Saturday 14 June 2014

Yr 8 - BSYL Cup Final Winners - Foxes 4 - 1 Wickwar Wanders

After a two month delay from the original date for the Final,and on evening where temperatures gave the boys a taste of World Cup conditions, the mighty u13 Foxes won their third BSYL Cup in a row. Keynsham Town FC provided the neutral venue for the game and the playing surface, plus the allocation of the home changing room and seating for the 'crowd', provided the perfect backdrop for a fantastic performance. From the first whistle to the last the Foxes were first to the ball, great in possession and dangerous in the Wickwar box. Omar, who was awarded the Man of the Match award by the referee, opened the scoring with an unstoppable effort after five minutes. His second, after great work from Jack, stretched our lead. Throughout the first half the Foxes kept their discipline and their shape and Wickwar could find no way back. Archie was excellent in goal, marshalling his back four and making sure those in front of him knew what he wanted them to do. Harri, Ollie K, Alec and Nick played with skill and power ensuring that Wickwar did not get close to our goal. Oliie C, off his sick bed, Jack and Harry gave us width and pace and caused a constant threat and Danny and Owen controlled centre midfield. Up front Omar and Sam showed how well they can link up, both keeping the Wickwar back four constantly occupied. Ollie S came of the bench to give Sam a break and worked really hard to put pressure on Wickwar when they had ball. 2-0 at half time. As expected Wickwar came out for the second half and tried to attack with three upfront. The Foxes knew the first 10 minutes were to be crucial and when Sam finished off a great team move to extend the lead, the mood on the Foxes and Wickar benches could not have been different. Perhaps due to the three goal gap the Foxes relaxed and for a 10 minute period Wickwar looked more threatening and finally got their reward from a well taken free kick. If anything this killed the game off as the Foxes refocused and, after Omar and Danny hit the bar and the Wickwar keeper made some good saves, Ollie C finished the scoring off with a brilliant free kick from 30 yards out. Tom, Sonny and Max came off the bench to add fresh legs and to make life even more difficult for Wickwar and there was still time for Nick, after a non-stop 70 minutes of running, covering and tackling, to burst from the halfway line on the Foxes left, drive into the box and force the save of the game from the Wickwar keeper. The final whistle and great celebrations to cap another fantastic season for an exceptional age group of great lads.

Monday 9 June 2014

U11 Girls Triumph at Carterton Tournament!


Because Bristol is not enough…….

The all-conquering U11 girls went on the road on Sunday to the Carterton Town FC Summer Tournament - a trail first blazed by Foxes girls 3 years ago (*see blog dated 11th June 2011). Calamity had struck the squad in training on Saturday, when keeper Betty broke a finger making a typically brave stop. Lulu stepped in to don the gloves, and was joined in the squad by Lily, Molly, Rhiannon, Ella, Sim, Emily and Amelia.

The Foxes took their place at a tournament deep in the Cotswold countryside in the shadow of RAF Brize Norton. There were ten teams, in two groups of five - mostly members of the Oxfordshire Girls League, with poetic and evocative names like Summertown, Wantage, Ashton Keynes, Stonefields....oh, and Didcot. With Lulu between the sticks, and the games being only 6-a-side, some formation rejigging and experimenting was required. All of the squad adapted magnificently. After their habitual slow tournament start (0-0 v. hosts Carterton) the girls were soon into their stride, with 2-0 and 1-0 wins over Summertown and Wantage respectively, followed by another goalless draw which was enough to top the group.

The generous format meant that four out of the five group teams went through to the quarter finals, but the Foxes' top seeding gave them a reasonably comfortable fixture which they won 2-0. In these first five games, Sim bagged her usual share of the goals, with Lily also on target with a fine finish. Ella and Lily were chief providers, tormenting defences down the wings in the blazing Oxfordshire sunshine. Ever-present Rhiannon coolly anchored the midfield, aided by a superb showing from Molly. With Lulu flawless in goal, helped by some tough and skilful defending from Amelia and Emily, the Foxes were looking good going into the semi against Didcot.

'The Railway Girls' (as perhaps they are known by their supporters) had their best chance when their biggest player launched a howitzer goal kick to force a tidy save from Lulu. But the neat and skilful Foxes gradually took control, deserving an early one goal lead, before a golden moment which sparked wild touchline celebrations. Ella stroked a perfectly judged corner into the danger area, where it was met first time by the right boot of Emily, for her first ever competitive goal! 2-0 to the Foxes and a place in the final against Tower Hill Vixens, the Oxfordshire league champions.

The final was a close and tense affair, with chances at both ends, but with Amelia, Rhiannon and Molly in particular putting in sterling work to shackle Tower Hill's star player. The man in black blew for full time...and it was straight to penalties.
The Tower Hill star scored first, but Sim followed her with a rocket which nearly took the net off. Lulu then saved the next one, then trotted casually out to blast home the Foxes' second. Once she remembered that she had to trot back into goal again, she resumed her position, only for her unfortunate opponent to drag her shot wide. The Foxes were the champions!

No one player could be singled out as girl of the tournament. The outstanding feature of this day was the way in which every member of the squad of eight made a huge contribution. They achieved their success, as always, with smiles on their faces, and were praised by opponents and officials for their good manners as well as good play.

So it's yet another trophy for the 'cabinet' (we don't actually have one - perhaps we need one), shields all round, and a big thank you to all parents, coaches, and above all...Amelia's dog Dougal, our lucky mascot.

Girl of the tournament: All of them
Captain of the Week: Dougal the dog


Stop press: Betty's finger should be OK to be back between the sticks in 4 weeks time!

Sunday 8 June 2014

Yr 8 - St NIcks Tournament

We always look forward to this one, having won it in year 6 and always being impressed by the organisation and playing conditions.

With Hailey suffering a broken leg, Dave L stepped into to help Dave T with one of the sides, while Andy and Nige took the other. Each group had eight teams so there was more than enough football. Across 14 games that both sides played in total, only two were lost but we struggled to win enough, or to score sufficient gaols. In the end the Foxes finished a creditable third in both leagues, and so narrowly missed out on the knock out stages.

No doubt we'll be back next year.   

Yr 8 Thornbury Tournament - Champions!!!

Well , well, well.

Last year we only entered one end of season Tournament and decided that it was unfair to expect the boys to remember how to paly small-sided football without a warm up. So, with St Nicks in mind, we took two teams to Thornbury and, out of the blue, saw both get to the semi finals and one going on to win the whole thing. Champions! Who'd have thought..... 

The weather forecast was awful but in the end, apart from one sharp shower, we were battered by the wind but not soaked. Both sides were in groups with the Sonics and two Thornbury teams, both qualified for the semis by finishing second in their groups and both were then were paired with Thornbury's finest - made up of their AYL Div 1 winning side. The local supporters were clearly expecting an exclusively home final but very nearly witnessed an all Foxes affair as both games went to penalties.

The Final was understandably tense and again ended in penalties, and sudden death penalties at that. The celebrations that greeted the Foxes' victory and the stunned reaction of the home teams will be long remembered.

Well done boys. a well deserved trophy that reflected how competitive the Foxes are in this age group.      

BSYL Yr 8 - 23rd April. Foxes 3 - 1 Rockleaze

Another midweek game to end the season as the Foxes welcomed Rockleaze. The away side were finishing the year much more strongly than they had started it and their side and the performance were unrecognisable from when the two teams met earlier in the season.

The Foxes never really jelled, partly due to the return of some of the squad who had not been available for a while and partly due to a rejigging of the formation due to last minute illness with Archie moving to right back.

Both sides looked to attack and the Foxes could have scored more than the goals from, for the second week running, Ollie C, Sam and Jack. Rockleaze never gave up and on a different day could have earned a draw.

Man of the match - Jack     

BSYL Yr8 2nd April - Golden Hill Sonics 1 - 3 Foxes

Hot on the heels of the Foxes victory in the cup semi final, the rearranged league game was moved from the Sonics home pitch to the RGS astro. The two sides were vying for third place and a win for the Sonics would have left the Foxes with no chance of a top three finish.

The game was played in a  good spirit and at a fast pace, with both sides taking a while to settle. The Sonics went ahead through a mix up in the Foxes defence but after that the Foxes took control and ended up with a comfortable win through goals from Ollie C, Sam and Jack. Once in the groove the Foxes played some lovely passing football and deserved the win that, for the moment anyway, left them clear in third.

Man of the match  - Alec.