Year 4 Boys vs The World - Saturday 13th December

Well perhaps not the whole world but our mighty year 4s did take on two different clubs, at the same time, winning 4 and drawing one. Not bad eh?

Our squad was split into three. Eight boys (Danny, Ollie K, Jacob, Raul, Sam L, Sam P, Max and Harri) travelled to the wilds of Long Ashton and were 3-0 up after about two minutes. At this point we lost all shape and discipline and chased the ball and the glory of scoring. Accordingly we stopped playing particularly well and relied very heavily on the Sam p and Ollie k to hold things together and snuff out any threat from Long Ashton. A brief half-time chat allowed the team to start again and the second half saw some great football and a dominant performance. In the end the score was 7-1 with Danny (3), Sam L and Raul (2 each) scoring. Ollie K was our man of the match although Sam p pushed him very hard.

At home two squads took on Shire Colts. One squad (Omar, Nicholas, Aidan, Alec Ollie C and Owen) started slowly in time-honoured fashion going 0-2 down to a couple of sloppy goals. Then, in the second half, we began to string the passes together. Omar converted to bring it back to 1-2. Further attacks followed until Omar grabbed the equaliser once put through on goal. It finished 2-2, a keenly fought game played in an excellent spirit by both teams, with some real flashes of skill on a muddy pitch.

The second game followed a different pattern. While Shire Colts showed some nice touches, and scored with a spectacular first time hit from a short corner, they couldn't match the physicality and directness of the Foxes. The defence and midfield consistently snuffed out most attacks, then released Omar to cause havoc in the opposing ranks. He could have scored 5 or 6, but 2 fine efforts were enough to give the Foxes a comfortable lead. The highlight was the third goal, an interchange of passes between Nicholas and Omar finished off with the outstretched right boot of Ollie C at the far post. Nicholas later claimed one from a deflected corner before Shire Colts grabbed a late consolation with the last attack of the game - final score 4-2. The whole team played well but Ollie C was selected as man of the match for his all round efforts - in defence, in goal, and finally in midfield, capped by his brilliant goal.

The other squad (Archie, Joey, Jack T, Jack C, Seb and Sonny) played two and won two (2-0 and 6-0). Details are scant due to a missing report from Coach Watts but after a slow start with too little passing and too much glory hunting the team settled down and took control. Man of the match was Jack C for a brilliantly taken goal that finished off a flowing move.

Well done all.

Year 6 go down narrowly on huge pitch at Shire Colts

The year 6 boys played their first ever 11-a-side match on Saturday on a huge pitch and even bigger goals (at least compared to our two great goalies Danny and Tom). In the end despite conceding two goals early on the Foxes played some fantastic football netting five times (Ben 2, Gabe 2, Oliver W) and displaying great vision and awareness. We were without a number of key players so the 11 we had had to play the full 60 minutes but the boys proved their fitness well. The final score was 7-5 to Shire Colts but we all had a great time.

Well done to the whole team: Danny, Adam, Sam, Harvey, Ben, Eddie, Gabe, Oliver W, Oliver D, Tom, Lukha.

Ben picked up the Player of the Week award and Tom (for his masterly performance of complete dejection as a goal went in) took the gong for Comedy.

Next week don't forget - fancy dress dads v lads on the Downs. There may be snow so prepare yourself for a festive extravanganza!

Shire Colts v WPF - Year 3

Team: Brody, Matthew, Jack, Joseph, Jago, Harrison, Sam, Isaac, William LP, Ewan

The match had a festive feel, clear blue skies and a nip in the air made for a perfect atmosphere for a tough game against one of our long standing rivals - Shire Colts (formerly Combe Dingle). We met only a few weeks previously on the Downs when the weather intervened and the matches were abandoned. Today however it was perfect conditions. The first half saw WPF play some very entertaining football; the passing was superb and WPF all worked together to carve out many good chances to score. Mid way through the first half Joseph opened the scoring for WPF with a superb shot into the roof of Shire Colts goal. It was a justly deserved goal for the Foxes, we were playing the better football and we looked like adding a few more goals. Towards the end of the first half Shire Colts scored probably against the run of play. The second half brought a few substitutions so that everyone could have a game. Ringing the changes and having to play up the gently sloping pitch seemed to put the Foxes off their stride and we conceded two quick goals which made it 3-1 to the home side. However there was still drama to come with WPF conceding a penalty from a hand ball. Jago pulled off a fabulously brave double save, first diving to his right to parry the penalty and then diving bravely at the feet of the Shire Colts striker. Match ended 3 - 1 to Shire Colts but it was thoroughly entertaining and didn't reflect how well WPF played. Man of the Match for WPF was Jack for his resolute defending and good distribution of the ball out of defence. Joseph also deserves a mention for his superb goal in the first half. Well done the Foxes!

Year 3 Foxes on top form against Ashley Down 28 Nov

19 eager little Foxes arrived on a water-logged Downs to play against Ashley Down. Unfortunately the opposition could only muster one team of 7 players so we had no choice but to split into 2 squads and use a lot of substitutes. Despite the disruption, everyone played really well.

Match 1
Team- Billy, Teya, Eddie, William LP, Ludo, Sam, Henry, Ewan, Caleb

Ashley Down took an early lead in the first half through a jinxing run by their best player. For the rest of the first half it then became pretty much one-way traffic from the Foxes. In spite of the constant pressure it looked like one of the days when the Foxes wouldn't score. Several good chances either went the wrong side of the post or were stopped by Ashley Down's goalkeeper on the line. At half time Sam and William LP were replaced by Ewan and Caleb.

The second half started brightly again for the Foxes. Ludo scored a superb goal after cool control in front of goal. That was soon followed by a second when the Foxes won a free kick wide on the right. Henry's powerful shot sailed into the left hand corner of the goal through a crowded penalty box. Ashley Down equalised virtually straight from the kick off to make it 2-2. The game was now rather more evenly balanced with Ashley Down quite dangerous on the break. Eddie and Teya were very solid at the back breaking up most of Ashley Down's chances. Final score 2-2. Player of the Match awards were given to Billy, for a solid performance in goal, and although it was difficult to choose between Teya and Eddie for the second award, Teya just shaded it. Congratulations to the Foxes.

Match 2
Team – Jack, Caston, Matthew, Isaac, Jago, Josh, TJ, Stanley, William W and Harrison.

The Foxes became caged tigers whilst waiting to play and when their chance came they produced an exceptional performance! From the first whistle they dominated the game completely against some intimidating play. Matthew and Isaac shored up the defence and Caston and Jack took turns in goal but barely touched the ball. But today was all about attacking football. Josh scored our first after a lovely passing move that started from the back. William played well up front and soon we had two after Jago and Josh combined in midfield for TJ to finish.

In the second half we played without a striker but with 4 across midfield – Harrison, Jago, Stanley and Josh. Breaking forward at pace and creating space we always looked dangerous and it wasn’t long before Jago added our third after pressuring their keeper. Stanley ran into space to finish a pass from Jago for the fourth. Stanley then topped off a superb performance with a fifth goal after more pressure on their defence. The only thing that stopped the Foxes from scoring more was the puddles and sticky mud that held up the ball. On a drier pitch we could easily have had 10 goals, but were very pleased to settle for the 5-0 win. A brilliant performance.

Players of the week – William W for tenacity up front and Stanley for overcoming a whack in the face to score two great goals.

Well done to all the Foxes for playing so superbly!

Year 3 Foxes entertain against Golden Hill Sonics 21 Nov

It was a later than normal start for the Y3 Foxes as they waited for the Y2 team games to finish. 17 Foxes turned up to be split into 2 squads for 2 matches each. Despite hugely varying pitch conditions, they played some very exciting football.

Orange Squad Match 1
Team - Jack, Ewan, Caleb, Josh, TJ, Stanley, Ludo Subs: William LP, Matthew

In the first half the Foxes deserved their 2 - 0 lead, Stanley and TJ scoring well deserved goals. In the second half TJ replaced Jack in goal and Matthew and William LP replaced Stanley and Josh. Sonics took a 3 -2 lead and it looked like WPF might suffer a defeat but Jack rescued the Foxes with well-taken goal, beating the Sonics keeper in a one-on-one situation. Final score 3-3. On balance a draw was probably a fair result but it was a thoroughly entertaining game.

Orange Squad Match 2
Team - William LP, Jack, Ewan, Isaac, Ludo, TJ, Matthew, Stanley, Josh

The Foxes probably had more of the attacking play in the second game. Jack had a man of the match performance commanding the defense with Isaac and Ewan, ensuring any Sonics attacks were dealt with before they posed any danger. Ludo, Matthew and TJ combined well across mid-field and set up good chances for strikers Stanley and Josh. Josh probably had the best chance of both matches. Quick thinking from William LP in goal released Josh from a long goal kick and only an equally good piece of defending from Sonics prevented Josh from scoring. Another entertaining game, the 0 -0 draw probably the fair result. On the ball Foxes!

Green Squad Match 1
Team – Caston, Eddie, Isaac, Teya, Billy, Joseph, Henry, Harrison.

The first match was 8-a-side played on a lovely big pitch that suited our passing style of play. Despite early pressure from GHS, a brave performance by Caston in goal and Eddie, Teya and Isaac in defence saw the Foxes hold out. As we got going the Foxes broke forward time after time. Billy and Henry dominated midfield and Joseph and Harrison taunted the opposition’s defence. Only some last ditch tackling and the narrowness of the hockey goals kept us out. The Foxes probably deserved to win but had to settle for a 0-0 draw.

Green Squad Match 2
Team – Caston, Eddie, Teya, Billy, Joseph, Henry, Harrison.

The second match was played on a small, narrow makeshift pitch that hampered any expansive play and we paid the price. GHS scored early when a harmless kick took a cruel deflection to wrong-foot Harrison in goal. After going 0-2 down the Foxes had to resort to the alien concept of “route 1” football. A long kick out from Harrison by-passed the crowded midfield and was collected by Joseph who scored a superb goal. Sadly that was the end of our comeback. A goalmouth muddle and a handball gave away 2 more soft goals and despite playing hard to the end we went down 1-5. Not a true reflection of the game.

Players of the week – Caston, Isaac, Jack, Stanley and TJ.

Any disappointment at the results was tempered by all the Foxes being congratulated by the opposition for playing in such a sporting spirit. Well done Foxes you make us very proud!

Year 3 Foxes windswept against Coombe Dingle 14 Nov

Never was the Foxes motto of “we play on whatever the weather” tested more than today. In quite appalling wind and rain, 20 hardy little Y3 foxes braved a sodden Downs to play football in the teeth of a gale.

The players were split into 2 teams and played a match each. The football was largely incidental but for the record we lost one match 1-3 with Henry scoring the only Foxes goal. The other was a close game that could have gone either way but in the end we lost 0-1. With the threat of hypothermia setting in, the coaches called off the other matches – much to the disappointment of many of the players who were happy to play on!

Players – Billy, Caleb, Caston, Eddie, Ella, Ewan, Harrison, Henry, Isaac, Jack, Joseph, Josh, Ludo, Matthew, Sam, Stanley, Teya,, TJ, William LP and William W.

Everyone deserved a Man of the Match award for their brilliant spirit – well done!

(PS Sorry for the late blog)

Bizarre - It's Saturday, but there's no football

Football training has been cancelled this Saturday on account of us all wanting to see Santa at the Westbury Park School bazaar.

Normal training will resume on Saturday December 12 when our teams are due to play Shire Coombe Dingle Colts.

The following week, Saturday December 19, will be a dads, mums, lads and lasses fancy dress kick-about for anyone who's interested. Start planning your outfits now.

And don't forget - the FOXY CHRISTMAS PARTY is on Saturday (5th), at the Redland Tennis Club from 8pm. Be there or be square.

Yr 4 Boys v Ashley Down

The weather did its best to scupper this round of fixtures. First, by raining so hard and so long all week that the Ashley Down pitch was unplayable. We overcame that one by switching the games to the rain-sodden Downs. Then it tried to scare us into submission by arranging thunder and lightening (oh, and hail) first thing on Saturday morning. That was never likely to stop us and so in the end it relented and bathed the Downs in sunshine as the Year 4 boys played very impressively once again.

In total we played 4 games winning them all by scores of 7-1, 6-1, 4-1 and 4-0. Ashely Down's squad was a bit depleted and to their credit some of the passages of play were much closer than the score lines suggest.

All of our boys played well and kept their levels of concentration and effort up to a very high level. As always we looked much better when we decided to look for the easy pass - which to be fair is becoming a much more common feature of our play.

Highlights of the day included Dave L's reffing, a Sam L's hatrick (not in the game that his dad was reffing, by the way), goals from Harri TD (see Harri, you can play in defence and still score goals) and Aidan, back to his best despite a knock to his ankle. Players of the week, however, come from the two squads but only one family. Raul scored perhaps the best Foxes goal with his first time finish rounding off an eyecatching and flowing move from our own penalty area and Jacob both scored and pulled off a fine double save. Well done to the Gibsons.

Y6 Girls are Bristol Primary Schools Champions

Yes, for those who have yet to hear, the Y6 girls triumphed in the Bristol Girls Schools finals. After qualifying from the North Bristol PE Cluster they progressed to a 5 match round robin competition at Filton against schools from the rest of Bristol. The girls won all 5 and scored 20 goals, conceding only 1.
They will now represent Bristol in the English Schools FA County Finals which will be held in Yate on 7th December from 3-6pm. Get your sicknotes ready and come and cheer on the Foxes' most successful team to date.

Year 6 Boys enjoy heavy scoring v Ashley Down

As ever the only playable pitches to be found in Bristol were on the Downs this Saturday and so every Foxes match from each year group switched to our spiritual home close to the cafe and with the sun suddenly shining for us.

There were Foxes shirts wherever you could see and the year 6 boys relished the chance to play some great football against Ashley Down.

We played six games in total winning 2-0, 4-0, 4-0, 1-0, 3-0 and 6-1. There were so many highlights for us: Tom W bagging a brace (and player of the week) in the final match, a cracking goal from Ben (was it a shot or a cross - who cares?) an Eddie hat-trick (each goal smashed in from less than 6 inches - but you have to be there to score them...), a goal from Harvey in the final match and Kris, Tom, Danny and Sam all featuring in goal. The final goal tally on the day: Eddie 5, Tom W 3, Ben 3, Gabe 3, Jack 3, Oliver W 2, Harvey 1. Well played also to Adam, Sam, Kris, Danny and Oliver D.

Yr 4 vs Ashley Down - 28th Nov - NOW ON THE DOWNS

As predicted Ashley Down's home pitch is wet and unfit for play. The Downs will be wet but perfectly playable. So please meet as normal at 10.00am.

NOW ON THE DOWNS Yr 6 Boys 28 November v Ashley Down

The fixture for the year 6 boys for 28 November (tomorrow) has been moved to the Downs.

Please meet on the Downs at 10am.

Year Four Boys vs Golden Hill Sonics

We were spared the lashing rain, but strong winds buffeted the Y4 Foxes as they took on Golden Hill Sonics on the Downs. With two strong squads of 10, everyone played their part over four games in which they were unbeaten. The teams were evenly matched, and the games could have gone either way, but the Foxes emerged with three wins and a draw.

Dave T's squad had a strong looking line-up, but in shades of England-San Marino 1993(ask your dads to ask their dads about it) the Sonics caught them not just napping, but snoring with the duvet over their heads - bursting through from the kick-off to score after a few seconds. Playing into the wind slowly we managed to get a grip on the game against a well organized GHS sideand we were unlucky not to score with Raul just missing after a great run but we were also thankful for some great tackling from Aidan and Nick and some brave keeping from Owen. In the second half a hard working midfield display from Joey and Alec meant that we enjoyed the best of the play. Harri TD held the ball up brilliantly then laid a killer pass through to Joey, who skipped free of a series of ankle-biting challenges to level the scores. The Foxes then pounded the Sonics' goal, assisted by the wind, until in the final minute, Sonny returned a misplaced goalie kick out 'with interest', half-volleying into the net to clinch the game 2-1.

In their second game, coach Dave claimed that they "bossed" it, after once again coming snoring out of the blocks (the coach needs to work on his pre-match talks) and conceding an early goal. Once more we were playing into the wind and again we worked hard and gained control of the game. Some great defending from Jack T and a fine save by Harry F allowed our attacking players to go forward and after winning a succession of corners Harri TD delivered one of the best Foxy corners ever, looping over the near post defenders to then be coolly slotted away by Joey. 1-1 at half-time but in the second half we switched off for a moment and lost another goal before we had the best of the play and goals from Joey sand Sonny secured a 3-2 victory.

Special mentions in this squad, in addition to the goal scorers and creators, for superb tackling and all round effort from Aidan and Jack T.

Graham's squad enjoyed a comfortable opener, combining well as a squad and team to come out 2-0 winners, with goals from the deadly duo Omar and Danny.

Their second game proved more challenging. After falling behind to an early Sonics strike, they gradually played themselves into the game, passing and keeping possession for long spells before levelling through Danny before the break. The spirited Sonics then took the lead in the second half through an excellent pair of defence-splitting passes the length of the field. As the Foxes huffed and puffed and battered the Sonics goal, with chance after chance going begging (including a spectacular double save from consecutive efforts from Danny and Ollie K), it was finally left to the one they call "big Archie" to let fly, downwind, and burst the onion bag with the equaliser. It finished 2-2, a fair result and justly deserved over the four games for a sporting and competitive Sonics squad.
Special mentions for great all round displays from Jack C and Ollie C.

Thanks to all who played and helped, including Joey's dad as a stand-in referee. We look forward to the return fixture at Golden Hill later in the season."

Yr 4 Girls Swamp the BLUs ...

So there's this team that's like sooooo the place to be if you're like a girl and you, like wannaplayfootball, and you like live in North Bristol.

Anyway they're called the BLUs and anyone who's anyone has joined up.

Except, like, if they say it might rain.

10 brave BLU girls showed up, from three (count them, three) year groups ( Y3,Y4, Y5).
This, remember, the creme of North Bristol, we are told...



Lining up on the Green and White side - from a total selection pool of 29:
16 Proud Foxettes ( and we didn't even ask Y5s!)

Respect Is Due

(our snapper couldn't even get them all in one place at one time!)

So, two squads were picked, and two five a side games played.

The more experienced foxes ran out against a team of mostly Y5s, and ran their green and white socks off. Emily C took the goalie's shirt, and stopped some scorchers. Anna R in defence; might as well build a brick wall. Bryony, Sophie HR, Marielle and Phoebe ran like the wind in midfield and got some good tackles in. They've even started guessing where the passes are coming and making some good interceptions. Anna D and Emily T threatened up front, harried, passed, tackled and ran. Eventually, though, the experience of the Blus told, and some goals slipped past.

Interestingly, things brightened up for the Foxes when more BLUs showed up, allowing us to play our normal 7 a side (though of course we still had too many players!).
Final score, 4-0 to the Blus, but most of that came in the 5-a-side game.

These Foxes don't like losing, which is admirable, but hey girls, be proud: you were up against good opposition who punished every small lapse.

In this squad, Player of the Week has to be Emily C, who made some spectacular saves, and was strong and calm in goal throughout.

The other half of our match day squad were a mixture of fresh faces (Abby, Rosie and Ella W) and some battle hardened regulars (Ella T, Molly R, Sophie C, Megan and Tia). The game ebbed and flowed with everyone playing their part and doing the Foxes proud in what ended up, somehow, as a 0-0 draw.

Molly had a storming game in goal, Abby seems to be a natural defender, Rosie worked hard all over the pitch and made some strong breaks, Sophie C played well upfront and nearly scored on a couple of occasions, Ella W hit the post (theirs and not ours fortunately), Megan was brave and tackled hard and Tia was the best midfielder on either side. Without a doubt, however, our player of the week was 'The Rock' Ella T who used all of her experience to tidy up at the back and play some great passes out of defence.

Well done everyone.

And pass the word - we could use some more players...(like, seriously!)

Foxy Party Tickets Available NOW

Roll Up - Roll Up. Get your Foxy Party Tickets!

All parents are invited to join us for this year's Foxy Christmas Party celebrations in the main bar at Redland Green Tennis Club, on December 5, from 8pm.

Tickets cost £5 and are available from Estelle TD, Emma Perry, Lucy Nash, Christine Thrasher, Clare Jarvis, Sally Newman and Gill Marshall.

See you there!

Record-breaking Foxes Reach Seven-Year High

A huge number of young children turned out to join Reception football on the Downs on Saturday - and helped make Westbury Park Foxes complete.

A record-breaking 22 children joined in the fun in the sun (and later some quite heavy rain), although official counters did admit their job was made difficult by the children moving around so much.

No-one seemed put off that the coaches were wearing silly green wigs (or that it was raining) and we hope everyone comes back for more next week.

The start of Reception football means that the Foxes now offer fun football to every child at Westbury Park School, from Reception to Y6. Everyone is welcome to join in.

As part of the celebrations, Club Treasurer Andy Marshall revealed that Basil Brush (the real one off the telly) has joined us as mascot. More details about that later.

Hah ha ha ha. Boom. Boom. (Or some such.)

Year 5 away at home to Shire Colts - Saturday 7th November

Year 5 have a home match on The Downs against Shire Colts, please be there at 10am with full kit, boots & shin pads.

Cheers, Rob

Y3 Foxes frustrated by Rockleaze 17 October

A fantastic turnout saw 21 little Foxes eager to play. Rockleaze also had plenty of players so we were able to split into 3 teams of 7 a-side. Everyone could play in every match – hooray!

The squads were:
Green – Josh, Henry, Stanley, Caston, Eddie, Caleb, Brody
Red – Ludo, TJ, Joseph, Sam, Matthew, Isaac, William LP
Orange – Harrison, Billy, Jago, Ewan, Jack, William W, Rohan.

Red Squad - Two immensely entertaining games, one fantastic result!
First Game: Foxes 3 - 1 Rockleaze, (scorers: Joseph 2, TJ 1)
Second Game: Foxes 0 - 4 Rockleaze

Both games were very enjoyable with the Foxes out-classing Rockleaze in the first match with great passing throughout the team and fantastic finishing. In the second match the result didn't paint a true picture of the game. The Foxes easily created as many chances as Rockleaze but couldn’t convert them all. From a coaching perspective it was very pleasing to see the high levels of concentration, enthusiasm, skill and effort from the whole team. Well done!

Player of the week for Reds – Isaac for a fantastic all-round contribution.

Green squad - Two games lost but some great performances.
First Game: Foxes 1 - 3 Rockleaze (scorer: Josh)
Second Game: Foxes 1 - 4 Rockleaze (scorer: Stanley)

Brody had a good spell in goal, and was our corner and throw-in specialist. Eddie was solid in defence; Caleb, his defensive partner, managed to block many of their attacking runs with some great tackling. Stanley’s penetrative runs gave great supply to our forwards. Caston’s cutting in from the wing and speed on the ball was a constant thorn in the side of their defence. He also put in a fine performance in goal. Josh, with his customary strength on the ball, was unlucky to have several shots on target saved by an in-form keeper and Henry was his usual quick self with some lovely passes from the right. His efforts deserved a goal and he was unlucky not to score.

Our undoing was great keeping by Rockleaze and some hesitation in getting rid of the ball from defence. Overall, a great performance and plenty to keep working on!

Player of the week for Greens – Eddie for superb defensive play.

Orange squad – Dominated in both matches but luck was against them and they couldn’t turn pressure into victory.
First Game: Foxes 2 - 3 Rockleaze (scorer: Harrison 2)
Second Game: Foxes 1 - 1 Rockleaze (scorer: Harrison)

In their first game, wide flowing football soon took them into a 1-0 lead. Jack began the move in defence and passes to Jago and Billy ended when Harrison hammered the ball into the net. Minutes later, after more great passing, Harrison was clear through on goal only to be felled from behind. He scored from the resulting free kick to put the Foxes 2-0 up at half time but the tackle affected him for the rest of the day. In the second half, Rockleaze scrambled back into the match with two goals from corners. Despite a dominant performance, the match was settled when Rohan saved a strong strike only to have it rebound inches over the line. Foxes lost 2-3.

In their second match, brilliant defending by Jack and William, tireless running in midfield by Billy, Jago and Rohan and a great save by Ewan kept Rockleaze at bay. Despite their efforts, early in the second half the Foxes went 0-1 down. But they did not give up. Jack, Billy and Jago all fed Harrison who battered the crossbar, shaved the left post and smashed the right hand post with 3 near misses. Any other day they would have been 3 goals. Eventually pressure paid and Harrison scored a late equalizer. Result 1-1.

Player of the week for Oranges – Jack for a peerless performance in defence.

Overall, everyone played really well against well-organised opposition. With a few more breaks more of the results would have gone our way but plenty to be proud of and to work on. Well done Foxes!!!

STOP PRESS: FOXES REACH SEVEN-YEAR GOAL

This Saturday marks a momentous milestone in the history of the Westbury Park Foxes.

For the first time - and at last - we can shout Full House! as we invite the new Reception year children to join us for footie on the Downs.

The Foxes now have girls and boys from Y6 to Reception training together - and it only took us five years to get here.

Who would have thought way back in November 2004 that the five children running about on Redland Green would lead to more than a 100 gathering on the Downs most weeks?

Congratulations to everyone involved - particularly all the coaches who dedicate their Saturday mornings to making football fun for our children. And special mention to Andy, Andy, Colin, Paul and Rob who were there from the start.

Year 2s vs Shire Colts, 24th October

We are learning fast! This week Year 2s played two matches against Shire Colts in their last fixture for a few weeks. Over two close games, our squads tackled and passed like never before against a strong Shire Colts side.

In the first match, Shire Colts quickly moved into a 3-0 lead and we feared the worst. Then, led from the back by Sam G and Dom, the Foxes fought back with Sam D fearless all over the pitch. Goals from Monty and India closed the gap but unfortunately time ran out before we could find an equaliser. In the second game, the opposite happened - Josh and Ben put the Foxes into an early lead and then the team survived a Shire Colts fightback to squeak home the winners. Special mention to two recent recruits, Ella and Jack B, who epitomised the team's development with their confident, committed play.

Year 5 away at Rockleaze - Saturday 24th October

Year 5 are playing Rockleaze & Golden Hill Sonics at 10am Stoke Lodge.

Year Four Boys vs Rockleaze Rangers

Twenty Y4 boy foxes descended on Stoke Lodge for one of the most eagerly anticipated matches of the season - Rockleaze away.

Graham's squad in the first match produced one of the most impressive victories in this year group's history, running out 2-1 winners. With ace new "signing" Joey on his Foxes debut, spraying the ball around like a Bristolian Steven Gerrard (or perhaps Frank Lampard, depending on your footballing point of view)the whole team followed his example and produced some passing and possession football which at times drew gasps and nods of admiration from the assembled masses. Goals from Danny and Joey set up the victory, while Archie had a typically solid performance in goal to contain the Rockleaze efforts on goal. The Rockleaze goal came with the last kick of the game, with yet another of the deflected own goals from a corner which are something of an unlucky speciality for this year group.

The second match proved a tougher affair, as the Foxes struggled to keep possession and defend the swift Rockleaze attacks. The score was 0-1 at half time, but three further goals were quickly conceded in the second half through a combination of an outnumbered defence and incisive Rockleaze finishing. To their great credit, the Foxes didn't let their heads drop, and got their just reward when Nicholas took on a good through ball, beat two defenders then finished at the second attempt after a rebound. From the hearty cheer that went up, anyone would have thought it was a last minute winner. The Foxes pressed until the end but ran out of time, and in the end Rockleaze were deserving winners. Particular plaudits to Nicholas for his goal and all round pacy efforts, and to Jack T, still a relative novice to Foxes matches but fearless in the tackle for the whole match.

Year 4 Girls Clip the Falcons Wings ( Sat Oct 17)

Yr 4 Foxettes v Thornbury Falcons (Away)
Played 4, won 2, lost 2, Total Goals 7-4 to the Foxes!

Another storming turnout on a bright sunny morning in Thornbury and for once, a club that could match us for numbers, if not talent.

With 16 playing in the Green and White and 15 Thornbury Falcons up against us, we had two teams each and 4 matches. Thornbury fielded an A side and a B side (as I finally realised at the end!) and we put out two equally strong teams. Each won once and lost once, - both victories providing goal fests of 3-1 and 4-0.

There's the numbers, the real story though is that in 16 players there are now no passengers. We decided to try playing in new positions, seeing Anna R and Sophie HR playing up front for a change, nearly scoring! Sophie Mac and Phoebe took a turn in defence, although you can only keep a McConnell in a box for so long; soon we unleashed her and the boots and goals came flying.

Molly H had another scorching game, she's a fighter that one. Another well-deserved goal gave her two in a row ( don't take it personally Linda - your absence seems to inspire!!). Sophie C, Molly, Megan and Tia no longer look new to the squad. Their shirts are worn, their boots muddy, their determination fierce. They've even started passing.

Sorry I can't mention everyone in dispatches - there are so many of you now! But there must be space for Anna D's magnificent hatrick, which has to earn her PLAYER OF THE WEEK.

Great enthusiasm, as ever, decent teamwork, plenty of hunger. Huge support cheered us all the way, and now the Director of Football tells me the girls are ready for advanced concepts like "shape", "control" and "through balls". Time for this coach to do some homework...

Year 6 in goal fest with Rockleaze

The Year 6 boys enjoyed two high scoring games against Rockleaze on the Downs this Saturday (17 October).

Playing 8-a-side we played two half hour matches (15 minutes each way). In the first the Foxes stormed to a 3-0 lead inside two minutes but Rockleaze fought hard to contain a rampant Foxes attacking force. At half time the Foxes led 5-0 with goals by Gabe, Oliver W, Jack and two from Ben. In the second half Rockleaze rallied and scored a late consolation for a final score of 5-1 to the Foxes.

In the second game the first half came alive with less than five minutes to go. The Foxes were leading 1-0 from a penalty coolly converted by Gabe after the goalie saved his first shot. Then in an extraordinary passage of play Rockleaze equalised, before the Foxes tucked away two more (Gabe and Eddie), then allowed Rockleaze to come back themselves to 3-3 before Oliver W and then Gabe (completing his hat-trick) made the half time score 5-3. Seven goals in just over four minutes meant the crowd got full entertainment! The second half was equally exciting: Rockleaze scored twice early on to level the scores at 5-5 before in the dying moments James Hardwick scored a lovely goal finishing a sweeping Foxes move. 6-5 to the Foxes in a memorable game.

As ever the matches were played in a great spirit against our friends at Rockleaze and we look forward to the return match later this season. Paul couldn't decide on a player of the week because everybody played so well, so a big well done to all who played: Sam, Adam, Oliver D, Ben, Eddie, Oliver W, Gabe, Joe, Jamie, James, Tom, Harvey and Jack.

Year 2s vs Rockleaze, 17th October

This week the year 2s faced their most ambitious fixture yet - the squad was split into three teams as they played the mighty Rockleaze for the first time.

Within the first couple of minutes, it was clear that this would be the Foxes' toughest assignment yet as Rockleaze turned on the style, scoring 5 goals in each of the first three games. To their credit, the Foxes kept going with their trademark spirit shining through - Sam R almost bursting the net from eight metres, and Ben scoring a comeback goal.

In the second matches, the Foxes showed great determination; keeping the scores much closer overall and giving Rockleaze a run for their money. For a long time it looked as though Gabriel's goal would lead to a memorable win on the middle pitch, but it was not to be. Instead the Foxes had to settle for pride in their tenacious defending and tackling, some near misses (Lulu and Monty could have had a hat-trick each), and the knowledge that they rose to a tough challenge. Special mention to Connor and his colleagues on the top pitch, who took some big knocks and just kept on going.

Next week, a rearranged fixture against Shire Colts, again at home - can't wait!

NEARLY NEW - The Lost Property Bulletin - Vol2

This week's Lost Property Bulletin comes adorned with a visual aid, so you can spot your lost stuff, even if you don't like the description of it.

New to our collection this week:
- A pink and green stripy cardy, size 7-8
- Pink fleece with horsey motif

The rugby ball and pink flowery zip-up hoodie thing were found the other week.

Email sals_newman@yahoo.co.uk to secure the return our your stuff.

Cheers.

Year 6 Foxes off to winning ways against Bishop Road

Despite the freezing rain, the howling wind and the absence of the big fella Paul (co-head coach etc etc) on 3 October, the year 6 boys did well in an entertaining series of matches played in great spirit against Bishop Road.

Simon Kerfoot took charge of a team in Paul's absence and masterminded two good perfomances with a 4-0 and a 4-1 win. Gabe, Ben, Jack and Lukha scored in both games.

In the other matches the Foxes found goals hard to come by with Joe being especially unlucky in both matches coming up against either the woodwork or inspired goalkeeping on many occasions. The first match ended 0-0 and in the second Oliver W eventually broke through in the second half with a tap in from a flowing passing move and then with just seconds to go firing in a second from a quick counter as Bishop Road pressed for an equaliser. 2-0 it finished.

Well done to everyone who braved the elements especially as we were at RGS with no cafe in sight!

Year 3 Foxes off to flying start against Bishop Road

October 10th. A lovely Indian Summer’s Day. The Year 3 Foxes put the disappointment of two cancelled fixtures behind them to get their season off to a flying start against Bishop Road on the Downs. Sadly Bishop Road only had enough players for one team so the Foxes were divided into two squads.

First up, the Oranges - Teya, Eddie, William W, Henry, Ludo, Stanley, Caston and Sam.

The game started with Teya in goal, Eddie and William in defence, Stanley and Cason in mid-field and Henry, Ludo and Sam up front. The Foxes took an early lead scored by Henry and for most of the first half the Foxes looked untroubled. Unfortunately near to the end of the first half the Foxes conceded an own goal from a deflected goal line clearance. In the second half William replaced Teya in goal to give Teya a touch of the ball. The Foxes strengthened their lead with further two goals scored by Caston and Stanley. Result: Foxes won 3-1. Well played the Foxes!

Next up, the Greens – Rohan, Matthew, Caleb, TJ, Billy Joseph, Isaac, Jago and Harrison.

To avoid fussing about subs, we all agreed to play 9-a-side. Despite the danger of the pitch getting “clogged-up” with players, the Foxes produced some of the best football they have played so far - a masterclass in controlled passing and moving. Matthew, Isaac and Caleb commanded a secure defence that meant Rohan in goal did not get a touch of the ball all half. It also meant that our attack were free to fly. And fly they did!

From the whistle TJ and Billy dominated the midfield; Jago and Joseph terrified on the wings, and Harrison took every chance going to fire at goal. Within seconds Jago shot from out wide to take the lead. Jago’s second followed a powerful run down the wing by Harrison and TJ’s well-timed pass. Jago crossed to TJ for the third, which Harrison finished off. The fourth came from Billy passing to Joseph for TJ to finish. Harrison linked up with TJ before Joseph scored our fifth. Bishop Road were in shock.

At half-time Rohan swapped his goalie jersey with TJ, but again our strong defence meant that he did not touch the ball. The break gave Bishop Road time to regroup. Although the Foxes still dominated completely, goal chances became near misses and the final score remained 5-0.

Player of the week – Jago, for his 2 goals and brilliant passing and dribbling.

Well done all the Foxes – an awesome start!

Year 4 : The Girls Are Back.

Rain. Wind. Jackets off.
Goals.

Normal service has been resumed in the Year 4 Girls squad...

First, the vital stats:
Team Turnout: Bishop Road 8 (from two year groups) Foxes 13
Crowd: Bishop Road 6 (ish) Foxes 600 (give or take)
Average Coach Height : Bishop Road 5' Foxes 9'10
Goals: Bishop Road 1 WP Foxes 4 ( and that one's actually true!)

As usual, the Yr 4 Foxes had to split into two teams, and play alternate sessions, but still they dominated through sheer I-WANT-THAT-BALL-ery. Every loose ball chased, every BR attack tackled, every attack chased down until it went in the net.
And this week's revelation?
Molly H! Beyond dogged, Molly chased and chased like a true fox, and was rewarded with a goal she thoroughly deserved. The same tenacity drew blood for Megan, making her debut as a Fox on matchday. A shot on goal saved, Megan just chased it and kicked it and kicked it until it just had to go in. Time to buy some boots mum...!
Revelation No 2? Emily T's passing! The girl who has scored from the half way line decided to be a playmaker instead of a glory-taker, and set up some lovely crosses and through balls. Nice work Ems. Bryony, Tia and Phoebe ran their socks off in midfield creating constant pressure which had to tell in the end.
Bishop Rd were brave and kept coming, and we had some strong defence to thank for the win too. Marielle and Sophie both read the attacks well, making some decisive interceptions. Ella and Anna R were unplayable in defence - tackling all comers. And when the shots did come, both Emily C and Isabel blocked and caught and scooped the ball from danger. One day Isabel, you will score from a goal kick!
Now you're wondering who got the other two goals? Well, in many ways the whole team - no really - cos there were so many green shirts in there I wondered if we had two whole sides on at once by mistake. But the scoring boot belonged to Anna D - you just wouldn't want to take her on when she's in a mood like that!
A great day out - despite the rain and the wind. Well done girls!
If I had to pick a Fox of the Day - joint winners would be Molly and Megan for tasting blood.

Year 2 vs Bishop Road, 3rd October

The year 2 Foxes played their first away games this morning against Bishop Road.
Tamsin and Phil's squad started their first game as if it were a sunny Saturday in June, with Josh, Simran and Monty all getting on the scoresheet in a 3-0 victory. Tim and Ben's squad battled through the rain - Bishop Road took an early lead, and despite a great goal from Sam Rowland, Bishop Road's long distance shooting helped them to a 4-1 victory.

In the second round of matches, I admit, I lost track of the scorers – paper and pen needed next time. Eight goals were scored as the Foxes racked up two more wins; 3-0 and a 5-4 humdinger. Special mention to Ben and Ella for their individual runs which, but for the Bishop Road keeper, would have added to the goal glut. At the other end of the pitch, Joseph's heroics in goal and Dom's no-nonsense defending helped keep some great Bishop Road attacks at bay.

Well played to everyone - on the evidence of the first two weeks, we have some great football to look forward to over the rest of the year.

Lastly, just like Wembley and Twickenham, Bishop Road's ground is an excellent facility hampered by parking difficulties. Happily though, we all retrieved our cars from the car park / car pound in relatively short order – so thanks to all those who helped with lifts and phone calls.

Year 4 Boys v Bishop Road

Well, that's better. After a few weeks of warm and dry conditions, a proper Foxes' Saturday on the Downs. Very windy, very wet, with the sun emerging to warm our cold bones just as the last game finished. Just as it should be.

The year 4 Foxes always have great, close games against Bishop Road and this round of fixtures was no exception. As usual we split ourselves into two squads, each of which played two games. So four games in total of which we won three and lost one.

In their first game Ewan and Andy's squad mixed passages of good quality football (on a pitch where the grass would be described as 'light rough' in the golfing world) with periods of doziness. Great goals from Sonny (three) and Danny (two) won the game but we still managed to concede three goals in a very enjoyable game. Owen played really well in goal, Aidan, Ollie C and Seb worked hard in defence, Jack C, Jack T and Harry never gave up but the outstanding player was Ollie K who, was everywhere and seems over night to have added an assured first touch and calmness to his game. So a 5-3 win it was.

The second game for this lot saw a slightly experimental line up in the first half, with Harry upfront, Ollie C and Aidan in midfield. Playing against the wind the Foxes did well to hold BR to a 1-0 lead through a good strike which left Danny with no chance. The Foxes came out stronger in the second half and Danny, free of his goalkeeping duties, brought us level with a fine strike. What followed can be summarised as 'end to end' with both sides creating chances but finally BR scored a well worked break-away goal to win 2-1.

Graham and Dave T's squad had the best of the first game and won 3-1. It would have been more but for the intervention of Ian Blatchford's bottom (as he bent to to carry Nick's sister Florence from the pitch) to deflect Omar's shot wide. Well played Ian's bottom.

The second game was a humdinger, as I believe serious journalists call them. The Foxes fell 4-0 behind in very quick order and seemed unable to cope with the BR number 18, who played well all day. The score became 5-1 before the Foxes launched a fantastic fight back. With the wind behind them in the second half they drew level and then secured the game 8-5, with Omar (6 goals), Nick and Raul all scoring. A great team performance which showed a great deal of spirit in terrible conditions. I'm not sure Dave T could quite believe what he was watching. Well done to everyone and thanks to Bishop Road for a great morning.

Players of the week Ollie K and Omar.

NEW - The Lost Property Bulletin

Today marks the launch of the new and can't be improved Lost Property Bulletin.

Please pay attention and grab any stuff that's yours - or indeed, you like the look of.

If you spot anything you recognise/fancy please contact Sally Newman on sals_newman@yahoo.co.uk

All lost items have just one thing in common. They are lost and UNNAMED. (I'm still shocked, even now.) Please NAME all your stuff. Thank you.

1. Foxy Fleece - size 11-12. Found at school. UNNAMED!
2. Rugby ball. Left on the Downs last Saturday.
3. Pink flowery fleece.

That's it...for now.

Year 4 Boys v Sefton Park

The Foxes were not to be put off by unusual playing conditions (dry and warm with no biting wind cutting across the pitch - it hardly felt like a home game at all) and welcomed the new season with 3 wins and one draw against a competitive Sefton Park team.

The first game saw an end-to-end tussle end nil-nil despite a great deal of goal mouth action. The Foxes played well throughout but Ollie C and Ollie K were outstanding in defence. The second game seemed destined for another goalless draw despite the Foxes creating plenty of chances. In the end a determined run by Raul produced the winner seconds from the final whistle. So 1-0 it was then.

The third game followed a very different pattern with Sonny causing havoc with his close control, passing and cool finishing. The scoring was opened by Ollie C from a corner (followed by perhaps the best goal celebration of the day)and later Nick also took his chance coolly. In between these great goals Sonny collected four goals of his own to bring about a 6-0 scored line. Finally, another win as Nick (again -with perhaps the goal of the day) and Sonny (again ) scored to round off an impressive morning.

Well done to everyone but Ollie C and Archie were chosen as the two players of the week.

Y2 Foxes enjoy their first match

Young Foxes from Year Two performed brilliantly in their first ever friendly football match on the Downs, on Saturday.

There are now so many Foxes playing in Y2 that the squad had to be split, one group playing against Sefton Park this week and the other to play Bishop Road next week.

Two matches were played against Sefton Park. In the first game the Foxes won 5-2. Josh J bagged a hatrick, while Sam R and Monty N scored one each.

The second game was an end-to-end, closely fought ding-dong of a match. Alex B scored early on to give the Foxes the lead, but Sefton Park fought back valiantly and scored three good goals. Then in the final minutes Jack B scored, but all too late. Sefton Park won 3-2.

Well done to all the children. Our Y2s did the Foxes proud.

New Season Starts Here

Westbury Park Foxes start training for the new season this Saturday, September 12.

For the first time EVER we will have football coaching for children from Reception to Year Six. How good is that!

All children from Y1-6 are welcome to join in the fun this Saturday. Training will start at 10am prompt, near the cafe on the Downs. Please bring shin pads.

Reception football will kick-off after the half term break, on Saturday November 7.

See you there!

Team Photos

Team Photos

Team Photos

Team Photos

Here are the team photos for 2008-9. They can be downloaded by right clicking on your mouse and then clicking on save as...

Good luck.

End of Season Tournament

Well played all the children who joined in the End of Season Tournament on Saturday.

The matches were highly competitive, with great skills, teamwork and determination on show in each year group.

Winners of the Y1/Y2 tournament were managed by Sean Devane and Tommy McCormick.

Alfie, Joseph, TomC, Sam, Stanley, Rohan, Isaac and TomP.

Winners of the Y3 Tournament were were managed by Ian Davies. Molly, Ella, Anna, Danny, Omar and Harri.

Winners of the Y4/Y5 Tournament were managed by Alison Dron. Hamish, Andrew, Eddie, Martha, OliverD and Gabe.

Well done everyone.

Y5 Girls At the Frampton Tournament

The match-starved Foxes arrived at Frampton to see the boys lift the trophy, and this seemed to fire them up for the tournament. At nearly full strength, we were hopeful of a better time than at The BLUs last month when an under strength team lost 2 and drew 1.

The group format led us to play 6 group matches, including Frampton B, Boco B and the stronger BLUs teams. A fine opening match saw us fail to convert numerous chances, but eventually pressure told and the Foxes had 3 points in the bag.

The next 5 games saw us revert to our typical brand of Azzuri style football, soaking up pressure comfortably and attempting to hit on the break, the result 5 nil-nils, admittedly against some strong opposition.

The end of the groups saw the Foxes qualify from the group, (something that BOCO and BLUs Lions failed to do), and head to a quarter final against Portishead. This was the team that had won the other qualifying group by winning every game and not conceding goal.

With 'The Brick Wall' having to go to a drama rehersal, we had to go into the match with a makeshift defence, and a goalie error and a sloppy defensive pass saw us 2-0 down in 4 minutes. Only heroic 'keeping' from Conkers kept the score in single figures as the Foxes were put to the sword. Changes were made and the second half produced some of the best football we have ever seen from the girls. Imi 'The Scythe' moved to a single defensive position, and Jodie, Martha, Marta and Olivia Furey formed an attacking midfield quartet. For 5 minutes the Foxes poured forward and Portishead rarely left their half. Eventually pressure told and Jodie struck from the edge of the box.

The Foxes desperately searched for an equalizer, but to no avail, and we went out to the eventual finalists who were only beaten on penalties, by a strong Frampton A side.

Credit to all the players, but especially to Olivia, playing a year above her age, who gave a (wo)man of the tournament performance.

Year 5 Foxes triumph at Frampton

The year 5 boys returned triumphant from the Frampton Cotterell tournament as they saw off some tough opposition to win the cup.

The B squad, ably led by Eddie, despite five great performances were just unable to progress to the semi-finals. But there was some excellent play from Jack and Lukha up front, Eddie and James H in midfield, Sam and Adam in defence and some outstanding play from Oliver D in goal.

The A squad were unlucky in their first match against Bitton going down 1-0 despite creating lots of chances. But the team remained confident despite that and were unbeaten in the remainder of their group matches to qualify for another semi-final. Their opponents were Warmley who had held the team to a 2-2 draw earlier in the day. But this time the Foxes stepped up a gear and raced into a 3-1 half-time lead with brilliant goals from Ben (2) and Gabe. As Sally arrived to see how the team was getting on, Ben coolly converted a one-on-one to claim a hat-trick and in the final moments Gabe volleyed home a brilliant move into the top corner. An emphatic 5-1 victory meant the Foxes were confident of winning the final against none other than Bitton, the team which had beaten us in our first match.

The whole squad was determined to save their best performance for this final and win the Foxes' first trophy. With great support from the touchline, Ben was able to capitalise on some loose defending swooping in to race past the goalie and finish into an empty net. And just before half-time the Foxes cleared their lines fast with a fantastic throughball by Jamie to find Ben in space. Ben was so fast he found little support but undeterred he coolly raced past the final defender and chipped the goalie to make it 2-0 to the Foxes at half-time.

The half time team talk focused on doing exactly the same in the second half - always pressing in attack with an awareness of Bitton's strength on the counter. The second half was tight but with three minutes to go Oliver W delivered a perfect corner which Gabe met with an unstoppable header for 3-0. Tom W came on to replace Kris at the back and although Bitton scored a late consolation goal this was to be the Foxes day. Final score 3-1 to the Foxes and our first tournament win. The team scored 15 goals in 7 tough matches (Ben (8), Gabe (5), Hugo and Jamie getting on the scoresheet) conceding just 6. A great performance!

Well done to the team (Hugo, Ben, Gabe, Tom, Kris, Oliver W, Jamie) and to everyone in the year 5 Foxes set-up. It was the perfect end to a great season.

Team photos this weekend - June 25

Photos of each year group, as well as one of the whole Foxy tribe will be taken at training this weekend. (Saturday June 25)

We ask that all Foxes wear their full kit for the occasion - but we're willing to forgive face paints and hair dye left over from the BBQ.

AND, if you haven't bought your Foxy Party tickets yet get them on Saturday - and bag that place on the coach before you're forced to walk home...

See you then.

Y3 Girls Fly the Green Flag at BLU Fest

Y3 Girls took two teams to the BLU (formerly Rockleaze) Tournament and came away with heads held high.

One team, captained by Sophie McConnell, won 1, drew 1, lost 1 and came second on goal difference.

Ella T's team included several foxettes playing their first tournament, some of them their first real matches. With no rests, no subs and strong opposition they never conceded more than 2 goals and got a real taste for proper football.

With Sophie Mac were Emily T, Bryony, Anna D, Anna R, Sophie HR and Phoebe. Bryony "superglue" Wade totally neutralised Saffy (who is welcome back to the Foxes anytime...) in the BLUs match by some dogged 1-2-1 marking. In September, the BLUs beat us 7 or 9 or something. Today, Anna R complained that being in goal was "boring" against them. True - she barely saw the ball! Against St Nicks Sophie's team chased and tackled and shot and really could have, might have, maybe have... well, this coach had his head in his hands more than is really safe. A nailbiter we could have won, but didn't quite!

Ella's team should, on paper, have gone down in double figures. Packed with enthusiasm but only entered at the last minute cos there are JUST SO MANY Y3 FOXETTES! But they weren't going quietly. Ella was a wall. Molly H was everywhere. Sophie C and Molly R stormed up front and jolly nearly scored. Tia looked like a seasoned veteran, instead of a girl who only joined at Easter. And Isabel and Emily in goal! Well, you almost felt sorry for the opposition.

All in all, a great day's footy. This lot are so good they are starting to feel disappointed with anything less than victory....

Year 5 boys surpass all expectations at Cadbury Heath

We approached the Cadbury Heath tournament with a little trepidation because Paul and Andy knew that the boys would be tired from Lyme Regis (apologies to all the mums and dads for the early start) and we would be a player short of even getting our two teams on the pitch. In the end we had a fantastic morning and played some great great football.

First of all a massive thanks to Ethan Bowyer who stepped in on the day to complete the 7 in Andy’s squad after poor Eddie had to withdraw with a knee injury sustained at Creary Park on Friday (in the “battle of the bears” so we’re told). The group stages saw Paul’s squad narrowly lose to two excellent teams and get a bye in the third match to reach the quarter finals. Andy’s squad went one up in the first game (a cool penalty from Ben) only to lose 3-1, before beating Cheltenham 2-0 (Ethan and Jamie scoring) and drawing 0-0 against the hosts. This set up a crunch quarter final for the Foxes B team against the best team in the tournament – the Foxes A team!

Paul’s squad went through 1-0 with a fantastic strike from Jack and some superb goalkeeping from Ollie Domaille. In the semis we narrowly lost 1-0 to Bitton – a fine side who went on to win the tournament.

This was a great display from the Foxes – we played some lovely football and Paul and Andy were very proud of the performances from everybody. We have our last tournament on 11 July at Frampton and we have high hopes that we might be able to keep this momentum for that day and go even further. Thanks to everyone who came along – we know it was an early start and everyone was very tired. But it was a great morning and a lovely day.

The boys who played were: Ethan, Ben, Joe, Lukha, James, Jamie, Sam, Adam, Oliver W, Oliver D, Jack, Kris, Tom, Danny. Well played lads!

WP Foxes Year 4 - Saturday 20th June

Please note that training on Saturday 20th June has been cancelled.

Cadbury Heath Tournament - Saturday June 20

The Cadbury Heath Tournament takes place this weekend for boys in Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5.

Registration for all teams is at an optimistic 8.30am. Please arrive promptly - and indeed, with boys wide awake and ready to run around!

Cadbury Heath is near Emersons Green and details and directions to the ground can be found at: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=bs6+7nq&daddr=Blackhorse+Ln&geocode=%3BFZfPEQMdTA3a_w&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=51.498284,-2.487566&sspn=0.006359,0.019226&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=13

or: http://www.cadburyheathyfc.co.uk/

or just: Head out of town on the Gloucester Road. At Filton's Snow and Rock roundabout turn right onto the ring road heading towards B&Q/Sainsbury's, UWE and the M32/M4.

Go under the M32 and remain on the ring road (A4174). Go straight on through the first traffic lights. At the next roundabout (Oh look it's Bromley Heath - I wonder if they are in this tournament too?) keep going on the A4174.

At the next roundabout take a right on to the Badminton Road. Drive for about half a mile and take a left into Blackhorse Lane. Drive for a third of a mile and you reach the pitches. Hopefully there will then be signposts.

Good luck.

See you there.

Come on the Foxes!

Year 3 at the Rockleaze Tournament

Another Sunday, another Festival of Football and another great Foxy performance. We were only allowed to enter one team and took only 10 boys (Sam L, Archie, Danny, Omar, Sonny, Nick, Seb, Ollie K, Owen, Jack). This meant that there were many hard choices to make and many of the boys that were not selected were very unlucky not to be included - if nothing else this shows how much progress so many of the squad have made in the last year.

In line with the new FA ruling the results of the games were not recorded and there were no semi-finals and no final. This did not stop our boys, or indeed any of the teams, trying their hardest on a very hot afternoon.

In all we played five games. The first against a strong Bristol Brazilians side ended in a well earned 0-0 draw. Next came Rockleaze Pirates. The Foxes dominated the game throughout and in the end the pressure told with Sonny playing a great little pass for Nick to tuck the ball away. 1-0 to the Foxes.

We then played the other Rockleaze side in our group (the Bandits) and again had the best of the game. Unfortunately some sleepy defending at their only corner resulted in us letting in a goal and losing 1-0. Another strong performance from our boys which featured perhaps the shortest ever appearance from Danny - approximately 30 seconds on the pitch before a spontaneous nose bleed led to the hurried search for a tissue.

The best was still to come in the shape of a 7-0 win over Bromley Heath with goals from Sam (2), Omar (2), Sony, Seb and, with a lung-busting penalty box to penalty box run, Archie. This game saw perhaps one of the best goals we have ever scored - a string of 4 or five passes moving the ball across the pitch before Omar tucked it away - and a great blend of passing, movement, support, tackling and shooting. Team play infact. Brilliant.

Last up were Ashley Down and a tight game swung on a well worked goal, Sam's throw being flicked on by Ollie at the near post and Danny forcing the ball into the net at the far post. This game also saw Ashley Down have 3 or 4 well taken corners that we defended really well, making the earlier goal against Rockleaze even more of a shame.

So overall we won three, drew one and lost one, scoring nine goals and conceding only one.

Thanks very much to the great support from the touchline and to the boys who played so well throughout. Trying to pick one player as man of the Tournament was a tough task but the coaches all felt that Jack played with skill and spirit throughout.

Andy

Year 2 Foxes Romp at Rockleaze 14 June

On a glorious sunny Sunday, another early start heralded a day of fabulous football.

The Rockleaze Tournament is one of the toughest on the calendar. It drew strong teams from near and far. We could enter only one team to play just 4 matches. For our U7s the knock-out tournament was replaced by a smaller, 7-a-side round-robin "festival of football". 

The Squad - Eddie, Felix, Harrison, Henry, Jack, Jago, Joseph, Josh, Matthew.

The first match saw the Foxes get off to a flying start.  Against unfamiliar opposition from Bromley Heath, the Foxes played beautiful football. Fluid running, silky skills, determined tackling and exceptional passing helped the Foxes dominate completely.  Henry opened the scoring with a great strike after Jago's pin-point pass.  Harrison added a second from a Jago free-kick. Then Henry made an unstoppable run down the right before crossing for Harrison to drill home his second. Our fourth goal came as Jago went on a mazy run. Strong support helped draw the defence before Jago finished off in style.  Great tackling by Josh, Matthew and Jack helped Felix keep a superb clean sheet.  A missed chance in front of an open goal could have put us even further ahead but everyone was delighted with the win - 4:0.

Next up, Rockleaze Rangers Blue.  Again the Foxes dominated with some great movement and solid defence.  Jack made a fabulous save to keep out one the few chances that fell to Rockleaze.  In the end our skill won through.  Like a fledgling Ronaldo,  Joseph picked up the ball on the right and attacked the Rockleaze defence with pace and control. He finished a brilliant individual run with a great strike.  Foxes won 1:0.

Ashley Down, confident after beating us 0:5 in a "friendly" earlier in the season, were next. Despite facing some very rough defensive tactics the Foxes played brilliantly.  A push on Joseph and a cynical hack on Jago could (some thought should) have led to two penalties for the Foxes. They weren't given and in the end weren't needed. Henry opened the scoring.  Joseph added a second after another dazzling dribble.  A third goal came when Harrison latched on to a lovely cross from Joseph.  Josh, Jack and Matthew were immense in defence and only a quirky bounce eluded Felix to break his clean-sheet record. A fine win, 3:1.

Eddie, delayed after a camper-van breakdown, arrived in time to bolster our defence for the final game against Rockleaze Rangers Red.  An hour's break in the sun between matches halted our momentum. In the first half we dominated completely but could not score.  Poor clearances by the RR keeper were met with surprise and 3 or 4 easy chances went begging. In contrast, a rare defensive slip allowed Rockleaze their only real chance of the game. They scored. The Foxes were a goal down for the first time all day. But their character shone through as they put Rockleaze "under the cosh" (to quote their coach). After a succession of corners Jago eventually found Harrison and he found the back of the net. Only the final whistle prevented an inevitable winner. We had to settle for a dominant draw, 1:1.

The unbeaten Foxes finished top of their group. Man of the Match award - Josh for all round skills and superb defensive play.

It was a complete team effort. wonderful and enthralling in equal measure, and always played in a sporting manner.  A proud day. Brilliant!

NEWSFLASH!!!......Foxes Training - Sat 13th June

Due to the Race For Life taking place Saturday morning on The Downs, training has been moved to the other side of the White Tree roundabout (where the School Sports Day took place).

See you there!

Year 2 Foxes at St Nick's Tournament

Sunday 31st May broke early as 13 bleary-eyed little foxes headed out to Chipping Sodbury. Despite it being half-term we managed, with a little help from Year 1, to pull together just enough players to make 2 teams for this 6-a-side tournament.  

The headlines:

"A" squad - Ludo's Team

Ludo (Capt), William LP, William W, Matthew, TJ, Josh Jarvis, Monty Nash.

Results - won 1, drew 1, lost 3.  Goalscorers - Ludo 2, Monty.

 

Ludo's team were drawn against Coombe Dingle Colts (0-3), Warmly Rangers A (0-3), Wotton Rovers A (1-2), St Nicholas Blue (0-0) and Stoke Lane B (2-0). WPF got off to a slow start but, as the scores above show, we improved as the tournament progressed, drawing and winning our final two games. The boys and parents can be proud that, despite the early results not going WPF way, the boys were 100% committed and played in a true sportsman like manner.

Every player made a valuable contribution; William LP had two of his best performances of the season to earn us a 0-0 draw and 2-0 victory; Matthew demonstrated good awareness and positional discipline in defence; Josh Jarvis never stopped running and showed a great touch with both feet; Monty Nash made a massive contribution and scored WPF's first goal of the tournament (with a goal celebration to remember!); a big thank you to William W who played well in the first two games before he had to leave for a martial arts contest; Ludo was a constant threat to the opposition showing some great dribbling skills as well scoring the winning goals in the final game; finally TJ's goal-keeping earnt him one of the WPF's Player Of the Tournament awards.

"B" squad - Henry's team
Henry (Capt), Harrison, Joseph, Josh, Jack, Felix

Results - won 3, drew 1, lost 1.  Goalscorers - Josh 3, Harrison 2, Joseph.

With no substitute and at least one player carrying an injury, Henry's team showed immense strength of character to play so well.  Against Warmley Rangers B they dominated completely. Passes flowed like fine wine (dare I say champagne?).  Only a determination by the Foxes to eschew shooting in favour of dribbling the ball over the goal-line stopped them scoring a bucket load.  In the end a fine goal from Josh settled the match 1-0.  

Against a strong Stoke Lane A team our defence was undone, even though we were never outplayed. Stoke left a player camped on our goal line and with no offsides, this cost us dearly. Despite great goal keeping by Jack, we lost 0-3.  A lesson learnt.

Wotton Rovers B were no match and again we dominated, going 2 up after excellent goals by Harrison and Josh.  Only when a 4-against-1 attack broke down did we concede a goal. But it was too late and we won comfortably 2-1.

St Nick's Reds was another good team but despite the Foxes being the stronger, our passing play stuttered.  Even so, Joseph tormented their defence and only a lot of shirt pulling and one blatant rugby-tackle kept him off the score sheet. Josh was magnificent in defence and we drew 0-0.

We saved the best 'til last. Aganst Wotton Rovers C we could easily have had 6 or 7 goals. Joseph scored the first after a great dribble; Harrison the second after hunting down a loose pass and Josh added the third with a fantastic strike.   Felix was peerless in goal, crowning a great afternoon with a fabulous save. Jack's defensive play evoked memories of Bobby Moore in his pomp and won him the WPF team's Player of the Tournament trophy. Joseph was a dribbling wizard who never gave up. Henry commanded the midfield with unquestioned authority and was always ready to track back when needed.  Josh had a great passing game and powered his way through the opposition, always looking to score.  Harrison was a constant danger with his running into space and only a foot injury stopped him scoring a hat-trick. Final result 3-0.

It was great to play both new and familiar teams in a really well run tournament. All the other teams were from big, long-established clubs, so every one of the Foxes should be proud of what they achieved. Thank you also to the parents for showing such great support. A lovely summer's day all round!

Year Three Boys At The St Nicks Tournament

Saturday 30th May saw a very early start (especially for the parents) as we took one squad of eight to the St Nicks Tournament in far-away Chipping Sodbury. The eight boys were:

Harri
Barnabus
Sebastian
Max
Nick
Omar
Danny
Jack

In all we played six games in our group stage, winning two and drawing four and conceding only three goals.

The first game was against a very strong Bristol United (eventual group winners) and after a hesitant start we were well worth a nil-nil draw. Second up saw a well deserved 2-1 win over Yate United with goals from Barney and Omar. After taking an early lead through Omar and having the best of the game we concede an equaliser very late in the game when the drew with Thornbury after we failed to clear our lines from a rare attack.

Against Quedgely Utd we somehow failed to score despite a number of chances including a Ronaldo-like free kick from Jack that just clipped the outside of the post. A great win against St Nicks (goals from Barney and Jack) was followed by a dominant performance against Coombe Dingle B. Barney had a goal disallowed, scored another and the team had several other chances before a foul (which looked to be outside the box) was given as a penalty and pretty much with the last kick of the game they equalised.

A great day saw a really enjoyable tournament (thanks to everyone at St Nicks) and top performances throughout the team: Danny, Jack, Nick, Barney and Omar all took turns in goal and all did really well, Harri, Nick and Seb were towering in defence and midfield, Omar and Jack took their goals really well and Danny and Max ran hard and displayed some great touches. Overall, however, player of the week was Barney for his three goals and great effort throughout.

Well done to everyone - including the bleary-eyed parents who as always were there to support the Foxes throughout (although the football did sometimes seem to interrupt David 'Arthur Daley' Vickerman's attempts to sell a freezer, or was it a tumble dryer or perhaps it was both? I get easily confused). The coaches really appreciate the support. Thanks.

Andy

Year 4 Mini Tournament - Sat 30th May '09

This weekend Year 4 have a mini-tournament against Clifton United & Sefton Park Scorpions at home on The Downs at 10am.

Foxes Girls vs BLUFC Girls - 23rd May - The Foxes Win

A sunny day on the Downs in mid-May and a well-earned victory over the Blues. Who could ask for more in life?

A mixed-age group Foxes team (mainly year three, with two year fours and one year five - super skipper and defensive general Ollie P) took on a mixed-age group Blues team (an even mixture of year threes and fours).

The final score (6-1 to the Foxes) may have been slightly inflated by the goal scoring excellence of an on-loan Blue (Imogen who would make most, if not all, year 4 boys teams I've seen) but as the Blues only goal was an unlucky own-goal by the Foxes defence I'm not sure that her presence affected the overall result. Indeed one of the best bits of football of the whole game came from a mazy Anna D run, a well timed pass and a great shot from Olivia. Total football.

Some great all-round performances - Olivia was excellent, Anna R as cool as ever, Anna D a perpetual motion machine in green and white, Ella a rock in defence and Tia solid on the pitch and brave in goal.

Thanks to BLUFC for the game and for generously lending their better players and congratulations to Tia - player of the week.

Y3 Girls V St Nicks (16 May 2009)

St Nicks 6: Foxes 2

View from the pitch: A Foxette writes...

Another fantastic game for the Year 3 girls, but not quite a win!

Everyone played really well, including Anna Davis who got Player of the Week.

Anna Reynolds scored a goal from a short shot, and Emily Thomas and Bryony did some fantastic saves.

Anna Davis ran up the pitch with the ball and almost scored a goal. You could hear Ian Davis’ cheers for miles around!

Sophie McConnell did a fantastic pass to Anna Reynolds who then scored her goal.
Tia had a really good match in her first game and got well stuck in.

Sophie HR did some good clearances and never put her coat on at all! It was a very rainy day so that might be a record!



Sideline view from Coach Dave:

The Yr 3 Foxettes have a problem.

It’s a nice problem.

We are overrun.

St Nicks girls recruit from Chipping Sodbury (pop: 26,855) and on Saturday eight brave girls turned out to face the rain and the Foxes.

The foxes recruit from Y3, Westbury Park School (pop: 30) and they just kept coming. We divided into two teams of seven a side, and still had to play subs!

First on were Bryony, Sophie HR, Tia, Sacha, Anna R, Emily T and Sophie Mac. St Nicks, who are a good team, piled on the pressure but they couldn’t crack the green and white wall. Bryony put in some terrific saves, Sacha and Sophie HR were solid and stuck in at the back and soon the ball went forward. Pressure told, and we ended the first game 1-0 up.

Change ends, change teams, on came Anna D, Molly H, Phoebe, Ella, Emily C, Marielle, Sophie C and returning Foxettes Isabel and Molly R. Another brave battle followed, including an astonishing leap from Isabel in goal to tip a scorching high shot over the bar. It rained, pretty much incessantly, but the girls weren’t bothered. St Nicks found it so hard they had to resort to fancy tricks (passing) and eventually managed a well taken goal to level the game.

Cheering in the rain for fifteen minutes might sap the spirits of some, but not our Foxettes and their loyal band of travelling support. When Anna R came out of defence to try her hand up front and then put away our second goal, the touchline erupted. And throughout the morning morale was kept high and no-one even thought of going home early.

Sadly the Foxettes fight wasn’t rewarded with victory. A couple of skilful goals and some confusion over our goal kicks put St Nicks ahead, but these are training games and the girls are learning in leaps and bounds.

In her first match ever Tia kept her nerve and made some crucial tackles. Isabel and Molly R were very welcome returners, Isabel’s goal kicks sailing high over all heads. Sophie Mac, Emily T, Anna D, Phoebe and Anna R battled for every ball up front and ran their socks off.

All 16 could be mentioned in dispatches, but how long have you got?! In truth, we saw great teamwork, great spirit, some astonishing saves, and two great goals. Well done girls!

Thornbury Tournament - the round-up

Year Three Boys
The boys did us proud and both teams were only knocked out on penalties.

We split them into two squads:

The Green Team consisting of Sam L (Capt), Archie, Danny, Sam P, Harry, Raul, Ollie K, and Max.

The White Team with Omar (Capt), Sonny, Jacob, Alec, Ollie C, Aidan, Owen and Sebastian.

The Greens played three, won two and drew one in their group and finished top. They then entered the knockout stages of the Cup Competition and played Coombe Dingle A in the quarter finals. A very close 0-0 draw took the game to penalties which sadly (understatement) we lost 2-0. There were great performances throughout but Player of the Tournament for the Greens was Harry who played really well in defence and midfield.

The Whites were in a really tough group and drew one and lost two. Both defeats, however, were by the only goal in the game and in all three games we came really close to drawing or winning. The quarterfinal of the Plate Competition (for sides that finished third and fourth in their groups) saw a great win against the Thornbury Falcons and the semi final saw us batter Wotton Rovers nil-nil (if you know what I mean). We had so many chances to score that I can hardly remember them all. Anyway back to dreaded penalties and unfortunately, despite Owen's great save of their first penalty, we lost 2-0 again. Player of the Tournament for the Whites was Sebastian who was here, there and, indeed, everywhere.

The Foxes played some lovely football, scored some good goals and ran their hearts out. I have a feeling that we should practice penalties at the first available opportunity.

Well done to all those who played.

AndyW


Year Four Boys

Very well done to the Foxes U9s. We struggled for enough players but Archie Watts in Y3 came to our rescue and played in goal, and later Jack Clarke dashed from training on The Downs to take the place of Ollie W who had to leave after the group matches. So the squad was:

GK Archie Watts
DF Romi
DF Ollie W
DF Jack Clarke
MD Georgios
MD Ben J
CF Ollie D

First match was against the hosts Thornbury Falcons B to whom we conceded an early goal but we stuck to our task and deservedly Georgios scored to equalise, final score 1-1. Second match was against arch rivals Rockleaze Rangers A, again we conceded an early goal but Archie kept us in the game with a fantastic save down to his right-hand post late in the first half. In the second half we soaked up a lot of pressure with resolute defending and again got our just deserts when Ollie D equalised, final score 1-1. In the last group match we played unbeaten Abbeymead Rovers A and, for a change, conceded the first goal but Ollie D equalised to get his second goal, final score 1-1. That meant we were unbeaten with 6 points the same as both Rockleaze and Abbeymead, unfortunately they had both scored one more goal than us so they finished 1st & 2nd and we finished a very unlucky 3rd.

That meant we went into the Consolation Cup quarter finals against Wotton Tigers. Jack replaced Ollie W and we continued playing really well as a team, keeping our shape and working hard at all times. Unusually we scored first with what proved to be the only goal of the game when Ben J picked up the ball deep and drove forward to eventually boot the ball emphatically into the roof of the net, final score 1-0.

In the semi-final we came up against Golden Hill Sonics B which proved to be a very tight game with few clear chances, final score 0-0. This meant penalties, which were taken in a special area in front of lots of spectators, 3 each and then sudden death. We missed our first 2 and they scored 2 unstoppable pens which Archie could do nothing about, so we were out but unbeaten in open play!

I'm sure the boys all really enjoyed the day and very much deserved to get as far as they did.

Thanks again to both Archie and Jack for coming to our rescue and playing so well, they can both consider themselves honorary Y4 players.

Rob

Year Five boys

Paul's squad had high hopes of glory at Thornbury, with arguably the strongest Foxes line-up ever assembled.

The group stages went exactly to plan. In the first game, the hosts, Thornbury, were clinically dispatched 2-0, with high quality goals from Hugo and Ben. Our second match was against newcomers Windsor Drive. An experimental line-up with Oliver Williams up front, possibly for the first time ever, crushed Windsor Park's resistance in the first half with three well worked goals, two from Gabe and a thunderbolt from Ollie W. The lads took their foot off the pedal in the second half to conserve energy, and 3-0 was the final score. The final group game was against Avon Athletic A, who had also won their first two games. A great team effort, particularly from the defence, Kris and Harvey, restricted the opposition to one shot on goal, whilst Eddie and Ben slotted home two more superb strikes. We had therefore stormed the group with three wins from three games, seven goals scored and none conceded, the best record from any of the four groups.

We went into the main competition quarter-final in confident mood against Avon Athletic B. After dominating the opening exchanges, our energy seemed to drain and Avon gradually got into the game, drawing some excellent saves from Jamie in goal. The match was evenly poised well into second half, so we went looking for the winner in order to avoid the dreaded penalties. Unfortunately, even Jamie couldn't keep out a pile driver into the corner, and with only 30 seconds left the dream was over for another year.

I would like to give credit to all eight boys, none of whom complained when it was their turn to be substitute or goalkeeper. One of these days we will maintain our performances for a whole tournament and WE WILL WIN SOME SILVERWARE.

The squad was: Jamie McConnell (capt.), Oliver Williams, Kris Carr, Eddie Marshall, Harvey Morgan, Hugo Cullum, Ben Lawes and Gabe Kerfoot. Well done lads.

Paul

Andy's squad was drawn in a very tough group facing Avon Athletic, Slimbridge Scorpions A and Thornbury Falcons B.

In the group games the team went down by the odd goal in all three matches which meant a very tough quarter final slot in the Consolation Cup. But this is when the team really saved their best performance. Against very good opposition Jack scored a great goal in the first half, finishing a flowing move featuring Joe, Danny, Lukha and Tom. We held our lead into the second half and Jack came so close to doubling our tally with minutes to go. But then disaster struck: Tom was pushed aside (surely a foul ref?) with just seconds to go and the defence (momentarily caught out of position for the first time in the match) conceded the latest of late goals despite James' bravest efforts to keep the ball out. And so to penalties and as this is the Foxes you know what happened next.

So another quarter final appearance and although it wasn't our day I was very proud of everybody in the squad for their commitment and skillful football on the day. Well done to everyone and especially Joe who captained the team with aplomb and confidence.

The squad:

James (fantastic goalkeeping exploits)

Tom (masterminding our defence)

Adam (tenacious midfield exploits)

Oliver D (great strength in the tackle)

Danny (silky skills and free-kick king)

Lukha (midfield dynamo)

Jack (golden boot)

Joe (Captain Marvel)

Andy