Saturday 27th January 2018 @ Heartlands Academy, Nechells
Daniel Sturridge Cup – Round One
A Team – Tyrese, James, Louie, Toby, Daniel, Cian L, Aidan, Oliver and Klechai
Won 2-1 South Birningham
Drew 1-1 Aston
Lost 1-0 Wolverhampton
Goals: Cian S x 2 and Aidan
Man of the Match: Cian L
B Team – Padraig, Mason, Louie, Enoch, Angelo, Joshua, Cian C and Kemarni
Won 2-1 Aston
Drew 0-0 Erdington and Saltley u10s
Lost 1-0 Sutton Coldfield u10s
Goals: Mason and Enoch
Man of the Match: Padraig
Under 10s – Tyrese, Rhys, Owen, Ethan, Cian S, Jeval, Tavani and Alfie
Won 6-1 South Birmingham B
Won 5-0 Sutton Coldfield B
Drew 0-0 Erdington and Saltley B
Goals: Cian S x 5, Alfie x 4, Tavani x 2
Man of the Match: Alfie
As Nechells lay beneath a thick layer of dark grey cloud, all below it were drenched to the bone. Freezing, wet and shivering, all at Heartlands were determined to enjoy the football on offer and ignore the worsening conditions.
Despite the weather being far from hospitable, our 25 lads did themselves and the district proud with some excellent play and quality goals.
The B team showed immense grit and resilience to bounce back from two dissapointing results in their opening two games to claim an excellent victory against Aston. After taking the lead through the dangerous Enoch, the lads were pegged back late in the game, only to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying seconds of the match. With Mason patrolling the back post, Enoch whipped in a menacing ball for him to head home and earn the team three points in the process. With four points to their name for their morning’s work, the boys rightly acknowledged the excellent form of their keeper Padraig, who they had to thank on a number of occasions for keeping them in the tournament.
Despite playing against three year-six sides, the year five u10s produced the best football of the B Team tournament, scoring 11 goals in the process and conceding only one. Time after time they attacked their opponents in a breathtaking fashion, working as a team and producing some amazing pieces of play. As an attacking four, Jeval, Tavani, Cian and Alfie were unplayable and showed a great selfless attitude by constantly linking up rather than chasing individual glory. This attacking force was only possible thanks to the defensive stability of Owen, Rhys, Ethan (who we must remember is only an u9s!) and Tyrese, who marshalled his younger teammates superbly.
Not to be undone by their younger counterparts, the A Team started off their campaign by battling back from one down against tournament favourites South Birmingham to claim an amazing 2-1 victory. After a sluggish opening half, the lads snapped into life immediately after conceded and equalised via midfield dynamo Aidan. Then with a couple of minutes left on the clock, Cian popped up at the back post to head home and send the Ton Army into hysterics! Even though they couldn’t maintain these high standards in their friendly defeat to Wolverhampton, they did manage to get back on track in their final game of the day – an entertaining 1-1 draw against Aston. After hitting the post, stinging the palms of the Aston keeper and rolling a shot across the line, the lads could have been forgiven for giving up. Yet they continued to probe and were finally rewarded when Cian’s second header of the day nestled in the back of the Aston net.
Overall it was a fabulous morning and one that sets us up tantalisingly ahead of the second half of the tournament later in the season.
Well done lads!
Up The Ton!
Erdington and Saltley Primary Schools' FA 