Match Report: Waverton Arrows 9 - Tarvin Athletic 0

Hi All,

Slightly different structure to the game tonight as we played 3 x 15 minute thirds against a Tarvin squad that on the whole play in the Mid Cheshire League (a different one to us). It meant that my cockiness of having plans for 6 aside and 7 aside were quickly thrown in the bin as I had to ensure that all the boys had as equal a playing time as possible!

We started off a bit sluggish if I'm honest and it was difficult to get the boys to acknowledge what myself and Darren were saying initially (shows what a week without training does!) but quickly it started to come back and we started to control the game. A great goal from Xander settled nerves and then a follow up goal, again from Xander, this time an absolute screamer from the halfway line meant that we finished the first third; Arrows 2 - Tarvin 0.

A shuffle of personnel in the second period showed us to be willing to fight for every ball - fantastic to see, with some great defending and also great forward play from everyone - Oli Wrigley in particular made some great runs and crosses from the right wing. Xander completed his hat-trick by making a trademark run through the Tarvin team before slotting it home. End of the second third; Arrows 3 - Tarvin 0.

The final period got underway with Jack Broadhurst really penetrating the Tarvin team and burying it, then with the resultant kick off Sion and Jack teamed together nicely and played some great one-two's up the pitch and Jack first hit the post and then within minutes hit the crossbar before finally Sion under great pressure opened up his scoring for the night.

Jack Broadhurst scored two more and then hit the post a few more times before taking his tally overall for the night to four. After a great battle between the two sides, Sion completed the scoring for the Arrows with a great effort which left the end result as being Arrows 9 - Tarvin 0.

This was great to see - we dominated possession and really controlled the game; this wasn't just about our attack though as our defence in Harry, Sion (early on), Oscar and Jack Binns really gave massive protection to Tom who was our captain for the evening and showed that great trait that a goalkeeper needs - concentration - he was great when called upon and made some really important saves.

Xander was named my Man of the Match for his overall contribution as well as his screamer in the first third; well done Xander. You will be my next captain in what is looking likely to be against Tarvin again this Saturday (subject to him being available).

Thanks everyone - literally 5 minutes after the game ended the heavens opened - and it hasn't stopped since - a lucky escape for once!

I'll drop an email out shortly regarding the next match - if we can get a squad together then that would be great, although Tarvin have already said they will be bringing a much reinforced team!

P.S. A shout out to Rob Stewart's Rockets team who also played a Tarvin squad last night alongside us. A great 2-1 victory for the Rockets!

Thanks all,

Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717

Match Report: Newton Athletic 5 Waverton Arrows 1

Hi All,

I will try to keep these a bit shorter going forward :-).

We were playing the only team in the league that we hadn't encountered thus far and I was really intrigued to see how we faired. We had agreed to swap location to Newton's pitch and also 7v7, similar to what we did with Blacon last week.

Q1 started very very well. We dominated most of the play in the first quarter and it was really good to see. We had the majority of chances, but just lacked that instinct to put it away. A rare piece of pressure by Newton towards the end, resulted in a corner and it very nearly went in, but we quickly cleared the danger whereas in weeks gone by we would have seen that type of chance go in. End of Q1: Newton 0 - Arrows 0.

Q2 did start off initially as we finished the first quarter with a bit of pressure on Newton, and then something happened to us that hasn't been a problem before - on occasions when we lost the ball, instead of the boys in advanced positions racing to get it back, we on the whole started to walk/jog back towards our half, by which time Newton played positively up the field and put us under tremendous pressure. With Newton being as skilled as they are, they took this lack of concentration with pleasure and scored three goals in rapid succession - Tom made some blinding saves during this period and was in no way at fault for these goals - they were set much further up the field. End of Q2: Newton 3 - Arrows 0.

Q3 unfortunately continued like Q2, with us ambling back once the ball was lost - this really isn't anything I've seen us do before, but in addition to this, there were instances of some of the boys deciding to have a chat whilst the match was going on around them, which again just gave Newton the momentum they needed to get a further foothold on the game. Two more goals were scored and you could see the boys heads dropping. End of Q3: Newton 5 - Arrows 0.

Q4 began after I made some key changes to the squad and their positions - I really wanted to shore things up and get back to us playing football as I know we can. From the moment we kicked off, we spread the ball right to Oliver Wrigley and he made a great charge down the right - the ball came in and Harry, Jack and Sion all attacked it and were unlucky to not get a result from their efforts. This set the tone for the rest of the quarter - we dominated again - really playing some great football - Xander had moved back to his old position of Left Wing Back and was exceptional - really taking on his players and was unlucky too to not be rewarded with a goal or two. The pressure we put on Newton was immense and resulted midway through with the opposition scoring an own goal. We had many more chances after that, but similar to the first quarter, we just couldn't finish today. End of Q4 and final result: Newton 5 - Arrows 1.

Oliver Wrigley was my captain today and did a great job, thank you Oli. Man of the Match this week could again of been one of many, but due to some exceptional goalkeeping and no-fear attitude, I was delighted to award it to Tom. Well done Tom - this means of course that he will be my Captain when we play Saughall next weekend, subject of course to being available.

One thing to note about Newton - they are well known for their talent and being a base from which many are involved in academies - the score-line today is not a bad one believe me - overall we held a very good account of ourselves, please remember that and also please pass this on to your boys.

Thanks to everyone again for your support - the parental turnout is fantastic - really great to see. Yet again, a few things have come out of today that we'll work on over the next few weeks, but that's what Friday nights are for!

Have a great weekend and see you on Friday.

Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717

Team Confirmation vs. Newton AWAY - Saturday 5th December

Hi All,

The squad for Saturday's match is as follows:

Oscar
Xander
Max
Jack Broadhurst - bring gloves!
Oliver Wrigley - Captain (remember the MotM trophy!)
Sion
Casper
Elliott
Harry
Tom - bring gloves!

We are playing Newton who play on the Upton by Chester High School sports field. To gain access, park at the Cheshire County Offices club (the other side of the road to where we train!) and walk down towards the school - you'll see the pitches very close to the County Offices reception. Post code is: CH2 1PP, and a map is here: https://goo.gl/maps/ECxsH15Q7772

Kick off is 10:30, so can I have everyone there for warm-ups by 10AM please?

We are playing 7v7 which I'm looking forward too after our great display last week.

See you at training tomorrow for those that can make it.

Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717

Match Report: Blacon Spiders 4 - AFC Waverton Arrows 4

What a fantastic game.

The disappointment from Upton two weeks ago was replaced by some really impressive play against a robust Blacon team that took no prisoners. We were playing 7v7 which really does suit our play - we seem to always be so much more at ease on the ball when we play this number of boys. Our training from what was a rain/sleet lashed Friday really paid off and every single boy took it onto the match-day pitch.

We started off uncharacteristically strong, giving Blacon absolutely no time on the ball and we were competitive throughout. A very early injury to Oliver Barnes meant that Henry came on to cover in the midfield and I have to say that in this position Henry is going from strength to strength. Blacon had very little of the ball and we came very close with an Oliver Wrigley strike. End of Q1 - Blacon 0 Arrows 0.

Q2 started as we had left off - the pressure was outstanding - we continued to battle and during one of these skirmishes the ball was won by Jack Broadhurst (Br) and he made a great pass to Harry which gave him room to run at goal. He put his foot through the ball and scored his first goal for the Arrows - well done Harry! The game was end to end now and a few good efforts by Blacon saw them go ahead for the first time; one of these I was particularly disappointed with as we had Elliott injured and off the pitch with the game not paused when it should of been but the opposition coach, acting as ref, allowed it. End of Q2 - Blacon 2 Arrows 1.

The halftime team talk started well, but then took a surprising turn - a couple of the boys said that they didn't want to play in the positions that I had allocated to them and instead wanted to play elsewhere or wanted to sit out Q3 completely - this I must admit didn't go down too well with me so I changed my plans and revised the team with those that did want to play and we started Q3. Again this was end to end, real battles everywhere and we were very unlucky to concede a third midway though the quarter. We stayed in it though which was a real testament to the boys as in previous matches we would of let this effect us massively. End of Q3 - Blacon 3 Arrows 1.

Q4, with me having refocused all the boys somewhat (!) really started to be dominant now and really stamped ourselves on the game. Oliver Wrigley followed up on both his fantastic goal in our friendly last week and also the warnings he was giving Blacon up to that point by scoring a great goal - Oliver kept his positioning throughout the match and the goal was just rewards for his efforts today. From the kick off, we again applied immediate pressure to Blacon and we were passing well, and winning tackles when needed which resulted in the ball breaking for Xander who was making his return to the squad today, as well as playing in a new role; he controlled it and put it away beautifully to bring us level.

We were now at 3-3 and I must admit the tension started to kick in a bit! The boys continuously kept their shape overall and this was a key driver to us playing so well today, it was only really in Q3 that we lost it at times. We pushed on and on and brilliantly went ahead when Jack Br took the ball from midfield, through some players and blasted it into the net.

I honestly thought we were going to win and we should of to be honest, but after a very hard tackle to Jack Binns (Bi) meant that I had to make a sub. As happened in Q2, the ref didn't allow the game to be stopped and as I was swapping the boys, bringing Elliott on, Blacon launched a very long ball to one of their boys and they placed it past Tom who had a great day in goal this morning, and equalised. Time was well and truly over now but the game still went on - we were reluctantly awarded a free kick close to the Blacon box and Xander took it - a great strike, looping over the wall and certain for goal, that is until a Blacon outfield player batted it down before it even reached their goalie - a clear handball and what should of been another free kick. But Blacon, clearly sensing what was going to happen blew the whistle and the game was over. Final score - Blacon 4 Arrows 4.

The coach said to me afterwards that he intentionally played more time so that they could try to score again and win it! Disappointing to hear, but I'm turning that on its head and really taking it as how well we played and what a great attacking threat we were. The Captain today was Sam Curtis and the Man of the Match was Oliver Wrigley who played fantastically today. Oli will be my Captain for our next game which should hopefully be the elusive Newton.

A few last mentions - as called out earlier - Henry was great and is really growing into his midfield role. Elliott played his socks off in what is 100% his best performance to date, one which, if available, means he has secured his position next week. Harry was exceptional too, with some great tackling and good positive forward movement (as well as his goal). Tom followed on from his impressive debut in goal last week with another solid display today. Well done all - if I haven't called your son out its not that they aren't deserving, everyone played very very well today - its just that I've realised I have written war and peace (again!).

Look out for the email coming soon (hopefully tomorrow) re next weekends match and availability. Looking forward to it already :-).

Have a great weekend.

Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717

 

Confirmed squad for the match vs. Blacon on Saturday 28th AWAY

Hi All,

I've agreed to play 7v7 against Blacon this weekend which should be good as they have quite a large pitch and we were quite competitive last time we played them there.

I'll be taking 10 boys for the match and the squad is as follows:

Sam Curtis (Captain) - bring gloves for 1 quarter please.
Jack Binns
Xander
Oliver Wrigley
Henry
Tom - bring gloves please
Oliver Barnes
Jack Broadhurst
Elliott
Harry

Kick off is 10:30, so can we be there for 10am please so we can get the boys suitably warmed up? Please also remember drinks and shin-pads - without the latter the player will not be allowed to play.

The location is as follows:

Dee Point Primary School
Blacon Point Road
Blacon
Chester
CH1 5NF

Thanks all - see you at training on Friday evening.

Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717

Saturday 21st Training/Internal Match Report

Hi All,

Just a (relatively) quick one this week you'll be relieved to hear :-). I was initially disappointed that Princes Villa couldn't fulfil their fixture, but after the work we did and the match we played internally on Saturday, it was something that I think was actually needed.

All eleven boys that were available played really well, I've identified some new positions for some of the boys which was one of the objectives for the Arrows v Arrows match so overall I am really pleased. We do need to work on some specific areas - we are still bunching up way too much, but I am hoping that I have a few drills for Friday that may help in trying to rectify this. It won't happen overnight, but it will come.

As mentioned the boys played really well - I could call out each and every one individually, but I promised that this would be a short one this week. A few well deserved mentions though are to the following:

Oliver Wrigley - scored a stunning strike on the volley - a real screamer - Oli is building in confidence game by game and is great to see.

Henry - played some good solid football on Saturday. Very much need to work on some aspects, but at one point he held Jack Broadhurst off with ease whilst protecting the ball, and believe me, Jack takes some stopping at times. It's that type of body strength and holding the ball up/opposition players off that is what I am looking for from Henry - some great passes too, and nearly a goal from a great effort in Q3 of the match!

Tom - Played well outfield but was really impressed with him when he went in goal, a position I understand he really likes. He made some fantastic saves, some very brave indeed and seemed at ease, both in terms of collecting the ball and its distribution back out to his team mates - well done Tom.

Goalkeepers overall - I've already mentioned Tom, but another key objective for me was to look at some of the boys that hadn't played in goal much, or in some cases not at all - I was really happy with what I saw. On Saturday, Harry, Sam, Tom, Oscar, Max and Jack Binns all had time in the nets - I've said this before, but I do believe we have a large number of boys in the squad that can handle the GK position very capably - it provides me with some great options as we go from match to match. I do think some of the boys worry that if we let in a few goals then that's solely on them, and that in turn puts them off - it really isn't - we attack and defend as a team and if a goal is scored, its got through every other boy on the field before it gets to the last line of defence. I know all too well of the pressures of being a goalkeeper (and more specifically a GK's dad!) through Jack and his participation with the Jets - its a vital role, but one, if really embraced can be a fantastic position to play in. Please help me to reinforce this message with your boys.

Anyway, I could go on (can't help myself), but I'm going to wrap it there - just to reiterate though I really appreciate all the help that everyone is providing. I know that the two worst things that I can say to a parent at the moment is, 'Its a 9:30 KO so there for 9 please' or 'We need help with putting the nets up please' - but so see the boys play like they are with enjoyment and a smile on their faces is hopefully a great output from what is really a great collective effort.

Thanks again, see you Friday at training (same time/place) and also on Saturday, if selected, against what should be a good match versus Blacon away. Details to follow.

Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717

 

 

Confirmation: Arrows extended training + inter-squad match on Saturday 21st

Hi All,

As per my email earlier in the week, Princes Villa are unable to fulfil the fixture, so instead we will be at home this weekend (Huntington) for an extended training session and then an inter-squad match (Arrows vs. Arrows). Can parents be there from 10:30 please? Likelihood is we will be done by 12.

I'm taking this opportunity to undertake some additional training and also to give some boys some internal game time as we prepare to hopefully meet Blacon on the 28th, Newton on the 5th and Saughall once more on the 12th prior to our Christmas party on the 19th.

As mentioned there will be no Man of the Match this weekend, and Sam Curtis' match captaincy will be taken forward to the Blacon game, subject to him being available.

Thanks all,

Carl

AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717

Match Report: Upton 11 - Arrows 3

This result really took me by surprise if I'm honest as I was expecting a really close game with the result to have about one or two goals in it...

Some of the boys seemed to still be in their pyjamas and were walking around dazed for parts of the match which wasn't great to see - we had worked really well on the Friday evening on multiple aspects of the game; fitness, bursts of speed, defending, goalkeeping and playing in small tactical scenarios - it all seemed to be forgotten though which was hard to watch.

It may be that training on a Friday evening, mixed with early starts on a Saturday is too much. Unfortunately I can't do much about either at the moment - with the weather turning we need to train on astro - and have made a commitment to share the pitch with the Rockets until Feb/March next year. Saturday morning matches are difficult too. Ideally we would have a kick off around 10-10:30, but when we play away we are typically asked to play earlier. We are next due to play against Princes Villa at home on Saturday 21st and I will confirm details as soon as I can.

Onto the match - this was supposed to be 7v7 but very quickly into the match Upton were asking us to drop to 6v6 - I agreed a compromise to do Q1 & 3 as 7v7 and Q2 & 4 as 6v6. This was disappointing to me as we had agreed earlier in the week to do the whole match 7v7 and I had obviously brought a team of 10 to cover that. Having 10 players for 6v6 becomes more difficult to manage, trust me!

Q1 was interesting - although we were sluggish to begin, we seemed to be reasonably competitive at times - but the quarter summed up the period with one of Upton's boys running through three of our players and slotting it in for a goal (it was one of those slow motion moments where it just seemed to bobble over the line). End of Q1: Upton 1 - Waverton 0.

Q2, moving to 6v6 made Upton much more competitive, the pressure really turned on us and they had a really impressive strike from a very narrow angle that flew into the net and made our heads drop a bit. The next few minutes saw real opportunities at both ends, Sam Curtis made some amazing saves and Sion, playing in attack had some great efforts on goal. We took another goal against us, but also then had one of our own, through Jack Binns placing tremendous pressure on their defence and goalkeeper, the shot in this instance was a long one, that just couldn't be handled and they bundled it into their own net. I thought we were still in it at this point, but a late goal by Upton took us into the end of the half: Upton 4 - Waverton 1.

Q3 was 7v7 again and we did seem much more in control - that extra boy makes all the difference, and Upton on the whole struggled to contain us. An unlucky bobble (again) took the ball past us early on to give them a fifth, but Jack Binns played some great football today, being relentless and continuing to press the ball - this type of play is what we need to see from all of our attacking players - Oliver Wrigley, when playing in his right wing back role continued to be really effective and played some fantastic balls forward. Jack scored a great goal during this period, but then we collectively started to become careless by starting to back-pass and inviting Upton to take the ball which they gladly did, resulting in another goal and an end of Q3 score-line of: Upton 6 - Waverton 2.

Q4 started as Q3 ended - we were passing the ball directly across the pitch most of the time, and more often than not, just metres in front of our own goal. Upton started to really increase the pressure and scored two more in quick succession, the latter of the two shouldn't of been given as they kicked the ball out of Oscar's hands and into the net; I made an emergency substitution at this point as Oscar was visibly shaken by the actions of Upton and Max stepped up to make his debut as keeper. On a very isolated occasion, Jack burst through from midfield, skipping past a few Upton players and slotted what was to be our third and final goal of the day - again a really positive display from Jack. From then on though Upton reverted to playing high up in our area, with us continuing to play dangerously with the ball. Max made some fantastic saves, and his distribution was very strong too; Upton though, due to their pressure and us being risky conceded three further goals in the closing minutes to take the end result to: Upton 11 - Waverton 3.

Following on from his great performance last week, Sion was really strong and a great captain for us in the match.

Man of the match overall was Sam Curtis; he played incredibly well in goal - his focus was fantastic and he was unlucky with some of the goals scored against him. When he came out to play LWB towards the end, he also made some positive contributions - well done Sam. This of course means that, subject to availability, Sam will be Captain next week.

I've started planning already what we will be working on at training on Friday, so see you there. Hope you have a good rest of weekend.

Thanks,

Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717

Confirmed squad for Saturday 14th November AWAY to Upton

Hi All,

Thanks to those parents for responding on your availability; much appreciated.

The confirmed squad for the match vs. Upton for this Saturday (14th November) is as follows:

Max
Sion (C) - remember the MotM trophy on Friday!
Oliver Wrigley
Casper
Sam Cheetham
Thomas
Sam Curtis - bring GK gloves!
Jack Binns
Oscar - bring GK gloves!
Harry

You'll see that this week, I've selected 10 boys, this is due to us playing 7v7 against Upton. I'm also trying something slightly different, so reintroducing an extra sub this week as I've noticed that we have started to fade a bit with the boys playing most/all of the game. This means though that some boys will play two of the four quarters only. I'll talk to them on Friday night about this.

As a reminder the address for Upton is as follows:

Acresfield Primary School, Acres Lane, Upton, CH2 1LJ.

The kick off will be at 9:30 so all the squad need to be there at 9AM please.

Thanks as always, see you at training on Friday night.

Carl
AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717