Saturday 26th October 2019 @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale
Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA Under 10s League
Aston 3 – 5 Erdington and Saltley B
Team: Olaf, Yaw, Cairo, Rhys, Kaiden, Younussa, Dylan, Kian, Andrius and Shane
Goals: Rhys, Younussa, Shane and Dylan x 2
Man of the Match: Dylan – A debut to remember for the Featerstone midfielder!
Representative Game
Erdington and Saltley Under 11s 5-3 Telford Under 11s
Team: Danny, Hughey, James, Cole, Jahkadi, Oscar, Kortney, Markie, Ethan, Joshua and Kayden
Goals: Markie x 4 and Ethan
Man of the Match: Markie – A captain’s performance when the chips were down!
On a morning similar to the one when Noah started work on his ark, both the under 10s and under 11s showed great grit and determination to bounce back after going two goals behind to claim victory.
First up the under 10s found themselves out fought and out played by Aston during the opening half. They were second to most balls and repeatedly caught on the counter by an Aston team packed full of pace and attacking intent. At half-time the score was 3-1 to Aston and the prospect of victory was slowly washing away as torrential rain lashed down on Vale Stadium.
After a change of formation and tactics, the boys piled the pressure on Aston during the second period. With the defence now sitting deep to prevent Aston from countering and the midfield working box-to-box, the boys reduced the deficit early in the second 25 minutes. Propelled by this goal, the lads well and truly had the wind behind their sails as they poured forward at every opportunity.
With Aston penned in their own half, The Ton scored four second half goals without reply to turn the game on its head and claim their second league win of the campaign.
Shortly after Trevor blew to signal the end of this entertaining game, the under 11s kicked off against Telford Schools in our first ever ‘proper game’ against the Shropshire district. Having previously only met Telford in short ten minute tournament games, The Ton were determined to continue their fine start to the season that had seen the boys pick up six wins from their opening six games of the campaign.
However, with their spirits dampened by the awful conditions, the boys were well off their best during the opening third of the game and deservedly found themselves two down to a talented Telford team.
Just as it did with the under 10s, a change of formation and tactics saw the game turn on its head following the break. With Markie pushed up front and the boys playing more directly to their talisman, we levelled the scores ten minutes into the middle period. Just as The Ton took control of the match, Telford bounced back to take the lead for the second time in game.
Not to be perturbed by another setback, the lads threw everything they had at the boys from Shropshire, determined to leave everything on the pitch during the closing twenty. This is exactly what happened as two further Markie goals and a fifth from Ethan ensured the boys made it seven wins from seven since the season started in September.
So on a morning when things started badly, everything ended happily for the boys thanks to their amazing spirit and never say die attitude. What a morning!
Well done boys!
Up The Ton!
Erdington and Saltley Primary Schools' FA 