Saturday 4th October 2014 @ Braemar Road

Erdington and Saltley 7 – 0 East Birmingham

Team: Harvey, Shaun, Brandon, Hayden, Ty, Teon, Tristan, Jermaine, Kruize, Cameron and Kye

Scorers: Tyrese x 2; Teon x 2; Kruize, Jermain and Brandon

After making a couple of trips to Braemar in order to drop off the goals and getting very wet whilst putting them up, it was time for the first league game of the season. Last season we opened the season with a 7-0 victory over East and that’s how we ended today as well! East to their immense credit battled to the final whistle and on another day would have scored a goal or two for their efforts. All of the East lads should be proud of the fact that they refused to let their heads drop.

The game started with Kruize up front, causing all sorts of problems for the East defence with his lightening pace and great work ethic After a couple of minutes the pacey Slade pupil scored a great goal after sprinting away from the East backline. I’m not sure on the exact order of the goals but I do know that Brandon, Jermaine and Teon scored scored additional goals in the first half to give us a 4-0 half time lead. We could have had a few others, with Ty, Kruize and Tristan all going close.

Apart from the goals, the most pleasing thing about the first half was the high energy that the lads showed and their willingness to chase lost causes and put pressure on the opposition all over the pitch. This was something that we wanted to be a feature of our play and we got exactly what we asked for, plus more! Tristan and Teon were particularly good at applying pressure, although the rest weren’t too shabby either!

The second half brought three more goals and a few more chances. Captain for the day Tyrese had been really unlucky in front of goal up to this point. Several chances came his way but a combination of bad luck and good goalkeeping meant he still hadn’t found the back of the net. However that all changed after about 40 minutes when he thundered in a fearsome shot from the right hand side of the area. The frown that had adorned his face for much of the second half suddenly turned into a smile! A huge smile! The St. Joe’s schemer got in on the act again when he curled a precise shot into the bottom right hand of the net. Teon, who had earlier scored a wonderful goal following a first touch that Messi would have been proud of, got onto the score sheet for a second time before the end of the game.

The second half was littered with great attacking play but at times we played as individuals and held onto the ball when a pass could have lead to a goal scoring opportunity. I’m convinced that this will not become a feature of our play because when we pass the ball we are a frightening team. I only have to think about a pass that Tristan made over the top to Kruize or a delightful cross-field pass that Jermaine made after cutting in from the left, for proof of this. What a team we are! But think about how good we could be if we allied the work rate that we showed today with a greater team ethic.

Well done boys it was a great day at the office and you should all be proud of your efforts. It’s a great start to a long season and I predict a season full of promise, potential and excitement. They’ll be more evidence of this on Thursday when the Under 10s travel to Aston for a midweek fixture. I love this district!

Man of the Match: Teon AND Jermaine. We just couldn’t split the two lads! Teon for his tireless, selfless play and Jermain for his wing wizardry!

Well done lads and roll on Kings Norton!

Up The Ton!