BGL u14 Longwell Green 0 v 14 Westbury Park Foxes

Foxes Impress with Total Football!


A somewhat hurried change of kick off time had the Foxes scrambling from lie-ins to make the trip out to Longwell Green.
Sadly Amelia Wyatt didn't get the call in time, meaning that the Foxes would only line up with one Amelia W on the team sheet! With Olivia and Rhiannon missing and Ella carrying a knock, Millie T slotted into the back line and Georgia partnered Lulu in the centre of the park, with Molly starting wide on the right.
Playing on the big LG first team pitch should have brought benefits, but it was badly in need of a cut, reducing the run and bounce of the ball, and there was a true 'premier league' welcome as the away dugout remained locked for the duration!
All that said this was a tremendous performance from the Foxes, who are starting to resemble Man City. Top of the table, tick, Sweeper - Keeper, tick, Manager with number 1 haircut, tick! The greatest resemblance though, was the way in which every single player from front to back was comfortable on the ball, able to turn defence into attack, and seamlessly switch positions as required.
Such was the dominance of the away team, the ball never went out of play behind Betty's goal for either a goal kick or corner. The back line joked she could have done her homework in the second half!
The goals flowed from the first couple of minutes, as Sim opened the scoring. An OG made it 2, before Zoe powered home number 3. The Pep inspired substitution brought Amelia W on to add number 4 with her 3rd touch of the match, before Sim heel volleyed a corner spectacularly for number 5.
Abby, clearly now fed up with feeding the front line, ran from the back before smashing home from the edge of the box for number 6, before the half time whistle.
The second half was totally dominated by the Foxes. Keen to get in on the action, and with Longwell playing with 9 behind the ball, the Foxes back line started to push up into midfield. Lauren fed Ella for number 7, before Georgia crossed for Zoe (8). Lauren then started to take control of the left central channel to score 9 before Zoe hit her hat trick (10).
The Foxes by now had both main strikers on the bench, pushing Abby up front, where she obliged with number 11. Georgia finished off a flowing run for number 12, before Lauren again drove through the defence for 13. The final goal saw Ella slide in at the far post as Emily's shot just failed to fall inside the post after a dizzy run from left back.
There will be tougher tests this season, but it can be difficult when a game turns into attack verses defence. It was fantastic to see the passing and movement that opened up the opposition, and great to see how versatile all the players were, adapting to different positions.


Captain of the week: Amelia W

Girl of the game: Lauren

BSYL Year 11: Foxes 1 - 1 Rockleaze, 10/09

The start of a new season saw the year 11's back at St Bedes and on the very lovely 3G.

After a couple of tricky pre-season friendlies the squad were all raring to go in a competitive fixture.

Last time we met Rockleaze in the League we ended up snatching a point with a very late goal in a game where we dominated, struggled to convert chances and conceded from a relatively rare piece of pressure.

This time round I could almost cut and paste that match report and be done with it.

Overall the game was an exciting and tense. The first half was short of quality but any neutral would probably have enjoyed the effort and the end to end nature of it. The Foxes struggle to find any rhythm, being drawn into a rushed, ball-in-the-air kind of contest which isn't really what we do best. We had the lions share of possession while Rockleaze did hit the bar and so 0-0 at half time felt reasonable outcome.

The second half saw the away team reduced to 10 men due to school rugby matches and this led to the Foxes pretty much being camped in the opposition half. The home team's passing and movement improved and with that came a number of good goal scoring opportunities. A notable feature was the quality of the Foxes' corners from Ollie, Const and Sam but sadly no a single one was converted.

On rare foray into the home team's half, Rockleaze snatched the lead with a goal that said a lot about their spirit. If anything this further spurred us on and Jack equalised almost immediately from perhaps our best move of the day. Despite Sam hitting the bar, three or four clear chances and a good penalty shout we were unable to add to our score and had to settle for a point.

A frustrating start to the season, played in great spirit and with glimpses of better things to come.

Jack was voted players' player and Const, on his debut, coaches player.

 

Putting up the goals (*no Foxes were harmed in the making of this picture)

Foxes win tough battle of the Greens

Westbury Park Foxes U14 Girls 5 Keynsham Town 0

A new era dawned at BAWA, with the girls' first home fixture on the 11 a side pitch parallel to Southmead Road, just yards over the county boundary into South Gloucestershire. The first visitors, themselves all the way (technically) from Bath and North East Somerset, were the formidable and hugely improved Keynsham Town, hosts of last summer's Chinese food-fuelled and sunshine soaked 11 a side tournament. Fresh from a shock heavy opening day defeat of Portishead, they would surely provide a stiff test. They would have to do so in blue bibs, to avoid a green-and-white colour clash with the home side.

The Foxes faced their first big challenge half an hour before kick off - putting the posts and nets up. That service is apparently not included in the annual pitch hire fees. Happily, the groundsman was on hand to provide a brief tutorial. Net on first, corner supports on last, and on no account should more than two people lift the posts into the holes. After only a small amount of faffing, it was 'job done' and we were ready to go.

The Foxes lined up in their now familiar but fluid 4-4-2 formation, and proceeded to dominate the early possession and exchanges. With Lulu winning every first, second and even third ball challenge in the midfield, and lively forays on the wings and through the middle from Mara, Georgia and the strikers, it was only a matter of time before the pressure told. The early goal came at the fourth time of asking, when a goalmouth 'stramash' ended with Sim blasting in from close range. The second followed soon after - by now the transitions (especially from Emily and Abby) from defence to attack were flowing smoothly, and Lulu was released into a pocket of space 20 yards out, from where she buried a low piledriver in the bottom corner.

The 'three Ps' - pressing, possession and passing - actually four, if you add passion..and five if you add 'poise'..anyway ...those were all maintained, and it was not long before Zoe homed  in on goal from the right to finish low for number three. The Foxes went to the break seemingly in control of the game and cruising.

Keynsham were not, however, about to roll over. They came out for the second half fired up, moving the ball well and winning more and more 50:50s. The Foxes, perhaps too comfortable in their lead, sat off and allowed Keynsham to play some nice football, with several dangerous attacks down the right wing. For long spells the ball was in the Foxes' half, and 11-a-side debutante Betty in goal was forced to gather or catch a number of through balls, clear her lines and generally look lively. More than once it appeared that Keynsham were in, but with Betty tipping one high goal-bound effort aside, and Rhiannon more than once dribbling out of trouble in the six yard box, the line remained unbroken.

Somewhat inevitably, and a little harshly on the visitors, the Foxes then struck lethally on the counter attack, twice more. Sim claimed the fourth from an oddly deflected looping shot, then Zoe charged down the right, ignoring shouts of 'cross it!' to find the top left corner with a sweet strike. It was, in the end, a convincing but slightly flattering 5-0 win. Keynsham will trouble most BGL teams this season, and will still consider themselves title contenders despite this setback. They never let their heads drop, and never stopped trying for the elusive goal their efforts deserved.

Strong Foxes performances were too numerous to list in full, but particular mentions are due to Georgia, who impressed with her silky touch and intelligent runs; keeper Betty, for filling the goal and not putting a foot (or glove) wrong; and to the tenacious and skilful Emily H, who time and time again snuffed out real danger on the left side, then usually countered with a strong run or through ball to the dancing feet of Mara.

So it's two wins out of two, and top of the league above (possibly alphabetically, but even so..) the only other team with a 100% record. There have been interesting results all round, in what must be the most competitive edition yet of this league. But the Foxes, with four other good players missing but soon to return, are looking as strong as those goalposts.....

Girl of the Game: Georgia

Goal of the Game: Lulu's scorcher

A chocolate bar, today (match photos not available).

A sweet opening victory, but a few sticky moments

Fry Club FC 2 Westbury Park Foxes U14 Girls 6 : 4th September 2016

The long wait was over. After literally days without football, and long lazy summer holidays seemingly without an end (at least for parents), the Foxes were finally back in action with a tricky away match at league debutants Fry Club FC. They might not make chocolate there anymore, but they still have massive playing fields. Under cool Autumn skies and a strong breeze, a squad of 13 girl Foxes took on a strong side formed from former Boco and Longwell Green teams.

The Foxes had the best of the opening exchanges, and were soon 2-0 up when pressure applied on the Fry defence and keeper resulted in a couple of close range tap-ins from Sim. The Foxes possession, slick passing and movement continued throughout the half. Further chances were narrowly dragged wide or blasted over. But then, just to emphasise the challenge of 11 a side this season, and the need for vigilance at set pieces, a partly cleared corner was volleyed in from distance by a Fry striker to make the score just 2-1 at half time. How would the Foxes respond?

Shortly after the restart, the spectators' attention was diverted by the sight of a lovely old steam train rattling through Keynsham. Luckily the girls' focus was on the football, and Zoe drove through the Fry defence to knock in the third, while many parents were still watching the choo-choo. She added a similar fourth shortly afterwards to make the game safe. From there on, the Foxes' speed and skill began to take its toll. Rhiannon, Ella and Zoe began regularly to run and pass through the Fry defence on the right. A particularly slick combination culminated in a mazy Rhiannon dribble and cut back to the waiting Olivia, who blasted in the fifth. Zoe got her well deserved hat trick from another gallop through the tiring opposition. Further goals could have followed but for the brave Fry keeper and the goalpost. Fry pulled back a late consolation when the Foxes failed to clear a bouncing ball in the box, but overall it was a good win against much improved, battling and always sporting opponents.

There were many positives to take from this opener. New-ish recruits Georgia, Olivia and Abby slotted in effortlessly, with Abby magnificent alongside Lauren and Emily in defence, and especially in the air - we finally have someone who can head the ball! Mara showed a welcome physical edge to her play on the left wing, holding off bigger opponents while regularly going past them. The Zoe/Sim strike force showed at times terrifying pace and power, amply supported by the deft crosses and flick-ons of Ella and Molly. Everyone else contributed fully, on and off the bench - it was as if they'd never been away. And many thanks to our stand-in goalies Amelia, Lulu and Emily. The rumours that Betty has gone out on loan to Serie A in Italy are thankfully untrue, and she will return next week.

Many teams will struggle against this strong Fry team, so an away win and six goals was a good start. Chocolate deserved all round, we think.....

Hat trick hotshot: Zoe

Girl of the Game: Abby