Saturday 13th October 2018 @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League

Erdington and Saltley 6-2 East Birmingham

Team: Cody, Rhys, Sean, Wiktor, Ethan, Markie, Cian S, Callam and Gonzalo

Goals: Gonzalo, Markie x 3, Callam and Ethan

Man of the Match: Markie – a hat-trick and arguably the most audacious goal ever scored for The Ton!

Another week and another challenge related to player withdrawals. With a number of players missing due to other commitments, we had 12 players in the squad on the eve of the game. However, by the time the game kicked off, we only had the minimum nine.

While it would be easy to focus on the challenges away from the pitch that we have faced over recent weeks, that would do a disservice to the nine lads who gave their all on the pitch yesterday. Sean and Wiktor stepped up from the Gold team for the second week in succession, and debutant Gonzalo took his bow in bitter conditions, nothing like the weather he is used to back home in Spain!

The game started with The Ton attacking through Callam and looking to snatch an early goal, something they managed via Ethan, who nipped in on the back post to score his first league goal of the season. With The Ton in the ascendancy, it was East Birmingham who scored next, capitalising on defensive confusion between the back three and keeper.

Moments later The Ton bounced back when Gonzalo was bundled over in the box before picking himself up to confidently convert his spot kick and give the team the lead once again. This proved a turning point for the lads, as they pressed on and moved into a three goal lead thanks to a brace of excellent finishes from man of the match Markie.

With the scoreline 4-1, East Birmingham deservedly grabbed another goal, although once again we could have done better as a defensive unit. Nevertheless, we refused to drop our heads and pushed on once again in search of more goals. The last two goals of the morning were exquisite and worth the wait! The first came from Markie, who flip-flopped and megged his way into the East box before rifling the ball into the top right corner. Simply amazing! He then turned provider when his through ball was smashed into the bottom corner by Callam to give the scoreline a nice gloss.

The East lads should be proud of their efforts yesterday morning. The Erdington and Saltley boys should be equally proud. It’s been a difficult couple of weeks for The Ton but hopefully that is all behind us now and we can look forward to a pair of cup games next week as the Black team take on Wolverhampton and the Gold team lock horns with Gloucester.

Well done boys!

Up The Ton!