Saturday 21st October 2018 @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale
Erdington and Saltley Gold 1-7 Gloucester
Team: Danny, Ethan, Hughey, Wiktor, Oscar, Lennon, Kyran, Joshua, Keon, Gonzalo, Kayden, Chase and Kian
Goal: Gonzalo
Man of the Match: Ethan – Young Mee had an excellent game in defence, offering an outlet to his midfield and snuffing out plenty of Gloucester attacks. The seven goals conceded does not tell the whole story as four of those came in the final third as we pushed up field and attacked in numbers.
We always knew this season would be one of contrasting fortunes. We always knew we would win some and lose some. We always knew a game like this was around the corner.
There was no shame in yesterday’s defeat. Firstly, Gloucester are a year older than almost all of our team and two years older than some of the lads. Secondly, our southern opponents were on form and according to their managers Lee and Paul, they had saved their best game of the season for us!
Gloucester fully deserved their victory but we definitely walked away with our heads held high following a number of promising passages of play and individual performances.
Our goal, the first of the game, was one of great quality. Under pressure in defence, Oscar coolly turned to face his own goal and played the ball back to centre back Ethan, who opened up his body and distributed the ball to right back Wiktor. The ball was immediately played down the line to Joshua, who then raced forward and cut inside. With Gonzalo racing forward, the ball was played to the Spanish sharp-shooter via Lennon and calmly slotted past the onrushing Gloucester keeper.
This excellent team goal is the memory that will last longest from this cup encounter. It’s an example of what these young swashbucklers are capable of and a sign of things to come.
The scoreline does not do our boys justice as they remained in the encounter up until the closing 15 minutes when they shipped a further four goals. Nevertheless, Gloucester should be commended for their performance and excellent finishing! The return leg in Gloucestershire is actually our final game of the season and it will be great to see how far the boys have progressed by that stage of the season. If their early-season form is anything to go by, it promises to be an excellent second game!
Well done boys!
Up The Ton!
Midland Challenge Trophy (Updated 20/10/2018)
| League table | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | Points |
| Erdington & Saltley Gold | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 7 |
| South Birmingham Red | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| Gloucester | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 3 |
| Sutton Coldfield u10s | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Aston B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 3 |
Erdington and Saltley Primary Schools' FA 