Jersey 2017:Day Four 

Tuesday 11th April 2017 @ FB Playing Fields, St. Helier

Potters Bar 1-0 Erdington and Saltley
Team: Gerard, Taylor, Danny, Tiarno, Cameron, Blessing, Ilani, Cian, Che, Kian and William

Man of the Match: Taylor
Day four was the day when The Ton found their mojo again. In the two previous games it had gone missing all too often but against Potter Bar it was there from start to finish. In fact it was there from 8am until 10pm. The boys did themselves proud from the moment they woke up.

The game against classy outfit Potters Bar had everyone connected with both districts excited prior to the match and it didn’t fail to deliver. Two teams of fine footballers, battled it out for 50 minutes, giving everything for their school’s district. During the first 25 minutes Ilani ran the show from the centre of the park, spraying the ball around and breaking forward with graceful ease. Up front Blessing caused problems with his trickery, while Che and Cam created chances down the wing via their electrifying pace. With all of that attacking threat came a need to be solid at the back, which Cian, Taylor, Danny, Tiarno and Gerard duly provided.  The half ended with the score level at 0-0 and both sets of players were afforded a well earned rest.

The second 25 started with Potters Bar immediately getting through on goal, only to see their shot hit the side netting as Gerard rushed out to narrow the angle. At the other end we continued to throw men forward but luck wasn’t with us as half chances couldn’t be turned into full chances. Both defences were standing firm and it looked like a draw was the most likely outcome until a Bar player finished a stray ball brilliantly by rifling it into our bottom right corner.

With seconds left on the clock we created one final chance when Will passed cross field before Cam picked the ball up on the right and burst into the box only to have the ball expertly nicked from his foot as he pulled the trigger.

A draw would have been a fair result. Both teams were quality and showed why they’re so highly regarded. It was a joy to watch and a pleasure to be part of. Thank you to Dean Watts and the Potters Bar boys for the part that they played.


Off the pitch we went for a walk in the town, before allowing the boys to buy souvenirs and general Jersey related junk. It was during this walk that the boys were caught trying to chat up the local ladies. They denied it of course.

After dinner we went to Jersey’s version of Alton Towers. A very savvy farmer exploited a niche in the market when he put a load of random junk in a field. The lads loved it! The highlight of which was the Ton Demolition Derby and the Ton Water Ballon Blitz, both of which were definitely won by Tonn and I, regardless of what the lads say.

Whilst at aMaizin Blessing continued to chat up girls. Blessing continued to have little luck.

On the evening we went to watch the Jersey Cup final at the national stadium, which was won 3-0 by St. Paul’s. Such is the beauty of the Jersey festival that we attended the game with the Bar boys. Rivals on the pitch this morning were now best of friends off the pitch as they sang from the stands and created a great atmosphere in Springfield Stadium. Watching the boys mingle and get along was by far my highlight of the day. And what a day it was.

Oh and during a half time visit to the burger stand, Blessing showed true grit and resilience as he tried yet again to chat to a girl. By now you’ll know how it ended.
What a day! What a team! What a group of fine young men!

Up The Ton!

Jersey 2017: Day Three 

Monday 10th April 2017 @ FB Playing Fields, St. Helier

St Albans 3-1 Erdington and Saltley
Team: Gerard, Taylor, Tiarno, Danny, William, Cian, Cameron, Blessing, Ilani, Che and Kian

Goal: Cameron

Manor the Match: Cian T – showed incredible desire and passion throughout, whilst using the ball brilliantly, rarely giving it away.
A tough lesson was learned yesterday. Despite being on top for our fair share of the game and creating a number of chances, the boys suffered a defeat to match the one dished out by Jersey in 2016 after allowing their emotions to run wild. They saw first hand that hard work and talent can be undermined by poorly managed emotions. Through a tough defeat came a valuable lesson.
The game started with a bang as William put Ilani through on goal immediately from kick off. The Yenton captain unfortunately screwed his shot wide of the left post as the keeper came rushing out. It was a tough chance but one that showed we were up for it. It was a sign of things to come as The Ton spent much of the first fifteen minutes in the ascendancy, pressing all over the pitch and playing aggressively. The opening goal was a screamer! Cameron picked the ball up in centre midfield and burst forward before rifling in from wide right of the goal. The lead was deserved and was almost doubled when Cameron placed a free kick onto the bar.

However as the first half passed the half way mark, St. Albans grew into the game and started to create chances of their own. They were now quicker to the ball and successfully knocked us from our stride. They deservedly equalised after a free kick was saved by Gerard and the rebound tucked in by the unmarked Saints striker.

The second half was a great spectacle, as both sets of players gave it everything they had. However with seven to go and the score level at 1-1, the game swung into St Albans favour after they converted a penalty and scored a second shortly after.

On reflection had the game been 43 minutes long, you’d be hard pushed to say we deserved to lose. However the game was 50 minutes long and St. Albans were good value for their win in the end. We matched them for hard work and skill but were outdone on the mental side of things. After the game the boys reflected with great maturity and will definitely grow on and off the pitch as a result of yesterday’s lesson.

Within an hour of the game and nestled amongst Green Island’s rock pools, the defeat was but a distant memory as the boys scrambled around in search of crabs. That’s the beauty of this festival. The football is secondary to the social side of things.

After lunch the lads, along with Plymouth, Dagenham, Wokingham, Potters Bar and St. Albans, headed to Aqua Splash for three hours of water based fun and games. The highlight of the afternoon was when 60 or so district players from around the country started to sing in unison, making it very clear their desire for the pool manager to switch the wave machine on! Although I don’t think he found it as amusing as us district managers did!


Before heading back to the hotel we stopped off at the beach for our second visit of the day. Sitting on the beach as the sun set, we amused ourselves for the best part of an hour by throwing stones at a bottle in the sand. Who needs technology?!


The evening concluded with a quiz night, although the less said about that the better. However as you asked so nicely, here are a few of the highlights:

  • Julius Ceaser is synonymous with which country? “Julius who? Do you mean the goalkeeper?”
  • What is the capital of Jersey? “Don’t be stupid, Jersey is a city Phil.”
  • Name the Disney characters picture round. ” That’s Jesus.” It was Tarzan.

As the clock struck 10 pm, all memory of the morning’s game had well and truly vanished.


Well done boys. You bounced back in style today after a tricky morning and showed great team spirit throughout the day.


Up The Ton!

Jersey 2017: Day Two 

A brilliant two-all draw, another day on the beach and an evening of swimming.
Jersey Festival @ FB Playing Fields, St. Helier

Erdington and Saltley 2-2 Orpington


Team: Gerard, Kian, Blessing, Taylor, Cian, Cameron, Danny, Ilani, Che, William and Tiarno

Goals: Cameron and Ilani


Players’ Man of the Match: Danny – covered every blade of grass in the pitch and during the first half he got a number of his team mates out of a pickle.
With a stunning blue sky overhead and an amazing playing surface underfoot, the stage was set for The Ton to make another small piece of history. Taking on Orpington from Kent for the first time in our history, the boys contributed to what was a brilliant game of football between two teams of committed young men. The game ebbed and flowed throughout and both teams could arguably make a shout for the full three points. As it was, they had to settle for a share of the spoils, although there’s no shame in that!

Starting with Ilani and Che up front, we looked to get forward at every opportunity, eventually being rewarded when Ilani looped the ball over the out rushing keeper. A couple of chances came and went and unfortunately the boys couldn’t double their lead. Following one of those chances, a Danny half volley from six yards out, Orpington broke down the field and equalised. Their second goal was equally as good as their first, with the Orpington playing rifling the ball high into the net, giving Gerard no chance. Talking of the Abbey stopper, he made a number of excellent, brave one on one saves during the game and did himself proud.

The quick fire Orpington double clearly rattled the lads and this frustration was compounded when they had a goal disallowed.

At risk of letting their emotions get the better of them, the boys were snapped out of it at half time and responded brilliantly with a second half of desire and skill. The equalising goal eventually came from the right boot of Cameron, who was now playing up front. It was a simple goal in its creation but a fantastic goal in its finish. One big kick from Gerard bounced over the Orpington defender, allowing Cameron to sprint from deep and finish it on the half volley.

Further chances came our way, as they did for Orpington, who themselves had a goal disallowed to add to the drama and excitement.

With the final whistle came applause. The boys of both teams had produced a great spectacle of which they could be immensely proud.

Well done boys!

After dinner we headed to the beach, where it soon became apparent that the boys had misjudged the temperature of the water! Sprinting down the beach in joyous celebration, the boys ran straight into the sea, only to run straight out when the chilly temperature hit home!

Not to be beaten, the boys went back for more! An hour or so of splashing and jumping and falling in the water was following by another shock. Despite being told on a number of occasions, several of the boys had forgotten to pack a spare change of clothes! Luckily the sun was out and they soon dried off. Phew!

Whilst some of the lads sunbathed, others attempted to dig their way to Australia, although the incoming tide soon undid their valiant efforts.

The evening was spent in the water once again, although this time it was slightly warmer and in the surroundings of the hotel. An Erdington version of water polo kept the boys occupied for an hour, before everyone headed to bed at 10 pm.

Exhausted. Shattered. Proud. And that was just me!

Up The Ton!

Jersey 2017: Day One 

“Phil, you know this queue that we’ve been in for 20 minutes? Well it goes to France.”

And so it had started. Thankfully this year we had no Segways to worry about, meaning the lost time spent in the wrong queue wouldn’t hamper us too much.

Now safely through to the departure lounge, the boys started to get really excited, as well as determined to spend all of their money on chocolate and fizzy pop. To say the boys were excited would be like saying Mr Kipling likes to bake in his spare time. An understatement.

Safely arrived in Jersey, the excitement levels ramped up a notch, although fortunately the beautiful St. Brelade beach was the ideal playground for them to put their excitement to good use. Beach football, cricket, and general water splashing tomfoolery were aplenty. Four hours under the glorious Jersey sun whizzed by in the blink of an eye!

Next up was dinner. Thankfully by the time of our second shared meal of the day, the boys had remembered that they weren’t allowed to wear hats at the dining table. All of the boys gave everything on the menu a go, with Blessing ordering everything and eating one fork full from each dish. At least he enjoyed the bread rolls.

After an evening walk around the town of St. Helier, the boys were given some free time to explore the hotel and relax. Some did this by playing table tennis, others used the hotel computers and the rest ran and bounced around whooping and laughing as if they hadn’t been awake since 6:30am.

After a long , incredibly enjoyable day, not one of the three mobile phones smuggled onto the island were missed or yearned for. Result!

The holiday of a lifetime had started with a bang!

Up The Ton!

TON WIN CUP THRILLER

Saturday 1st April 2017 @ The Priory, Edgbaston

Harborne 2 – 3 Erdington and Saltley

 

Team: Gerard, James, Aidan, Taylor, Ilani, Blessing, Danny, Che, Reece, William, Kian B, Toby, Liam and Tiarno

Goals: Blessing x 2 and Ilani

Man of the Match: Ilani – an amazing showing of leadership from the Yenton baller. From start to finish, on and off the pitch, Ilani delivered the performance of a captain. 

 

After defeats to Derby and Aston over recent weeks, it was back to winning ways yesterday as the lads won a thrilling cup tie against Harborne Primary Schools. On a wet and sticky pitch, attractive, free flowing football was at a premium. Instead, the boys had to roll up their sleeves and fight for 60 minutes in an end to end encounter that enthralled all in attendance.

With Nathan a commanding presence in the heart of the Harborne defence, we found it very difficult to get through on goal. However the lads refused to stop trying and were rewarded in the 18th minute when Ilani got in behind Harborne and raced through on goal, before slotting the ball low past the keeper’s left.

With a slim lead to defend, The Ton boys almost grabbed a second goal early in the middle third, only for several Ton players to miss Toby’s tantalising right wing cross. To compound their frustration further, the Harborne right winger levelled shortly after via a cross come shot from out wide. Unperturbed, the lads simply dusted themselves off and retook the lead when Blessing burst into the box and fired high into the roof of the net. The goal once again showed the lads that the best way to get to the Harborne goal was by going up and over the Harborne back line.

The Ton made sure of the victory in the final third, when Blessing once again scored, this time tapping in from close range after great work down the right by Toby. Then with three minutes remaining on the ref’s watch, Harborne pulled a goal back to make for a very nervy finish. With Harborne throwing everything at Gerard’s goal, the Ton Army were left to chew their finger nails and contain their nerves.

The final whistle soon blew and for the first time all morning, the boys were able to relax a little. This was a great game and a perfect example of what we can achieve when we all pull together and work our hardest. Every single one of the boys contributed to this hard earned win. Every single one of the boys made an impact. It was a brilliant team effort. From Gerard’s stunning save in the first twenty, to William’s clever through balls and Aidan’s marauding runs down the right – all of the boys should be proud of themselves.

Well done lads!

Up The Ton!

District Results – Saturday 1st April 2017

West Midlands County Schools’ FA Cup Semi-final

Harborne 2 – 3 Erdington and Saltley

 

West Midlands County Schools’ FA League

Dudley 3 – 2 Solihull

 

Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points
Sutton Coldfield 8 6 1 1 37 7 30 19
Erdington and Saltley 8 6 0 2 36 14 22 18
Dudley and Brierley Hill 7 6 0 1 25 5 20 18
Solihull 8 3 2 3 32 19 13 11
Derby 5 3 0 2 9 12 -3 9
Harborne 8 2 1 5 19 26 -7 7
Aston 8 2 1 5 21 30 -9 7
Wolverhampton 7 2 1 4 14 23 -9 7
East Birmingham 6 0 0 6 10 58 -48 0

 

TEAM Ast Der Dud East Erd Har Sol Sut Wol
Aston x x x x x x x x x
Derby  4~2 x x x x x x x x
Dudley and Brierley Hill 4~0 7~1 x x x x x x x
East Birmingham 2~7 x x x x x x
Erdington and Saltley 5~2 2~3 1~0  11~3 x x x x x
Harborne 2~2 1~2 0~3 8~1 2~8 x x x x
Solihull 8~2 1~0 2~3 13~1 1~6 2~3 x x x
Sutton Coldfield 4~1 6~0  0~1 12~0 3~0 6~1 3~3 x x
Wolverhampton 1~5 1~7 7~3 0~4  3~2 2~2 1~3 x

 

 

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League 

Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points
Sutton Coldfield 7 7 0 0 50 3 47 21
Erdington and Saltley 8 5 0 3 47 15 32 15
Harborne 7 2 2 3 27 23 4 8
Aston 7 2 2 3 17 26 -11 7
East Birmingham 5 0 0 5 5 63 -58 0

 

TEAM Ast Eas Erd Har Sut
Aston x 7~2 2~0 1~4
East Birmingham x  3~11 1~10 12~0
Erdington and Saltley 5~2 20~0 x 8~2 0~1
Harborne 2~2 8~1 2~3 x
Sutton Coldfield 13~0 3~0 6~1 x

 

Under 10s Grow in Stature

Saturday 25th March @ Holte Secondary School

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League

 

Aston 2- 0 Erdington and Saltley

Team: Tyrese, Taylor, Telpher, Fareed, Danny, William, Reece, Jaiy, Tiarno and James

 

Man of the Match: Tyrese; The Birches Green shot stopper pulled off a string of sensational saves, many of which a boy of his age should not have had a chance of getting a hand/face/chest to!

 

With the title out of our grasp and second place all but secured, we decided to play the under 10s against Aston in order to give them a chance to taste district football ahead of next season. As you’d expect, there were a few teething issues related to the larger format of the game and the offside rule, but other than that they took to it like a duck to water.

Starting the game like a steam train, the boys attacked Aston from the kick off and were unfortunate not to take the lead when a rasping shot from the right foot of Reece cannoned off the left hand post of the Aston goal. For large parts of the opening twenty, the game ebbed and flowed, before Aston took the lead with two minutes to go. The goal came following a stunning Ty save, only for an Aston player to capitalise quickest to latch onto the rebound, with his shot evading the three retreating Ton boys.

The second twenty brought with it a similar blow, with the lads once again conceding late on, this time with the last kick of the third. Despite this blow, the middle third showed several signs of improvement, with the lads adjusting more and more to the demands of 9-a-side. Having moved from defence to central midfield, James battled bravely against Aston’s play maker Nat Nat. Up front, Reece was making some intelligent runs, showing his growing understanding of the offside rule by being flagged offside on no occasions and getting in behind the Aston defence a number of times.

After twice conceding late on, it would have been understandable if the lads let their heads drop. However during the final third they found another gear and were unlucky not to grab a goal (or two) in the opening five minutes. With Reece going close once again and Danny having a bullet of a long range shot tipped over, it was the latter who then went closest when he smashed a shot against the crossbar. For the second time in the game, the woodwork denied the boys a deserved goal and a foothold in the game.

The result of the game is irrelevant. The manner in which the lads grew and improved as the game went on was a victory in itself.

A special mention to Aston too, who have improved as a team as the season has gone on and more than played their part in a brilliant game. Sporting, hard working and respectful throughout, both sets of boys should be commended for the part they played in bringing a smile to the faces of all present in the sun-drenched B19.

Well done lads!

Up The Ton!

League Tables and Results – Saturday 25th March 2017

Today’s Results:

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League:

Aston 2 – 0 Erdington and Saltley

 

West Midlands County Schools’ FA League

Solihull 2 – 3 Harborne

 

ESFA 7-a-side; Regional Finals

South Birmingham – Winners

 

West Midlands County Schools’ FA League 

Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points
Sutton Coldfield 8 6 1 1 37 7 30 19
Erdington and Saltley 8 6 0 2 36 14 22 18
Dudley and Brierley Hill 6 5 0 1 22 3 19 15
Solihull 7 3 2 2 30 16 14 11
Derby 5 3 0 2 9 12 -3 9
Harborne 8 2 1 5 19 26 -7 7
Aston 8 2 1 5 21 30 -9 7
Wolverhampton 7 2 1 4 14 23 -9 7
East Birmingham 6 0 0 6 10 58 -48 0

 

TEAM Ast Der Dud East Erd Har Sol Sut Wol
Aston x x x x x x x x x
Derby  4~2 x x x x x x x x
Dudley and Brierley Hill 4~0 7~1 x x x x x x x
East Birmingham 2~7 x x x x x x
Erdington and Saltley 5~2 2~3 1~0  11~3 x x x x x
Harborne 2~2 1~2 0~3 8~1 2~8 x x x x
Solihull 8~2 1~0 13~1 1~6 2~3 x x x
Sutton Coldfield 4~1 6~0  0~1 12~0 3~0 6~1 3~3 x x
Wolverhampton 1~5 1~7 7~3 0~4  3~2 2~2 1~3 x

 

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League 

Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points
Sutton Coldfield 7 7 0 0 50 3 47 21
Erdington and Saltley 7 4 0 3 44 13 31 12
Harborne 6 2 2 2 25 20 5 8
Aston 7 2 2 3 17 26 -11 7
East Birmingham 5 0 0 5 5 63 -58 0

 

TEAM Ast Eas Erd Har Sut
Aston x 7~2 2~0 1~4
East Birmingham x  3~11 1~10 12~0
Erdington and Saltley 5~2 20~0 x 8~2 0~1
Harborne 2~2 8~1 x
Sutton Coldfield 13~0 3~0 6~1 x