Wednesday 9th July 2015 @ Jaffray Road, Erdington

Erdington and Saltley U10s 3 – 0 Trialists

Erdington and Saltley U10s 3 – 3 Phoenix United

Scorers: Reharne x 2, Cameron x 2, Kian and ?

It’s sometimes worth stopping and taking a look back at the progress that has been made. Too often we’re concerned about racing off ahead towards long term goals, that we forget how far we’ve come.

Last night was only the second time that this group of boys have played together. They’re still effectively a team of strangers, and yet they played some majestic football last night, fought back from 3-1 down to draw against an incredibly talented Phoenix team and had a fair bit of good old fashioned fun!

The first match saw the 2015/16 squad take on a team of hard working trialists who were competing for places in the under 10s and 11s teams. After racing into a 2-0 lead, the boys created a number of other chances, only to go narrowly wide each time. During the second half I increased the challenge by giving the opposition an extra player (two of who were in year 5). However that didn’t daunt the lads, as they scored a third to seal their victory.

Our second match saw us take on Phoenix United, which threw up a few logistical issues as four of the boys play for both teams! In fact five do, but Tiarno was away on holiday. During the first half, Cameron and Kian played for the district, whilst Ilani and William played for Phoenix. After half time this arrangement was reversed.

With Taylor as our only recognised defender, Danny and then William, were asked to curb their natural attacking instincts in order for the good of the team, with both young men doing this expertly!

After finding ourselves 3-1 down and with time running out, the lads rolled up their sleeves, found something from deep within, before leveling the game at 3-3.

As mentioned above, yesterday was great! Every time we get together the lads come out of their shells that little bit more. It was especially fantastic to see the talented year 3 duo of Reece and Reharne shining, with the latter bagging a brace of goals. Last year we had Eddie, Ilani, Kian and William shine whilst playing a year up and it seems that this year we’ve been blessed once again. In fact, we’ve been blessed with a whole squad of amazing talent!

A huge thanks must go to Lloyd and the Phoenix family for their wonderful hospitality. It’s great to see our relationship grow and prosper, as yesterday also saw Phoenix support the trials for the new girls’ team. Thank you Lloyd. Thank you Phoenix.

Finally, thank you to our parents for your wonderful support!

Up The Ton!