Wednesday 29th June 2016 @Kingsbury Secondary School
Erdington and Saltley 2 – 0 Boldmere St. Michaels
Team: Gerard, Aidan, Taylor, Cian T, William, Ilani, Reece, Resharne, Dalton, Cameron, Kian B, Blessing, Tiarno and Che
Scorers: Reece and Ilani
MoM: Cian T
The king is dead. Long live the king!
So with the dust still to settle on the class of 2015/16 (they play in the national final on Saturday 9th July), the boys of 2016/17 played their first game as a team against a very talented Boldmere team.
On a small pitch, space was a premium and both sets of boys were challenged to pass the ball with accuracy and speed, or face being crowded out of the game. Both teams took to this task with enthusiasm and it was clear early on that all of the lads wanted to put on a show for the watching parents.
Early in the game, following a smart passing move, Reece whipped in a ball from the right which was unfortunately guided into the net by a Boldmere defender who had little choice but to get his head to it. With a goal lead, the boys attempted to bag themselves a second but found Boldmere hard to break down. In fact the Boldmere tried the same, only to find the Ton defence in fine form too. Both defences were doing a sterling job at keeping the respective attacks quiet.
In goal Gerard was a picture of calmness, with his handling super. Whilst in defence, younger cousin Aidan was formed a super partnership with Taylor and later with Tiarno.
The game was drawing to a close when captain Ilani popped up on the right and dropped his shoulder before catching everyone out by unleashing an unbelievable rocket of a shot! Nestling into the bottom right hand corner of the goal, the Yenton schemers shot was worth the price of admission alone!
After the game we paused to reflect and concluded that we have the making of another very special team. The boys of 2015/16 made history but the class of 2016/17 have the attitude and ability to write their own history.
Well done lads!
Up The Ton!
Erdington and Saltley Primary Schools' FA 