Black Team Hit Top Form to Move into Semi-Finals

Saturday 20th October 2018 @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale

West Midlands County Schools’ FA Cup – Quarter Final

Erdington and Saltley 9 – 0 Wolverhampton

Team: Jude, Alfie, Toby, Rhys, Cian S, Markie, Daniel, Callam, Tavani, Cian L, Romaeo and Jeval

Goals: Callam x 2, Daniel x 2, Markie x 2, Toby x 2 and Romaeo

Man of the Match: Daniel – A defensive and attacking masterclass from the defender/midfielder!

What a stunning performance! What an amazing victory! Over the past seven years, Wolverhampton Schools have generally held the upper hand in our encounters, with yesterday’s victory only our third win. More impressively, it also represented our biggest win, surpassing the 6-1 victory of Kane, Troy, Sam et al in 2016.

Seven minutes into the cup quarter final, Callam broke the Wolves offside trap to put the boys one up and they never looked back from there.

With pace, power and skill supplemented by an infectious work rate, the boys put in their best performance of the season to dominate the cup game.

Up front, Cian L worked tirelessly for the team, holding the ball up superbly to allow his buccaneering midfield to make runs past him. With all nine goals coming from midfield, it was certainly a tactic that paid dividends! Furthermore, the fact that five different players got on the score sheet shows the formidable attacking potential of this team!

At the back, Jude made his debut in goal and kept a clean sheet in his first 25 minute of district football, while Alfie repeated this achievement during the second half. The commitment shown by the Abbey striker to play in goal, as opposed to his usual striking position, epitomised the selfless teamwork on show yesterday.

Equally impressive yesterday was the fact that we kept our first clean sheet in five games, thanks in no small part to the defensive work of Toby, Daniel, Rhys and Cian S, who like Alfie, had suppressed his attacking instincts to play in an unfamiliar defensive position.

It’s often easy for the goalscorers to steal the headlines, but a word or two should be reserved for Tavani, whose tireless work on and off the ball, like that of Cian L, created so many goal scoring opportunities for the team. Had the Wolverhampton keeper not been in such imperious form, the boys would have bagged more than the nine goals that they did.

Nevertheless, while a huge amount of praise can be heaped upon The Ton lads, an equally large amount should be given to Wolverhampton for refusing to give in when it would have been easy to do so. Their attitude was excellent throughout the game and it’s a near certainty that they will bounce back to winning ways in no time at all.

Well done boys!

Up The Ton!

Gold Team Battle But Run Out of Steam

Saturday 21st October 2018 @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale

Erdington and Saltley Gold 1-7 Gloucester

 

Team: Danny, Ethan, Hughey, Wiktor, Oscar, Lennon, Kyran, Joshua, Keon, Gonzalo, Kayden, Chase and Kian

Goal: Gonzalo

Man of the Match: Ethan – Young Mee had an excellent game in defence, offering an outlet to his midfield and snuffing out plenty of Gloucester attacks. The seven goals conceded does not tell the whole story as four of those came in the final third as we pushed up field and attacked in numbers.

 

We always knew this season would be one of contrasting fortunes. We always knew we would win some and lose some. We always knew a game like this was around the corner.

There was no shame in yesterday’s defeat. Firstly, Gloucester are a year older than almost all of our team and two years older than some of the lads. Secondly, our southern opponents were on form and according to their managers Lee and Paul, they had saved their best game of the season for us!

Gloucester fully deserved their victory but we definitely walked away with our heads held high following a number of promising passages of play and individual performances.

Our goal, the first of the game, was one of great quality. Under pressure in defence, Oscar coolly turned to face his own goal and played the ball back to centre back Ethan, who opened up his body and distributed the ball to right back Wiktor. The ball was immediately played down the line to Joshua, who then raced forward and cut inside. With Gonzalo racing forward, the ball was played to the Spanish sharp-shooter via Lennon and calmly slotted past the onrushing Gloucester keeper.

This excellent team goal is the memory that will last longest from this cup encounter. It’s an example of what these young swashbucklers are capable of and a sign of things to come.

The scoreline does not do our boys justice as they remained in the encounter up until the closing 15 minutes when they shipped a further four goals. Nevertheless, Gloucester should be commended for their performance and excellent finishing! The return leg in Gloucestershire is actually our final game of the season and it will be great to see how far the boys have progressed by that stage of the season. If their early-season form is anything to go by, it promises to be an excellent second game!

Well done boys!

Up The Ton!

 

Midland Challenge Trophy (Updated 20/10/2018) 

 

League table Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA Points
Erdington & Saltley Gold 3 2 0 1 12 10 7
South Birmingham Red 2 1 0 1 7 5 4
Gloucester 1 1 0 0 7 1 3
Sutton Coldfield u10s 1 1 0 0 4 0 3
Aston B 3 0 0 3 2 16 3

Black Team Dig Deep for Win

Saturday 13th October 2018 @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League

 

Erdington and Saltley 6-2 East Birmingham

 

Team: Cody, Rhys, Sean, Wiktor, Ethan, Markie, Cian S, Callam and Gonzalo

Goals: Gonzalo, Markie x 3, Callam and Ethan

 

Man of the Match: Markie – a hat-trick and arguably the most audacious goal ever scored for The Ton!

 

Another week and another challenge related to player withdrawals. With a number of players missing due to other commitments, we had 12 players in the squad on the eve of the game. However, by the time the game kicked off, we only had the minimum nine.

While it would be easy to focus on the challenges away from the pitch that we have faced over recent weeks, that would do a disservice to the nine lads who gave their all on the pitch yesterday. Sean and Wiktor stepped up from the Gold team for the second week in succession, and debutant Gonzalo took his bow in bitter conditions, nothing like the weather he is used to back home in Spain!

The game started with The Ton attacking through Callam and looking to snatch an early goal, something they managed via Ethan, who nipped in on the back post to score his first league goal of the season. With The Ton in the ascendancy, it was East Birmingham who scored next, capitalising on defensive confusion between the back three and keeper.

Moments later The Ton bounced back when Gonzalo was bundled over in the box before picking himself up to confidently convert his spot kick and give the team the lead once again. This proved a turning point for the lads, as they pressed on and moved into a three goal lead thanks to a brace of excellent finishes from man of the match Markie.

With the scoreline 4-1, East Birmingham deservedly grabbed another goal, although once again we could have done better as a defensive unit. Nevertheless, we refused to drop our heads and pushed on once again in search of more goals. The last two goals of the morning were exquisite and worth the wait! The first came from Markie, who flip-flopped and megged his way into the East box before rifling the ball into the top right corner. Simply amazing! He then turned provider when his through ball was smashed into the bottom corner by Callam to give the scoreline a nice gloss.

The East lads should be proud of their efforts yesterday morning. The Erdington and Saltley boys should be equally proud. It’s been a difficult couple of weeks for The Ton but hopefully that is all behind us now and we can look forward to a pair of cup games next week as the Black team take on Wolverhampton and the Gold team lock horns with Gloucester.

Well done boys!

Up The Ton!

Tables and Results – October 6th, 2018

West Midlands County Schools’ FA League 

Team Played Won Drew Lost For Against Diff Points
Sutton Coldfield 2 2 0 0 12 6 6 6
South Birmingham 2 2 0 0 10 4 6 6
Erdington and Saltley 2 1 0 1 17 8 9 3
Wolverhampton 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 3
Leicester 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Solihull 1 0 0 1 4 5 -1 0
Brierley Hill and Dudley 2 0 0 2 2 7 -5 0
Aston 2 0 0 2 4 21 -17 0

 

AST BRI ERD LEI SOL SUT SOU WOL
Aston
Brierley Hill and Dudley
Erdington and Saltley 14~2
Leicester
Solihull
Sutton Coldfield 7~2 5~4
South Birmingham 4~1 6~3
Wolverhampton 3~1

 

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League 

Team Played Won Drew Lost For Against Diff Points
Erdington and Saltley Black 3 2 0 1 29 8 21 6
Erdington and Saltley Gold 2 2 0 0 11 3 8 6
Sutton Coldfield A 1 1 0 0 7 2 5 3
Sutton Coldfield U10s 3 1 0 2 6 14 -8 3
Aston A 3 1 0 2 7 21 -14 3
South Birmingham Blue 2 2 0 0 8 4 4 2
East Birmingham 2 0 1 1 4 5 -1 1
South Birmingham Red 1 0 0 1 1 5 -4 0
Aston B 3 0 0 3 4 17 -13 0

 

AST A AST B EAST ERD A ERD B SOU A SOU B SUT A SUT B
Aston A
Aston B
East Birmingham 2~3 2~2
Erdington and Saltley Black 14~2
Erdington and Saltley Gold 6~2
South Birmingham Blue 6~3
South Birmingham Red 1~5
Sutton Coldfield A 7~2
Sutton Coldfield U10s 5~1 0~12 1~2

Gold Team Hit Top Form to Claim Second League Win

Saturday 6th October 2018 @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League

Erdington and Saltley Gold 5 – 1 South Birmingham Red

Team: Danny, Sean, Wiktor, Oscar, Lennon, Keon, Kian C, Kayden, Kyran, Jason, Noah and Kian B

Goals: Kyran x 3, Lennon and Keon

Man of the Match: Hat-trick hero Kyran

 

Committed. Passionate. Hard Working. Everything about the Gold team so far this season has been excellent. On Saturday they brightened up what had been a very difficult morning.

Passing the ball with confidence and using Kyran’s rapid pace, the boys raced into an early lead after a Lennon through ball was calmly finished by rampaging Kyran. Our lead was short lived though as the equally attack-minded South Birmingham Red levelled affairs with a well taken goal.

The middle third saw the boys push on and re-take the lead, once again utilising Kyran’s pace and willingness to run the channels. With Lennon driving the team forward from the middle of the part, the lads extended their lead to two goals when Kyran bagged his hat-trick to make it 3-1 to the boys in gold.

All over the pitch there were examples of the sort of commitment required to make this season a success. From players who had taken a knock the day before but were still giving it their all, to players who had played 60 minutes for the Black team immediately before the Gold game kicked off – this team has the sort of attitude that should be bottled and sold.

The final third provided youngest duo Keon and Lennon with a goal apiece; just rewards for their efforts. For the second game in succession, the dynamic duo linked up superbly to hurt our opponents.

With a birthday for Danny, debuts for Kian B and Noah, Oscar putting in a superb performance after joining the party at the eleventh hour and a hat-trick for Kyran, this game had the lot! It also ensured a rainbow shone brightly over a small corner of Castle Vale after a very stormy morning.

Well done boys!

Thank you for your amazing effort!

Up The Ton!

Black Team Hit by Late Withdrawals

Saturday 6th October 2018 @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League and West Midlands County Schools’ FA League

 

Erdington and Saltley Black 3 – 6 South Birmingham Blue

 

Team: Sean, Wiktor, Toby, Jeval, Daniel, Markie, Josh, Romaeo and Tavani

Goals: Toby, Romaeo and Markie

Man of the Match: All of them for giving their best in testing circumstances

 

Matters away from the pitch ruined what could have been a great day for The Ton on the pitch. A win against South Birmingham Blue would have cemented our place at the top of both league tables and sent out a signal to the whole of the West Midlands. As it was, a number of very late withdrawals left us in tatters. With five mins to go before kick off and players still withdrawing so close to the ref signalling the start of the game, the boys only had six players and were on the brink of forfeiting the game.

Fortunately for us, three members of the Gold team turned up 45 mins early to cheer on the Black team, such is their commitment to The Ton. With the team patched up and out on the pitch, the lads started the game like a team possessed. They dominated much of the first third, creating chance after chance and controlling the game from the opening whistle. They took a deserved lead through Romaeo but failed to add the goals that their dominance warranted. With the rain pouring down, South Birmingham equalised shortly before the break to end the first 20 minutes one apiece.

The boys were told to forget about holding a high line although they failed to action this instruction and were repeatedly punished during the second and third periods with long balls over the top. South Birmingham played this tactic superbly and punished us time and time again, utilising the blistering pace that they had up front to race into a 3-1 lead after 40 mins.

With nothing left to lose, The Ton threw caution to the wind and pushed Daniel and Toby further up field in hope of levelling the game. Alas, South did what South were doing very well by hitting us on the break and hurting us with pace.

Despite creating a wealth of further chances and scoring through Markie and Toby, the boys succumbed to a 6-3 defeat and were left frustrated by matters away from the field.

Regardless of the result, the nine boys who battled their hearts out all game did us proud and gave us hope throughout a rain soaked morning. We will bounce back stronger in the future and everything is still to play for. However in order to do so, we all need to show the hunger and commitment demonstrated by the nine lads on Saturday morning.

Well done boys!

Up The Ton!

Girls Share the Spoils in Barnstorming Encounter!

Saturday 29th September 2018 @ Hollyfields Club, Erdington

Erdington and Saltley 1 – 1 Gloucester

ESPSFA Girls vs Gloucester Setp 2018.jpg

Team: Monia, Millie, Skye, Keeley, Savannah, Octavia, Shay-Leigh, Lacey, Keira, Amne and Jess

Goal: Octavia

Girl of the Match: Millie – A defensive rock who was always in the right place at the right time

 

At a sun-drenched Hollyfields Club, the girls continued their excellent start to the season, earning a great draw against Gloucester to add to their BPSFA 7-a-side victory a week earlier.

With the squad stretched to its limits following a number of injuries, the girls put aside their fatigue following their morning games to dig deep and earn a very credible draw against a very talented Gloucester side.

The opening third saw The Ton girls register five or six shots on the Gloucester goal, only to see them fly narrowly wide or into the clutches of the excellent Gloucester keeper.

Flying high with confidence, if a little tired, the girls were determined to build on their excellent start during the middle third, only to be pushed back time after time by the resurgent Gloucester girls. Thankfully for The Tonn, Monia was in excellent form, with defenders Millie, Keeley and Skye in equally formidable form! The defensive foursome continuously repelled everything that Gloucester could throw at them, before being cruelly breached by an own goal.

The Gloucester goal visibly knocked the girls and they spent the remainder of the second period on the back foot.

A tactical reshuffle prior to the last twenty minutes saw Keeley and Octavia move into more advanced positions, with the former now patrolling the middle of the park and the latter spearheading the attack. The switch worked instantly, with Octavia rising highest to head home from a Keeley cross a minute into the final third. With the win now behind their sails, the girls pushed on for the victory, throwing everything that they had at Gloucester. However, our southern friends had their own ideas of victory and they too bombed forward in numbers. The gung-ho nature of the game ending meant all in attendance were left captivated and guessing which way the game would go.

As it was, the score remained 1-1 and the girls shared the spoils. A fair result after an enthralling battle.

Well done girls!

Up The Ton!

Girls Start 2018/19 by Retaining Title!

Saturday 22nd September 2018 @ Boldmere St. Michael’s Football Club, Sutton Coldfield

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA 7-a-side

Team: Monia, Rosie, Shay-Leigh, Savannah, Millie, Keeley, Lacey, Rihanna, La’tia, Tiana, Megan, Millie W, Ashante, Maddy, Kayla, Keira, Jessica and Skye

Goals: La’tia x 3, Lacey x 2, Millie x 2, Rihanna and Savannah

Girl of the Match: La’tia – Captained her team to the first title of the season in her first game as captain

Erdington and Saltley retained the title they won for the first time ever in 2017 after winning all of their games and conceding no goals! After a nervy and uncharacteristically slow start in their opening game, the girls found their feed as they scored two unopposed goals against a talented Kings Norton side.

Strong in defence and lethal in attack, the girls produced some excellent football throughout the evening and quickly made themselves at home in Boldmere. The new home of BPSFA girls’ football, the facilities were excellent and made a great setting for The Ton to build upon the historic success achieved last year.

By the end of the evening, the girls had finished with a 100% record and equally pleasing, they did so without conceding a goal. Monia was superb between the sticks, while Mille, Keeley et al were formidable in defence.

While the girls in black and gold stormed to the title, the second Erdington and Saltley team, this time dressed in black, found proceedings a little tougher. However, they showed immense resilience by refusing to give in and on another day they would have been rewarded with a goal or two. The swashbuckling raids of Tiana characterised the team’s desire to go for broke in each and every game. It won’t be long before these girls get the rub of the green their efforts merited.

Over all it was another superb night in the history of this great district. In 2017/18, The Ton girls put us on the map for all of the right reasons. With so many of last season’s team still playing for us, it promises to be another exciting year for all involved!

Well done girls!

Up The Ton

Golden debut for Gold team

Saturday 22nd September 2018 @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League

Aston 2-6 Erdington and Saltley Gold

Team: Danny, Sean, Hughey, Wiktor, Ethan, Lennon, Joshua, Keon, Kyran, Kayden, Daniel, Jason, Oscar and Kian M

Goals: Lennon x 2, Kayden, Kyran, Keon x 2

Man of the Match: Lennon – the midfield dynamo was at the heart of everything good about the performance

After watching the Black team start their season in stable last week, the Gold team were excited to get their debut season underway and made the most of their opportunity to shine!

With a number of sumptuous goals, the boys enthralled the throbbing crowd at the Vale Stadium. With Lennon pulling the strings in midfield, Keon, Kayden and Joshua posing a threat out wide, Sean marshalling the back line and the rest of the boys working their socks off, The Ton were brilliant in their debut game.

Despite their tender years, best mates Keon and Lennon showed their telepathic understanding on a number of occasions, linking up superbly to terrorise the Aston defence. Both boys deservedly got on the score sheet, with Lennon bagging a screamer from distance.

After peppering the Aston goal during the opening twenty, The Ton squandered a glut of chances, leaving the game finely balanced at 1-0 to the boys in gold. With the referee due to blow for the end of the opening third, Aston pegged us back with a well taken equaliser.

However, the boys showed great resilience to bonce back and race into a 4-1 lead, before Aston cut the deficit to make it 4-2. This could have knocked the boys from their tracks, but they showed how quickly they had settled as a team to take this blow in their stride and push on to score another two goals.

Overall it was a great morning for the boys and one that will live long in the memory of all involved.

Aston played their part in what was a barnstorming encounter and deserve immense credit for their effort. This promises to be an exciting season for the boys in claret and blue, as well as the boys in gold!

Well done boys! We couldn’t be prouder!

Up The Ton!

Black team hit top form in local derby

Saturday 22nd September 2018 @ Vale Stadium, Castle Vale

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League and West Midlands County Schools’ FA League

Aston 2-14 Erdington and Saltley

Team: Cody, Toby, Daniel, Callam, Cian S, Markie, Tavani, Romaeo, Cian L, Rhys and Jeval

Goals: Cian L x 3, Callam x 3, Markie, Daniel, Jeval, Romaeo, Kian S, Tavani, Toby x 2

Man of the Match: Toby – a captain’s performance throughout

A week after kicking off their BPSFA league campaign against Sutton Coldfield B, the Black team built on their impressive start with a brilliant display against good friends and local rivals Aston.

Bursting out of the starting blocks, the boys raced into a 3-0 thanks to some sublime teamwork and excellent interplay. Over recent years, we haven’t always found it easy to play as a team and there have been times when we have found it difficult to make the most of our undoubted talent.

However, this was not the case on Saturday. We played as a team throughout and got our just rewards with a great win.

Shortly before the end of the first period, the boys bagged a couple more goals to give themselves a healthy five goal lead at the break. The pick of the goals was arguably Daniel’s fine solo run and finish from deep within his own half.

The second twenty saw Daniel push up into midfield and Callam drop into defence. This ambitious attacking change knocked us out of our stride momentarily and Aston pulled a goal back following a fine counter attacking move. Fortunately we settled back into our stride quickly and extended our lead to seven goals, with Cian L grabbing his hat trick and fifth goal in two games.

The goal of the game came during the middle period when the creative lynchpin Cian S smashed a free kick in off the bar after curling it over the wall. Breath taking stuff from all!

Another six goals were scored during the final third of the game, but more pleasing was the fact that the boys stuck to the game plan and continued to work as a unit. There was no deviating from our tactics in order to chase personal glory. The lads were brilliant!

The final word should be reserved for Aston, who have shown so much potential during the opening weeks of the season. They kept going until the end and will definitely bounce back sooner rather than later.

Well done boys!

Up The Ton!