Ransomes Tournament

We had two teams in the Ransomes Tournament last week. Well done to the A team who got all the way to the final and only narrowly lost 1-0 to the host team. The B team didn't get quite as far but had a lot of fun over 8 matches and put up a pretty good show of themselves against A team opposition.

Thanks to those who took loads of photos on the day. I'll be posting them over the course of the week.

As there were so many games, I'll be giving an overview of the tournament and them posting the photos separately.

I'll be covering the B team. Mark will post for the A team but I think he's having a few computer problems at the moment so watch this space.

Presentation Day 3

Then it was onto the presentations. Every member of the squad was presented with a medal for taking part. There were also a few additional awards given out.


Charlie collecting his award for top goalscorer. A fantastic season with over 40 goals to his credit.

(I'm not sure of the exact number. Perhaps Charlie you can let me know by posting a comment)








Sam B: Managers Player of the Year A Team














Dan: Managers Player of the Year B Team












Ollie: Players Player of the Year A Team












Freddie: Players Player of the Year B Team













Jack: A Teams most improved player.













Connor: B Teams most improved player














Sam R: Special fund raising award for raising over £100 sponsorship for the fun run.

Ryan also achieved this but was not able to make the presentation day.

Well done to both of them.







Aiden
















Brandon















Jake
















Imaani


















Matty

















Luke


















Will

Presentation Day 2

After the game it was time to settle down and present the awards.



All waiting with anticipation.

Presentation Day

The day started off with a friendly game against the parents, brothers and sisters of the squad.

There were a couple of casualties as young children were mown down where they stood if they got in the way of an attack!

It was a good fun game with the kids winning 3-2.

Our final game was against Woodbridge B. It was another evenly matched game. They scored in the first half with a low shot past Sam. At half time Ollie, who was feeling the effects of the heat took over in goals. All of our players continued to battle hard and there were very few chances created for either team.
For the tournament the referees were supposed to be playing normal rules. Unfortunately there was also a 5 a side tournament going on and the refs were playing a mixture of the two sets of rules. This led to Ollie kicking the ball from outside his box and conceding a penalty. (Mark has asked me to point out that he was aware of this rule and explained it fully to our goalkeeper. Sam!! Unfortunately Ollie was not told off the rule as he wasn't supposed to go back in goals. A simple oversight.)
The penalty taker hit an excellent well placed penalty. Ollie made an even better save!!! The game eventually finished 1-0 to Woodbridge.

Overall We played 5. Won 1, Drew 1 and lost 3. We still ended up with a plus 2 goal difference. The games we lost were all by the slightest of margins. A good days football all round.

I think all of the players can be very proud of their performances and I'm looking forward to the next tournament already. Just as soon as my sun-burn stops peeling!!!


All ready for the last game of the day.














And they're off.












I'm sure there a couple of people in the crowd actually watching the game. At last!!

F&W Utd v Kirton Kestrels

Our next game was against local rivals Kirton Kestrels. As expected it was another closely fought game. It was very evenly matched and looked like it was heading for a draw. Unfortunately the referee had other ideas and awarded a very soft looking penalty(I would say that, wouldn't I!) to Kirton. The penalty was scored with power and we lost the game 1-0. It was still an encouraging performance with Imaani and Jack playing superbly in defence. There was some great tackling all over the pitch. Another plus point was an almost clean sheet from Sam in goals. He had no chance with the penalty.


A bit of banter with the Kirton managers.














Imaani and Jack keeping a close eye on the Kirton attackers.













Charlie watching for his next opportunity.












Our defenders keeping them tightly marked.

A long day

There was plenty of time to kill between games



Some of our supporters soaking up the sun.













Peter's impersonation of the World Cup!













I'm not saying it was boring at times, but surely Connor sorting out his laces didn't deserve that much attention!!!











What better way to fill in some time than a rousing team talk from Mark.

Sam adjusts his goalkeeping gloves.










10 minutes into the team talk and Charlie and Imaani have their heads in their hands. Aiden and Jack seem to be taking it in. Freddies noticed the camera.

Sams gloves need re-adjusting








Jake is feeling the heat.

Jack, Ollie and Connor look on whilst Sam has some work to do on his gloves.










We're nearing the end. Marks on page 19 of his notes.












Team talk over. Jake, Charlie and Freddie absorb it in whilst Ollie and Jack collapse on the floor.

(Sorry Mark. I couldn't resist it)









We were supposed to be saving energy between games. This involved playing football and messing about in the trees!!!











This is more like it.












Have a little lie down Ollie. You've earned it.














I said lie down, not go to sleep!!

F&W Utd v Martlesham B

Next up was Martlesham B. Again this team won the B league so we were expecting another tough game. We started confidently again and gave them quite a few problems. Our new keeper, Sam had to make a couple of good saves and showed good handling skills as the Martlesham forwards attacked.
After some great work from midfield, supporting the defence and the attack we managed to break the deadlock with a nicely taken goal by Charlie. Our first of the tournament. This was closely followed by a powerful low shot from Freddie to put us 2 ahead. After this we were always in control. Aiden and Freddie both came close to increasing our lead before charlie bagged two more goals to complete a fine hat-trick. The icing on the cake was a superb top corner effort from Jake to finish the game 5-0 winners.
It was nice to see Sam keep a clean sheet in his first game in goals.



Martlesham are keen to get stuck in. We remain cool and relaxed.

Note the crowd are getting very excited!! Mainly about ice-cream!!!









Charlie breaks through. Martlesham did have a defence. They were just a bit camera shy.













Great action shot with Aiden. One of our many players who did not stop running and tackling for the whole day. Despite the heat.













Ollie had options to pass cross or shoot. This shows some great positional play and support from the rest of the team.

He shot and missed out on a goal by a whisker.

A great move.







Another great attack. We've left their midfield miles behind.













Freddie reaching the end of his goal celebration!













Great work by Charlie rounding of his hat-trick. Again he had to work hard to get to this point. The defense just don't like getting their picture taken!