Saturday 8th February 2014
@ Kingsbury Secondary School
Erdington and Saltley 4 – 1 Harborne
Team: Dermot – Alex, Marc, Leyton – Amari, Ethan, Michael, Ramello – Shilo – Subs: George and Tyrese
Goals: Amari, Ethan, Shilo and Ramello
Man of the Match:
Dermot – For his two amazing saves whilst the game was 2-1
Marc – For being composed and cool under pressure throughout the game
Shilo – For his tireless efforts to close every ball down and for a wonderful finish
With the game switched to Kingsbury Secondary School from Braemar Road, I was able to sleep easy last night knowing that the rain wouldn’t win against the 3G pitch. However I still woke up at stupid o’clock ahead of the game! Despite this being only our second game in seven weeks, old habits die hard.
A minute or two into the game it was clear that the ball was going to move fast, very fast actually. The 3G surface meant every pass zipped along and allowed for a fast passing game, courtesy of both teams. The pitch was slightly on the short side and the missing few yards meant the boys had to be on top of their game as space and time wasn’t always freely available. With Shilo chasing every ball down and the midfield shading the first half, Amari gave The Ton the lead with a long range effort. It was the Blues’ striker’s first game in almost two months, but he settled back into the team seamlessly. The back three were superbly calm and composed throughout the first half, with Villa lynchpin Marc particularly impressive when sweeping any dangerous balls up.
At half time it was pointed out to the lads that clear cut chances had been of a premium in the first half and that this was likely to be the case during the second period. Therefore we had to make sure that we took any chances that came our way. However things did not go according to plan, when after ten second half minutes The Ton had conceded thanks to an unfortunate own goal. These things happen and the lads picked themselves up in style! Our second goal came courtesy of Ethan, when the Wolves’ midfielder scored a volley from close range after latching onto a Ramello cross. With the game evenly poised at 2-1, Dermot was called into action twice in quick succession, both times pulling off world class, close range saves. With a keeper like Dermot (or Bruce as Ton thinks he is called!) between the posts the rest of the team can get on with their jobs with one less thing to worry about. It was now Shilo’s turn to get in on the action and a goal was the least that he deserved for his efforts! Amari played a first time pass on the volley through to the Villa striker, who then smashed the ball low and hard through the legs of the Harborne keeper. More was still to come when Ramello came back on for Amari and darted down the left wing, beating three or four players before cutting in on his right foot and curling in his shot. Another quality finish!
On another day Harborne could have scored another goal or two, were it not for the excellence of Dermot. Both teams should hold their heads up high! However, I think we edged the game and were highly impressive at times. You should all be immensely proud of your efforts lads, I know Ton and I are!
What happens now then? Next Saturday it is South vs. Sutton Coldfield. The Birmingham League is now out of our hands. South Birmingham need a victory to claim the title. Anything less and it’s ours. However, if South win we should still hold our heads up high. To go through the league campaign and only lose once is remarkable. If South win next week they will deserve nothing less than the title. We’ve had an awesome season so far and still have five trophies to play for:
1. Burton Shield – West Midlands Scools’ FA Cup
2. Birmingham Districts’ Cup
3. Birmingham Districts’ 5-a-side Cup
4. Midlands Challenge Cup
5. Aston Villa District Cup
Enjoy your game tomorrow lads. Thank you for your efforts today…what a team! Roll on Derby next week!
Up The Ton!
Erdington and Saltley Primary Schools' FA 