Game 1: Upton 3 -
Waverton Arrows 10
Wow! I felt really confident
that we would get something out of both games, but certainly wasn't expecting a
performance and result quite like that in game 1! We thought we had avoided the
rain initially and got off to an okay start, but again our usual hesitation
kicked in and we succumbed to a goal taken by Upton on the break. Jack
Broadhurst (Br) scored his first for the team in what was a new position for
him in a proper match - that of Striker. Upton again hit us on the break and
scored past what was overall a solid return to Goalkeeping duties by Oscar.
Jack Br scored another and from that point onwards we really started to
dominate. This confidence in play was rewarded by another debut goal, this time
from Sion and the quarter was finished on a massive high with Jack Br scoring
his hat-trick with a fantastic half-line shot. End of Q1: Upton 2 - Arrows 4.
Q2 got underway exactly as Q1
ended - we absolutely controlled every aspect of the match; this is except
apart from the weather - it teemed it down and everyone was soaked through
within minutes. It didn't significantly affect us though and Sion had a
fantastic shot saved, but the ball fell to Jack Br who put away the rebound to
claim his fourth. Another one close to the end of the quarter for Jack Br saw
him take his first half tally to five. The end of this quarter saw all teams
running for the tree-line for a prolonged break whilst we waited for the rain
to die down (albeit ever so slightly). End of Q2: Upton 2 - Arrows 6.
Q3 had a change in positions
for some, with Oscar coming outfield and Jack Br retaking his old Jets position
of Goalkeeper. Yet again the Arrows ran the match, we were passing really well,
and gave Upton no time on the ball whatsoever. The intensity was high and Sion
took two great goals with some truly superb finishing. End Q3: Upton 2 -
Arrows 8. A slight tweak in positioning again and Q4 was underway. The boys
were getting cold now, but the tempo stayed high; everyone continued to fight
and play as a team - I was really, really impressed with how the boys clicked
together. Sion took two more excellent efforts taking us to the 10 goals mark -
he played probably the best all round performance I've seen in weeks - well
done Sion! We started (towards the very end) to sit back a bit and this invited
pressure onto us, and an Upton team that hadn't given up throughout took a
great strike which took the overall score to Upton 3 - Arrows 10.
Before moving on to the next
game I have to call out every member of that first early morning team - Oscar
was great in goal, really confident, and when he came out in the second half
was a real constant threat to Upton - how he didn't score I really don't know!
He took some studs to his lower back during one attempt on goal but that didn't
stop him - he was desperate to get back on and continue - that is real
dedication! Sam Cheetham owned the defence in the game - very little went past
him and he controlled the distribution out to his team-mates. When we needed a
LWB (Q3) and Midfielder (Q4) he was equally composed; great work Sam. I've
talked already about Sion and Jack Br so won't go into more detail, except to
say that the two of them clicked so well together in their respective positions
that we could have the basis of a great partnership in some games - we
shall see! Finally Oliver Barnes and Henry for me showed the most improvement
though - both fought for the ball constantly, won it more often than not and
passed positively all of the time. Both ran with the ball at their feet
which I have seen in training but not in a match - until Saturday - I was so
impressed with them and all the boys - well done - great result!
One final thing - the team
spirit was amazing, both within the first team that played and also when the
squad for the second match arrived - the latter started to arrive to warm up,
but saw what was happening on the pitch and towards the end were lined up next
to me watching avidly. At the final whistle the collective Waverton cheers were
amazing!!
Game 2: Upton 7 -
Waverton Arrows 2
This second game is a hard one
to write about, probably the hardest I've had to do so far. The boys turned up
when it was still tipping down and it was a miserable environment weather-wise.
As mentioned though they got behind the boys that were playing in the first
game really well and I hoped that the excitement and action would carry through
to the next game and for the first quarter we started very positive - we moved
the ball around well and had good control - it was a battle at times but we
kept our composure resulting in Oliver Wrigley making a great run down the
right and slotting it past the Upton keeper to claim his debut goal. End of
Q1: Upton 0 - Arrows 1.
A minor change in Q2 and we
were off - again both sides battled hard and it was a great game to watch.
Upton had a break and put the ball into our goal and it was 1-1, but as a team
we kept our heads up and went again. We continued to play well but after a few
warning signs from Upton we unfortunately succumbed to an own goal to give them
the lead at the close of play. End of Q2: Upton 2 - Arrows 1.
Q3 was tight, yet again both
teams really went for it, but it was during this period (and then the final
quarter) that we started to implode both as a team and individually. We started
to tackle each other and then once we took the ball off one of our own players,
continually went on to lose it immediately. Balls were given away time after
time across all areas and our positioning just fell apart. Jack Br (who was
playing both games due to us being one short across both matches) did manage to
break at one point and scored an equaliser and it looked like there was an
outside chance we would regain our composure, however not long after we scored
another own goal from a corner and this took us into the last quarter behind
again. End of Q3: Upton 3 - Arrows 2.
The team talk at the end of Q3
was interesting; the boys started off being up for it as usual, but when I
reconfirmed their playing positions half of them started to be vocal and voiced
their displeasure of having to play again. Whether it was because of the
weather (most probably) or because of the actual position being assigned - or a
bit of both isn't an excuse - they need to accept the positions given and play
them to their best ability. Just for clarity - no position assigned was new to
them - they had all played them previously! This overall mood transferred to
the pitch in the final quarter; the boys lost their momentum and desire to
battle and across this period we succumbed to goals 4,5 6 & 7 by Upton. End
of Q4: Upton 7 - Arrows 2. The game and eventual score-line should not have
been like this; I write this fairly frustrated because the team that was
selected had the capability to win, or at the very least battle and be
extremely competitive - it just wasn't there though.
The boys do need to understand
that the weather from here on in for at least the next 3-4 months could well be
like it was on Saturday (rainy/miserable), and most of the time the temperature
drop will be an unwelcome replacement for the heavy rain. I do hope it was the
shock of the first bout of bad weather that caused this on Saturday, but I can
only monitor to see how things progress.
Finally, thanks to everyone
for bringing their boys, and also for sticking around and watching/supporting
the teams - it really is great to see so many parents out their cheering us on!
Special shout out to Darren and Jack Binns who were there for the duration,
with Jack Binns being available as a super sub if needed in the first game.
There is training this
Friday 30th at the normal place/time, but there is no match on Saturday 31st
as Newton couldn't fulfil it. Therefore with it being half term I've decided to
let the boys (and parents!) have a day off so our next match should be on
Saturday 7th November. I'll send a note early next week to confirm.
Thanks again all - and sorry
for the size of the post...
Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717
Hi All,
I just wanted to provide a quick
update - the league have decided to move things around (yet) again which means
that we now only have 5 other teams in the 3rd tier Green League. Malpas,
Christleton Newscene and Ellesmere Port Jets have all left us (the first two
have moved to the top league, and the last has moved to the middle), and we
welcome one of Blacon's teams to our group.
The league has also changed
all the future fixtures too, so now instead of playing Upton this Saturday, we
are now playing Blacon. This is annoying as everything was already in place
for Saturday, but have now had to amend.
I'm going to take 8 boys
this week in order to try and focus on positions and make as few a changes as
possible - something I think the boys may benefit from.
Squad is as follows:
Oliver Wrigley (GK - bring
gloves!)
Elliott (GK - bring gloves!)
Max
Sam Curtis
Thomas
Jack Binns
Casper
Sion
The location is at:
Dee Point Primary School
Blacon Point Road
Blacon
Chester
CH1 5NF
Kick off is 10AM so I need
the boys there at 9:30AM please.
We currently aren't due to
play on Saturday 24th October, but I am looking at arranging two friendlies
against Upton if possible. I'll keep you posted; failing that I'll be running
an extended session instead.
Thanks all.
Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
Hi
All,
Can
you please let me know as soon as possible your availability for this Saturday
(17th October)? We are due to play Upton at their new ground of Acresfield
Primary School (CH2 1LJ). Kick off is 9:30 so I will need the boys there at 9am.
I
know that Harry, Oscar, Xander and Jack Broadhurst aren't available, any others
not around please let me know ASAP.
If
I can have all responses by Thursday noon then that would be appreciated.
Thanks
all.
Carl
AFC
Waverton U8 Arrows
07896515717
Result - Arrows 1 - Colts
Blacks 7
A frustrating morning, where
again we were a good match for our well drilled opposition. Our pre-match
training went really well, concentrating on positioning & shooting from
distance as well as making space, controlling the ball and shooting closer to
the goal.
Q1 was interesting; again we
succumbed to two quick goals, which is something that we need to work on as we
give the opposition too much room for them to play and we keep giving ourselves
a hill to climb. Xander and Jack Broadhurst worked really well in their new
positions; collecting the ball quickly and driving the play forwards. On one
such run, which is quickly becoming a trademark, Xander ran through the
opposition, placing the ball beyond the goalkeeper, making the score 1-2.
Unfortunately, shortly after, SCB made another incisive play and scored
another. End of Q1 1-3.
Q2 was great, a real battle,
both teams fighting for the ball & some amazing saves were made from both
Goalkeepers; this period ended 0-0, so overall 1-3.
I made quite a few changes in
Q3, and unfortunately we couldn't keep our shape and started chasing the ball
and clumping together, resulting in SCB scoring two additional goals. This was
really unfortunate and had a palpable effect on the boys.
Q4 started similar to how we
had played in Q3, so after some slight repositioning of the boys we regained
some of our composure and started to play again. A few times though we started
to play directly in front of our own goal (something we did a lot against
Princes Villa last week) and this again invited pressure from the away team. We
had quite a few chances in this last quarter but we just couldn't hit the
target and on the break SCB hit us twice more taking the score to its final
1-7.
Overall we had lots of chances
on goal during the match, we just aren't being clinical enough. We looked at
this in training on Friday night and again during pre-match training and on the
whole we were good, but we aren't taking this forward into the matches. We seem
to be panicking and lashing the shots rather than keeping our composure and
finishing like I know we can. Its easy though to forget just how far we have
come though. I've said it before and will continue to say it - we are
improving game by game.
Again the opposition coach
said that the game was a real battle and the score-line didn't reflect the
match.
Special mentions to a few of
the boys from yesterday - the goalies were great - Oliver building on his
performance from last week and Elliott making his debut in this position was
fantastic - we have a real abundance of goal keeping talent in the squad which
is really rare - a great luxury to have! Max also needs a mention for his
control and dominance in defence; especially in the first two quarters - well
done Max! Finally, Sam Curtis for his positioning and awareness again in a
position which is fairly new to him in midfield - great work!
I said to the boys at the end
- I am so proud of them. We will regroup, train more and be ready for next
weekend which should be against Upton.
See you Friday - enjoy what's
left of the weekend :-).
Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717
Hi All
As mentioned on my mail from
Tuesday, we are playing against Saughall Colts Blacks at our home ground in
Huntington. Kick-off is 10:30, but I would like the boys to be there
from 9:30 please so we can get some drills completed beforehand. If I can
have some helpers to build the goals from just after 9 that would be
really welcomed - I really do depend on this help so thank you in advance.
Thanks also for the rapid
response by the majority of parents - it helps me confirm and formulate the
squad in good time, which then enables me to tailor the training accordingly on
Friday (and for this week, Saturday morning for those selected too).
The confirmed squad for
Saturday is as follows:
Oliver Wrigley (GK - bring
gloves please)
Elliott Barnes (GK - bring
gloves please)
Xander Veal
Jack Broadhurst
Sam Curtis
Max Gaynon
Henry West
Sion Lucas
Jack Binns
Thanks again to everyone, and
see you all if you can make it on Friday evening for training.
Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717
Hi All,
Potentially going to be a long
one (sorry!).
Friday nights' two friendlies
against the Waverton U8 Rockets were really interesting. It showed that we
aren't a million miles off, the two main areas that we need to improve are
being settled in our positions (we surprisingly lost some of that) and also our
finishing in front of goal. Both teams though played incredibly well and on a
brief survey of the boys afterwards they all attested to being incredibly tired
after a hard week. Good work to all though and thanks to everyone that was
involved, both from a boys and a parental perspective.
Moving to Saturday, I was
looking forward to this as being an opportunity to get something out of the
game, but on retrospect because we gave the friendlies a full-on attitude the
night before, I think the boys were on the whole just even more tired than
pre-Friday training; something to be aware of in future.
The game with Princes Villa
was certainly a result that didn't reflect the game. On the whole we played
really well and when we went forward we always looked a threat.
However, stunned by two early
goals in the first quarter you could see the boys heads drop, we started a very
unwelcome habit of trying to play all of our football in our own half and
especially right in front of our own goal, but we regained our focus in Q2 and
that particular section ended 0-0. Q3 we went again, we again started playing
too deep in our own half which just invited pressure from the other team and
this time, resulted in another goal for Princes Villa. That really spurred us
into life and not long after that, Xander did something he threatened on
several occasions the previous evening - took the ball out of defence, skipped
past a few players and slotted it home nicely. Our second competitive goal! The
Arrows collective heads went up and within a minute, Xander again had a shot,
this time a Beckham-esque effort from the halfway line which was only (only)
narrowly wide. Then a very uncharacteristic few minutes of pressure from the
opposition meant they took their forth and we went into the last quarter 4-1.
The final period was a real
battle, some good chances again and great tackles, but unfortunately a fifth
was scored by the home team, mainly due to the boys being caught pushing
forward - my fault as I had asked them to take a higher line in an effort to
get another goal.
I said this to some of the
parents at the end today - the boys are doing amazing. We lost some focus, but
on the whole played well. I can see that some boys are looking progressively
tired, which isn't surprising. With that in mind I'll be making a few changes
over the coming weeks. The boys that are affected haven't done anything wrong,
this is just rotation that is needed to ensure everyone has a fair chance.
A final note; the manager of
Princes Villa told me that we have his team the most competitive game of the
season so far - that is a real compliment.
Thanks again to all, and see
you on Friday.
Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717
