An evening trip to Smethwick today and glorious sunshine. A poor result today but the performance was not that bad. We knew Thimbermill would be strong this year and we have seen the pace of their attacks previously. We were standing up well to the pressure until we went a goal down and shortly after lost Mat Fleming to injury. A few other knocks to Joe, Ryan and Jordan during the game effected our chances. However even with all the changes the effort was there and in spells we played some good football. We took a few minutes at the end of the match to agree our monthly target - now lets see if we can achieve it!!

A really positive first half performance - Feed the Dan and he will score....I would like to see goals from other areas however whilst Dan is on form we know we will get chances. The lads also seem to pick up on this and all 3 goals came from good positions and using the direct running of Dan to get behind the defenders. Great 2nd hat-trick of the season Dan.
The 2nd half was a different story and the defence played a major part in achieving this win today. My major concern was how much pressure the defence absorbed and the other lads must take reponsibilty when we are under pressure.
Goals: D.Aston (3)

 

This was a really poor performance today. We just didnt get into our stride. I could tell during the warm-up that some lads looked really tired and appeared not interested. Early in the half Dudley exposed us down our left side and cut through the defence to score their first. Shortly after we had a mix-up in central defence and were 2-0 down. Our attacks were limited but one forward move gave Jake the opportunity to score a great long distance goal. Shortly after his goal Jake took a knock and we needed to re-shuffle.
The changes effected our balance and removing Joe from midfield left us too exposed. We will need to discuss central defensive cover!. Dudley had the majority of attacking play in the second half and we dropped deeper and deeper as the game wore on letting in a further 2 goals.
We will need to really improve our performance if we want to get the minimum 4 wins we agreed on for the first month lads.
Goal: J.Thompson

After a poor performance last week we had a very honest discussion before this game. It is time for the lads to take responsibility. Straight from kick-off we could see the effort had improved and this led to some immediate positive attacking play. Following a knock to Corey we introduced Jordan who made a direct impact and hit the post with his first touch. His second had a greater effect as it released Connor to score his first this season (something his effort deserved). We continued to push forward and Jake hit an excellent long range goal for the second week running. A goal mouth scramble from a corner led to a goal against us just before the break.
Half-time- 2-1 to Colts.
We warned the lads that Keford always come out strong and this proved to be the case as a ball whipped across the box gave them a free shot to score. Although an even score, and an even game, we were creating opportunites. We were guilty of not holding the ball up-front and although Dan had a knock we re-introduced him for the last 10 minutes. He made a great run and chipped the keeper to give us the win.
This was an even game today but more importantly a huge improvement on last week. We now need a consistant run if we want to achieve our target. A break from league action next week with our first game in the South Staffs.
Goals: D.Aston, C.Rooney, J.Thompson

We travelled today to play Sutton United in our first ever game in the South Staffs Cup. With our current under 13's winning the competition last year we wanted to continue the good reputation of the club name in this cup. With an excellent ground to play at, and a good win last week, our confidence was high. Unfortunately we started slowly and conceded an early goal after a flowing move of excellent passes by the opposition – we now knew it would be a tough game. We then started to create our own opportunities and despatched a high central ball to Dan who used excellent pace to get behind the defence and hit the net. Finally our passing game returned and a great flowing move allowed Connor to step over a cross field ball from the right to give Mat his first goal of the season.
Half-time 2-1 to Colts.
We started the second half playing downhill and the lads went out with the direction to keep the ball down and use the wings. We did this to good effect but Sutton were also playing some technically excellent football and one direct run from midfield allowed the striker to pull the game level. We entered a period of end to end football and played our best passing moves of the season down both wings. Ironically it was 2 high looping balls which gave Dan the opportunity to score his hat-trick.
For the second week running this was a really good team effort and confirmed that every player has a part to play if we want a successful season.
Goals: D.Aston (3), M.Dunn

We played this game at Bumble Hole as our home game, whilst we are waiting for Ounsdale Pitches to be completed. Not the best bit of grass in the borough but playable. We started very nervous in defence but looked good going forward and it wasnt long before Dan opened his account. However the changes at the back didnt work and we soon let in a goal. Once again our attacking play paid off and Corey took his goal well from the rebound. The end-to-end football continued throughout the game with us conceeding and pulling one back. Dan scored 2 more - one of which was a screemer from well outside the box - mint. That pulled us level but our frailties in defence showed when a ball was played right across the face of the goal and knocked in at the back post.
A disapointing result in a game we could , and should have won. Lets get the fifth win next week.

Goals: D.Aston (3), C.Derrick

Once again we started slowly and a few strong words were spoken from the side before the lads started to play. Once we started we looked much brighter today and played some really good passing football in spells. We were soon one up as Dan continued his rich goalscoring form. We pushed forward and both Dan and Joe claimed further goals but we lost the ball in midfield and one of the few Duncan attacks split our defence and led to a goal against.
The half-time talk was to keep our concentration at the back and not to conceed, let the midfielders spread the ball and the strikers play on the shoulders of the defence. Going forward we played some great football with Markal and Jodan speading the ball to good effect. However in our eagerness throughout the team to score, and knowing the Duncan result last week, we neglected our defensive duties and allowed the opposition to score 3 further goals throughout the half. We really must tighten up defensively as a team. When we attacked we played some great flowing passes. Rooney scored 2 good goals and Mat was played in one-on-one slotting calmly past the keeper.
We are scoring plenty but letting in too many - we must attack the 50-50 balls and get to the 2nd balls first - particularly in the air.

Goals: D.Aston (2), C.Rooney (2), M.Dunn, J.Harmon