Saturday 27th April 2019 @ Longlevens, Gloucester

Erdington and Saltley Black 1-2 Gloucester

Team: Danny, Rhys, Elijah, Kian, Jeval, Romaeo, Markie, Daniel, Toby, Tavani, Callam and Kyran

Goal: Kyran

Erdington and Saltley Under 10s 3-8 Gloucester Under 10s

Cory, Ethan, Oscar, George, Uzi, Daniel, Hughey and Kayden

Goals: Uzi, Kayden and Ethan

Overall it was a frustrating morning as we travelled down the M5 for our traditional end of season encounter. The final weekend of April means only one thing – a trip to the superb surrounding of Longlevens. Unfortunately for us, we returned to Brum empty-handed.

Despite starting the brighter and taking the lead, the under 10s fell to a defeat as their depleted side found Gloucester too tough. With six boys absent, it was left to the exciting Uzi to spearhead the attack, with his weaving runs and probing passes characterising the opening exchanges.

With Markie making a rare under 10s appearance, albeit only for ten minutes, the boys looked sharp and dangerous. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be and all respect must go to Gloucester who were superb.

On the adjacent pitch, the black team dominated the opening third of the game and despite a flurry of shots, somehow failed to find the back of the net. With attacks coming in from all angles, Gloucester weathered the storm and countered superbly to take the lead.

While Gloucester’s play was all about the team, ours seemed to revert to our early season form and was all about the individual. Since January, the boys have played as a united team. They’ve been a breath of fresh air.

Unfortunately for us, the good work of the previous few months went out of the window against Gloucester and our performance was disjointed as a result.

Yet despite the boys’ obvious frustration, they still created ample opportunities to win the game three times over.

A lesson learned – the team is always more than the sum of its parts. Thankfully the boys all recognised this at the end of the game and live to fight another day!

Well done boys!

Up The Ton!