Saturday 14th November 2015 @ Heartlands Academy

Erdington and Saltley 2 – 1 Solihull

Team: Harvey, Sam, Kye, Taylor, Samim, Rio, Troy, Tion, Cameron P, Blessing, Harvey, Cameron E, Diago and Oakley

Goals: Cameron P and Rio

ESPSFA Match Programme Solihull November 2015

“There’s nothing prettier than winning ugly.”

This is the fourth year in succession that we’ve taken on Solihull and prior to this morning we’ve never beaten them. The district from the south of the city are traditionally strong and always brimming with talent, whilst today was no different. However as we’ve said on many an occasion this season, we’re blessed with a great bunch of kids this season. A group of lads who take nothing for granted and work their socks off in every game. A group of kids that are going from strength to strength each week.

The first twenty minutes was very much about The Ton, with the boys having most of the ball and creating a number of chances. The opening goal came after Rio won the ball on the half way line, sprinted to the byline and crossed, just as the ball was about to go out for a goal kick. After the ball was cut back by Rio, Troy smartly back heeled the ball across the face of the goal for Cameron P to side foot home from close range. It was the Gunter finisher’s first goal of the season following an extended absence through injury.

During the second twenty minutes Solihull came back into the game and took control of proceedings shortly after the start of the second third. After making a number of changes, we looked very shaky and it didn’t take Solihull long to capitalise. After Solihull deservedly equalised, we shifted a few players around and now had Rio and Cameron P in the centre of midfield, with Troy upfront. These changes saw The Ton come back into the game and settle down. The hard work of Cameron P in the middle of the pitch was a huge reason why we managed to stem the Solihull onslaught. Whilst a special mention should be given to Rio and Troy who were pulling the strings and linking up well, Oakley who was creating chances down the right and Sam who was a rock at the back.

Back to the game…Attacking down the left following a corner, Rio’s cross come shot looped over the head of the outstanding Bradley Mayo in the Solihull Goal. However they all count!

The final third of the match brought a couple more Ton chances, with Troy going close with a couple of chances, first through a free kick and then via a goal mouth scramble. However on both occasions he was expertly thwarted by his Blues team mate Bradley, who was on form all morning and responsible for keeping us to two goals.

After the game we talked to the lads about there being more than one way to skin a cat and today was a perfect example of that. It wasn’t our prettiest of performances but it was possibly the hardest we’ve scrapped and fought all season. Time and time again we won 50/50 balls and put our heads’ on the line.

Finally the atmosphere of the game should be commended. There were no arguments between the boys from both sides, no moaning and no questioning of the ref. Afterwards we (managers) all commented at the end of the game about how much we all enjoyed it. Well done to both sets of boys for a highly enjoyable morning.

Man of the Match – Rio: at the heart of everything all morning

Next up is Sutton Coldfield with a win giving us the league title for the first time in our history. Big game!

Saturday 31st October 2015 @ Birmingham City FC, Wast Hills

Birmingham A 5-1 Leeds A

Birmingham B 1 – 1 Leeds B

With six lads called up to play for the city, The Ton were well represented as the BPSFA team played their annual match against Leeds for the Bernard Day Memorial Cup.

The boys didn’t fail to impress and The Ton influence was stamped all over the 5-1 win. Troy bagged himself a brace of goals and Cameron smashed in a stunner of his own. Kane captained the team and put in a man of the match performance, whilst Rio caused chaos down the right wing and then the left. In defence Kye made the fullback position his own, with Sam doing what he has done all season, being exceptionally hard to get past!

Overall the team were incredible, and the contribution of the five Sutton Coldfield boys and Jhadell from Harborne were equally impressive. Well done boys, you did your city proud!

Friday 30th October 2015 @ Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground, Wolverhampton

Erdington and Saltley 2-1 Leeds

Team: Rob, Taylor, Kye, Tamiel, Harvey, Blessing, Ilani, Tion, Oakley, Samim, Pharrelle, Cameron E, Camperon P and Diago

Scorers: Samim and Pharrelle

With six lads called up to play Leeds the next day for Birmingham Primary Schools, Friday saw this very talented squad grow further in stature, in a season in which they continue to go from strength to strength. This is arguably our biggest ever win, against the biggest ever district that we’ve played. We might only have 45 schools to pick from but my word there’s some talent in those 45 schools!

Tamiel came in to the squad to make his 9-a-side bow,  whilst four of the under 10s stepped up, making a mockery of the fact that they were at least a year younger than their opponents.

The first twenty minutes started brightly with Tion pulling the strings in the centre of midfield, supported expertly by under 10s captain Ilani. Up front Samim was a bag of tricks and a welcome addition to the team, having not played since scoring a goal in the final game of the Bath International Cup in August. The Birches Green wizard tied the Leeds defenders up in all sorts of knots and was rewarded with a goal, after expertly finishing a brilliant Tion through-ball.

The second twenty saw the four under 10s take centre stage – Blessing slotted in to the right of defence, Taylor was a rock at the heart of the back three, Ilani continued to marshal the midfield like a young Patrick Vieira and Cameron E used his blistering pace to reap havoc down the wing. Despite giving Leeds the advantage in terms of age, the boys played some breathtaking football and retained possession brilliantly. With Samim now on the left and Cameron P up front, the Leeds defence were given no rest and on another day Cameron P could have doubled our lead, shooting narrowly wide after Samim and Tion linked up brilliantly, before Ilani slid the Gunter shooter in on goal. Despite our great play going forward, Leeds were still very much in the game and continued to attack us at every opportunity. Fortunately the back three of Diago, Blessing and Taylor were more than a match for our northern rivals, with the latter winning every ball in the air!

The final twenty minutes brought with it more goals and plenty more excitement. Bursting down the wing, Kye crossed the sweetest of balls which was met by Pharrelle, who doubled our lead with a bullet header. It was no less than we deserved and just like the second twenty, we could have scored again, with Pharrelle, Samim and Tion coming close with chances. As with all good teams, Leeds refused to lie down and got back in the game when their striker smashed a rebound past Rob, who could do nothing about the effort. So strong have the boys been defensively this season that that goal was only the third conceded in the past nine 9-a-side games. It’s not all about the attackers!

The final whistle was a cue for Ton celebrations and rightly so. The boys stepped up a level on Friday and showed that there’s great depth to our ranks. We’re blessed to have this group of lads to work with and if they continue to work their socks off, there’s no limit to what they could achieve.

A massive thank you to Bob Brown and the rest of the guys at Wolverhampton Wanderers FC for their support and hospitality, as well as to Ian and Wolverhampton Schools for their invite. Finally thank you and well done to Leeds. All of their boys were hard working and good mannered, the two things that I always demand from my boys. They were a credit to their great city and we wish them the best of luck for the rest of the season.

Man of the Match – It was close. Very Close. Tion captained the district for the first time and was immense. Samim slotted back into the team like he had never been away. However Taylor pips it, after refusing to be beat all game!

Up The Ton!

Friday 16th October 2015 @ Heartlands Academy

Erdington and Saltley Golds 2 vs. 0  Boldmere St. Michaels

Erdington and Saltley Blacks 2 vs. 3  Boldmere St. Michaels

Golds: Brad, Blessing, Taylor, Ilani, Cameron, William, Resharne and Danny

Scorers: Ilani and William

Man of the Match: Ilani

Blacks: Brad, Carter, Eddie, Bradley, Kian, Reece, Che and Tiarno

Scorers: Reece and

Man of the Match: Kian

Two teams. Two games. But one outcome – plenty of hard work, bags of skills and lots of fun.

The Golds took the lead following a sweet strike from William, who struck from the right of the pitch and shot across the keeper to the bottom right hand corner. The second goal came just before half time and capped off a brilliant team move. After moving the ball out from the back, The Ton produced a series of quick passes culminating with a clever lay-off from Resharne and neat finish from captain Ilani. The 2-0 lead was no less than they deserved, although Boldmere had a few chances of their own and could have scored were it not for a few smart saves from Brad.

The second half brought no further goals, but once again the boys played attractive attacking football. However Boldmere were more than a match and refused to back down, taking the game to the boys and keeping the score at 2-0.

The blacks took the lead early in their game (who scored??) but couldn’t convert further chances during a competitive first half. With Boldmere gaining in confidence and seeing much more of the ball, the Sutton team raced into a 3-1 lead after playing some fine football. With seconds remaining on the clock, captain Kian, Che and under 9 attacker Reece linked up expertly before the St. Mary and John pupil slotted the ball away at the death. Despite falling short of a comeback, the goal was a thing of beauty and something to be proud of.

Overall this was a very encouraging evening. It won’t be often that we get the whole squad together and most match days there’ll only be 9 players in the squad. So nights like this are something to be cherished.

Thank you to Boldmere St. Michaels for travelling to Heartlands and for putting on such a great show. Good luck for the season and we hope to meet again very soon. In fact, four of their boys play for Sutton Coldfield District so we’ll certainly meet again!

Up The Ton!