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
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
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