WPF Girls u11 3 v 1 Portishead Town

The BGL got underway this morning with the girls facing a tricky home tie to Portishead.
Freshly armed with our new 'Respect' barrier, (although unable to get it into the unusually dry ground), we set up on the slightly enlarged pitch.
The Foxes gave a debut to Rhiannon, who rejoined from the academy this year, slotting into the defence allowing Lulu to sit at the base of the diamond. The Foxes were otherwise familiar with Amelia in front of Betty between the sticks, Ella and Mara on the wings and Sim upfront. Ruby, Molly and Lily started on the bench.
It would be fair to say that the Foxes looked a little rusty after only 1 training session since the summer tournaments, and Portishead clearly had a plan to stop Sim, and to counter attack with a lively looking number 15 on the wing.
The Foxes had the better of the early exchanges with Sim going close. Then a Foxes corner was well worked short enabling Lulu to curl a wonder goal into the top corner from outside the box.
More good work by the Foxes forced another corner which was whipped in by Lulu beating the 'keeper at the near post. Lily replaced Ella, and soon the Foxes were 3-0 up as again Portishead failed to deal with a corner with a defender deflecting into the net. Portishead responded with a couple of good attacks forcing fine saves from Betty.
Half time meant changes, with Molly replacing Rhiannon. Playing up the slope meant more possession conceded, although it looked like it would take something to breech the Foxes, but that's what happened as the Foxes allowed the lively 15 to run unopposed to the edge of the box before letting fly into the far corner. Ruby came on a right back and showed determination in breaking up several Portishead attacks.
Rhiannon returned onto the left side of midfield, and showed some fine skills on the ball, threading a pass to Ella that was well saved by the away goalie.
No further goals meant the game finished 3-1 to the Foxes. A good result and I am sure that the passing game will improve with regular practice.

Captain of the week: Rhiannon
Girl of the Game: Lulu

Girls Claim Runners Up at Quedgeley Tournament

The U10 Foxes claimed more silverware as they made the trip to Gloucester for the Quedgeley Tournament.
9 girls made the trip, Ella W and Ella B, Molly, Lulu, Betty, Mara, Izzy, Lily and Amelia.
The format saw 6 teams play in a league, with the top 4 progressing to semi finals. The opposition consisted of Boco Blues and Whites, Downend Flyers, Tewksbury Town and Cheltenham Spa.
First up for the Foxes was Boco Blue, who narrowly pipped us to the BGL title. A tense end to end game saw the Foxes start slowly before getting into the game. A thundering Lulu free kick from 20 yards smashed into the post, before, with almost the last kick of the game, she curled a corner to the near post that the 'keeper could only parry into the net. 1-0, and a moral boosting first win over our bogy team!
Next up Tewksbury Town, who provided little opposition allowing the Foxes to run riot and get in some much needed shot practice. 7-0.
Boco Whites were up next, and whilst the Foxes had their chances, neither team could find a way through and the game finished scoreless. 0-0.
The impressive looking Cheltenham Spa were the next opposition, which prompted the Foxes into a more defensive set up with Izzy bolstering the defence and Lulu pushing up in the middle behind a front 2. Again the well matched sides both created chances but with the competition's 2 best goalies, ( Betty and Betsy!), on the pitch neither could find a way through. 0-0.
The final game against the ever improving Flyers was again a close game. The Foxes took the lead only for Downend to come straight back and fire an equaliser, causing some nerves on the sideline. Happily the Foxes showed their spirit and started to dominate, forcing a winner to ensure we qualified top of the group. 2-1.
Downend then played out a winner takes all against Boco Whites for the last semi final place, and deservedly went through 1-0.
The semi final format was 1v3 and 2v4, meaning that we would face Boco Blues again in the first semi final.
Sticking with our defensive line up the opening half was cagey with few clear chances for either side. Midway through the second half the game came to life as the Boco striker hit a pile driver towards the top corner from inside the box, only to see Betty pull off save of the century, as she pushed it over the bar! Not wanting a penalty shootout the Foxes coaches decided to go for it and replaced Izzy at the back for Lily upfront, and the change brought instant success as the diminutive striker lashed a shot against the 'keeper that rebounded into the net. The girls played out the game, all dropping deep to prevent any further Boco attack, and we were in the Final. 1-0.
Cheltenham Spa were the other finalists. The Foxes tactic was again to try to win in normal time, starting defensively and then adding forwards towards the end. Betty again made a great triple save, and dived bravely at the feet of the striker, and whilst the introduction of another Foxes forward pushed Spa back, this time we were hit on the break, and despite a couple of chances late on it was not to be on this occasion. 0-1.
Overall a great success, topping the group, making the final and putting our BOCO Blue demons to rest!
Well done to all the squad who all made fantastic contributions to another successful tournament!

GIRLS WIN ST NICK'S TOURNAMENT!

The U10 girls rounded off a tremendous season by winning the St Nicks tournament.

 Betty, Lulu, Amelia, Ella B, Izzy, Molly, Mara and Sim, were the 8 girl squad for this 6-a-side tournament.

A round robin league format pitched us against 5 other teams. Our first match was against unknown opposition in Frome Town. Our concerns about being 'slow starters' were put to rest as Sim scored after 53 seconds, and added 5 more in a one sided game that ended 7-0, with Mara also getting a goal.

Next up were another unknown, Clevedon Utd, who were a tougher test. They held out gamely until the first Foxes goal but then rapidly conceded a further 2 to end the match 3-0 to the Foxes. Again Sim and Mara scoring for the Foxes.

The next game proved a much tougher challenge, with Downend Flyers turning the BGL form book upside down to produce a thrilling test for the Foxes, before they too fell victim to 2 late Sim goals which keep the Foxes unbeaten without a goal conceded.

Up next Bradley Stoke, also unbeaten to this stage, and well known from our league encounters. Whilst Betty was called into action a couple of times, the Foxes dominated and ran out 3-0 winners, a Sim hat trick adding to her impressive goal tally.

Resting the wingers ahead of the final, our last group match resulted in a 1-0 victory over Team Mendip, with Molly and Izzy slotting in seamlessly to ensure that the Foxes qualified for the final, unbeaten and without conceding a goal.

A 6 o'clock final kick off had already put paid to most of Lulu's Hawks Gym birthday party, but it was great to see so many former Foxy coaches on the sidelines as the girls took to the pitch with a steely determination that I haven't seen before. Bradley Stoke were the opposition again, this time over 20 minutes. The only goal of the game came in the first half as Betty spotted Mara free on the left and threw out to her. Mara then cut inside the midfielder before rounding the defender to slot home at the near post. The Foxes were again in the ascendency as they looked for a second, but had to settle for a 1-0 half time lead. The second half predictably saw Stoke trying to press, but they were harried in midfield and the Foxes continued to look dangerous going forward. When Stoke did find their loan striker Amelia was on hand to perfectly time the challenge. An injury to Sim, accompanied by some disappointing barracking from the Stoke support, brought Izzy into the action. With Sim restored, the whole team was now fired up and a determined Foxes forced a string of corners to see out the game.
Lulu collected the trophy, and the party could start at last!

Captain of the Day : Lulu
Girls of the Game : The lot of them!

Foxes Thornbury U11 Winners

Thornbury U11's Plate Winners 2013

Westbury Park Foxes U11's squad's first tournament of the season at Thornbury got off to a good start. Two teams were entered in a competition made up of sixteen teams. Foxes Whites team included Billy, Caston, Jarnell, John, Joseph, Josh, Oskar and Rohan. The Foxes Green team included Caleb, Eddie, Ewan, Jack, Luis, Stanley, TJ and William LP.

The competition consisted of four mini leagues of four teams in each league; each match five minutes each way. The Plate was competed for by the teams who finished third and fourth  in each league, in a straight knock out competition consisting of quarter, semi and final.

Apologies to the Whites but I only took note of the Foxes Green scores. 

In the mini league the Greens lost their first two matches against Windsor Drive Clarets 0-1 and Stoke Lane 1-2. Stanley scored the Foxes Greens first goal of the tournament. To be fair both games could have gone the Foxes way but with only five minutes each half the clock was unforgiving. In the third game against Bristol Utd B the Foxes Greens finally found  goal scoring  much easier winning 4-0, Luis (2) Eddie (1) and Stanley (1).

Having finished 3rd in the mini league the Foxes Greens went on to the quarter final of the Plate competition against one of the two Thornbury U11 sides. I think we beat Thornbury 1-0 with Louis scoring.

In the semi final the Foxes Greens came up against the Foxes Whites. It was a shame we didn't meet in the final so both teams of players could go away with silverware.The first half belonged to the Greens who went 2-0 up through goals from Eddie and Louis. But the Whites responded to  Fergie'ish team talk at half time from Mark and Adriane and scored within 30 seconds of the second half starting. The Green's managed to  hang on for a 2-1 victory. A great performance from  both teams!!

In the final the Green's were up against Thornbury B. On paper it looked like a difficult task but the Greens were unfazed and went 1-0 up in the first half from a goal by Stanley. In the second half the Greens extended their dominance and scored two more goals from Eddie and Stanley; the game ending in a 3-0 victory. The Greens were mobbed at the final whistle by the remaining Foxes Whites who had stayed to watch the final and by parents.

It was a fantastic result for the Foxes. Both teams were a magnificent credit to their coaches and parents. Well done boys, you played bootiful football :)

BSYL Cup Final, Yr 7 - Foxes Win!

The year 7 Foxes are gaining a reputation as Cup specialists as they triumphed over Rockleaze Rangers in an exciting final of the BSYL's Fountains Trophies U12 Cup held at Brislington FC. On a sunny evening, and on a perfect playing surface, both sides played their part in an absorbing game.

The Foxes started brightly. An early shot by captain Sam L was cleared off the Rockleaze line and Ollie C and Jack C, on the right and left of midfield, were a constant threat. The deadlock was broken when Joey, having hit the post with a powerful shot, tucked the ball into the Rockleaze goal. Within two minutes the Foxes lead was doubled as a corner from Ollie C was met at the near post by Danny who flicked his header into the roof of the net. Yup - Danny scored a header....

The first half ended with the Foxes on top but Rockleaze came out after the break determined to get back in the game. For 10 minutes the Foxes defence of Harri, Ollie, Seb and Nick, with Owen playing just in front, stopped any clear cut chances and when one came a brilliant one handed save by Archie protected the lead and turned the tide.

The Foxes picked up their game and again attacked using the full width of the pitch, this time through the excellent Anna and Harry. The Rockleaze keeper had the be alert on three or four occasions to snuff out chances. The whole Foxes' squad were on hand to support and to offer fresh legs and, at various times they all made a real impact.

All of the players on both sides, even those that didn't make it on to the pitch, contributed to a memorable evening.

BSYL Yr 7 - Foxes 3 - 2 Ashley Down, 27/04

A scrappy end to the League season saw the Foxes edge out Ashley Down to end an encouraging first year in 11 a-side football.

The weather was once again a factor as the wind and blustery rain made controlling the ball difficult. The Foxes started indifferently and never really got going. The first half ended 1-0 to the home side as Ollie C's shot cum cross deflected off an Ashley Down defender. The away side had the wind at their backs in the second half and their equaliser roused the Foxes to some extent as first Omar, taken his goal very well, and then Jack C from a corner, put the Foxes out of reach.

Ashley Down kept going until the end and after Owen had saved a penalty they scored direct from the resulting corner as the wind whipped the ball into the net.   

BSYL CUP Yr7 - Semi-Final - Foxes 2 - Bishopston Utd 1, 17/04

A very exciting cup semi-final ended with the Foxes as the winners due to a great, late strike from Joey as her drove a free kick into the next from outside the box.

Both sides started brightly but could not convert the chances that came at both ends. The deadlock was broken in the first half when Joey scored with a long-range shot after good work from Jack C and Anna. Bishopston's best moments came on the break but Owen, well supported by his defence, kept them at bay.

The second half saw the Foxes have the lion's share of possession and the best chances but it took that late freekick from Joey to seal the victory. There was still time for the Bishopston keeper to save a penalty and for his side to mount a few attacks but the Foxes held firm.