Year 2 Foxes v Sefton Park Scorpions

A sunny day and a perfect pitch greeted the Foxes as they returned from their well earned Easter break. 22 hooped heroes were up for action, Scorpions brought 14 so it was four games of seven a side on The Downs.

Foxes gave a debut to Sophie who didn't disappoint. The first games kicked off and the goals immediately followed. Dave B's team had Josh at his best and a solid defence. Hatrick! On the other pitch Pete's team couldn't stop scoring, Matt hitting four to add to doubles from Cos and Eden. Andrew hammered in another. Goal of the game was a Cos chip. Sublime.

The second set of games saw the underemployed Foxes keepers given a run out. Omar had been waiting for a long time for a touch of the ball! He was bright and threatening throughout as the Foxes found it harder going against better organised Scorpion sides. The Foxes rear guards were finally breached but there was plenty of action at the other end too with Josh adding to his tally, Charlie showing his quality, Jacob H finding the net for the first time since the reverse fixture in the Autumn and all this was topped off by first Foxes goal for Toby!

Pete's team were also on fire, Eden adding to his two from the first game, and although they were pegged back during a disorganised mass substituion, Matt blasted another quickly followed by a cool finish by the dangerous Own Goal. Tremendous defending kept Foxes at bay in the second half with Matt sending across corner after corner. Finally, at the fourth attempt, super sharp Cos applied the super finish that Matt's deadly delivery deserved.

Players of the day: Josh and Matt. Razor sharp.

BGL U11 Bradley Stoke 1 v 1 Westbury Park Foxes

Foxes Go Unbeaten All Season!

Today saw the final game of a tremendous season for the girls. An away game at Bradley Stoke was always going to be tough match, but the girls were determined that they wanted to end the season on a high, without losing a game.

It was a vastly depleted Foxes squad, with only 8 girls available due to the Easter Holidays. Regular defenders Izzy and Amelia  were away, and star striker Sim had left for the Lake District at 5am. However, with Stoke's leading scorer Daisy Ackerman not in the home squad, it looked like the teams would start even.
If the Foxes required any more encouragement, then knowing that their training coach, and star of 'Class of '92', Raph Burke was coming to watch, provided all that was needed!

The Foxes lined up with Betty in goal, Rhiannon and Molly in defence. Lulu, Mara and Ella B started in midfield, with Lily leading the line.

The Foxes were quickly into their stride, attacking down the flanks and winning most of the 50:50 balls in midfield. Whilst the attackers were getting to the side of the box, the final ball in was lacking, and too often the Foxes resorted to shooting from impossible angles, or not finding a team mate with the cross.

Foxes attack the corner!

The Foxes forced a number of corners, but failed to convert from the set pieces, and often had to scramble as Stoke countered with some slick passing of their own. Ella W joined the fray as Lily recovered from a stich.

Midway through the first half disaster struck, as a Stoke counter attack evaded several tackles resulting in a shot that Betty could only get a palm to as it flew into the side of the goal. The Foxes were 1-0 down. On the side, regular match day coaches Graham and Martin, tried to remember the last time we had trailed in a game, (and couldn't), in an attempt to remedy the situation.

Rolling up those extra long sleeves!

The girls rolled up their (extra long) sleeves, and set about trying to rectify the deficit. Rhiannon  went on a trademark mazy run down the right and flashed a cross that rolled agonisingly close, but again there were no Foxes on hand to tap home. Then Mara was able to run at the defence, cut in from the left and send a shot fizzing over the bar. At the other end Stoke also had a shot against the bar that Betty had covered.

So the half ended with the Foxes still a goal down. Time for a well earned breather, and a tactical change. The coaches realised that our best chance of an equaliser was to move Mara into a more central striking role, whilst utilising Lily's pace with the ball to supply down the right wing. Ella B switched flanks to the left.

The second half began brightly with the Foxes on the front foot again. The switch almost paid immediate dividends as the fast Foxes line caught the Stoke defence high up the pitch and had a 3 on 1 with the defender. The resulting shot was straight at the keeper, but was encouraging for the away side.
10 minutes in though and the front 3 combined well again to run at pace at the Stoke defence. This time there was no mistake as Mara slotted cooly passed the Stoke keeper to level the scores.
Relief on the sidelines as the unbeaten record was back on!
The Foxes, spurred on by the goal again went on the attack again, and a fine run down the right by Lily was eventually  forced out by the final defender for a Foxes corner.

Stoke were recycling the ball quickly, with the keeper's long kicks going 'route 1' down the slope. Betty did well to come out and clear the box, and was soon called into a brave save as 2 Stoke attackers closed in on goal. The home tactic meant a huge amount of running back afar attacks for the tiring Foxes. Stoke were able to keep things fresh with rolling substitutions.

In the end neither side could add to the goal tally, and, as the final whistle blew,  all agreed that a draw was the right result for such an entertaining game.

After the match, coaches Graham and Martin were pleased to learn that Raph had suggested the same changes at half time, to Director of Football Tamsin, as they had thought of themselves!

With Raph after the final whistle!

So, in the end, a fantastic finish to a Championship winning season. We will keep training hard ahead of the ESFA national finals in May, but will savour a great season in the BGL!

Captain of the Week: Ella Beswetherick

Girl of the Game: Lily Kington Miller