Saturday 16th November 2019 @ Oxtalls Tennis Centre, Gloucester

Gloucester 2 – 6 Erdington and Saltley

Team: Danny, Corey, Ethan, Hughie, Oscar, Jahkadi, Kortney, Markie, Joshua, Kayden and Chase

Goals: Markie x 4, Kayden and Chase

Man of the Match: Markie – Putting the goals to one side, Markie arrived as a captain yesterday thanks to an incredibly mature performance on and more importantly, off the ball.

Gloucester u10s 7 – 1 Erdington and Saltley u10s

Team: Olaf, Shaun, Ciaro, Yaw, Rhys, Mahliq, Kian, Shane, Dylan and Younusa

Goal: Mahliq

Man of the Match: Cairo – stuck to his defensive duties throughout the game, even when those around him lapsed.

With Longlevens falling victim to the weather, yesterday’s games was switched to a local 3G venue. With the sky blue and the temperature mild, there wasn’t a drop of rain in the air. Perfect conditions for football and a stark contrast to when Gloucester u10s visited Birmingham a couple of weeks ago!

Both teams started their respective game positively, controlling possession and playing with confidence. Unfortunately for the under 10s, they were unable to make their early dominance count and found themselves one down to a lovely, well worked Gloucester goal. As they had down two weeks ago, Gloucester u10s played some excellent football and linked up superbly as a team.

On the adjacent pitch, the under 11s took a two goal lead into the first break, after captain and all time Ton leading scorer Markie bagged a brace of goals. Throughout the first third, the whole team played with the kind of vigour and unity that has marked their performances all season.

The second period saw Gloucester u10s double their lead and take a firm grip of the game, with Erdington seeing less of the ball and playing with far less confidence than they had in the opening 15 minutes.

The same could not be said for the under 11s who, despite conceding a penalty, continued to push forward in numbers. Testing the Gloucester keeper with a number of rasping drives, the boys added a third through hat trick hero Markie. However the moment of the period belonged to debutante Chase, whose remarkable volley sent the crowd into raptures, only for the footballing gods to rightly rule it out for offside.

With the under 11s 3-1 in the lead, the under 10s saw their chances of victory diminish as the Gloucester goals arrived with increasing frequency.

Despite the obvious disappointment of seeing his wonder strike chalked off, Chase marked his debut with a goal when he poked home from close range to make it 5-1. Moments before that, Kayden rifled home from the edge of the area, reacting instinctively to Markie’s penalty cannoning off the Gloucester bar.

However, the goal of the game belonged to the captain, whose thunderous strike from outside the box smashed against the keeper’s right hand post and into the net.

Six goals to one and with the clock ticking down, the final goal of the morning belonged to Gloucester u11s. After breaking the offside trap, the Gloucester forward made it two goals for his district and for him personally.

As the under 11s made their way to the changing room, their year five counterparts played out the remaining minutes of their game, safe in the knowledge that the year six team, who had just made it nine wins from nine in 2019/20, lost half of their games during their first season together. The under 10s will continue to grow as a team and their football will continue to improve. Of that, there is no doubt.

Thank you Gloucester for a highly enjoyable morning!

Well done boys!

Up The Ton!