Saturday 12th January 2019 @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale
Daniel Sturridge Cup – Day One
Cup Competition
Black Team A – Danny, Daniel, Kian S, Toby, Tavani, Callam, Markie and Cian L
Goals: Toby x 2
L 1-0 vs South Birmingham
D 0-0 vs Sutton Coldfield
W 2-0 vs Erdington and Saltley Gold
Gold Team A – Jude, Rhys, Jack, Jeval, Gonzalo, Kyran, Alfie and Elijah
Goals: Jack, Alfie and Kyran
L 1-0 vs Sutton Coldfield
W 3-1 vs Wolverhampton
L 2-0 vs Erdington Black
Shield Competition
Black Team B – Corey, Oscar, Emron, Daniel, Jason, Jahkadi and Cole
Goals: Daniel and Jason
L 2-0 Aston
L 5-0 Sutton Coldfield
W 2-1 South Birmingham
Gold Team B – Danny, Ethan, Sean, Hughey, Joshua, Wiktor, Kian and Kayden
L 3-0 South Birmingham
L 3-2 South Birmingham
D 0-0 Aston
Played in honour of the Liverpool and England striker, the Daniel Sturridge Cup is competed for annually and represents the midpoint of the BPSFA district season. As we stand with the first half of the season behind us, both teams have won silverware and both points have shown their exciting potential throughout the opening four months.
Unfortunately results did not go our way yesterday, although our performances were pleasing and we ended the morning proud of each team.
The Gold Team B played some sublime passing football and showed time and again their willingness to work as a team. This was perfectly illustrated in their final match, when coming off the back of a heavy defeat, they rolled their sleeves up to tackle the much-fancied South Birmingham. After taking an early two goal lead, they dug in deep and put their bodies on the line to defend the three points they had worked so hard for. The final seconds of the game saw an almighty goal mouth scramble with Corey throwing his body on the line, immediately followed by his WHOLE team! This passage of play was not pretty but it was a thing of beauty!
The Black Team B swarmed forward in huge numbers, pinged the ball around for fun and played some sumptuous football, only to leave the backdoor open one too many times. Nevertheless, there were more than enough positive signs from the morning to walk away happy with our day’s work. In particular, the attacking cohesion and the boys’ willingness to play as a team were two reasons to be cheerful.
Earlier in the morning, the Gold Team A started the day with an excellent, if fruitless, performance against a strong Sutton Coldfield Side. They followed this up with another cohesive display against a Wolverhampton side which resulted in the victory they deserved. While their final game ended in defeat, it was once again a good day at the office in terms of effort and application.
The same can be said for the Black Team A, who bossed all three of their games, only to walk away with five less points on the board than their performances merited. After controlling their opening two games, they were more than unfortunate to walk away with a solitary point. A victory in the Erdington derby did much to improve their spirit but it was undoubtedly a morning of near misses. However, it was a morning of team unity and much improved team play.
So whilst results didn’t turn out to be what we wanted, the performances were excellent and fill us with confidence as we embark on the second half of the season.
Well done boys!
Up The Ton!
Erdington and Saltley Primary Schools' FA 