Midweek matches are upon us!!!!!

Hello everyone, 

What a great result on Saturday boys and it sounds like you all played your hearts out so a big well done from John and I. 

That is three wins from our last three games so we are enjoying a strong spell.

I am really grateful to all parents for helping out and supporting, but especially to Simon for managing the team and to John for referring. 

Like the Premiership teams that you support, we have two games this week so we will need to look after each other and rest when you can!! 

The midweek game on Wednesday is against Central United who as you might be aware are also playing well so it should be another closely fought match. 

My hope is that all the training and hard work that we have done over the winter will give us the edge. 

The kick off for this match is at 6:15pm so we will need to be at King George V at 5:45pm if at all possible to ensure we have a good warm up, but also to erect the goals. 

 My assessment of the matches is that they are becoming increasingly physical and so ensuring a good thorough warm up is essential to avoid injury. 

 If for whatever reason getting to the ground for 5:45pm is going to be tricky can you please let me know asap so we can make some adjustments to the starting team. 

Speaking of which...... 

Goal Keeper – Sam R 

Defence – Ewan, Cameron & Will A 

Midfield – Sam P, Dan, Ryan & Joe (c)

Striker – Alfie W 

Starting subs – Julen, Will P, Oscar & Alfie R 

Joe will be captaining the team again, by all accounts Joe you did a great job on Saturday so well done. 

 As you will see Sam W is not playing on Wednesday, this is due to a problem with his FA registration, playing him without this authorisation could have meant we would have been playing an eligible player and caused the team problems or a fine, so he has agreed to sit this one out but I hope will be okay for next Saturday. 

Looking forward to seeing you all again boys, 

Mark 

Parents – Have been thinking about an end of season social event to celebrate a great season of football. I would welcome any thoughts or ideas that you might have about a suitable venue. Thinking maybe a BBQ or something similar. One option could be the River Dart Country Park with a cheeky overnight stay (£10) for campers, but other ideas would be most welcome.

Battling City edge out Brixington

Central City produced a battling display to beat Brixington Blues 2-1 in a tight game against dogged opponents. Goals in either half from Julen and Alfie W meant that City made it three wins on the trot.

With both Mark and John away, managerial duties were temporarily taken on by Simon Wilding, with John Plumer stepping in as referee. The early stages of the game saw City use the wind to their advantage and push forward on numerous occasions. An early City corner saw a sliced defensive miscue just clear the bar and from a subsequent effort, Julen shot narrowly over. City continued to press from midfield and had several efforts on goal, notably from Will P, Dan and Alfie W. The almost constant pressure finally paid dividends when a shot from Dan from a Will P corner was guided in by Julen to put City 1-0 up. Brixington then started to come into the game and Sam had to be alert to push a shot past the post. Just before half-time, however, they levelled the game with a shot squirming under Sam and into the net.

With the wind now in their favour, Brixington went into the second half with their tails up and City were forced deep for much of the opening stages. Sam was again called on to make a good save but at the other end, City were proving dangerous on the break. A chipped ball from Julen to the back post was put narrowly wide by Ryan and Cameron had a couple of free kicks from dangerous positions, one arising from a bursting Alfie W run which only a desperate foul by a defender could stop. Alfie was proving a handful for the opposition defence and his perseverance paid off when he scored what proved to be the winning goal with just under 10 minutes remaining. There was still time for Brixington to mount some late attacks and one hand in mouth moment saw a shot roll narrowly wide of the far post. City held on, however, for a hard-fought but ultimately deserved victory.

Man of the Match went to Will P for a performance full of energy, determination and some delightful touches. He drove the team forward in the second half and made some crucial defensive interceptions to keep the opposition out. Well done Will P!

Overall, City produced a battling display against well organised opposition and kept up their unbeaten run. Next up, our friends and neighbours, Central United!

Saturday's match against Brixington!!

Hi everyone 

Good fun at training last night and hope you enjoyed the session. Controlling the ball quickly is such an importance skill to learn, be it from throw ins, goal kicks or from general open passing play, so well done to you all. 

Okay so Brixington United on Saturday should be quite a challenge for us but I am sure that you are up to it and if we play with the pride and passion that we have been doing in recent games, then we can ask for no more!! 

As you know John B and I are both away. Simon has kindly agreed to manage the team, he will lead the warm up and also make substitutions.

 It was a pleasure to be able to hand Joe the captains arm band for the next couple of matches. Joe has showed a great commitment and positive attitude to both training and match days and has been a great member of the squad all season. Well done Joe this is well deserved and I am sure that you will be a great captain for the team. 

The starting team for Saturday will be 

Goal Keeper – Sam R 

Defence – Sam P, Cameron & Will A 

Midfield - Julen, Will, Dan & Joe (c) 

Striker – Alfie W 

Starting Subs – Ewan, Sam W, Ryan, Alfie R and Oscar. 

Good luck boys, I am gutted that I cannot be there and will be eagerly awaiting the result!! 

Thanks also to John P for refereeing the match, to Andrew P for running the line, Jonathan for the match report, Fran for the oranges, Micky for the photographs, Andrew and Jayne for picking the Parents Player of the Match and everyone for helping with putting up the goals and supporting the team! 

IMPORTANT REMINDERS Just to mention that next Wednesday 2nd April we will be playing our league game against Central United. 

 This will be at KGV with a 6:15pm kick off. If you can aim to arrive at KGV for 5:45pm that would be great to enable a warm up and match preparation.

 We have also had to schedule our match against Tiverton Town on a Sunday 27th April at 10:30am. I appreciate that for some of you this is not possible, but I am hopeful that we will have enough to put out a strong team. 

 Once again good luck on Saturday, COME ON CITY!!!!! 

Mark

Another greast game, another 3 points!!

Hello everyone,

I hope that you have all had a good weekend after our stunning result on Saturday morning. 

Each and every one of you should be really proud of the effort that you put in during the game and the part you played in bringing a 4-1 home victory against Sidmouth. 

We are developing a really nice tempo in our match play boys and this was again evident in the first half of our match at King George V. 

We had made some changes for this match, perhaps one of the biggest was resting Sam R for this match and playing Sam P in goal. 

 I thought Sidmouth showed great improvement since we last played them and this resulted in a tight first half. We had the larger share of the possession, this was impressive despite playing into the wind. 

Going into the half time break it was 0-0. We rotated the 4 substitutes evenly throughout the match and this seems to work well rather than making wholesale changes at half time. 

The start of the second half was a tense affair and when Sidmouth scored it would have been easy for our heads to drop. 

However you all showed great spirit and determination, good leadership from our captain Alfie raised the team and we pressed hard through the midfield. 

This pressure eventually paid off when Dan scored a great goal from midfield to level the match 1-1. 

With the wind at our backs it felt like the momentum was changing and City had a spring in our step again. 

This was rewarded with a spectacular goal from the middle of the park from Cameron skilling the goal keeper. This goal further boosted all of the team and our continued skill, great passing and moving really looked impressive from the touchline. 

 A great kick from goal from Sam P out of goal enabled Alfie W to breach Sidmouth’s defence and scored a brace of great goals and could have easily scored a hatrick! Still not sure how that other effort did not go in! 

 A 4-1 win was a great result and I was really pleased not only with the win but the manner of the win. 

 We are playing with a great tempo, quick to the tackle and always putting pressure on opposition players. We are also showing an increased awareness of each other’s position, this is most evident when are in defensive play when we are offering a good layered defence. Great communication during the match boys, it is so heartening to see you supporting and encouraging each other, also great to see the goal celebrations!!! 

 The parents Player of the Match was Cameron. Micky chose him for his overall play during the match, stead fast defence, great encouragement and for scoring an amazing goal. Well done Cameron you had a great game and richly deserve this. 

This match also marks the end of Alfie’s captaincy so thank you to Alfie you have been a great captain and showed great leadership. The new captain will be allocated at training on Wednesday. 

So overall brilliant!! Well played and I am really impressed with the spirit that we have developed in the team, the style of football that we play and the commitment that you are all showing for the team and your teammates. 

A couple of important announcements!!

Training this week on Wednesday will be our last at St Lukes for this season. 

 After this we have a series of midweek games on Wednesdays (normally at KGV) starting with the derby game against Central United on the 2nd April. 

We are moving into a busy final part of the season now with many games both midweek and on Saturdays. 

 We have 8 league matches left in this season so please keep checking in with the blog for all the information and news! 

Our next match is on Saturday against Brixington at KGV. 

Unfortunately both John B and are unable to be there for this match so we have made some arrangements to ensure things run smoothly. 

Simon has kindly agreed to manage the team, lead the warm up and match preparations and to manage the substitutions. John P has agreed to be the match referee. 

We are grateful for both taking on these roles. 

Hope that you have a good start to your weeks and look forward to seeing you on Wednesday. 

The focus on Wednesday will be ‘Controlling the ball from goal kicks (attacking or defending)’. 

Thanks everyone 

Mark

Situations Vacant!!

Calling all parents!!

We have two situations vacant for the rest of the season, terms and conditions very favourable!! No rigorous interview process, ha it's yours if you want it!!

Web Master (not gender specific!!)

Looking for someone with pretty good IT skills to work with me in developing, updating and improving the blog. Seems quite easy to use but previous experience desirable :-)  

Match day reporter! 

Calling all parents or older siblings, anyone fancy doing a short match report after each game? Summarising key aspects of the game. Can be emailed to me as a word document if easier and you would rather not have to upload into blog. I know that the boys really enjoyed Jonathan's write ups (probably get bored senseless with mine!!) so if you have a creative streak and would be willing to help out it would be a great help and support. Available on a full time or temporary basis, all interest welcome!!! 

Thanks everyone, no pressure, not into asking people directly, but if you feel either are for you just grab me and we can chat.  

Many thanks

Mark 

Creative, passionate and dynamic, well done boys!!

Hi everyone,

 

Well I thought I would give it 48hours before writing this match report to sit back and reflect!  So, a couple of days on how do I feel??

 

YES, YES, YES, WOW, WOW, WOW, AMAZING, BRILLIANT, JUMPING FOR JOY, BOOM!!!!!!

 

So as you can see I am quite cool and calm about it all!!

 

I jest of course, but boys what a win and how well did every single one of you play!!!

 

It was the perfect morning wasn’t it, the new kit looked great and I hope fitted everyone, the pictures that Lucy and Micky have taken look great and we will use them in a range of ways over the next few months.

 

This was our best performance of the season, this was no fluke or lucky win boys, we played really well, we played with creativity and intelligence and deserved all of the rewards.  

 

It was the tempo and the spirit of the team which seemed to give us a 10th player throughout the game.  Wedefended well when we needed to, were strong on the counter attacks and showed great vision in the midfield and attacking phases of play.

 

It was a great goal from Dan in the first half which started to give us this confidence, it was a strong and gusty wind which we managed well.  Again though this is where good communication and leadership came in because it was our choice to play into the wind in the first half a decision that our captain Alfie and goalkeeper Sam had discussed prior to kick off.  These are the small things that make so much difference so well done.

 

The second half with the winds at our backs we played some lovely football.  Ewan had a great debut for Central City and shored up the left back position which enabled Sam P to break with speed and strength down the left wing time and time again.

 

Some tough tackles throughout the game impacted Sam W, Ryan and Sam P, again though we showed good spirit and sportsmanship which was very pleasing to see.

 

Second half goals from Joe and Sam P (2) really boosted our confidence and it was an outstanding hatrick from Alfie W which was the show stopper!!  Well done Alfie a great captains performance, good leadership, great encouragement of all our players and three goals from your right boot!!  Does not get much better than that, our Player of the Match!!

 

So many positives, much better communication between all the boys, good man marking in defensive situations, John and I were really pleased and as I write this now on Monday morning I am still smiling!!

 

We now look ahead to next Saturdays home match against Sidmouth and midweek training on Wednesday.

 

The focus of training will be ‘Passing and Moving’, again building and developing some of the basics of the game, but focusing on these will really important as well as the more technical aspects of the game.

 

See you all on Wednesday.  For those of you that haven’t submitted your nominations for Players player of the Season if you could give this to me on Wednesday please.

 

Have a good couple of days and see you on Wednesday

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow's Big Match!!

Hi everyone, 

Another great training session on Wednesday boys, feels like we are really focused at the moment and I hope that we will be able to use what John showed us in respect of defending and positional play in the match tomorrow against West Exe Youth. 

Just a few quick things from me for your attention. 

We have the new tops arriving tomorrow which is exciting. I also have some surprise and good news that we have been able to obtain waterproof training tops with the sponsor’s money which is brilliant. 

These will all be handed out tomorrow morning. Sorting these shirts out has been a real headache but I have tried hard to make sure that the top fits you, also that you will have your own number!!

 I am keen to get some photos tomorrow morning before the tops get all muddy so if I can ask you to try and get to KGV by 9:45am that would give us enough time to sort out the new tops, take some pictures and warm up ahead of the match. 

Can I also just ask that you wear black shorts and black socks as per the clubs colours. 

West Exe are going to be a challenging team to play against, but I feel strongly that if we play in the upbeat way that we did against Bideford that we will be in with a strong chance of coming away with a win. 

Alfie W has been handed the captains arm band for the next two matches. Alfie has a great attitude, is having a great season and trains hard. Well done Alfie. 

The starting team will be: 

Goal Keeper – Sam R 

Defence – Sam W, Cameron and Julen 

Midfield - Sam P, Will P, Dan and Ryan 

Striker – Alfie W 

Starting Subs – Alfie R, Will A, Ewan and Joe 

Oscar is being rested this week as he is taking part in a multi-terrain challenge in the afternoon (good luck Oscar!!) 

As you will see we have made a few changes. We are going to play Sam P in the left midfield position this week. We also welcome Ewan to the playing squad.  

Whilst John and I will endeavour to give everyone a good amount of match time, with 4 substitutes it is a difficult balance trying to get everyone a good game without upsetting the balance and tempo of the team. We will always do our best to make it fair over the season. 

The pre match warm up is really important to get right, like John I felt that it took us 5-10 minutes to get into the game last week by which time we were 2-0 down.

 If we can ‘fire from the gun’ I hope that this will give us the upper hand and enable us to gain the momentum.

 Important to make sure you all have a nice, high energy breakfast!! 

Any last minute problems please get in touch. 

If any parent fancies doing a match report it would be really appreciated! Easy to do, can email it to me as Word document and I will upload onto blog. No pressure but would be grateful. 

Thanks, 

Mark

Match report - Bideford Blues!!

It was a sunny and breezy day that greeted the undefeated Bideford team to King George V playing fields this morning for our league fixture with them. 

We had our full squad back and fit for selection and we also welcomed Sam Winton to the match team for the first time. It was great to see all the boys focused and ready to play during our warm up routines. 

This was a tough match boys and you all applied yourselves brilliantly to the task. 

We were unlucky I felt to go down 2-0 in the first ten minutes but their second goal especially was a skilful shot from their impressive number 3. 

They say that the spirit of a team is tested when the chips are down and it was great to see how we continued to press and push forward as well as defending heroically. 

This eventually bore fruit when Dan was able to get a snap shot away and take us into a half time break 2-1 down. 

Will A came off at half time after a strong defensive first half, as did Joe who again impressed on the left wing. 

The second half was also a great half of open football where Bideford went onto score another 4 goals. However it was spirited City team, you held your nerves and did not let heads down boys and this was great to see. After a few nice runs down the left wing Ryan scored a well-deserved floating goal, using the prevailing wind and showed nice skill. 

We also saw an impressive debut performance from Sam W who linked nicely down the left wing with Sam P who had moved into a left midfield position which worked really well and we really deserved our third goal finished by Sam P. 

So the final score of 6-3 to Bideford is a credit to us boys, they are a very strong team but we gave them a good game and it was great to hear their coach at the end say that it was their hardest match so far this season.  This was praise indeed. 

The parents Player of the Match went to Sam R who as well as leading from the front as captain had a strong match in goal, showing ever increasing confidence and skill. 

Well done Sam and well done for being such a good captain. The armband will be passed on at midweek training. 

Speaking of training, the focus from today that John and I would like to work on is defending from set piece plays and in match communication and organisation. 

Our run of tough matches continues and we welcome West Exe to KGV next Saturday. I hope we will be back on the larger pitch again and this should be another close match. 

Enjoy your weekend and see you on Wednesday 

Mark (ably assisted by Jack!!)

Saturday's match against Bideford

Hello everyone,

Isn’t it nice to have a week without much rain and not having to worry about the fitness of the pitches at KGV! 

We had a good mid week training session and hopefully this will set us up well for our big match tomorrow against Bideford. 

Just to recap, on Wednesday we focused on defending and attacking corners. 

We agreed that when defending corners it is really important that we have strong communication from the goal keeper and that we ensure we remain goal side of any attacking players. 

When attacking corners we agreed that Will P will continue to be the primary corner taker. He will indicate when he is about to take the corner. 

One arm up = coming in fast and low 

Two arms up = coming in head height. 

We also worked on a nice short corner move with Cameron dropping in to give Will P another option.

This is good work boys.

Bideford are the only team in the league that remain unbeaten and are clearly going to be a very tough test for us.

I am really pleased to confirm that Sam W and (hopefully) Ewan have signed up now for our team and should be available to play for us.

This will give us more options in all parts of the field and also mean that we can rotate players more which I think will serve us well. 

The starting team for the match on Saturday will be: 

Goal Keeper – Sam R 

Defence – Sam P, Cameron and Will A 

Midfield - Joe, Will P, Dan and Julen 

Attack – Alfie W 

Starting Subs – Ryan, Oscar, Alfie R, Sam W

Just to confirm that it will be a 10:00am warm up and match preparation ahead of a kick off at 10:30am. 

Come on Central!! 

Mark

Reflections on Saturday's match!

Hi everyone,

It was great that we were finally able to take to the grass this year for our league match with Okehampton on Saturday and whilst it was a very physical and bruising encounter I thought that you played with such passion and energy that you should be really proud of yourselves. 

I don’t have the eloquence of Jonathan to write such a comprehensive overview of the match (would welcome any offers to write future match reports please!) but suffice to say that all of you in the team gave 110% and I felt did really well for the whole of the match. 

The starting team set up was a change from our normal formation to accommodate the planned absence of Dan, we also lost Alfie Ramsey at the last minute, this meant we had only one substitute, so all credit to the team for such a spirited performance. Special mention to Joe D who bravely started the match despite carrying an ankle injury, however Joe had to come off after 15 minutes as it was too painful to continue. 

Well done Joe and thanks for staying on to cheer on the team! Okehampton were a strong team boys and they posed us a challenge throughout the game by playing their strikers so deep into our half. They were a physically strong team and many of the players had to put in tough challenges time after time, i am sure there were some tired and bruised legs over the weekend. I felt that we were unlucky to go into half time a goal down after all the pressure that we had absorbed, but games like this are really tight and are won and lost by small margins. 

We had a lot more possession in the second half and came so so close to scoring a goal or two, Alfie W’s stunning header from a Cameron free kick would have been an outstanding goal but alas it missed by inches. Ryan also had a couple of efforts on goal which if they had been converted would have been outstanding goals. 

 We saw a strong captains performance from Sam R in goal, outstanding defensive performances from Sam P, Will A and Cameron. The midfield team adjusted well to missing Dan and was a great credit to Alfie for dropping back into this role with Will P, Julen and a spirited performance for 45 minutes from Oscar in this unfamiliar role. Ryan upfront also had a tough challenge facing Okehamton’s strong defence. 

 Well done to Oscar for being nominated the ‘Parents player of the Match!’, it was well deserved and is reflecting a real improvement in his all round game, well done Oscar.

 In summary a really positive and solid performance against a strong team and whilst loosing is never easy, I thought we should be very proud and positive as we move into this busy start of the season. 

Next week we play Bideford. As I indicated on Saturday I am hopeful that this will be at home (KGV) but this is subject to pitch availability. This will be another very tough challenge, but we will have Dan back so lets talk on Wednesday about how we set ourselves up for this match.

 Training on Wednesday will be a chance to refresh attacking and defending corners and practising throw ins. 

See you at 6pm. 

Well done everyone, see you on Wednesday 

Mark