Saturday 16th March @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale
West Midlands County Schools’ FA League
Erdington and Saltley Black 4-1 Leicester
Team: Danny, Rhys, Kian S, Jeval, Daniel, Markie, Romaeo, Tavani, Callam and Lennon
Goals: Daniel x 3 and Romaeo
Representative Game
Erdington and Saltley Gold 2-1 East Birmingham
Team: Jude, Ethan, Oscar, Cole, Wiktor, Jason, Joshua, Elijah, Gonzalo, Kayden, Kian and Jack
Goals: Joshua and Ethan
A morning of contrasting performances but two performances that had the same outcome – victory.
The gold team left it late to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on a morning when East Birmingham dominated us for large periods of the game. While the gold team laboured to victory, the black team were far more comfortable as they beat Leicester 4-1 in a game where they hit the woodwork four times.
With a number of players absent, Lennon moved to the black team and was central to them overcoming a resilient Leicester outfit who travelled from East Midlands determined to maintain their unbeaten league record. However, the lads had other ideas as they controlled the opening exchanges of the game. Despite their dominance, they fell behind to a bizarre own goal and were left cursing their wasteful play.
Not to be derailed by this blow, the boys regrouped and equalised via a stealth run to the near post by Daniel, whose inventive flick of Callam’s sublime cross saw the ball evade the outstretched keeper. This was his first goal on a morning when he scored a hat trick.
The scoreline could have been bigger had it not been for the Leicester goal frame that was rattled on no fewer than four occasions, although fourth goal from the rejuvenated Romaeo put a deserved gloss on the scoreline.
On the adjacent pitch, the gold team shared the early play, as they traded blows with an on-form East Birmingham side whose performance belied the fact that they’ve picked up so few points this season. The middle period of the game saw us second to every ball and lacking in fight. Yet somehow it was The Ton who took the lead when the excellent Joshua slotted the ball past the keeper after a decisive breakaway.
To their credit, East Birmingham bounced back and equalised in the closing quarter of the encounter. It was the least they deserved.
Yet despite being second best for much of the game, the lads snatched victory via man of the match and captain Ethan. His smart finish from the edge of a crowded box came too late in the game for East Birmingham and ensured victory was ours on a day when we showed great grit and refused to give up!
Well done boys!
Up The Ton!
Erdington and Saltley Primary Schools' FA 