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Good morning everyone,

 

Just a quick reminder that training this Wednesday will be from 6pm to 7pm at Isca College, Topsham Road. 

 

The focus this week will be on the first touch.

 

With a squad of 15 players the limited space of one allocated pitch might be a problem but we will do our best to make it a useful session.

 

As most of you know we will be without Sam P for the next few weeks after his head injury which he received playing rugby a couple of weeks ago.  I know we all wish him a speedy recovery and cant wait to see him back in a Central shirt!

 

On Saturday we have Colyton Redsocks at home, with a 10.30am kick off.  The weather is looking stunning and so it should be a beautiful KGV morning!

 

Team announcements after training.

 

Kind regards

 

Mark

Let us entertain you!!

Citys’ second fixture of the 2015-2016 campaign and their opening away game took place at Speed Meadow,a different location but once again against last seasons very first opponents,Cullompton Rangers,that marked the baptism of fire in Division One.

As John (Robbie) Braddick summed up in the post match analysis,entertain us City certainly did.Last season City netted four times in a memorable 4-3 away victory.It was pleasing to see City net four times again and especially so after being held 0-0 against West Exe two weeks previously but as the home side matched that score another exciting draw was the result.

A fine,very warm dewy morning started with sad reflection,both teams and coaches lining the circumference of the centre circle in a minutes silence for Bradninch football fan Oliver,a colleague of many of the Rangers team.The match that followed was a spirited competition and given that City had many players missing and were having to deal with illness and running off knocks sustained during the game,the match was a great tribute to fitness and resolve.Gamesmanship and flattened molehills were additional hurdles.Half time saw the home side two up but City were not two goals inferior,had lost Charlie temporarily to injury,had a blatant handball penalty denied and a great move and goal by Will A ruled offside.

The second half saw superb performances from the whole team,11 Alan Balls in the ‘66 World Cup Final,11 players who never stopped running.Man of the Match Alfie W opened the City scoring,right foot,left top corner and added a second from the other side of goal in reply to Rangers’ third.With Josh and Charlie holding the back lines and Will P dropping deep as cover for Cam,Oner playing slightly behind midfield when asked,City stuck to a passing game using width with Dan increasingly marshalling the midfield to find Tom and Joe opportunities to press forward.Reward came as Alfie W crossed for Will A to get on the end of the move with Tom behind to have made certain if needed.Despite Cullompton scrambling a fourth,City dug deep and Cameron came off the bench to step up to the plate with a freekick whipped straight in.

4-4.

5 minutes of extra time played in draining conditions.A victory in all but scoreline,fantastic teamwork.

Great result, great performance!

What an outstanding game of football we all enjoyed on Saturday and I was so pleased and proud of all the squad for a famous and gutsy performance.  From the warm up through to the warm down and all the exciting and crazy bits in-between we really looked like we have got our mojo back and are playing lovely football.

 

I really look forward to reading Andrew and Jasmine’s match report on this action packed 4-4 draw…..should be a corker!!

 

Just a couple of notes from me.

 

Firstly to confirm that training this week will still be at King George V Playing fields from 6pm to 7pm.  The format will be 10 mins warm up, 20 minutes working on set pieces, specifically goal kicks and corners and then we will aim to have a 30 minute game.

 

Also we have no match or no training next Saturday so a weekend off to enjoy the rugby, football, washing your mums car or  some shopping!!

 

In terms of planning for the rest of the season, if you are away and you know in advance could you let me know asap so that I can make plans and arrangements to ensure we are all covered.

 

Was so excited and happy on Saturday, it really felt like a win!!

 

See you on Wednesday for training

 

Thanks

Mark

City on the road!!

Hi everyone,

So sorry about the late post about the match tomorrow it is proving to be quite a challenge at the moment to get messages posted in a timely fashion!

 

We have a tough match tomorrow away against Cullumpton, they are a well organised and well drilled team and so we will need to be on our best form. 

 

We will be missing 5 players tomorrow who are unable to play for different reasons  - Sam P, Dylan, Ewan, Thomas and Noah so this currently leaves us with just 10 players.

 

I still propose that we travel and we do our best with the players we have.  It will mean everyone playing the whole match but we are a resilient and sporting team and I know that all the players will give of their best.

 

If we could meet please then at 9.45am at Speeds Meadow, Duke Street, Cullompton, EX15 1DW.

For those of you who have played the summer tournaments it is the same pitches just next to the railway line, off the motor way through the town and then bear to the left.

 

Tom D is our captain again for the this match.

 

Just to remind you all that as mark of respect for Oliver Croker the 12 year old boy who tragically lost his life last weekend at a football match, we will start the match with a minutes silence.  I know we talked about this on Wednesday evening.

 

See you all tomorrow, any problems please let me know.

 

Mark

Saturday's friendly match

Hello everyone,
It was great to see everyone last night and hope you all enjoyed the training session.

I must say it is great to see you all working so hard, but also having fun as well which is what it is all about!

On Saturday we have a friendly against our friends and fellow Division One team Central United.

Could I ask that we meet at 9:45am for a warm up, this will be a good chance to ensure everyone has some match time and also enable us to further work on our 3-5-2 formation for the season.

I think we will have the whole team available so this will be a good chance to get a team picture so if possible wear black shorts, black socks and Central tops.  I have a couple of spare ones if anyone needs a different size.  Tom (I have one for you).

Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday

Cheers

Mark

First game of the season.....match report!

City opened their 2015-2016 campaign with as exciting a goalless draw you are ever likely to see.An incident packed match promises much for the season as KGV once again played host to newly promoted West Exe.

Eight feet high is tall enough to challenge all bar the loftiest of Dads (and Mums,no exclusion here) but looking around at the plethora of Samba goal construction,it was a relatively pleasant task to net these goals.Full size goals,11 a side and what looks a virtually full size pitch plus the professional line handshake routine prior to kick off was a nod towards the elevation the U13 league affords.

On a cool,rain threatened morning,City played a 3-5-2 formation away from the car park end in the first half and were given a balanced contest from the side the other side of the river.On overall statistics City probably shaded the percentage for the possession but were denied by the opposition goalkeeper time and time again as he had an outstanding game.Plus two City old boys,Logan and Zak,were right on their game too.

It was not until the last ten minutes of the second half that the contest opened up to end to end football and although one goal may well have sealed it for either side,on balance the draw can be taken in a very positive light.

City stayed defensively strong,have developed and can work on passing and moving from midfield and on another day would have chipped the keeper (Alfie),not rattled the bar but gone in a millimetre under (Captain Tom D) and had a textbook training corner taken and headed goal (Will P and Josh) with the refs' whistle piercing the air sending dogs large and small to invade the pitch.

Man of the Match was Josh for defensive strength and attacking versatility.

Special thanks from the team and supporters to Ewan for taking the full force of the ball on the goal line at the end to keep it 0-0.

Will A's birthday bash!

Looks like all the boys has a great time at Will's this weekend! 

Here we go here we go!!

Hi everyone,

A great training session on Wednesday hope that you all had a good time and it was wonderful to see such a strong and able squad for this season.

We have our first league match on Saturday at King George V Playing Fields, it is against the recently promoted West Exe team who I am sure will be keen to start their Division 1 campaign with a win!

So we will need to be ready to go from the first whistle and give it all we have for the whole match.

The squad for the match will be Josh, Cameron, Charlie, Noah (GK), Alfie, Sam, Will P, Will A, Ewan, Joe, Dan, Dylan and Tom D.  Tom D has been named as the captain for the first two matches, he has shown a great attitude to training and the summer tournaments so well done Tom.

I hope it is okay to continue the tradition of the captains family bringing the half time oranges, albeit we are now catering for a few more players!!

If I could ask that we gather at KGV at 09:45am for a warm up and match preparations.  Also any help to put up the new goal nets, corner flags, respect barriers etc would always be welcomed.

Also just to say that we also have a match the following Saturday 12^th September against our friends Central United, this will be a friendly game and will focus on further fitness work and tactical development so if all players can be there that would be wonderful.

Come on the City!!!!

See you tomorrow morning, any problems please get in touch.

Regards

Mark

Some great action!!

Hi everyone. 

Here are a few pictures I took last night and hopefully a video clip!!

It was a great night you all worked really hard. 

Regards 

Mark