Saturday 30 January 2010

Year 6 Foxes rocked by Rockleaze

In difficult conditions on a frozen Downs the year 6 boys were disappointed at the results of their matches today losing two and drawing two despite playing some good football in patches.

The first game was a close affair with Jack latching onto a through ball and finishing cleverly at the near post. It looked like this would win it for the Foxes. But with seconds left Rockleaze grabbed a good equaliser from a corner and the game ended 1-1. The second match was equally close and although the Foxes might have edged it the game remained scoreless. In the third and fourth matches the Foxes struggled to find their rhythm and went down 2-0 and 2-1 (a goal from Kris was the only Foxes score).

But although the results didn't go our way coaches Andy and Paul were very pleased with some of the strong passing moves the team put together. As we start to look at upcoming tournaments (more details soon) we will have to continue to build on this aspect of our play if we are to be as successful as we were last year.

Player of the week went to Danny J for his excellent all round performances. Well done to everyone who played: Eddie, Jack, Kris, Oliver D, Adam, Sam, Ben, Danny, Oliver W, Harvey, James, Jamie and Lukha.

BLUs Beaten by Foxy Girls!

30 Jan 2010.
Yr 4 Foxy Girls v The BLUs.
WIN 3-2 and DRAW 1-1


Seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang recently?
"Teamwork can make your Dream work" they sing.


Here are 16 magnificent girls who played as a team, and lived the dream. In fact, another two turned up after the official photo, giving us squads for two strong sides.

First off, the Foxy As, who've been playing a little longer, took on the BLUs U9s. For new readers, this is the top Bristol team. A "Centre of Excellence" in Football. A squad so professional, they have their own diet plan for breakfasts on match day....
In the past, they've beaten us 10-2.

Well, not any more. All the foxes played their hearts out, going for challenges and tackles with a new spirit: "I can win this ball!". And they did. At the back, Sophie HR, Phoebe and Anna R tackled all the BLU strikers, who are tricky customers. Isabel made some strong saves, and then booted the ball high over the midfield where only Emily Thomas could see it. Emily, Bryony and Sophie M ran the midfield as hard as ever, but with more passing and space than before. This cunning plan payed off, and soon the ball was in BLU territory more than ours. Pressure told, and Emily's boot found the net.
1-0 at half time.
Sweet.

The BLUs came back hard in the second half, and tested our defence. Sophie HR tackled Saffy so hard she fell to earth, but the ref called play on, so Sophie merely booted it upfield. Emily T had a second goal disallowed ( didn't quite inch across the line) and the girls picked themselves up and came back for more. A fine BLU strike made it 1-1, but then Anna D made a scorching run from the back to make it 2-1 to us. A strong BLU attack was then repelled by Phoebe and Anna R for a while, until Saffy finally got her reward for persistent attacks and levelled at 2-2.

A few months ago, these Foxes might have fallen at this stage. I'd be writing about noble efforts, and bad luck. Not today. You could see the hunger. You could taste the determination. And when Sophie M finally found the net, Brian and Ian were, well, like Prince Charming and Cinders at the Ball.

Great teamwork throughout. Surely the next batch of Foxes couldn't equal that?

You know what, they did.

Marielle, Molly H and R, Tia and Rosie, Ellas T and W, Sophie C and Abi played a blinder. For some, their first serious game against quality opposition. Abi and Marielle were confident in goal, making some nice saves and kicking out confidently. Ella W, Tia and Rosie were so persistent up front that eventually the ball found the net.
1-0 to us. Combe Dingle was being painted Green and White.
Could the foxes win this too? It was too much to hope for, and we had to settle for a draw, though the Foxes definitely had more of the game. Molly H and Sophie earn our "terrier fox of the week" prize for just never giving up, Tia and Ella W showed great skills dribbling round the defences.

Out of 18 girls, is there a player of the week? Nope. Today's winner was definitely The Team.

As they sing on in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: "Though it seems your dreams impossible to do, great teams make impossibilities come true."

Too right.

Sunday 24 January 2010

Year 4 vs Bishop Road

A dry and mild winter's morning found the Y4 Foxes boys away at Bishop Road's hidden gem of a home field, a flat and spacious green sward tucked away off the main road.

With only one pitch available, and 20 players in two equally strong squads of 10, there were four back to back matches. Foxes waiting for a game divided their time on the sidelines between light skills practice, spectating and a bit of training with Raul and Jacob's dog Bingo (who showed good pace and tackling, and may start against Rockleaze next week).

The first squad to play got off to a poor start, conceding an early goal from a swift attack up the middle. They battled hard for an equaliser, but struggled to create clear-cut scoring opportunities, several attacks foundering due to a lack of passing and Bishop Road's strong defence. Bishop Road got a second midway through the second half, and while the Foxes picked up their efforts towards the end and came a little bit closer, it was too late to close the gap. In the end, Bishop Road deserved their 2-0 win.

The second squad then battled out a tough, evenly balanced 0-0 draw. Both sides had plenty of possession, and the odd chance, but strong tackling in the midfield was the story of this game.

The first squad then returned for their next match. This was a far better game, goalless at half time and too close to call, but BR got the breakthrough shortly after the second half began. Again, the Foxes laboured to create clear chances despite having an increasing share of possession. BR remained dangerous, forcing a great slow motion palmed save round the post from Danny, and eventually bundled in a second with the last kick of the game. 2-0 again, but a much closer match.

The final match provided the best spectacle. In a rather one-sided first half, the Foxes hung on to get to 0-0 at the break, with two goal line clearances and several waves of BR attacks repelled. The second half proved a different story. BR struck early to go one up, but from then on it was the Foxes' turn to pile on pressure, with Joey and Jack C in particular orchestrating constant attacks. Again, it seemed as if the Foxes might never score, with the final pass just lacking on several occasions, but finally a sustained spell of possession ended with Joey blasting in the equaliser from outside the box. Thereafter it was a green and white onslaught, with six consecutive corner kicks at one point, until time ran out with the score 1-1.

Overall, an excellent morning's football between two closely matched sides, but Bishop Road edged it through their superior passing and team play.
Players of the week were Aidan (from the first squad) and Jack T (from the second), both of whom were outstanding in the tackle and snuffed out several attacks and potential goals

Saturday 23 January 2010

Year 6 Foxes win at Bishop Road

Despite fielding a depleted squad with a number of players unavailable the Year 6 boys won two matches at Bishop Road with two excellent performances.

In the first match a goalless first half left the Foxes determined to capitalise on the chances they were creating. Jack, Oliver W and Ben all went close but couldn't find the target. The second half was a different story and Jamie moved from his usual midfield position to play upfront and scored a great second half hat-trick to leave the Foxes coming out 3-0 winners.

The second match was a hard fought affair as the much-improved Bishop Road team put out a strong side. It was decided by a sublime first half strike from Oliver W from outside the box curling inside the top corner. The goalie got a touch but couldn't stop the ball hitting the back of the net.

The second half saw chances at either end but great goalkeeping from Oliver D and from the Bishop Road goalie made sure there were no more goals. Ben was especially unlucky not to get on the scoresheet. This was an especially good performance from the Foxes as Jack had to leave early and we played the second half a player short.

Jamie claimed Player of the week for his excellent all round performance and of course his three goals. But the whole team played well, we saw a lot of great passing moves and we were unlucky not to score more. Well done to everyone in the team: Joe, Tom, Oliver D, Oliver W, Jack, Jamie, Ben, Kris, Danny and Adam.

Next week sees the challenge of Rockleaze in a home fixture!

Friday 22 January 2010

Year 4 Boys v Clifton Utd, 16th January

The Downs came to our rescue again when Clifton's pitches were too wet to play but we were able to host and so make sure the games went ahead.

The Foxes were split into two equal squads and each played the one Clifton squad.

In the first game we started slowly and only led 1-0 at half time.The second period was, however, a completely different story as we ran away 8-0 winners. Some of our passing was the best we have produced and a joy to watch. Goals came from Joey and Omar (3 each) Harri and Jack.

The second game was much closer as this time the Foxes decided that passing was a bit old hat and each player tried, with a few honourable exceptions, to beat Clifton on his own. This is never a particularly good thing and the team owed a great deal to two outstanding saves by Owen in the first half and a great performance by Alec in the centre of midfield. We did end up winning 4-0 with goals from Sonny (3) and Danny but we did not play with a great deal of thought or shape.

Overall another good day for the Foxes. Players of the week were Joey in the first game and Alec in the second.

Sunday 17 January 2010

Year 6 Foxes in Clifton cliffhanger!

Thanks to our chairman Sally inspecting the whole Downs on Friday we found enough space to entertain Clifton United in a fixture moved to the Downs from Clifton's ground which was unplayable.

The conditions were tough but nonetheless the Foxes and Clifton played an entertaining 4-4 draw in great spirit with three "halves" of 20 minutes each. The Foxes soon found themselves 3-0 up with a lovely goal from Eddie and two great finishes from Gabe and Clifton pulled one back at the end of the first session. In the second the Foxes lost Jack (who had to leave early) and Eddie (who had a twisted knee) but Kris buried a great shot to take the score to 4-1. Clifton then found some rhythm and passing movements and pulled two goals back to go into the last 20 minutes with the score at 4-3. Unluckily for the Foxes although they pressed for a fifth the woodwork denied Ben (who was really unlucky not to get on the scoresheet) twice, Gabe twice and James and right at the death we conceded a fourth with a deflected shot that just evaded Tom's brave dive at the far post. 4-4 it finished.

Adam won the player of the week award for his fantastic tackles at the back. Twice as the Foxes pressed forward at the end of the game chasing the win he managed to win the ball when outnumbered three to one and saved two certain goals in the process - a real match saver. But everyone played very well: Tom, James, Jamie (some great passing, Jamie), Gabe, Ben, Kris, Eddie, Jack and of course Adam.

Clifton plays in a league but their coaches have promised to find a fixture for us to play a return match later in the year. If it's anything as exciting as this one it will be one to watch!

Next week we are scheduled to be at Bishop Road - we'll email details later in the week.

Friday 15 January 2010

Football is ON this weekend - for all expect Y1s

Foxes football training will go ahead tomorrow - despite our usual pitches being under water!

A careful survey of the Downs has revealed dry grass just over the road from our patch. So, park as usual and cross to the other side of the road (to the right of Ladies Mile).

Usual time - unusual place. Bring snorkel and flippers.

Y1 football has been cancelled. (Any very keen Y1s are welcome to join Y2s or Reception.)

Hope to see you there.

Tuesday 12 January 2010

Lark in the Park



Diehard Foxes Footie fans enjoyed clear blue skys, light winds and a hot chocolate in the snow on Saturday.

The footie wasn't bad either (great sliding tackles) and a closely fought match ended 15-15 by my reckoning.

Friday 8 January 2010

Happy New Year!



We wish a happy New Year to one and all and hope you had a smashing Christmas and restful holiday. We did!

Now as you all know, we like to think that we at the Foxes are never put off by bad weather or major international incidents. However. This week is an exception. This week we are cancelling Foxes Football tomorrow (Jan 9), in the hope that we can kick off again the following Saturday (Jan 16).

Sorry and all that.

However, some hardy souls may well be up in that corner of the Downs, at the usual time, for a bit of an impromptu kickabout/coffee and cake. Naturally, you're all welcome to join us.

Hope to see you soon.