Saturday 27th August and Sunday 28th August 2016 @ University of Bath

 

Saturday Results:

Erdington and Saltley 2-0 Haken

Blessing x 2
Chelsea 2-0 Erdington and Saltley
Borussia Monchengladbach 1-1 Erdington and Saltley

Blessing
Erdington and Saltley 2-0 Thurrock

Cameron and Rio
Erdington and Saltley 0-3 Reading

 

Sunday Results:

Erdington and Saltley 1 – 0 North Somerset

Rio

 

Bath and Wiltshire 2 – 1 Erdington and Saltley

Tion

 

Erdington and Saltley 3 – 0 BK Skjold (Denmark)

Blessing, Rio and Cameron

 

Erdington and Saltley 2 – 0 Thurrock

Samim and Rio

 

Erdington and Saltley 5 – 0 Haken

Rio x 2, Cameron x 2 and Jaiy

 

Kicking off the competitive season in style, the boys from Erdington and Saltley once again competed on a stage that belies the size of this great district.

After putting in a number of stunning performances on day one, the boys missed out on qualifying for the cup competition on the Sunday by goal difference, with Borussia Monchengladbach pipping the boys to the final qualifying spot. Nevertheless the boys were rightly immensely proud of their Saturday efforts in picking up more points than any other schools side.

After a night of great fun with our friends from Thurrock and some well needed sleep, the boys arrived on Sunday determined to emulate the class of 2015/16 by lifting the Bath International Plate.

However as is now customary with the boys from Erdington and Saltley, we started off very slowly and looked far from our best in the opening two games. After failing to convert possession into goals against North Somerset Schools, the boys were well below par against Bath and Wiltshire Schools.

After holding their own team meeting, the boys picked themselves up and started to play football more like the standard that we have become accustomed to over the past few seasons.

A comfortable 3-0 victory against Danish side BK Skjold, the lads dug deep to grab all three points against a very good Thurrock side, before rounding off the day in style against Swedish side BK Haken.

Reflecting on the weekend, there are so many positives. The style of attacking football played by the lads, the defensive solidity shown on Sunday (four clean sheets from five games), the behaviour of the lads on and off the pitch but arguably the thing I am most proud of is the attitude of the four older lads – Rio, Kye, Samim and Tion. Acting as true role models and mentors, the boys showed why they’ll go down as Ton legends! Well done boys.

 

A brilliant weekend that only adds to the excitement that is building as the new BPSFA season fast approaches!

 

Player of the weekend: Tion. In two years this young man has come so far as a footballer and as a person. An amazing weekend at the heart of our defence was capped off with him lifting his first piece of silverware wearing the captain’s armband and his tenth in total as a Ton player.

 

Up The Ton!