Cup Cancellation

Our cup opponents have pulled out of our game on Saturday due to a lack of numbers.
I have organised a friendly against Chantry Grasshoppers. 10.30 kick off at Dellwood.

Boxford Rovers 26th September 2009

Boxford were unable to use their normal pitch due to a dog show taking place. The pitch we used was a full sized affair and the goals looked massive!!

The team for the day was-
Ollie S in goal, Cameron, Jack and Connor in defence, Freddie, Curtis, Charlie, Ollie Mac and Alex in midfield, Dash and Damien up front. Kyle, Charlie W, Callum and new signing Georgi on the bench.

The game kicked off in the bright sunshine and before we knew it we had got off to the best possible start. We won an erly throw in on the left around the halfway line. Freddie caught the Boxford defense off gaurd with a quick, long throw over their heads as Dash ran on and carried the ball all the way to their box before beating the keeper with a low shot. 1-0 with a minute on the clock.
With 5 minutes played we found ourselves with an identical throw in from Freddie and the same outcome from Dash!! A carbon copy goal and 2-0.

Boxford were by no means out of the game and showed their intent on 11 minutes when their striker managed to hit a superb shot. Luckily for us Ollie pulled off agreat save to keep us two ahead.
On 20 minutes I made a mass substitution with Kyle, Charlie W, Callum and Georgi replacing Jack, Freddie, Ollie mac and Damien.

With 22 minutes played Boxford pulled a goal back to make it 2-1. This was also the half-time score.

The second half saw Boxford dominate the better of the play. We struggled to get the ball wide and play our usual passing game. Boxford totally dominated the middle of the pitch and almost got the equaliser they deserved when somehow they hit both posts and missed from point blank range. I still can't work out how the ball didn't go in!!
After that scare we started to get back into the game. Our strikers had suffered from a lack of supply. Damien managed to break through but their keeper pulled off a great save to deny him. A few minutes later Georgi broke through and raced towards the keeper one on one. He coolly slotted it past him to give us a 2 goal cushion. 3-1. There were sighs of relief all over the pitch.
We pressed forward again with Freddie and Curtis causing problems down the left until Curtis took a blow to the throat and had to come off!! He lived!! Charlie W managed to get the ball off the defenders toe as he tried to clear it, and kept it in their box. Charlie B picked it up with his back to the goal, he immediately had three players lining up in support, calling for it and in space. Charlie chose the fourth option, which was to turn, avoiding two defenders and fire it strongly into the net. 4-1
This was the final score. We had scored 2 in the first 5 minutes, 2 in the last 4 minutes and struggled for the rest of the game!! A hard fought 3 points!!!

Man of the match was Ollie Spink for a commanding performance in goal. A special mention goes to Connor, Jack and Cammy for a strong performance at the back. Also some great finishing From Dash and Charlie B and a debut goal from Georgi.

Thanks to Whitton Utd beating Framlingham we are now 3 points clear at the top of the league with a very very long way to go!!!

Rattlesden 19th September 2009

This was our second game of the season and our first at home. Fortress Dellwood!!

The pitch was in surprisingly good condition considering the lack of rain.

The squad for today was-
Ollie S in goal, Matty G, Jack and Connor in defence, Freddie, Matty H, Charlie B, Keiran and Ollie Mac in midfield, Dash and Damien up front,with Curtis, Alex, Cammy and Kyle on the bench.

Rattlesden had a good win in their opening game and had performed very well against the Hawks and Ransommes. So we were expecting a tough game.
From the kick off most of the early play took place in the middle of the pitch. With less than 3 minutes on the clock Rattlesden attacked and shot from inside our penalty area. Ollie thought the it was going wide and left it, only to see it sneak inside the post!! So much for fortress Dellwood!!! 0-1
We restarted and began playing with more purpose. we pushed forward and began to pressure the Rattlesden defence. With 5 minutes gone Matty H pounced on a loose ball and fired home to level the score 1-1.
Less than a minute later we took the lead with a powerful strike from Ollie Mac down the right. 2-1.
10 minutes in Damien extended our lead to make it 3-1.
We continued to push forward and kept most of the play in the Rattlesden half. However some very sloppy defending when, either Connor or Jack could have cleared the ball but left it for each other, let the striker through to make it 3-2. this was a pity as Matty G, Jack and Connor had played well for and were looking assured at the back. Both Matty and Connor had put some great passes through and started moves from the back. One of which had led to a goal.
Dash restored our two goal lead on 20 minutes to make the half time score 4-2.
All we needed to do was keep a clean sheet in the second half and we had won the game.
Rattlesden pushed forward but a great performace from Cammy, Jack and Kyle kept them out of our area.
We pushed forward and again put them under pressure. Freddie managed to squeeze the ball past their keeper in a crowded area to make it 5-2.
Soon after Charlie B hit a long range shot inside the post to make it 6-2.
Curtis finished off the scoring with another shot from outside the box to make it 7-2.
Rattlesden almost pulled on back when the broke into our box and unfortunately our defence retreated giving them space to shoot. Luckily Ollie was on hand to pull off a superb save.

The game ended 7-2. Another 3 points for us which took us to the top of the league!! Even though there's only been two games played we can enjoy being at the top!!

Overall this was a much improved performance from last week. The pitch allowed a better use of the ball and we managed to get some nice moves going all over the pitch. Freddie and Curtis worked well as a team on the left, whilst Keiran and Ollie M combined on the left. The pleasing thing was that even after substitutions the good play continued with Matty H and Alex fitting in well. Alex and Damien combined very well down the right in the second half. A lovely series of one two's between them led to one of our goals.
Man of the match went to Cameron Dwelley. Even though he only played in the second half, he took the brunt of the Rattlesden attacks and dealt with them superbly. A great performance.

We were really pleased that every boy performed well today and put in a good team performance. Seven goals with seven different scorers!! A good day all round.

Kirton Kestrels 12th September 2009

This was our first game of the new season and our first competitive 11 a side game. Unfortunately due to holidays, Dutch trips and even a case of swine flu etc. we were unable to organise as many pre season friendlies as I would have liked. We did put in a very good performance against Ransomes before fatigue set in.!!

The conditions were not ideal for football, very hot and sunny with a rock hard pitch. The footballers and the gardeners need rain!!

The squad for today was -
Ollie S in goal. Cammy, Jack and Connor in defence. Curtis, Freddie, Charlie B, Keiran and Ollie M in midfield. Dash and Damien up front. Alex, Kyle, Callum and Charlie W on the bench.

The hard, dry pitch made it very difficult for both teams to keep the ball on the ground. passing was hampered by the unpredictable bounce and more often than not the ball would be bobbling about at knee height!! Not easy to play on. This made it a very scrappy game although both teams did try to play good football.
The balance of play was pretty even although I thought we looked the more dangerous side going forward. several times Ollie Mac made some good runs down the right and got a couple of quality crosses into their box. Damien was looking dangerous up front but Kirton were defending in numbers.
With 17 minutes on the clock we were pushing forward but lost the ball, Kirton attacked quickly and scored to make it 0-1.
The game carried on in the same scrappy style until half time. 0-1.

Alex, Kyle an Callum replaced Cammy, Connor and Keiran at half time.

The second half had barely begun when Kirton broke through into our box. As the striker was about to line up his shot Alex got across and put in a superb tackle. Before the second striker could pounce Alex was back on his feet and made a second crucial tackle. Thenkfully the score remained 0-1!
Kirton broke through again soon after, this time Ollie pulled off a great save to keep us still in the game.
After those coule of scares we began to impose ourselves in th Kirton half. Keiran was re-introduced and added a bit of bite to the midfield. We began to put together a few passing moves and a great piece of play between Keiran, Freddie and Charlie saw Freddie thread the ball through to Dash, who controlled it well and managed to turn and get in a shot. The keeper saved but we were starting to create chances. Another move down the left with Ollie Mac and Callum saw a great ball being deliverd across the Kirton goal. We were unlucky not to poke it in.
Finally with 4 minutes remaining our pressure paid off as Damien managed to slot the ball past the keeper for a well deserved equaliser.
This was one of those games where most people watching would agree that a draw would be the fairest result. However with the last kick of the ball charlie managed to lob the keeper from way out on the right touchline, it somehow dipped under the bar and we had pinched it 2-1!! Heart-breaking for the Kirton players in particular the goalkeeper who had played well all game and was distraught at the end.
Kirton kicked off and the final whistle was blown. We finished the game 2-1 winners.

Overall I was very pleased with the effort and comittment shown by the lads. It's always good to start the season with a win. Even one clinched in the dying seconds. There were positive signs all over the pitch. Jack was confident and strong in the central defensive position and the rest of the defenders looked solid. Charlie B worked hard in the centre with some really good linking play going on with him, Freddie and Keiran. Ollie Mac had his best game down the right with some great crosses going in. Dash and Damien worked hard up front and I'm confident they'll bag a decent haul of goals before the season is out.
Man of the match was Charlie Bance. He worked his socks off for the whole game and the wonder strike at the end was the icing on the cake.

Wickham Market Tournament 11th July 2009

We have a superb record at this tournament, having won it for the last two years. this time we were going for a hat trick.

We had two strong teams entered this year. We were confident of both teams performing strongly.

The squads were-

A team-

Ollie S, Connor, Curtis, Ollie M, Damien, Matty H & Charlie B

B Team-

Keiran, Matty G, Jack, Cammy, Dash & Charlie W. Unfortunately Alex had to withdraw at the last minute. The B's also lost Charlie W early in the day due to an injured foot. This left them with no subs and no recognised goalkeeper.

As there were so many games I will only give an overview of how the day panned out-

A team

v F&W B team

Damien opened the scoring 1-0

Dash equalised to make the half time score 1-1.

Damien score two more to complete his hat-trick 3-1.

v Wickham A

0-0 at half time

Charlie B scored to make the final score 1-0.

v Somersham A

Charlie score the first two 2-0

Damien got another to make it 3-0 at half-time.

Curtis scored to make it 4-0

Charlie got his hat-trick to make it 5-0.

v Somersham B

Charlie made the half-time score 1-0

Damien scored two and Charlie another to make it 4-0

v Wickham B

Matty H and Connor got on the scoresheet to make it 2-0 at half-time.

Matty got another along with Ollie Mac and Curtis to make it 5-0.

The boys have cruised into the final with style and a hatfull of goals.

B Team

v F&W A Team

1-3 see above

v Somersham B

Dash opened the scoring to make it 1-0 at half-time

Dash added a second before Somersham pulled one back to make it 2-1 the final score.

v Wickham A

0-0 at half-time

Jack scored two and Keiran got one to make it 3-0

v Somersham A

Jack scored to make it 1-0 at half-time

Jack got his second to make it 2-0

v Wickham B

Jack opened the scoring 1-0

Dash added another 2-0

Jack got his second 3-0

Cammy got on the scoresheet 4-0 the half-time score

Matty G got on the scoresheet to make the final score 5-0.

The B team had also made it comfortably to the final.

The Final

A v B

This was a very close game with good football and commitment being shown by both sides. It could have gone either way as both teams created chances.

The B's were awarded a penalty in the first half. Matty G bravely stepped forward to take it. Ollie made a great save to keep the half-time score at 0-0.

Damien broke the deadlock soon after half-time 1-0.

Soon after Curtis made it 2-0.

The B's kept going and threw everything forward to try to get back in the game. this left gaps at the back and Damien finished of the game 3-0.

Overall another fantastic performance from both teams. It is a great acheivement to get two teams in the final. Unfortunately one team had to lose.

The stats again make impressive reading.

The A's won every game and only conceded 1 goal all day!!! Dash gets the honour as the only player to score against them.

The B team won all their games apart from the two against our own A team.

Every outfield player got on the scoresheet!!! The scorers were as follows-

Damien - 8

Charlie B - 6

Jack - 6

Dash - 4

Curtis - 3

Matty H - 2

Connor - 1

Ollie M - 1

Keiran - 1

Cameron - 1

Matty G - 1

Ollie Spink - 1 penalty save( as good as a goal!!!)

The lads looking relaxed between games.

Can you believe we allowed Ollie S and Connor to represent us in Holland!!!

The A team with the famous trophy!

The gallant finalists.

Every boy performed today with both teams receiving compliments for the way they played football.

Well done lads!!