Pennine Red Pennine Red Pennine Red Pennine Red Chadderton Vipers Middleton Boys Woodbank Wardle
3 2 4 2 3 3 1 1 2 3 0
14/04/14 28/04/14
Pennine Red Wardle
2 2
ROCS Pennine Red
2 5
Goal Scorers Vitti Kershaw McBurnie Johnson George James Huszar L. Nicholls Cheweshie
Away
19(1 c) 4 1 2 1 1 2 6 1
Scorers
MOM
Vitti (3), Kershaw, McBurnie
Nicholls
Vitti (2), Johnson George Kershaw, Vitti (2) Vitti(2) James, Vitti Kershaw, Vitti , Huszar Vitti(2), Kershaw L.Nicholls Vitti Cheweshie Johnson, Huszar, L Nicholls (3) L Nicholls Vitti (5)
Straszewski Kershaw George McBurnie Nicholls Johnson Nicholls McNicohlas George Kershaw Cheweshie Burke Cheweshie Whole team
Man Of The Match Awards Nicholls Straszewski Kershaw George McBurnie Johnson McNicohlas Cheweshe
3 1 1 2 1 1 1 2
Burke Team
1 1
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Match reports: McNicohlas Yes we’re back!! First game of the season @ home v Chadderton Park Vipers
The only change to the team from last year was Romano Crawford has moved away, but we have found a replacement in Wilson Cheweshie. We played on the plateau as the other pitches are not quite ready for the season yet, which didn’t fill me with confidence as it’s not my favourite pitch!! But we started very brightly as the team looked confident as they should be as current b division champions! With a couple of early chances as Matt Newstead and Jacob Vitti (sporting a very nice pair of boots!!) ran the Chadderton defense ragged. We pushed and created but didn’t manage a breakthrough until Jacob got the ball on the left, at the halfway line and ran straight passed the defender and straight at goal the defender struggled to keep up with him and Jacob smashed it past the keeper 1-0 We didn’t stop there as Jacob again broke down the left wing using his pace and skill to beat his man only for the goalkeeper to force him wide, Jacob looked up and tried to cross the ball but it hit the keeper who was trying to get back into his goal and it fell kindly back to Jacob who helped himself to another goal 2-0. We were dominating play now, but we still looked a little rusty after a long summer, but after a bit of a switch round Harry Kershaw found himself on the end of a through ball and calmly slotted the ball past the advancing keeper with his left foot 3-0 Half time 3-0 Chadderton started strong in the second half and from a corner they found themselves back in the game, it was a good corner and a good header but Luke Straszewski in goal got his hand behind the ball and pushed it out but as the net was so tight at the top Luke’s hand hit the net as he pushed the ball out but the Ref gave it as a goal thinking that the ball hit the net but it didn’t only Luke’s hand 3-1. We need goal line technology !! We created chances but the finishing touch seemed to go missing, but I knew there were more goals to come as Chadderton started to find extra energy and we began to get tired but up popped our energy man Elliot McBurnie chasing any lost cause and got what he deserved as the keeper didn’t clear the ball well enough and it fell to Elliot who saw the keeper off his line and dinked it over the top, we all waited for what seemed like forever for the ball to drop, it hit the post just under the bar and went in !!!! 4-1 This should of seen us home but we pressed the self-destruct button as Chadderton piled on the pressure and managed to pull two more goals back (why can’t we do things the easy way??) 4-3 The clock was running down with what seemed to be a very long nervy second half and when Jacob got the ball just inside the Chadderton half I was screaming at him to run it into the corner as I knew there was only seconds to go but with the magic boots he was wearing a punt at goal seemed a better idea, Harry Kershaw followed the ball in which I think made the keeper take his eye off the ball and it slipped through the keepers hands and in, Harry made sure it went over the line but the goal was Jacob’s for a deserved hat-trick 5-3. Full Time 5-3.
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Man of the match – Dan Nicholls – absolutely superb today, won everything that came his way and some that didn’t as well. Special mention – My boots scoring a hat-trick today as Jacob had to borrow them as his were too small and they didn’t have enough time to get some new ones!!! and Jacob as well as they have never moved so fast or in fact scored a hat-trick!! Wilson making his league debut, learning as we go but a good determined performance My thoughts – we could of won this easy as we had done the hard work in the first half, but we let them back into the game by switching off so we need to learn to concentrate for the full 70mins, but well done to all as we are back and winning.
Opponent: ROCS Date: 14/09/13 Venue: Away Result: 10-0 Match report: Hi all Away to ROCS who we knew nothing about except they had a good win against Springhead last week as they have just joined from the Tameside league We went into the game confident after our opening win last week, although we also knew we would have to concentrate more! We started very bright with the first attack of the game after about 30 seconds as Jacob Vitti passed all the defenders and ran at goal, he looked up as he had got that far ahead of his man and tried to cross the ball but it fell into the keepers hands he knows he now should of smashed it past the keeper instead! It didn’t take long though for ROCS to start playing their game and a very tricky right winger caused allsorts trouble, after some superb saves from Luke Straszewski in goal we couldn’t keep them out and they took a 1-0 lead. Their second came from a blunder by the ref (less said the better) after one of their players hand balled in our penalty area, Sam McNicholas cleared the ball out of play, instead of the ref giving us a free kick he said “ you had the ball “ which was never under control but he waved play on! Direct from the throw in the tricky winger passed a couple of our players and scored 2-0. We also received our very first caution, Dan Nicholls pulled one of their players back which everyone saw, and the ref was very happy to give him a yellow card!! He wanted to red card him, but when we explained the rules, the player was running away from goal and Macca was covering he realised it was a yellow not a red, I’m sure a word would have been a better option but it was technically a yellow!!!!!!!!!! Half time 2-0
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ROCS came out in the second half and demolished us and ran out worthy winners!! Full time 10-0 Man of the match Luke Straszewski – made some superb saves and was really brave and strong throughout My thoughts – we played against a team that shouldn’t be in our league but for 20mins we gave them a real game! We need to learn from this and realise we need to get a stronger and a bit quicker to compete with the best. A strong performance in the first half shame we couldn’t continue in the second. Sorry I don’t really want to go into my thoughts on after the game, all I will say is the ROCS players were a credit to their club!! Opponent: Failsworth Villa Date: 21/09/13 Venue: Home Result: 3-1 Match report: Hi All Home this week v Failsworth Villa, who we all should remember from last season as this was the team we beat to the title by 1 point, we also played them 3 time twice in the league away won 5-6 / home lost 1-4 and in the cup away won 2-5, so a close game expected! We started ok but both teams cancelled each other out, but after a good ball in from the right from Taylor James which found Jacob Vitti 6 yards out near the back post he prodded at it but somehow his effort went wide (I did ask if he wanted to borrow my magic boots??) but it wasn’t long before another cross from the right came in we got a shot off but it was blocked, it fell kindly to Jacob Vitti who thought about it for a minute the smashed the ball at the net which the keeper made a bit of a hash of it and it trickled over the line 1-0 We had the upper hand now and really pushed for another goal, it wasn’t long in coming as the ball fell to Charlie Johnson 30 yards out, who got it out of his feet and struck it really well at goal, and I don’t know whether the keeper was unsighted or misread the shot but it squirmed past him 2-0 Straight from the kick off Jacob smelled blood as they rolled the ball back from the kick off Jacob chased it down and won the ball off the midfielder and then smashed from 35yards out over the top of the keeper!!! 3-0 (perhaps he doesn’t need my magic boots after all!!) We had several chances to extend our lead as Failsworth looked broken but we didn’t quite get it right Half Time 3-0 It’s difficult as a manager to keep the motivation going when we are 3-0 up but we didn’t need a repeat of the last home game when we nearly let Chadderton go home with Page | 6
something, we stayed solid in all areas but Failsworth had woke up and we had to dig deep, we did concede a goal early in the second half but we stayed strong even as we stared to tire Full time 3-1 – A good win as we only had 12 players Man of the match – Harry Kershaw, covered every blade of grass on the pitch today and rose to every battle and won them as well, excellent in break up play which then turned into a superb attacking play Special mention – back 5 superb again today especially as there was no cover so they all played 70mins well done Opponent: Middleton Boys Date: 28/09/13 Venue: Away Result: 5-1 Match report: Hi All Away this week v Middleton Lads Middleton started much brighter than us as we looked scared of them as they are one of those big big teams and we’re not the biggest!! Middleton put us under pressure right from the off but we seemed to cope ok with all the defenders stepping up, but after a succession of corners they finally found the man with a bit of space and a good finish from the Middleton player saw them into the lead 1-0 Over the next 5 mins we began to get a foothold in the game and started to compete better and had a couple of half chances the best of which fell to Jacob Vitti who chased onto a ball over the top down the middle but only managed to get there just before the keeper but didn’t get enough on the ball to push it pass him, then we got sucker punched again after a Middleton player went down the right wing to the by line, cut back in and I think he went to cross the ball but the ball rolled into the far corner away from an outstretched Luke Straszewski in goal 2-0 to make matters worse there was nobody in the area at from Middleton at the time!! Half time 2-0 Told the lads at half time we need to compete more and challenge every ball, which to their credit they did, Jacob had a good chance as he skipped past the keeper at the edge of the Middleton penalty area, but the keeper just managed to get a finger on it and pushed the ball away, after that we started to tire and I left it a little late to swap a few players round and Middleton scored 3 more quick goals to put the game beyond us. It was only now though we started playing our football and we started to believe in ourselves with Harry Kershaw leading the line causing the Middleton players to lose concentration with his Page | 7
constant harassment, he was awarded a free kick on the edge of the Middleton penalty area. Harry took the free kick himself and went to curl it to the far post but it hit the cross bar and fell kindly to Tom George who prodded the ball home with his left foot 5-1 We pushed and looked competitive from this point to the end but couldn’t get another Full time 5-1 Man of the match – Tom George superb as centre half today and made a fantastic clearance off the line and also popped up with a goal Special mentions – Dan Nicholls brilliant again today really stepping up this year and leading by example! Harry Kershaw’s never say die attitude and a constant thorn for the opposition My thoughts – lacked belief today until the last 10 mins, but it should have been closer we have to believe we can compete at this level for the full 70mins
Opponent: Springhead Date: 05/10/13 Venue: Home Result: 3-3 Match report: Hi All Home v Springhead This is another team we know little about as we have never met before, but looking at their results we seem to be quite similar having beaten Failsworth and lost to both Middleton and ROCS so a close game expected Our usual squad rotation didn’t work too well this week or Springhead seem to catch us cold at the start of the game as they came out quickest but we weren’t help by the ref who also wasn’t quite up to speed as Springhead played a ball straight down the middle to their forward who was at least 2yds offside but the ref played on and the forward went on to score 0-1 Springhead had a very tricky winger who lead to their second goal from a really good cross which was met by a really good header 0-2 We now woke up and started to play our football, shame it took us 20mins! They looked a bit shaky at the back and I thought we could get back into quite easy, but it took a good through ball from Tom George in defence into the path of Harry Kershaw who kept his calm and waited for the keeper to advance out before rolling the ball into the corner 1-2
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With half time coming we were the team on top and a few of their players began to get a bit frustrated and dissent started towards the ref even after he spoke with the players nothing changed and the game got a bit scrappy Half time 1-2 At half time we had a chat about their no.14 the tricky winger and Sam Blinkhorn played a fantastic second half stopping him from getting a single cross in! the game continued to be scrappy with quite a few niggly fouls but the ref had seemed to lose any control of the game although he managed to see a Springhead defender just barge Harry Kershaw off the ball with absolutely no intention of going for the ball and the ref pointed to the spot for a penalty! Jacob Vitti stepped up and from a very very long run up, slotted the ball into the corner 2-2 The ref was trying to get control of the game by pulling up every challenge made by us and the occasional one by them but It wasn’t working and with Springhead’s no. 10 constantly needing the ref to have a word for dissent, but the cards stayed in his pocket! Tom George tussled with a Springhead player on the edge of our box before getting a good foot and clearing it, only for the ref to pull it back for a free kick to Springhead for pulling ( I spoke after to Tom who said the other player was pulling him!! Or trying to swap shirts before the end of the game!!) Luke lined his wall up and as they took the free kick the walled jumped only to see the ball stay low hit one of our players in the wall and get a deflection which Luke almost scramble back across the goal to stop but it just squirmed under him 2-3 With 10mins to go we still had time to get back into the game and we reverted back to 442 from 451 and went in search for the equaliser A throw from Jake Cunningham didn’t quite make it into play but found his dads head stood on the sidelines, just to prove Steve hasn’t lost it he headed it back onto the field!! With the ball not making it into play we had a second attempt at the throw in this time it found Wilson Cheweshie, who turned nicely and found Sam Huszar on the edge of Springhead’s penalty box, who rolled it straight into the path of Harry on the right who crossed the ball across the 6yd line, the keeper only parried it onto the defender who it bounced off and it fell to Jacob at the back post to tap in 3-3 Full time 3-3 Man of the match – Elliot McBurnie – work rate and commitment as always superb but today he was always where I asked him to play breaking the game up and then taking it to the opposition Special mentions Sam Blinkhorn – superb second half against a very good player Luke Straszweski – made some crucial saves and kept us in the game Page | 9
My thoughts – It was a close game and after a slow start to come back to snatch a point almost felt like a win, but whoever starts needs to be switched on right from the start as we got a bit lucky getting something today! Opponent: Tottington Date: 19/10/13 Venue: Away Result: 4-2 Match report: Hi All Away this week v Tottington which was another team I haven’t come across before, but looking at their results figured it would be another tough game! I asked for a positive start and chase everything as we have been a bit sluggish away from home! And we did a good ball through from Harry Kershaw to his strike partner Jacob Vitti saw Jacob run through for a one v one with the keeper, Jacob hit the ball low and hard but it was too close to the keeper and the keeper did enough to push the ball wide for a corner. But it was Tottington who got the first goal from a cross we never really dealt with, their little winger prodded home from 5yds 1-0, and we were caught napping along with the ref for the second as a clear offside but the ref who didn’t leave the centre circle very much (more later!) didn’t see it and they went on to score 2-0 - 20mins gone!!! But we didn’t roll over and die, we decided to change things around a bit and moved Dan Nicholls into midfield holding area which released our forward players into pushing further up the park which worked as Charlie Johnson played a great ball into the channel for Harry to run onto and as he pushed the ball past the player the defender caught Harry who went down, the ref blew but from his vantage point of the halfway line said it was outside the box when it was clearly inside!!! This didn’t stop us though as we started to believe in ourselves that we could get back into the game and again it was a good ball through to Jacob who this time from a narrower angle smashed the ball past the keeper, it was a harder chance than his first but Jacob made sure this time 2-1 Just to prove it wasn’t a fluke only a couple of mins later good play down the left saw Jacob in acres of space and again from a tight angle smashed it past the keeper 2-2 Half time 2-2 Half time came at the wrong time for us as after a Tottington team talk in the green container!! They had managed to regroup and calm themselves down and were a much tougher to breakdown and we had lost all our advantage.
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We battled hard in the second half with very little reward and Tottington managed 2 more goals and as we huffed and puffed we couldn’t get back into the game Full time 4-2 Man of the match – Dan Nicholls- this lad can play anywhere he was superb in defence as usual but brilliant in the holding roll in midfield (think a few players think we need a new centre half !!) Special mentions – Luke Straszewski – superb in goal today everything stuck in those super gloves today and pushed Dan all the way for mom! Elliot McBurnie – brilliant energy today was everywhere and disciplined at the same time Wilson Cheweshe – great game today with bags of effort and a calming effect when on the ball, probably his best game so far this season My thoughts – I won’t dwell too much on the ref, just to say I thought he was very poor for both teams!!! I think Tottington weren’t expecting as a tough game as we gave them, but we battled today which was excellent and we have the pace and quality to complete with all the teams in this division if we only believe!! Well done feel proud today even though we lost because we lost fighting!! well done all
Opponent: Tottington Date: 09/11/13 Venue: home Result: 0-4 Match report: Hi All First game for a few weeks due to the weather Think it was one of those days when I should of stayed in bed! I had a fair bit of messing about before the game even kicked off as we were unsure about the pitch after an overnight downpour and I was advised to change the kick off by 30mins as some extra forking was required on the pitch before we played, only when I turned up for 9.30 to do the work, the under 13 reds had already kicked off on our pitch!!! A bit of confusion and misunderstanding somewhere??? So we eventually kicked off at 11am with Tottington starting the game and pretty much ending it as well as they played and passed the ball though us and scored without us even touching it! 0-1 We did try to get back into the game and our best chance fell to Jacob Vitti after a lucky bounce off a Tottington defender left him to run at the goal, but the Tottington Keeper Page | 11
came out and managed to get a hand to Jacobs shot. We gifted them the second after a ball fell kindly in our penalty area and nobody challenged the Tottington player, he had time to control in and pick his spot 0-2 Half time 0-2 We spoke at half time about our last encounter against them and the fact we had come back from 2-0 down to 2-2 but this time they kept control of the game. We stood our ground until the last 5-10 mins when we allowed them to score 2 more goals which the defence didn’t deserve after the battling performance they put in Full Time 0-4 Man of the match – Charlie Johnson- took a battering today to trying to create from midfield, didn’t react just got back up and tried again Special Mention – Back 5 all had a good game today in very tough conditions My thoughts – out muscled today on a muddy pitch which meant we were also outplayed, I know we are not the biggest team but we have to make sure we are no pushovers, most of the time today we matched them but the few times we didn’t we were punished and let them have 4 very easy goals Opponent: Chadderton Vipers Date: 16/11/13 Venue: Away Result: 1-2 Match report: Hi All Away v Chadderton Vipers First of the reversed fixtures this season as we played Chadderton on the first game of the season which we won 5-3 but after taking a good lead into half time we only just managed to hang on and scored our 5th with the final kick of the game. We started very bright and went 1-0 up within about a minute! A loose ball came out of the Chadderton penalty area to Taylor James who floated it over the keeper into the far corner a superbly taken shot 0-1 After that we were all over them as they couldn’t get going and soon enough we scored our second after a shot that the keeper spilled Sam Huszar followed in with the keeper trying to make up for the error Sam bravely challenged the keeper who still didn’t manage to get it under control and Jacob Vitti smashed the loose ball in the empty net 0-2 We dominated play but didn’t really make too many chances and Tom George standing in goal for Luke Straszeswski who was ill had very little to do Page | 12
Half Time 0-2 We came out brightly in the second half but still didn’t create enough and this let Chadderton gain confidence as they started to get into the game, meaning Tom was called into action with a superb one handed save, and another good stop at his right hand post, we needed some spark to get us going again and Harry Kershaw up front tried, he managed to beat the right back and push the ball past the centre half but a rash lunge from the centre half brought Harry crashing to the ground and the ref gave a penalty! Jacob took the penalty as he is our current taker, after he placed the ball on the spot he ran at the ball and smashed it harder than I have ever seen him hit a ball, but unfortunately it hit the right hand post and bounced clear! Time was running out and the 3pts looked safe as we were comfortable at this point but!!!! Chadderton hit a diagonal ball across to a player a yard offside! But the ref who had had a difficult morning with the opposition disagreeing with him finally let them have something! and the Chadderton player rolled the ball into the corner 1-2, the ref blew for full time from the kick off Full Time 1-2 Man of the match – I was going to give it to the whole team as I thought we were going to get our first clean sheet of the season until the last kick, and as nobody really stood out I decided to pass this week Special mentions – Sam Mac, Sam Blinkhorn these are our unsung hero’s week in and week out playing out of defence these two never get the credit the deserve their tireless work, combined with their commitment which is superb with the way they just get on with it without complaining. Well done both My thoughts – we lacked a little something today, maybe it’s the formation or maybe the conditions, but this game was for the taking today and we should have been more comfortable winners!
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Opponent: Failsworth Villa Date: 30/11/13 Venue: away Result: 2-3 Match report: Hi All Away v Failsworth Villa We now all about Failsworth’s strengths as we played them 3 times last year battling for the B Division title (we won if anyone needs reminding), we also played them at Norden earlier in the season and won a comfortable game 3-1 so a lot was expected. It was a cold but bright morning and their pitch as usual was in very good condition if not a little big!! Which was commented on by the ref who was shall we say experienced!! (about 60 -65 yrs young) We reverted back to a 442 formation as the 451 wasn’t giving us enough chances in front of goal in the last couple of games, but with the attack minded formation also lead to giving Failsworth opportunities as well, and it was Failsworth who took the lead from their first corner we stayed rooted to the ground and let their big no. 14 powered a header home 0-1 We got straight back into the game with Harry Kershaw doing his twist and turn, then twist and turn and then again passing 3-4 players including the keeper to eventually slotting the ball home from a tight angle 1-1 We looked the better team but quite a bit of our play was sloppy, making wrong decisions and this lead to Failsworth’s second goal, we lost the ball in the middle and it was hoofed over the top and their no. 9 looped the ball over the advancing Luke in goal. We always looked likely to get another, and it came from a goal mouth scramble, the ball fell to Jacob Vitti who poked it over the defenders and keeper 2-2 Half time 2-2 Half time helped us regroup and refocus on what we need to do, just keep calm and pass the ball, this worked and we started to dominate, if it wasn’t for the Failsworth keeper (Jacob and Charlie Johnson’s header) the bar (Taylor James) and a touch of luck we could have been clear, This was clearly winding their no.9 up which is what usually happens to be fare! if they are not winning, and after a verbally abusing the ref he gave him no choice but to book him! (not for the first time against us or this season!!) We continued in search of the winner but it just wouldn’t go in and we were always going to let Failsworth in with a chance or 2, the first came as they broke through down the middle for a one on one v Luke Strazsewski in goal who pulled off a brilliant save to his left and the defenders cleared the ball away, the next came from a similar route this time the attacker touch the ball passed Luke only for Sam Macnicholas to chase back and hook it off the line, Page | 14
the final attempt came from ??? down the middle the attacker got in front of Dan Nicholls via bundling him over and Dan decided to grab the ball to stop the attack, in doing so picked up his second yellow card of the season (think it was called taking one for the team as he knew what he was doing! The resulting free kick was blocked and cleared!!! With the game in the balance still as we couldn’t take our chances something had to give and after good work down the right from Jacob beating 2 men then crossing the ball we seem to have at least 3 chances blocked only for the ball to drop to Sam Huszar who took his time and calmly slotted the ball home FINALLY!!! 2-3 We shut up shop for the last 5mins putting 5 in midfield and working hard not to let them back in. Full time 2-3 Man of the match – Dan Nicholls – I know he got booked for grabbing the ball and I’m not condoning it but it is commitment to the team I appreciated as well as another superb performance as ever Special mention – Elliot McBurnie – he never stopped today and I was very reluctant to give him a rest as just when you think he has nothing more to give he starts again!!! My thoughts – We still need to find our mojo at the moment as this could have been an easier win, but at least I saw there was still fire in our belly’s and we are determined to keep fighting!
Opponent: Springhead Date: 14/12/13 Venue: away Result: 6-3 Match report: Another new ground to visit as we had only played Springhead at ours earlier in the season and after giving them a 2 goal start we pulled it back to 3-3 full time I was hoping history wouldn’t repeat itself butttttttttt we started very poor and sluggish and gifted Springhead a 2 goal start again We finally got back into the game from a corner which seems to be one of their problems as well!! After Tom George rose the highest to meet the good corner in from Harry Kershaw, he could only shoulder it onto a Springhead player but the ball bounced kindly to Jacob Vitti who does what he does best and smash it home 2-1 Could this be our wakeup call??
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No! Springhead walked straight past us and scored again 3-1 Half time 3-1 The players either seemed scared of their big no.12 or weren’t up for the match as he was allowed far too much time and space, we had a chat about closing people down but it fell on deaf ears and again Springhead scored again 4-1 We managed a rare attack and Harry was brought down 10yds from the edge of the penalty area and after a bit of debate I instructed Harry to take the free kick and he lofted it into the top corner giving the keeper no chance 4-2, we swapped things around and this helped as Jacob ran onto a ball down the left and brushed passed the 2 defenders and slotted the ball past the advancing keeper to score a superb individual goal 4-3 Our pressure still wasn’t good enough and Springhead managed to get a couple more goals before the end and ran out easy winners Full time 6-3 Man of the match – Sam McNicholas Mr reliable always gives 100% he is brave,strong and committed Special mention –Tom George gave everything he could today and tried to take the game to them with a captains performance My thoughts – we never wanted it today only a handful of players could stand up and be counted today against a team that we should have been closer to, we have to realise just because players are bigger than us we don’t stop!! I think we need to have a long hard look at ourselves as the last few games even though we have one 2 out of 3 we are not playing our best.
Opponent: Woodbank Date: 01/03/14 Venue: Away Result: 3-1 Match report: Hi all Yes we are finally back after an extended winter break with an away game v Woodbank In the break a couple of changes have happened as Sam Blinkhorn has left the club, and Luke Nicholls (Dan’s younger brother) has joined. We were down to 12 players today as we were missing Luke Straszewski, Josh Burke and Sam Huzsar all unavailable.
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We started very bright and we looked like we hadn’t had a 10 week break! With an early ball over the top for Jacob Vitti to run onto, he rounded the advancing keeper but, after steading himself the ball was blocked. This didn’t stop us from going at them with Harry Kershaw attacking their right back and getting passed him at will, it wasn’t long before Jacob was running after another ball over the top he beat the defenders and tried a shot from a very narrow angle, and Woodbank scrambled the ball away! Woodbank finally got going and you could then see we haven’t played for a while as we struggled to clear the ball and there was a lot of huffing and puffing as we started to get tired, and Woodbank capitalised on this after a bit of a scramble, we didn’t clear the ball away from goal and it fell to their striker who slotted the ball into the corner 1-0 this was their first real chance and the made no mistake !! The ball seemed to be rolling better for Woodbank and after a ball over the top beat the defenders Tom George in goal made a brave challenge to block the ball, however it ran loose and we didn’t clear the ball quick enough and their striker pounced again and made it 2-0 We had a couple more chances which either the keeper saved or we missed, but I felt if we could get the next goal we could change things around! Half time 2-0 I still believed we had enough to win this game but unfortunately Jacob had one of those days! No matter how hard he tried the ball wasn’t going in for him today, instead the ball fell kindly to Woodbank who scrambled in their 3rd from a corner we didn’t clear! 3-0 With 20mins to go we finally got a break with Luke Nicholls breaking free of the defenders and ran at goal, Jacob was screaming for the ball in the middle of the goal but Luke managed to pushed the ball passed the keeper from a narrow angle 3-1 Jacob had another one on one with the keeper who made a good stop (Just not his day!!) Tom George kept the hope alive with a couple of fingertip saves to keep us in the game, but we ran out of steam and looked dead on our feet! Full time 3-1 Man of the match – Tom George – standing in for Luke in goal, not only pulled off some fantastic saves but help control the back line, along with some great kicking Special mention – Luke Nicholls – scoring on his debut, also put in plenty of work both on and off the ball Dan Nicholls – great desire and commitment, wanting to win every ball
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My thoughts – started really well but after the first 10mins looked tired and struggled on a heavy pitch, didn’t clear the ball well enough and didn’t use the ball well enough when in possession. Think a case of fitness is due for the next couple of training sessions!!!
Opponent: Chadderton Vipers Date: 08/03/14 Venue: Home Cup fixture Result: 1-1 lost on penalties Match report: Hi All First cup fixture of the season, yes I know it’s March!!! At home v Chadderton Vipers I was expecting a good performance today now we had got a fixture in after the winter break, but we struggled all morning, I think it had something to do with the ‘silent weekend’ we were taking part in, it was very difficult for me told hold back with the instruction of where we were missing opportunities or needed to cover more, with the limited instructions going to the subs who went on. However to the game which wasn’t the greatest football match but we certainly looked the better side, but with Chadderton having a couple of standout players especially no.9 and no.7 we had to be careful of any lack of concentration. Harry Kershaw was doing a very good job of this not giving any of them time to settle on the ball. There were only a few half chances in the first half but both keepers had a fairly quiet game Half time 0-0 Second half started similar to the first with both teams cancelling each other out, we couldn’t quite get the team to click (a bit of man management could of come in handy!!) out of the blue Chadderton managed an attempt on goal and scored. My concentration was lacking as I couldn’t do too much I missed the build up and saw the goal go in !!! 0-1 This did give us the spark we needed as we went in search for the equaliser and it wasn’t long in coming, after a good build up play between Elliot McBurnie, Matt Newstead and luke Nicholls the ball was played across the face of goal to Jacob Vitti sliding in at the back post to score his 14th of the season and equalised 1-1, in the goal their keeper got injured and had to go off which I was hoping would help us as he was very quick off his line and also made some good stops! I would’ve loved to be able to instruct a few players to be more direct and test him! However the game finished 1-1 and penalties were to follow Full time 1-1
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Penalties – I asked for volunteers to take the penalties and we had Tom George, Wilson Chewshie, Elliot Mcburnie, Charlie Johnson and Jacob Vitti in that order Tom went first and smashed it into the top right 1-0 Chadderton went straight down the middle but high and Luke couldn’t keep it out 1-1 Wilson down to the left but the keeper saved 1-1 Chadderton bottom left Luke no chance 1-2 Elliot cool as you like bottom left 2-2 Chadderton bottom right Luke got a touch but couldn’t stop it 2-3 Charlie too close to the keeper and saved 2-3 Chadderton bottom right 2-4 Jacob too close to keeper and saved 2-4 Penalties 2-4 Chadderton win and go into the next round Credit to all that took a penalty great courage Man of the match – Harry Kershaw superb workrate for our new formation kept their best players quiet all game Special mention – back 3 Tom George, Sam McNicholas and Dan Nicholls, worked their socks off and didn’t deserve to lose today My thoughts – weird day today we didn’t play too bad but we didn’t play too well either and I think the lack of intervention from Craig and myself didn’t help
Opponent: Middleton Boys Date: 15/03/14 Venue: Home Cup fixture Result: 0-2 Match report: Back to the league after the disappointment of going out of the cup, with a home game v Middleton Boys. The weather has been good over the last week or so and the pitch was in good condition, hopefully to allow us to play some football. We started with a back 3 again even though we had 4 defenders!!!! With Josh Burke making his first appearance at home this season. We coped quite well from the pressure that Middleton put on us as they are a very big and strong team, we had the first chance as good link up play between Luke Nicholls and Jacob Page | 19
Vitti, with Jacob laying the ball off for Luke who beat the keeper from a narrow angle but also beat the far post as well. A lack of concentration let Middleton take advantage, we appealed for a foul which never came and let the Middleton player run passed 3 defenders without a challenge and he smashed it in to the top corner Leaving Luke in goal no chance. 0-1 Half time 0-1 We kept challenging and with the wind blowing hard it was very difficult for both sets of defenders, we got lucky as a ball was hoofed from there back line then the wind caught hold just as Luke advanced out and the ball bounced over Luke and into the goal but the ref had already blown for an offside !! We created quite a few chances in the second half but never managed a break through, Middleton managed to scramble another goal which was just enough to keep us out Full time 0-2 Man of the match – Wilson Cheweshe – battled hard and his positioning and work rate was superb today Special mention – Josh Burke – first home game of the season along with a new formation for him to work with but handle it superbly Matt Newstead – upped his game over the last couple of games with both work rate and performance well done. My thoughts – we played a good team today and pushed them all the way, the commitment and desire seem to be back, let’s keep it that way for the rest of the season! Opponent: Woodbank Date: 05/04/14 Venue: Home Result: 1-3 Match report: Down to just 1 sub today so we knew it was going to be a tough day against a tough opposition We started well and matched Woodbank all over the park as neither team gained any control, the deadlock was finally broken after a corner from us was broken down and the ball fell kindly for their forward who made no mistake and rolled the ball into the corner 0-1 We didn’t give in and kept on battling and created some very good chances ourselves which we should of converted.
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The game started to get a little niggly as they were quite happy to leave a foot in here and there with comments to try and wind a few people up, but on the whole we kept our calm and ignored them Half time 0-1 Their definitely wasn’t much between the two teams but we couldn’t quite get our passing going, when we did it led to a superb team equaliser, it started on the half way line with Charlie Johnson who split the defence with a perfect through ball to Harry Kershaw who put in a superb cross to the back post for Wilson Cheweshie to tap in (looked like Barcelona!!) 1-1 We looked like we were on top now and had them a little rattled but !!! from a corner for us they broke quickly and made no mistake 1-2 This killed us off as we struggled to get going again and Woodbank got a lucky 3 rd that bobbled over Tom George in goal 1-3 Full time 1-3 Man of the match – Josh Burke – superb battling performance Josh was everywhere and battled and chased every ball My thoughts – we did ok today, unfortunately we struggled at times with people picking up a few knocks, but the commitment and desire is back, we need to start concentrating more with our passing and movement
Opponent: Wardle Date: 12/04/14 Venue: Home Result: 5-0 Match report: Home this week v Wardle Our first encounter this season against Wardle as everytime we have tried this season the heavens have opened up! Wardle also struggled today as they struggled getting a team and started the game with 8 players with a ninth turning up 5-10mins after ko! With the extra men advantage we dominated play but to give Wardle credit we found it hard to break them down, I had suggested that we stretch the game by playing the ball wide but this seemed to fall on deaf ears!!
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We finally did get the break through as Jacob Vitti took the ball WIDE down the left cut inside and had a shot only to see the keeper stop it but Charlie Johnson bravely followed in and poked it passed the defender on the line 1-0 We could smell blood now and from another attack WIDE down the left the ball fell to Luke Nicholls, with his back to goal he was allowed to turn and volley the ball into the top corner 2-0 Sam Huszar was next to try his luck as he hit a 30yd shot which had the very tall keeper scrambling back but he couldn’t keep the ball out even though he had 2 attempts at it 3-0 It looked like it was going to be a rout as Luke netted his second to make it 4-0 before half time, but Wardle managed to compose themselves and keep us out Half time 4-0 we came out in the second half with the expectancy of scoring a bag full of goals but again Wardle dug deep and shut us down and nearly scored as everybody started chasing goals, a Wardle cross came in and Tom George in goal bravely dived out and prodded the ball away but it fell to a Wardle player who had a good shot but, Tom had picked himself up and scrambled across to push the ball over the bar. Harry Kershaw felt he had a lot to prove as he goes to school with a lot of the opposition and after jinking his way past 3 players the fourth clipped him in the penalty area and Harry was awarded a penalty, which I thought Luke should take for his hatrick, he calmly accepted and as cool as you like rolled the ball into the bottom corner even though the keeper went the right way he got nowhere near 5-0 We had a few more chances but the Wardle back line and the keeper kept us out Full time – 5-0 Man of the match – Wilson Cheweshie sat in front of the back 3 and protected them, he was superb at breaking the play up and playing a simple but effective ball out of defence Special mention –
Tom George – our only clean sheet of the season !!! Jake Cunningham – first game back after a bit of a layoff, good to have
you back Jake Sam McNicholas – superb at the back calm and collected won every battle (may need to keep the mouth shut though!!)
My thoughts – Job well done today, it could have been very easy to think we had won before we had even kicked a ball, but the first half performance was controlled and we did the job needed, second half I think we went a bit greedy and it showed as we only scored 1.
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Opponent: ROCS Date: 14/04/14 Venue: Home Result: 2-2 Match report: Our last home game of the season saw us face ROCS who we lost to under unpleasant scenes last time 10-0 so I was hoping for calm and a composed performance on and off the field!! This was also the only evening fixture so far so I wasn’t too sure how the lads were going to react (probably not as sleepy as normal!) The lads seemed happy after the victory over Wardle at the weekend and seemed keen to get the game on, and so was the ref as we didn’t get a chance to warm up properly and straight into the game. The game started very evenly with no clear chances for the first 10mins or so, Jacob Vitti looked like he was up for it as he pressed the ROCS defence and almost capitalised on his pressure and ROCS players just about saved themselves, but it was Jacob who created the first chance as he picked up the ball near the halfway line and breezed past the defender into the penalty area, sold the defender a dummy and squared the ball back to Elliot McBurnie but unfortunately Elliot scuffed his shot wide. It was ROCS that broke the deadlock but the goal shouldn’t of been allowed as the forward was clearly 2 yards offside but the ref (who was nowhere near play!) allowed play to go on even though Ian McNicholas (assistant ref) flagged (as he was up with play!) this was probably as the ROCS manager and parents constantly berated the ref and assist linesman on every decision that went against them! 0-1 Half time 0-1 I thought we were still in this game and the opposition started to get a bit worried and look unsure about themselves and we needed a bit of luck, I thought we had got it after the ball had gone out of play but in chasing the ball we kicked it up the line, which in turn crossed the ball in for Luke Nicholls to be brave and push the ball passed the keeper!!!! 1-1 NO the ref then brought it back for out of play!! Still 0-1 Luck wasn’t with us and after a misjudgement from Sam Mac on his back pass to Dan Nicholls in goal (struggling with a groin injury) their forward nicked in and made it 0-2 We never gave in though and I decided to go for it as I thought we had enough battle and skill to get back into the game, after Harry Kershaw was brought down 10yds from ROCS penalty area Harry got back up and sent the cross floating over the top, the ROCS manager running the line flagged even before the ball was kicked didn’t get the offside he was looking for and Matt Newstead brought the ball down on his chest turned and fired at goal
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only for the keeper to save it, but the rebound came to Jake Cunningham who smashed the ball home 1-2 NO the ref judged Jake offside 0-2 Looked liked we were going to get nothing from a game we deserved something from, until Luke chased a ball down and the neither the keeper or defender took charge so Luke did and poked the ball home 1-2 they couldn’t cancel this one!! We had them on the back foot but time was running out and we hadn’t had much luck, but Luke popped up again chasing a ball down and again the keeper made a hash of it Luke pushed the ball past the keeper held him off and rolled the ball into the goal 2-2 the supports went wild and Josh Burke who was sub at the time ran on the pitch and jumped on Luke (he was also lucky not to get booked for it!!) We ran out of time and the game finished 2-2 Man of the match – whole team – proper team performance, didn’t get bullied like last time and didn’t sink to their level! My thoughts - great to see the pride in the team mates playing for each other, having the desire and commitment against a tough team, that was the only points they have dropped in the league so far Opponent: Wardle Date: 18/04/14 Venue: Away Result: 2-5 Match report: Final game of the season v Wardle, we have had several attempts to get this one on and finally it had to be played on a Monday night! Perfect weather as very little wind and just starting to get cloud cover. Our last game v Wardle was only a couple of weeks ago and Wardle struggled to get a team together and had to play with only 9 men, and we did win 5-0 but it wasn’t that easy , so with a full team I was expecting a tough one especially as they had a few players who can’t always play for them as they play in a higher league! It started fairly even but I think as we were playing up the slope we were probably the better team it took about 20mins to really get going when Jacob Vitti broke through for a one on one with the keeper (and after a discussion about placing the ball instead of smashing the cover of it!!!) Jacob slotted the ball home 0-1 This was our chance to take control of the game but no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t seem to press home the advantage and with a ball over the top from Wardle left their forward with a one on one with Keeper Luke Strasweski but the ball bobbled over Luke’s out stretched arm and rolled into the goal 1-1
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Luke came to the rescue shortly after as a loose ball fell kindly to a Wardle player but Luke was big and strong and parried the ball away. Just before half time we restored our lead via that man Jacob Vitti with an identical goal to his first and made it 1-2 Half time 1-2 We came out the brighter and now with the downhill advantage we started to dominate and Jacob slotted home his hatrick which was another carbon copy of his first 2!! It seems it works to place the ball in that situation!!!! 1-3 I think the game was over as a contest now and there were definitely players who wanted to leave a mark on the game, one was Harry Kershaw who goes to school with a few of the opposition, Harry turned the full back and chased in at goal and fired a shot at the keeper but the keeper got down well to parry the shot but Jacob managed to pick up the rebound for his fourth goal (3 assists to Harry though!!) 1-4 We cruised to our fifth and you can probably guess who got it! Although Jacob did save his best until last, he picked up the ball about 30yds out ran across the edge of the box and rifled the ball towards goal, it had had a wicked dip and flew into the goal 1-5 Wardle managed a goal right at the end (although I thought it was offside!!) Full time 2-5 No man of the match as the trophy was given to the Parents player of the season which went to Harry
Kershaw
Well done to Harry for picking up the first trophy of the season Special mentions – from back to front everyman especially Dan Nicholls, Charlie Johnson, Luke Nicholls and Harry Kershaw who all had a fantastic game tonight My thoughts – even though it looked like the Jacob Vitti show it wasn’t, it was a brilliant team performance from front to back, I rate that up with the ROCS at home, the 2 performances for me where the highlights from this season, it was a fantastic performance all round a great way to end a good season
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