Saturday 30th November 2019 @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA Under 11s League

East Birmingham 1 – 3 Erdington and Saltley

Team: Danny, Hughey, Oscar, Reo, Ethan, Lennon, Joshua, Kayden, Kortney and Jason

Goals: Oscar x 2 and Kortney

Man of the Match: Lennon – the epitome of determination from start to finish

With our captain away on Villa duty and a couple of other key members of the squad missing, Saturday was a true test of our title ambitions.

We started the game confidently and passed the ball with composure and attacking intent. Yet for all of our possession, we simply couldn’t find the back of the net! The opening third saw us create four or five good goal scoring opportunities, only for our shooting boots to be left in the changing room.

As often proves the case, if you don’t take your chances in football, it has a tendency to make you pay. With two minutes remaining of the first twenty, East broke through our defence and took the lead thanks to a clinical finish.

This came as a blow to the boys and it took them until the end of the middle period to get back on their feet. After spurning a chance to equalise from the spot, the levelled the scores via a well taken Oscar volley from a Lennon corner.

The whole team collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

Yet despite being back in the game, the boys knew they had to throw everything they had at East in an attempt to consolidate their position at the top of the league.

A re-shuffle of the team saw Ethan drop back into defence and a switch to a two-man back line, while Oscar pushed further up field to join Kayden as an attacking pair. This switch brought almost immediate rewards when Oscar bagged his second goal of the game, following up from a Kayden strike to tuck the ball away.

With Lennon and Josh now controlling the middle of the park and Reo and Ethan sniffing out any East forays into our half, the lads extended their lead thanks to Kortney. The left winger has hit a run of great form since Gloucester away a few weeks ago and grabbed a much deserved goal when he burst into the box before smashing a left footed drive into the roof of the net.

The result was hard earned but that made it all the more satisfying.

Well done boys!

Up The Ton!