Jubilee 2 Eagles1

This was our second game of the day and one we needed to win to secure 3rd place in the division, which would be a fantastic achievement in our first season in division 1.

We played brightly from the start and forced Caversham back for long periods of the half and Connor with his first goal of the season gave us a lead midway through the half.  Brendan was looking threatning from the start and finally had something to cheer about on the day when after a couple of missed chances he turned neatly and fired home, good persistance Brendan, well done. Half time 2-0.

We continued to play well into the second half, but credit to Caversham they battled on and didnt lie down on what was an awful pitch and were rewarded with a goal after some lame defending. Instead of trying to see the game out we played on the front foot and on two or three occasions we could have been caught out at the back only for some fantastic trademark blocks from our cat in the goal Alfie.

We were pleased to win 2-1 as this meant we had secured 3rd place in the league and to say I am proud of my players would be an understatement. This group has progressed with me from division 3 to division 2 and now to finish 3rd in the top league and they deserve all the credit they get. There is hopefully more to come and we will take this on from here.

Many thanks to everyone involved with the group this year, I couldn’t do it without you all.

Jubilee 0 Kennet Valley 3

This was a game against the newly crowned champions and our congratulations goes to them, they have been the most consistent team throughout the season and fully deserved the title. That said we have been consistently raising the bar ourselves and went into the game with a hope of taking the points. Unfortunately we didnt come out of the blocks quickly and gave away a goal in only the second minute of the game, this allied to losing our influential midfielder Connor made for a terrible start to the game. However credit to my players they quickly got into the game and forced Kennet back  and played on the front foot for a large majority of the half, playing nice pass and move football and created some good chances, however disaster struck with the last kick of the first half as Brendan trying to clear the danger in our own penalty area managed to fire into the top corner!! a great goal unfortunately at the wrong end!! unlucky mate.

Half time team talk was simple, just keep doing what your doing and you will get your chances. Nothing could be truer, and on 3 occasions Brendan was one on one with the keeper, but this wasn’t to be his day as he managed to miss each time. Kennet are a good team and always a threat on the break and on the day also played some nice football and after we had managed to miss a penalty aswell!! they broke away and scored a third. This wasn’t to be our day a game of what could and should have been. However as previously said good luck to Kennet worthy champions.

MOTM Liam Ruiz a action packed and commited performance

Aarrggh!!!!

We started this game where we left off the previous one, playing great stuff!! When we pass it teams cant get near us and early doors this was the case. Sometimes I cant believe what I watching from boys so young and none more so than our first goal, after many half chances we finally broke the deadlock with a great move finishing with another great final ball in from Joe, straight into the path of Brendan who fired home with a first time shot, Great Goal!!. We continued to create chances and could have added to our tally. However we were content with our halftime lead 1-0.

The second half we carried on much the same and created more chances until a great cross from Woody was met with a bullet header from Liam which flew into the net, much to the delight of his dad who promised him£20 if he scored a headed goal!! woops!!. 2-0

However this was the turning point in the game and to the credit of the colts they didnt lie down and from our point of view scored with a soft goal to bring it back to 2-1, this made the final period a bit tricky and along with a couple of injuries we conceded a second goal, with a very good headed goal from their player.  We should have wrapped this game up but it wasnt to be. The final whistle was again greeted with some nice compliments from one of the Colts managers who said we play some lovely football.

Final score 2-2

MOTM Kyle Smithurst for a composed display at the back

Well what a game!!  this is the reason I put myself out in the wind and rain training these boys, they just get better and better. However the same could be said for the Trents who on the day matched us blow for blow in what was a total quality game of football. Their league position I believe is a false one and the play they produced was excellent. We twice took the lead yet for periods of the game we could quite easily have fallen behind as Trents were catching us on the break with the impressive Joseph a constant threat up front. That said our passing and the use of ‘triangles’ at times wouldnt have looked out of place at the nou camp!! Complements received at the final whistle from Trents manager really mean a lot and I thank him sincerely for that.

We started brightly and were pushing trents back with some really quick pass and move play and took the lead with a typical move resulting in Joe playing one of his typically unselfish balls straight into the path of Liam who fired home 1-0. The lead lasted only a short while before a defensive blunder played in Joseph for Trents who capitalized fully and fired home 1-1. The rest of the half was played out with counterpunch after counterpunch and finished 1-1.

The second we shuffled the pack and lost our shape and allied with the wind against started slowly. A shift to put Connor at the back stablized things and against the run of play we took the lead, hard work by Joe saw him score with a goal the goalie will have nightmares over, however we were not out of the woods by a long stretch and once again the Trents were soon on level terms with another finish by Joseph 2-2. At the end of the day a fair result.

This was a proper game!!

MOTM Alfie Webber for some outstanding saves

This was the second game of a double header having previously played the kestrels.

The players started this game very brightly and hard work from Brendan payed off when he bundled in a scrappy goal early in the game, a great start. We continued to play some nice football and a good move involving Brendan, Connor and the final ball across from Joe saw Liam at the far post claiming one of his trademark, right place right time goals.  The only question mark against the boys in this game was the fact we didnt score more goals, as some of our play merited it. However this was a good day as we had claimed two wins to help us keep in the chasing pack for a european place!!

Man of the match Brendan Dyer for a good commited performance

Well this was the game of 2 halves. The first half saw us quickly into our stride with some lovely football being played, pass, move, strength, discipline  it was all their. The ball out from the back was great, total football. Woodley were struggling to cope with our play and half way through the half Joe put Brendan through with a neat precise pass who duly obliged with a great finish. We had further chances in the half but a mixture of good defending and powder puff finishing saw the half time score as only 1-0 up.

We shuffled the pack at half time and came out very casual to say the least thinking that all we had to do was turn up to win. All credit to Woodley they came at us and played some nice passing football. Against the run of play we were awarded a penalty which was very tame indeed, infact I think the defender made a very good tackle. However the usually reliable Brendan who wasnt his self on the day, blazed over the bar. This was greeted with loud cheers from the Woodley parents, which for young boys football wasnt nice to see, infact Brendan went off crying because he thought he had let everyone down.

As the half progressed Woodley continued to dominate the game until we scored with a nice breakaway, craig being fed with a lovely through ball from Bradley. He ran on and fired under the Woodley keeper 2-0. This didnt deter Woodley and they kept going and eventually got a goal which was much deserved. The whistle was the only thing we were interested in and it was relief when the referee blew it. Final score 2-1

Man of the match Connor Stratford for a battling performance

Well this fixture was a repeat of our first game in this division at the start of the season , where we came back from behind to gain a creditable 3-3 draw. We have come a long way since last september and went into the game with confidence high after some good recent results.

We started on the front foot playing some lovely pass and move football and kept the ball really well, this is becoming a good pattern of our play. Credit goes to the south Reading defenders who cut out 3 or 4 last phase passes which would have resulted in Brendan doing what he does best and putting the ball in the back of the net, so we went into the break 0-0 and the boys were told to just keep doing what they were doing and they would get their rewards. We went out and finally got the breakthrough when Connor put a lovely ball into Brendan who cooly slotted home 1-0. If we are guilty of anything this season it is we sometimes try to overplay and we were caught this way for South Reading’s equaliser as we lost possesion and the boy picked up the ball and slotted home with a great strike 1-1, this knocked the stuffing out of us and there was no time to push for a winner.

A day of what should have been. Man of the match again went to Craig Chadwick for another sterling performance.

This was a game between two teams that progressed together from the lower leagues into the big one. Last season we were on the end of a 6-0 drubbing, so we were keen to gain our second victory over the Pythans. As the game started it didnt seem likely that was going to be the case as we started slowly and the Pythans didnt. The forward was a real threat and we were giving away to much space and not shutting down quickly enough. The game hinged on a couple of missed chances from Maidenhead in the first period, if they had gone in it could have been a different game. However when you have a forward like Brendan in your ranks you always have half a chance and as the half wore on, he duly obliged by beating the defender and crashing home the opening goal 1-0 half time. The team talk was rather stern and the boys were told that they had to start competing and play with a bit of desire before they could play their football. We had a fantastic response, they started to win first and second balls and got it into Brendan, who caused havoc in the Pythans defence, completing a well deserved hatrick, the other goal coming from an og. We can match anyone on any given day but just need to find some consistency in our performances.

Man of match Craig Chadwick- for sticking to his task

Well this was just going to be one of those days.

It was stressed to the boys before the game that although Wokingham were bottom of the table, they are still a good football team who have some good players, in particular Adam who has good ability. The game started off quite evenly with both sides creating some good opportunities, unfortunately we fell behind to a long ball forward and we didnt react quick enough and the ball was poked into the bottom corner 0-1. As the half unfolded we created several great chances which on another day we would have taken a comfotable lead, although wokingham did force Alfie to make one or two good saves also. It was summed up by one of our parents saying ‘this isnt going to be our day’. As the second half wore on we grew stronger and stronger and wasted two or three one on ones with the keeper who had a fine day. This was a day when we wouldnt have put the ball away if we were there until dark, but the effort levels were not to be faulted. Wokingham are to be commended for their commitment and stuck well to their task.

The first game back after xmas and it had to be against our own club. Going into the game after 3 years of trying we still had’nt managed to inflict a defeat on them, so the pressure was firmly on. We have however made great strides in recent times so this was always going to be close, because although the blues dont score many, they also dont concede to many either.

The game started with the blues putting some early pressure on us and created a early corner. As the half wore on however we worked our way back into the game and were rewarded with a clear cut penalty after a clumsy tackle on Brendan which sent him sprawling, much to the annoyance of the blue corner who thought that it was a dive, from a nine year old!! I ask you?  Anyway Brendan dusted himself off stepped up and slotted home 1-0.Alfie Webber did pull of a fine side with the last kick of the half diving low to his right to keep us in front at the break, a well deserved lead.

At half time the boys were warned that it was going to be a battle and would have to work really hard. The half wasn’t pretty but we dug in and each boy worked their socks off.  It was a hard half and we were put under pressure although Alfie in goal wasnt worked too hard but when called upon was always there to mop up the pieces. The final whistle was greeted with cheers all round and we had finally managed to get one over on the old enemy. Final score 1-0 to the reds.