Girls Battle Against Gloucester

Saturday 10th December 2016 @ Heartlands Academy

Erdington and Saltley 0 – 3 Gloucester

 

Team: Macie, Aimee, Lauren, Taija, Remi, Savannah and Liberty

 

Above: Three Ton stars. One family.

 

Despite a number of late withdrawals and a far from ideal lead-up to the game, The Ton girls walked away from their game against Gloucester with an incredible amount of pride.

From the first to last whistle, the girls gave it their very best and showed that the girls side of the district continues to grow from strength to strength.

Early in the game they came agonisingly close to taking the lead, only for the ball to rebound off the post and roll along the line. That was the closest we came to taking the lead, and the first period ended 0-0.

Each of the other three periods were won 1-0 by Gloucester, with the Southern district taking their chances when they had them.Nevertheless, the Erdington and Saltley girls continued to knock on the door of the Gloucester goal only to be thwarted several times by their keeper.

With Paula away due to other commitments, I had the pleasure of leading the girls for the first time and what a pleasure it was. Hardworking, polite and funny. They made me feel welcome from the very first second and this meant my morning was one packed with enjoyment and fun.

A special thank you to Gloucester too, who travelled to Birmingham for the second consecutive week, after their boys’ team made the journey last Saturday. We look forward to our return visit in April and wish everyone connected with Gloucester a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Up The Ton!

The Ton Fight back to Beat Walsall in Epic Battle

Saturday 10th December 2016 @ Heartlands Academy

Erdington and Saltley 4 – 3 Walsall FC

 

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

Goals: William x2, Cameron and Taylor

 

Man of the Match: Cian Tevlin for his tireless effort in the centre of the park.

 

Over the years this wonderful district and its great kids has given me so much to be proud of. Whilst being yet another example of that, yesterday was arguably up there with our greatest ever moments.

Against the full Walsall academy under 11s team, The Ton lads showed immense spirit to drag themselves from 2-0 and 3-1 behind to eventually win by the odd goal in seven.

The first third saw The Ton play some good football but ultimately shoot themselves in the foot a number of times, primarily via their inability to release the ball quick enough when in good positions. Such moments of uncertainly were pounced upon by the Walsall lads who ended the first twenty, two goals to the good.

The second twenty brought stability for the Erdington boys, with mistakes fewer and further between. Despite steadying the ship, the lads still found themselves two goals behind as the ref’s whistle signalled the end of the second third.

Trailing by a brace of goals, The Ton got a foothold in the game when they scored shortly after the restart. And what a goal it was too! A thunderous, long range half-volley from the boot of William! That filled the boys with confidence and they almost equalised immediately after it, only for Che to be thwarted by the out-rushing Saddlers keeper. However just as the lads had the wind behind their sails, Walsall struck to restore their two goal advantage. Undeterred, The Ton bounced straight back when William once again scored, this time slotting home a Cameron cross straight from the restart.

With ten minutes left and still trailing, the boys bombed forward at every opportunity. Throwing caution to the wind, Blessing was reintroduced, although this time in a more advanced position. The equalising goal came courtesy of a now trademark Ilani long distance strike! With Ilani determined to battle Will for goal of the season, the boys found themselves back on level terms for the first time since the 7th minute of the game.

Not yet finished and with five minutes left on the clock, The Ton took the lead for the very first time when Taylor headed home from a William corner. Once the ecstatic celebrations had died down, the lads regrouped and saw out the game to claim their best win of the season.

This match had it all and was a great illustration of the talent that we are blessed with in Erdington and Saltley. Every player put in a great shift and battled their hearts out from start to finish. The manner of the comeback could prove to be the making of the 2016/17 team!

Well done lads!

Up The Ton!

Young Guns Come of Age

Saturday 3rd December 2016 @ Washwood Heath Secondary School

Midland Challenge Trophy

Erdington and Saltley 2 – 1 Gloucester

 

Team: Tyrese, Tiarno, James, Aidan, Rehsarne, Liam, Taylor, Jaiy, Che, Danny and Fareed

Goals: Liam and Jaiy

Man of the Match: Resharne

 

With the seven of the starting nine stepping up from the under 10s, we knew today would be a big test for the boys against a talented Gloucester side. This is exactly how it turned out too, which is why the victory is even more satisfying!

The younger Ton players were brilliant and were supported throughout by a small handful of under 11s boys. Whilst the under 10s have obvious reasons to be pleased with their morning’s work, the older under 11s (Taylor, Tiarno, Danny and Che) should be equally proud. They guided the boys with distinction throughout the game. More pleasing was the manner in which they maturely accepted their supporting role. The under 10s will certainly benefit from being in their company this morning.

Back to the action and the first twenty was very much all about The Ton. With Resharne causing problems down the left, we scored via the left boot of Jaiy, after he burst forward from centre midfield. Chances came and went, although a combination of the Gloucester keeper, who pulled off a cracking save to push a Che screamer wide, and the woodwork ensured the southern district remained in the game by the break.

During the second third Gloucester played their way back into the game and deservedly equalised after creating several tempting chances. Chances were less frequent for The Ton, although Liam showed great strength to hold off the Gloucester defender after breaking away, only to find the Gloucester keeper in his path.

It was back to basics during the last twenty minutes, with the lads looking far more composed and more like the team from the opening third. At the back Aidan and James were supporting Tiarno superbly, as well as bombing forward when the opportunity arose. With Liam back out on the right wing, chances once again started to flow. However with eight minutes remaining on the ref’s watch, it seemed the game would end in a draw. That was until a tactical fluke saw Liam pushed up front to partner Che, before scoring within a minute of his move forward.

All that was left to do was to see out the game, which we did in no short part to the tenacity of Danny and Taylor in the heart of the pitch, as well as a brave save by the out-rushing Tyrese.

Thank you Gloucester for a great game. It’s always a pleasure to lock horns with you and without doubt one of the most respectfully observed fixtures we play. Not once did any player, coach or parent question the ref. Not once was a bad tackle made. From start to finish the game was played in a great manner – competitive but sporting.  A perfect advertisement for schools’ football.

Up The Ton!

 

 

League Tables – Saturday 26th November 2016

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League 

Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points
Erdington and Saltley 5 4 0 1 44 8 36 12
Sutton Coldfield 4 4 0 0 28 2 26 12
Harborne 3 2 0 1 20 10 10 6
Aston 3 0 0 3 4 20 -16 0
East Birmingham 3 0 0 3 3 43 -40 0
TEAM Ast Eas Erd Har Sut
Aston x 1~4
East Birmingham x  3~11 1~10 12~0
Erdington and Saltley 5~2 20~0 x 8~2 0~1
Harborne 8~1 x
Sutton Coldfield x

 

West Midlands County Schools’ FA League

Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points
Erdington and Saltley 4 4 0 0 25 7 18 12
Sutton Coldfield 5 3 1 1 22 6 16 10
Dudley and Brierley Hill 4 3 0 1 12 2 10 9
Solihull 4 2 2 0 26 8 18 8
Wolverhampton 5 2 1 2 14 17 -3 7
Derby 1 1 0 0 4 2 2 3
Harborne 3 1 0 2 12 12 0 3
Aston 5 0 0 5 7 25 -18 0
East Birmingham 5 0 0 5 8 51 -43 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 x x x x x x x
East Birmingham x x x x x x
Erdington and Saltley 5~2 1~0  11~3 x x x x x
Harborne 8~1 2~8 x x x x
Solihull 8~2 13~1 x x x
Sutton Coldfield 4~1  0~1 12~0 3~3 x x
Wolverhampton 1~7 7~3  3~2 2~2 1~3 x

The Ton Win To Top League

Saturday 26th November 2016 @ Heartlands Academy

Erdington and Saltley W-L East Birmingham

 

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

Scorers: Ilani, Cian T, Cameron, Che and Jaiy

Man of the Match: It’s hard to pick one player following a performance like that.

 

With Christmas fast approaching, East Birmingham visited Heartlands to bring the curtain down on the first half of the BPSFA League. With Sutton breathing down our neck and with a game in hand on us, we knew a win was required if we were to celebrate Christmas from atop of the BPSFA league, as well as the WMCSFA league.

The game was an example of what this set of talented lads can do when they click into first gear. A bag full of goals and a clean sheet. Perfect.

However at the same time, the East Birmingham boys should be commended for their refusal to throw the towel in and give up. Despite being behind from the first minute of the game, the East lads continued to scrap and fight until the final whistle. In fact they had the better of the second twenty and were unfortunate not to score whilst on top.

From a Ton point of view, some of our goals were majestic. One goal in particular stands out. During the final third, whilst under pressure from the East striker, Danny and Taylor calmly played the ball out of danger and into the feet of Cian T. Spotting Ilani in space, Cian played the ball out wide to the Ton Captain who played a neat one two with Cameron before crossing for the Marsh Hill striker to finish off the sensational move by rifling the ball into the roof of the net.

Over all the result is irrelevant. The performance and the manner in which the boys adapted to the new 3-3-2 formation was the most pleasing thing about the game. All 12 boys should be incredibly proud of the part that they played in a brilliant team showing.

Well done boys!

Up The Ton!

League Tables and Results – Saturday 12th November 2016

West Midlands County Schools’ FA League 

Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points
Erdington and Saltley 4 4 0 0 25 7 18 12
Sutton Coldfield 5 3 1 1 22 6 16 10
Dudley and Brierley Hill 4 3 0 1 12 2 10 9
Solihull 4 2 2 0 26 8 18 8
Wolverhampton 5 2 1 2 14 17 -3 7
Derby 1 1 0 0 4 2 2 3
Harborne 3 1 0 2 12 12 0 3
Aston 5 0 0 5 7 25 -18 0
East Birmingham 5 0 0 5 8 51 -43 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 x x x x x x x
East Birmingham x x x x x x
Erdington and Saltley 5~2 1~0  11~3 x x x x x
Harborne 8~1 2~8 x x x x
Solihull 8~2 13~1 x x x
Sutton Coldfield 4~1  0~1 12~0 3~3 x x
Wolverhampton 1~7 7~3  3~2 2~2 1~3 x

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League 

Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points
Erdington and Saltley 4 3 0 1 24 8 16 9
Sutton Coldfield 3 3 0 0 17 1 16 9
Harborne 3 2 0 1 20 10 10 6
Aston 2 0 0 2 3 9 -6 0
East Birmingham 2 0 0 2 3 23 -20 0
TEAM Ast Eas Erd Har Sut
Aston x 1~4
East Birmingham x  3~11 1~10 12~0
Erdington and Saltley 5~2 x 8~2 0~1
Harborne 8~1 x
Sutton Coldfield x

High Five in Derby Game Against Aston

Saturday 12th November 2016 @ Heartlands Academy

Erdington and Saltley 5 – 2 Aston

 

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

Goals: Ilani x 3, Cameron and Taylor

 

As a teacher who has spent the majority of his career working in the Aston district, I always look forward to this fixture more than any. There’s a special bond between the two teams, especially as so many of the lads are friends and also team mates away from the district game.

Today’s game was a belter! A humdinger!

The first twenty minutes brought five goals, with the lead changing hands on three occasions! The Ton started brightly and took the lead via the right boot of Captain Ilani, although they were quickly pegged back by a high-pressing Aston. Minutes after levelling, it was Aston’s turn to take the lead. If Aston’s first goal was a little fortuitous following a deflection, their second goal was a well worked counter attack after excellently defending a Ton corner.

With the wind very much behind their sails, Aston closed us down brilliantly, refusing to allow us to settle on the ball. Consequently it took us a short while to regroup but once we did, we started to pass the ball about with confidence. Our equalising goal came from Cameron and ended a brilliant team move. Then as the ref checked his watch for the end of the first third, Ilani popped up again to regain the lead for The Ton.

The second twenty was a little less eventful, although both teams created a couple of chances and on another day one or two might have been converted.

Prior to the final third we asked the boys to be positive and to treat the last twenty as a new game in its own right. Suddenly the boys looked a lot more comfortable on the ball and created three super chances, only to see the Aston keeper pull off a trio of great saves. Despite their Herculean efforts, Aston were unable to hold out for much longer and The Ton bagged a couple more goals courtesy of a thunderous Ilani free-kick and a thumping Taylor header from a Cameron corner.

At times today our play was majestic. Then at other times it was a little scrappy, although this was very much down to the effort on show from the 10 Aston lads.

The Ton boys should be proud of their efforts today, as to score five goals and produce moments of magic in the way that they did, whilst not being at their best, is worth more than a pat on the back.

Well done boys!

Man of the Match – Tiarno continued his rich vein of form in defence, whilst Cian T stepped up into midfield with distinction. Blessing produced some of his best football after slotting into the right hand side of defence and Cameron caused problems throughout the game thanks to his insatiable work rate. However the MOM has to be awarded to Ilani who bagged a hat-trick.

Up The Ton!

League Tables and Results – Saturday 5th November

West Midlands County Schools FA League

Solihull 2 – 2 Wolverhampton

Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points
Sutton Coldfield 4 3 0 1 19 3 16 9
Erdington and Saltley 3 3 0 0 20 5 15 9
Solihull 3 2 1 0 23 5 18 7
Wolverhampton 4 2 1 1 13 10 3 7
Dudley and Brierley Hill 3 2 0 1 5 1 4 6
Derby 1 1 0 0 4 2 2 3
Harborne 2 0 0 2 4 11 -7 0
Aston 4 0 0 4 5 20 -15 0
East Birmingham 4 0 0 4 7 43 -35 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 x x x x x x x
East Birmingham x x x x x x
Erdington and Saltley 1~0  11~3 x x x x x
Harborne 2~8 x x x x
Solihull 8~2 13~1 x x x
Sutton Coldfield 4~1  0~1 12~0 x x
Wolverhampton 7~3  3~2 2~2 1~3 x

 

Birmingham Primary Schools’ FA League 

Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points
Sutton Coldfield 3 3 0 0 17 1 16 9
Erdington and Saltley 3 2 0 1 19 6 13 6
Aston 1 0 0 1 1 4 -3 0
Harborne 1 0 0 1 2 8 -6 0
East Birmingham 2 0 0 2 3 23 -20 0

 

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

Girls Kick off their season in style, whilst under 10s share the limelight with Sutton

Saturday 5th November @ Heartlands Academy

Girls:

U10s Boys: Tyrese, Connor, Fareed, Telpher, Klechai, Navaro, Toby, Jaiy, Patrick, Romaoe, Jeval, Alfie, Bobby and Aaron

Goals: Alfie x4, Jeval, Romaoe, Toby x2, Jaiy and Aaron

 

With the under 11s boys out of action for the weekend, it was left to the girls and the under 10s boys to take centre stage.

The girls played in their first BPSFA tournament of the season, a couple of weeks after travelling to Gloucester for their season curtain raiser.


Paula was left visibly proud of her charges, who turned in a performance filled with hard-work and graft, as well as plenty of skill. More importantly, I know from the two games that I watched that the girls played with huge smiles on their faces and an incredible team spirit. This was illustrated in the way that they bounced back from a tough opening game against eventual winners Sutton Coldfield to beat Aston 2-0 and earn their first win of the season.

This is only the second year that The Ton has ever had a girls’ team and it was great to see the way in which they’ve grown as a team since the start of this season. The exciting thing is that a big part of this squad are still in years 4 and 5!

 

Just like the girls, the under 10s boys shone brightly on a bitterly cold day in Nechells. With seven boys unavailable, the lads were down to the bare bones and had to contest the ties without any subs. Nevertheless they rolled their sleeves up and simply got on with it. Unafraid of hard work, the younger Ton boys matched Sutton Coldfield from start to finish and along with their near neighbours, put on a real show for the shivering fans.

All games were played in great spirit and both sets of lads have given their respective coach much to be excited about ahead of the 2017/18 season.

 

Well done girls! Well done boys!

The Ton family continues to grow!

 

Up The Ton!

The Ton Represent Birmingham In Style!

Saturday 29th October 2016 @ Heartlands Academy

Birmingham A 5-1 Leeds A

Birmingham B 2-2 Leeds B


Ton Representatives – Ilani (captain of the A team), Cameron, Cian T, Gerard and Taylor

  

This morning capped off a fantastic week for this fantastic district! After a win over Potters Bar and a great draw against Leeds, it was left to the City of Birmingham boys to put the cherry on the cake!

Ilani, Cameron, Cian T, Gerard and Taylor were all called up to the City of Birmingham team and all made big contributions as the Brummie boys retained the Bernard Day Memorial Trophy for the second consecutive year.

Ilani captained the A team, as well as scoring a brace of goals, whilst Cameron scored a couple of goals of his own. In defence, Taylor and Cian kept Leeds quiet, with their only goal in the A team match coming via a stunning Leeds set piece. On the second pitch, Gerard was marshalling his defence with confidence and helped his team draw an end to end encounter.

Everyone connected with the district is so proud of our five superstars!


Up The Ton!