The Ton Suffer Extra-time Heartbreak!

Saturday 13th October 2012 @ Braemar Road

All Birmingham Mini-Soccer Championships

Erdington and Saltley have never made much of an impression during this prodigious tournament over the years. That is, up until today! We entered two teams into the competition (Greens and Blues) and both teams should be immensely proud of their efforts. I certainly am!

The Greens

Team: Connor, Josh F, William, Alex F, Ethan, Karter, Zane, Cedric

Man of the Tournament – William

Results: 0-0; 0-0; 0-0; 0-2; 0-1

Gutsy. Brave. Determined. All of these adjectives could be used to describe the performance of the Greens! From the first whistle to the last whistle they battled their way through each game and showed off the odd glimpse of sheer class too. Did anyone see Cedric’s flick through ball? Wow! Messi would be proud of a pass that good!

In goal we had Connor McGuinness making his debut. The Brokvale pupil pulled off a number of world class saves, such as the point blank save against Kings Norton in game three. The crowd couldn’t believe it and stood there gasping in amazement. Then there was Willam at the back. Without doubt, this was his best ‘game’ for the district this season and he remained composed and calm throughout the tournament. Throw into the mix the hard work of Ethan, Karter and Alex, plus the last ditch defending of Josh F and you have a heroic performance. We must also not forget the touches of class provided by Zane and Cedric. The only thing missing was a goal or two, although if it wasn’t for an unbelievable save by the Harborne keeper we would have got a goal.

Nevertheless, the Greens should all hold their head up high. What a great spirit! What a great bunch of lads!

 

The Blues:

Team: Alex T, Michael, Jayden, Trey, Josh, Ellis Jay, Bailey, Sahib

Man of the Tournament: All eight of them!

Results: Group Stage: 1-0; 2-0; 1-0; 0-0; 1-0; 0-0 Semi-final: 1-0 Final 0-1 (after extra time)

 

Where to start? First of all I think I need to have a lie down because I’m emotionally drained! What a day!

At the start of the season I set out to reestablish the Erdington and Saltley district after several years of non-existence. My ambition was to get 35 children to the trials. I got 70. Then my ambition was to play good football. We play awesome football. So then I changed my ambition. I wanted to win a game. We done that weeks ago. I then decided that I wanted Erdington and Saltley football to be placed back on the map. Well the lads have certainly achieved that ambition! What a day! What a team!

Qualifying from Group 2, the Blues collected a huge total of 14 points (more than any other team) to win the group in style. No goals conceded and unbeaten. Now that’s how to take care of business! This meant a semi-final encounter with South Birmingham, only a week after suffering a 4-2 defeat to them. However there were no nerves on show as The Ton snatched an early lead thanks to a breathtaking, free-flowing move down the right. The defence stood strong for the remainder of the game and qualified for the final. It was the first time that South had not qualified for the final in eight years. This stat alone shows the magnitude of The Ton’s achievement!

Sutton Coldfield were waiting for us in the final and we knew they were going to be strong after both of their teams qualified for the semi-final. A nervy first half saw few chances, until the dying seconds when Trey burst through the Sutton defence and put his shot inches wide. It was agonisingly close. A lesser bunch of players could have dropped their heads at this point, but not this group of heroes! The second half saw Sutton come the closest to breaking the deadlock but their efforts were to no avail, thanks to some great defending and super goalkeeping. This meant the game went to extra-time, the first half of which was also goalless. The crowd grew edgy. The air was filled with tension and nerves. Both sets of fans knew one goal either way would surely seal victory for either team. With the final few seconds approaching, Sutton scored. Heartbreak for The Ton. Nevertheless, the boys lifted their heads to throw one final attack at Sutton. The final whistle blew. Jubilation for Sutton Coldfield. Desperation for The Ton.

During the pre-final team talk, both Jermiane (Ellis Jay’s Dad) and I had told the boys to make sure they had no regrets at the final whistle. They did just that. . . and more!

I am so proud of this group of young men. We should all be! What a team,

 

Well done Blues. Well done Greens. Well done Erdington and Saltley.

 

Up the Ton!

 

Captain’s Blog 1: The Final Word with Jayden Ward

Jayden Ward – Captain of Erdington and Saltley.

 

Our manager said it would be a tough game and BOY was he right.  Within the first 10 minutes South Birmingham were 1 – 0 up through some skilful play down the right wing.  About 10 minutes later they doubled their advantage because we could not clear our lines after their winger put a juicy ball in the box.

 

With 1 minute left in the first half Trey showed a great burst of pace and the defence could not tackle him, then their defender clumsily stuck out his foot and tripped up Trey.  The ref had no choice but to signal for a penalty – and he did.  Joshua Subhan stepped up confidently and placed it into the bottom left corner and halved the deficit.  We went into half time on an up after our goal just before the break with the score being 2 – 1 to South Birmingham.

 

We started the second half brightly with Darrelle’s cross finding Trey and the diligent midfielder narrowly missed the target.  We had a free kick and it was fired at the keeper and he spilled it so Zane collected the second ball and scored!  Like our manager said “It’s the second ball that counts.”  It was now 2 – 2 and we had the momentum.

 

It was a dramatic last 10 minutes as South Birmingham hit the woodwork twice and after that Alex pulled off a great rally of saves and was finally beaten by a low driven shot into the bottom left corner.  But did we give up? Of course we didn’t!  We attacked hard and earned a penalty through a handball.  Josh Subhan stepped up, hit in the same place – but this time the keeper saved it.

 

South Birmingham started to attack us and Michael kept us in the game thanks to some goal saving tackles.  But then they made it 4 – 2 after a goalmouth scramble and they volleyed it into the bottom left corner.  But we still didn’t give up.  We had one last attack and they dealt with it.  It was full time.  After an exciting game it was all over.  We lost 4 – 2 but we are improving week by week.  Let’s go out to win the tournament on Saturday lads!!

 

Captain’s MOM: Michael

The Ton are Big in the U.S.!

The word is spreading. Erdington and Saltley are slowly, but surely taking over the world! In the past month people in the Ukraine, Australia and Ireland have been reading all about our journey into the unknown! However, over the past seven days we have had 51 different hits from the United States of America. In total, 905 people have viewed the site in the past four weeks! Keep up the good work lads, the world awaits it’s next instalment of the Erdington and Saltley adventure.

 

Up the Ton!

Saturday 13th October – Birmingham 7-a-side Championship

Our next match is actually a tournament at Braemar Road. All seven districts will be represented and most will have two teams, us included. This means all 18 players will be asked to attend and we’ll have a blue team and a green team. Please note the change of meeting time as the tournament is set to kick off at 9:30, therefore all players should arrive no later than 9:00am.

Last season’s Championship was won by Aston and it is always a highly entertaining affair.

South Birmingham 4 – 2 Erdington and Saltley

Saturday 6th October 2012 @ Maypole FC

South Birmingham 4 – 2 Erdington and Saltley (Joshua S, Zane)

I hate losing more than I actually enjoy winning. However, today I experienced something new. I was actually happy at the final whistle, despite losing a match! All fourteen boys who played today should be immensely proud of their efforts, especially during the second half.

Worryingly Erdington and Saltley once again started off scrappily after going a goal behind early on. Things never improved and The Ton conceded a second goal midway through the first half. It was no more than South Birmingham deserved after playing some great attacking football. However, The Ton reduced the deficit from the penalty spot after Josh S converted from the spot following some great play from the scintillating Trey. Bursting into the box after running past three players, Trey was hacked down by the stranded South player. The late goal filled the boys with enthusiasm, although it could have been different had South converted their own penalty when leading 2 – 0.

Starting the second half like a team possessed, The Ton threw everything they had at South and caused their powerful rivals many problems. This attacking vigour brought rewards. A fierce Jayden free kick was pounced upon by Zane following a neat save from the South keeper and a goal mouth scramble. Somehow and against all odds, The Ton were level with just over five minutes remaining on the clock. It could have got even better for The Ton, had Trey connected with a beauty of a cross from Darrelle. However, the box-to-box midfielder missed by the narrowest of margins.The game swung once again when South scored two late goals to take a 4-2 lead. There was even more drama in store when The Ton won a second penalty, although Joshua was unable to convert it on this occasion.

Regardless of the scoreline, I am exceptionally proud of everyone of the boys. The season has started off well for us and I’m so excited about the season ahead.

 

Team: Alex T, Sam, William, Michael, Jayden, Josh S, Trey, Ethan (Karter), Ellis Jay (Zane), Cedric (Darelle), Sahib

Referee’s MOM: Treymaine

Up The Ton!

New Fixture – Gloucester Primary Schools’ District

On January 12th 2013, Erdington and Saltley have been invited to play Gloucester Primary Schools’ District. This is an away game in Glocester, which is around 80 minutes away from Birmingham. This is an exciting opportunity for the lads and I’ve heard nothing but glowing reports about our hosts. I realise that not everyone will be able to drive to Gloucester, so closer to the time I’ll look to possibly organise some transport.

 

In the meantime, if you want to learn more about Gloucester, click on the link below and it will take you to their exceptionally informative website.

 

http://gpsfa.brinkster.net/