Training notes and team selection for Saturday's match!

Another well attended and positive training session this evening boys, well done for working so hard and focusing on improving our passing and moving techniques. 

We worked on three important aspects of passing:

1. Moving into space – this might mean trying to lose a defender, rolling off them or using good vision to think about a good place to receive the ball. 

2. Gesturing with your hands to let the player passing the ball know that you want it. 

3. Calling that you want the ball. It might be calling someone by name, or “down the line”, “yes to my feet”……anything as long as it is clear and loud enough to hear. 

These three techniques are really important. What I can see increasingly happening is that players have great instinct with each other and can predict what and where another player will be. Good examples of this are the passing play between Will P & Cameron. 

The match on Saturday is away at CW Dynamoes. There is a link to the pitch on the fixtures list of this blog, but they play at 100 Club, Wear Barton Road, EX2 7EH. 

As normal it will be a 10:00am warm up ready for a 10:30am kick-off. 

The starting line up for Central City will be: 

Goalkeeper: Sam P 

Defence: Sam R, Cameron & Will A

Midfield: Will P, Dan, Alfie R & Julen

Striker: Alfie W 

Starting Subs: Teo, Joe, Ryan & Oscar

The captain's arm band, worn extremely well by Dan for the last three matches, has now been passed to Sam P.  Sam has shown great effort in both matches and at training, well done Sam. 

I do think CW Dynamoes will pose us quite a challenge, they are mid table and have drawn a number of their recent games. 

We will continue with our 3-4-1 formation which is working well for us so far. 

 *** Just to remind everyone that there is no mid-week training next week, and that the following week we host Bideford Blues who are top of the table with an equally impressive record as ourselves!! ***

Wednesday's training focus - Passing & Moving II

Hello everyone, 

Just a quick note to say that training on Wednesday this week will be focusing on passing and moving in open play!!

No, you're not getting confused, we did this last week as well!! John and I feel it's really important to continue to develop and build on the skills that you all have and so want to focus on this throughout the mid-week training session. 

Callam will be starting the warm up at 6pm prompt so look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. 

Regards

Mark 

When a match or training is called off due to bad weather!

This inclement weather has made me think that we should formalise the procedure for communicating with each other in the event of either the mid-week training session or the match being cancelled. 

In the event of either being cancelled, I will use SMS Text as the primary method to inform all parents as soon as a decision has been made. 

I will ask for a reply to confirm you have got the message. I might follow this up with a quick call if I haven’t heard back from you. 

In the event of not having contact from each player's parent, then I will always attend either the training ground or venue, just to make sure that no Central City players are still waiting! 

Essentially, training and matches will go ahead unless the pitches are waterlogged or the weather poses a risk to players or spectators, as a few weeks ago with the risk of lightning. 

Hope that’s all okay 

Mark

Seven-up City too hot for Lympstone

A dominant display from start to finish saw Central City run out 7-0 winners against 8-man Lympstone Lympets at KGV this morning.

On the back of the excellent away win at Okehampton the previous weekend, the team retained the 3-4-1 formation which had proved so successful. And it took just 2 minutes for City to break the deadlock, Dan Wilding firing in the opener following a half-cleared corner.

It was to set the tone for the match. With Alfie W going close and Dan glancing a header wide from a corner, City made the pressure pay on 8 minutes when Will Pye fired in from the edge of the area. City continued to dominate, with excellent work from Ryan on the right-wing providing a particularly useful outlet. Shortly before half-time, City went further ahead through a Dan W chip from the edge of the area (see clip below!). Despite Alfie W going close a few moments later, the home team went into the break with a 3-0 lead.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with plenty of City pressure and the lead was extended just 5 minutes later, Joe D capitalizing on a break-away and beating a couple of defenders for a fine individual goal. At 4-0 up, it was perhaps inevitable that City took the foot of the gas and Lympstone suddenly created a flurry of chances. However, a mixture of last-ditch tackles and some excellent goalkeeping from Sam Richeson, with one particularly noteworthy save, kept the opponents at bay. City were soon on the front foot again and a flicked Sam P effort into the bottom corner made it 5-0. Indeed, Sam was proving a handful for the opposition defence with his bursting runs on the left and almost doubled his tally with a shot which stung the goalie's hands, Julen narrowly failing to convert the follow up.

Dan W finally got the hat-trick that his all-round play deserved to make it six. As the game entered its final stages, a trademark Cameron free-kick was deflected agonizingly wide of the post, before Sam P added to his tally with a left-foot shot to make the final scoreline 7-0 to City.

City on the attack against Lympstone Lympets

All in all, a comprehensive victory, with the hard work on the training pitch clearly paying dividends and some excellent short passing and team moves. With solid performances across the pitch, there were a number of candidates for Man of the Match, not least Dan W for his hat-trick and Sam P for his double. However, the award went to Will Pye for his all-round contribution, slick passing and vocal support of his team-mates. A thoroughly deserved award which capped another excellent team performance. Well done, Will.

So, it’s 4 out of 4 wins in the league and with a packed fixture list from now until Xmas, it was particularly good to see positive contributions from the whole squad. Next up it’s CW Dynamoes away when we hope to welcome Mark back from his trip to the roundabouts of Milton Keynes.

Starting line up for match on Saturday against Lympstone

Another sharp and focused training session this evening boys, thank you all for the effort that you are putting in and the way that you approach the mid week session. 

It was another full squad training session which is impressive and also helps John and myself think about how we should approach the game on Saturday. 

As you know we are playing Lympstone Lympets on Saturday at King George V Playing fields.

Can we meet at 10.00am please for a warm up and match preparation, kick off will be at 10:30am. 

We will continue to play in the 3-4-1 formation, this seems to work very well and gives us both the width and attacking options as well as a strong defensive shape. 

As always we will be aiming to ensure that all boys play their part in the match. If you are named as a substitute please do not worry or think that in any way you have been ‘dropped’! It is simply about ensuring that we have fairness and are able to try different players in different positions. 

The starting line up for Saturdays match will be: 

Goal Keeper: 

Sam P 

Defence: 

Oscar Cameron Sam R 

Midfield: 

Dan (captain) Alfie R,Will P, Ryan. 

Striker: 

Alfie W 

Substitues: Julen, Joe, Will A, Teo 

Thanks to Jon Plumer for agreeing to referee. 

I have noticed in the last couple of weeks that all the boys are building on their fitness, this is great to see, we are really working well as a close knit squad. 

Training is going really well and I am really grateful, as ever, for John and Callad for helping out with the coaching. 

Gutted to be missing this match but will be thinking of you all and can’t wait to read the match report. 

Good luck boys 

Mark

Wednesdays Training Focus - Passing in open play

Well I am not sure about you all but I am still buzzing after the great game at Okehampton on Saturday! 

What an excellent result and I was really proud of all 12 boys that played their part in the match. 

Thoughts now turn to training on Wednesday (6pm – 7pm) and on the match on Saturday, which is at home against Lymstone Lympets! 

Some of you may remember playing a friendly against this team in the summer. Looking at the table it does not look like they are have had a strong start to the season, however we will need to be on our toes and approach this game, as with Okehampton, with a positive attitude, stay focused on our shape and doing the basic things well. 

The focus of training this week will be on basic passing in open play. 

You might have noticed last week that at times players are bunching up a bit too much, we need to focus on passing and then running into space, on calling and gesturing for the ball and trying to avoid bunching up! 

On Wednesday we will try and offer some coaching to improve these skills.

Also just to let you know that I will be working away at the weekend and as such not able to manage the team against Lympstone! In my absence John Braddick and John Plumer have agreed to manage the team and also referee. Thank you to both Johns. 

The starting team will be announced via this blog on Thursday ahead of the game. We will continue to rotate players to ensure that we have a fair approach to the squad and that all boys play a part in each game. 

Many thanks as ever for reading these messages, hope you find them helpful! 

Regards 

Mark

Quiz time!!!!

Jonathan is doing a great job at keeping the blog updated. 

We played CS Leopards on the 7th September and beat them 5-2, but who scored for Central City??

Answers on a postcard or more preferably as a reply to this message below ;-)

Thanks 

Mark