Saturday 2nd April......to Bideford we go!!

Hello everyone,

Hope that you have all had a good bank holiday weekend.

Just wanted to mention the match at the weekend, we are away against Bideford Blues on Saturday 2nd April.

I know that a couple of you had mentioned asking them to travel to us and invoking a rule drawn up when Bideford joined the league.  I have discussed this with the Bideford manager and he is not aware if any such ruling so I am sorry but we will have to try and make the journey up North!!

To make things easier, I am happy to hire and drive a minibus as we have done the last couple of years, £3 per seat first come first served.

We might only need then to take 1, perhaps 2 cars.  I know that many of you will be going to the Plymouth v Exeter match which starts at 3pm so I can assure you we wont be hanging around after the match.

I will also drop everyone a text.  I know that we are without Noah and Ewan for this match so it will be a test of our resolve and commitment as always against this tough team.

Kind regards

Mark

Dates for your diaries!

Hello everyone,

It was good to back to winning ways on Saturday, it was a tight match but you all held your nerves and we got to the end with a valuable 3 points, well done it was a good team performance.

I thought I would just give some information for the next month or so, with so many matches still to play it will be a busy time.  Some key dates are as follows:

30^th March – no training as it is Easter holidays

2^nd April – away at Bideford.  I am aware that many of you will be going to the Exeter City v Plymouth match on this day so I will ask Bideford to come to us, I cannot promise that this will happen but I will try.

6^th April – No training as Isca is closed due to school holidays.

9^th April – We were due to play Sidmouth however they have most of their team away on a rugby tour and so have been given permission to rearrange.  I am trying to arrange a fixture here so watch this space.

13^th April – training will be at King George V from now until the end of the season.

16^th April – away to West Exe.

20^th April – training at KGV

23^rd April – away to Copplestone (please note 12noon kick off)

24^th April – Central FC have organised a bubble football day!  I think our slot is at 11am to 12noon but will confirm nearer the time.  Looks like a lot of fun, the newest craze!

7^th May – the end of season award ceremony will be held again at Exeter City’s ground in the marquee.  As always it will be a nice chance for everyone to celebrate the club and the season.

There will be a few midweek matches as well, as far as possible these are on a Wednesday evening.

Thanks as always for everyone’s support, and encouragement for the squad, it has been a funny old season, but let’s hope for a few fine weeks and some great football.

Mark

Welcome return to winning ways

It was a positive start from City in this home fixture against Copplestone United on a cold morning at KGV.The well attended fixture by supporters of both sides was played on freshly mown drying ground and saw some competitive football plus one or two points of law for the purists to discuss.

City played towards the car park in the first half and the chances were at halftime that they might rue the missed goal opportunities.With a couple of players unavailable the team relied upon a roll on substitution system and had Alfie,new gloves sported,between the sticks.City played so well though that it was fully 15 minutes in before he was forced to make a save.

It did seem one way traffic for much of the half as City pressed and effort after effort went close.Tom D rifled in what was to be the only official goal of the game after about 10 minutes play following closely on from a Tom O chance.Dan,Will A,Dylan and Will P all had shots agonisingly close to increasing the goal tally,as was a Cameron freekick.Just before the half ended the crowd were treated to the optical illusion of the ball passing through the City net and 20 yards behind it as a Copplestone player hit an up and under: or over,when the trick was revealed by Penn and Teller.

The second half was always going to see more Copplestone pressure and to some extent it did.But City held on,refusing to be caught on the break with the  defenders keeping Alfie cold and away from the ball.Josh cleared off the line to avert the biggest scare of equalisation.

City were able to get into their opponents half though,goal drop kicks being seized upon by the midfield for passing and  distribution and Charlie finding right side space and Sam left side.When Oner started a move,the ball broke free and a City shot rattled in off a defender for an own goal,dissallowed for offside.This was a decision that John explained the academics off to all after the game,and one which would have exercised the minds of the Match of the Day panel well into the night.

Man of the Match,for relentless running,tackling,shrugging off harsh tackles and exemplifying the spirit of the team,was Ewan.

Lawyers,experts,interested parties,uninterested parties.....

There are some good learning points on this,especially on the PDF.

http://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/laws/football-11-11/law-11---offside.aspx

Point 14,on the PDF of this,perhaps demonstrates the source of major misunderstanding,and shows why flagging as soon as a player is in an offside position but not guilty of the offside offence,frustrates our expert coach the most.

Four goals each in Okehampton fixture

A second consecutive away fixture,this time as far west as Colyton was East.The relatively familiar surroundings of Simmonds Park,only the exact pitch location differs as the age group rises.It also gets farther and farther away from the carpark,but in the shadow of the moor though,this means drier,better footballing conditions.So City kicked off on another cold day on a flat decent enough pitch.

It was a positive start from City who just had the one sub,Tom O,on the bench necessitating a roll on system with Joe and Will A as the match progressed.As seems so often the case,Noah was called twice into early action and continued this throughout the game with excellent handling and kicking.A first City corner after 10 minutes saw the away side go close,but Okehampton Argyle were ahead just seconds later when City switched off to allow an easy run through onto goal.

This was a game that would see City fall behind on three occasions,level it twice and lead at one point,although it did not necessarily have the feel of end to end football.Argyle had a well drilled offside trap and there was a mixture of City falling foul of this plus some close calls and some downright incorrect decisions.City levelled at 1-1when Tom D remained calm,seizing on a throughball by Cam that beat the offside trap to outsmart the keeper.

In a textbook corner,the homeside quickly restored their lead with a powerful,unchallenged header.Relief followed when eventual Man of the Match Tom D,stuck in a great volley/semi overhead from great work down the right wing by Charlie.Shortly afterwards Will P whipped in a cross which agonisingly just needed that elusive touch but that all changed soon afterwards as Sam bundled in by following up Alfies’long range effort.City went into the half time break leading 3-2.

The second half saw three more goals and honours even.Argyle levelled by charging down a clearance that had the suspicion of handball about it, quickly took the lead again 4-3,and as the time ticked slowly down,Alfie put Charlie through and with the defence standing still looking for offside,Charlie had beaten it and calmly scored.

The away support outnumbered the home end,and the team continues to reward them in great spirit.