30/04: Match Report: Ellesmere Port Rangers 3 - Waverton Arrows 4

Hi All,

Bizarre weather, but great game with a well fought and deserved win effectively sums up this morning...

EP Rangers (EPR) joined our league from the middle tier just a few weeks ago and their quality/experience showed. Yet again it was a fantastic, competitive match - something that we are starting to see week on week now which is fantastic - the boys are clearly taking training on a Friday and (for the boys that are available) on a Wednesday and applying it really well during matches.

Q1 got underway and we swarmed over EPR, not letting them settle on the ball for an instant - again something we have been working on relentlessly in training lately. Midway through the quarter, from a Jack Binns throw, Oli Wrigley controlled the ball and slotted it home for an early lead. Not long after that the hailstones, really started to descend and distracting everyone on both teams we called a brief pause to the play. Needless to say as soon as we were all off the pitch, it stopped so we resumed fairly quickly. On resumption of the match, we carried on as we had been playing before, but from an EPR corner the ball took a bounce off one of our players and it went in to bring them level. We kept our composure though and towards the end of the quarter, Oli W took a great throw in and Jack Broadhurst latched onto it to score what is fast becoming a trademark strike for him. End of Q1: Rangers 1 - Arrows 2.

We started Q2 a bit sluggish if I'm honest, but again every ball was fought for by both sides - we were caught on the break at one point and EPR scored to bring us level in what again was a really great game to watch. End of Q2: Rangers 2 - Arrows 2.

Q3 resulted in a few positional changes; I wanted to keep us strong at the back but change our attacking options a bit as it wasn't quite clicking. We were out of our Q2 slumber now and going for it - we had most of the possession but a horror tackle on Oli W which literally threw him into the air and resulted in him crashing down hard onto the surface brought the game to a halt. Oli was clearly shaken (and after checking him out he was okay, just shocked) but he refused to come off. One minute later we were 3-2 up as Oli W, clearly on a mission now, blasted it into the net. End of Q3: Rangers 2 - Arrows 3.

Q4 began and again we went for it - our old habit of dropping off due to tiredness seems to have gone for now, which is great; again the extra training is paying dividends here and clearly making a difference. We battled and fought for every ball - we were opened up again though on one or two occasions and one of these resulted in an equaliser for EPR - this was after some remarkable close range saves by Sam Curtis who kept goal for us today (more on Sam in a bit).  Pretty much from the resultant kick off though, the boys went again and the passing around the pitch was fantastic. At one stage, the ball broke for Oli Wrigley and he secured his hat-trick with a very calm and composed finish to take us back into the lead. Towards the end the ball from EPR (in their own half) went out for a throw to us, but their boy carried it back out with his feet and passed it forward - myself and Darren were calling that it was out, but the EPR boys carried on going and kicked it into our net - myself and Darren followed this up with the ref who ultimately gave it to us; the goal was disallowed and the play was brought back to a throw in as it should of been. It was real end to end now; they had a few chances but we had more - most of the boys were all breaking where they could and having shots on goal - a fair few of them just being slightly wide of the post. The quarter and match ended with a deserved victory to us: Rangers 3 - Arrows 4.

I spoke with the EPR coach who again complemented us for our competitiveness and relentless chasing of the ball - some good positive feedback to hear. The sky opened up again at that point and everyone scrambled away to their cars.

Jack Binns was a great captain today - as mentioned last week, Jack's long accurate throws really opens up play for us and seeing him bomb up and down that left wing is great to see; especially when mirrored by Oli Wrigley on the right - our attacking options are really starting to build now.

Man of the Match today was Sam Curtis who was exceptional. I had to make some last minute positional changes which meant that Sam took keeper duties for the first quarter and because of the calmness he brought to the role he ended up staying in that position for the match. Whilst our attacking options are getting better as mentioned earlier, our defensive play is also building rapidly too and to have a strong goalkeeper just helps to settle everyone down - Sam really played excellent today, I can't emphasise that enough - his fantastic shot stopping (at both close range and from distance) and distribution of the ball helped us close out the game, so thank you Sam - you'll be my captain next week against Princes Villa which will be at our Huntington ground - the grass has finally been cut!!!!!!

One final note - our last four games have resulted in 2 wins, a draw and a loss (albeit against Newton) - great to see a bit of consistency come into our results - its very much well deserved - lets try and keep it going!

I hope you all have a great long weekend.

Carl

AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717

23/04: Match Report: Newton 4 - Arrows 1

A bright sunny morning met us as we lined up against Newton who are undoubtedly our toughest opposition in the league. We started Q1 brightly and passed the ball well - Newton were on the whole pinned back in their half such was the pressure we were putting on them. We had a few chances, all were just wide of the bar with the exception of one - Oli Wrigley returning to the match day squad this week, picked up the ball on the corner of the box and belted it into the net. End Q1: Newton 0 - Arrows 1.

Q2 began and the mood of the match changed somewhat; the atmosphere had gone and the boys started to play within themselves a bit. Newton were playing differently now, passing the ball and really looking for gaps to utilise. We started to get out of positions and shape in places, forcing some of the boys to try and cover which in turn created openings elsewhere which Newton were clearly looking for - and boy did they pounce on us - three quick goals followed and we found ourselves shell-shocked going into the team talk. End of Q2: Newton 3 - Arrows 1.

Q3 was similar to Q2, but the boys were starting to close down more and battle for the ball. The atmosphere again was low but started to build as the competitiveness increased. One great manoeuvre by Newton split our defence and their striker ran onto it to slot it into our net to make it end Q3: Newton 4 - Arrows 1.

Prior to the Q4 kick off I sat the boys down and told them to refocus and think back to Blacon and Upton where we were exceptional. I expected them to be as competitive as we were in these matches and reproduce what we had in the first quarter - nothing else would be acceptable. We kicked off and the boys immediately were applying pressure to Newton. We chased the ball down every time - Newton had chances but we had more - shots peppered their goal by Jack Binns, Oli Wrigley and Jack Broadhurst; all just narrowly wide or over. Although no further goals were scored by either side (with the exception of one which, from a Jack Binns corner actually hit the post and into the hands of their goalkeeper who then stepped back over the line - technically a goal, but the ref didn't give it...), we absolutely owned Newton in that final period, restating some pride that had been lost in the mid section of the match. End of Q4 and the game: Newton 4 - Arrows 1.

It was a difficult one today - Newton are extremely well drilled and half of the squad had already played in a match prior to ours, but please remember this - most of those boys also play in Academies and have an extraordinary amount of time on the training pitch.

We need to dust ourselves off quickly and be ready for our next match against our newest opposition - Ellesmere Port Rangers who join us from the Rockets (mid-tier) league. This match is already confirmed and I'll drop a note regarding availability shortly.

Final note - Tom did a solid job today as my captain - clean sheets in the two quarters he was in goal and also decent when outfield - thank you Tom. Man of the Match today was someone who was relentless and tried his best throughout, with the longest and most accurate throw-ins I've seen (and he's been doing it consistently for weeks now) - Jack Binns was awarded the trophy today and will be my captain next week if available. I'll see those that can make it on Wednesday (at Waverton) and hopefully everyone on Friday.

Yours,

Carl

AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717

16/04: Match Report - Upton 0 - Arrows 5

Hi All,

What a game!!! I've been ecstatic all afternoon, not just because of the score, but more importantly by the way the boys acted, behaved, listened and took their drills from Wednesday and Friday into the game.

Q1: A first for us it has to be said - playing Upton, on their pitch without a monsoon! However it had clearly hit in the previous 24 hours as the field overall was very boggy; however the club had protected the best part of it for our game and it was on the whole very playable. I reminded the boys about the specific training we had done this week, especially around passing the ball and not giving up after we had taken that first touch, and boy did it show in this quarter and also across the match. We pushed the ball forward from kick off and rather than sit back as we normally do, we didn't give Upton a second on the ball and we continually pushed forward and had no end of chances in this first period. Jack Broadhurst (Br) hit the woodwork a few times and Jack Binns (Bi) and Tom had a couple of decent chances each too. One of our corners (from Tom) arched towards the box perfectly and Jack Br  buried it to give us and him a well deserved lead going into the break. End of Q1: Upton 0 - Arrows 1 (how it wasn't 4-5 I don't know!).

Q2: We started just as well in this quarter; Upton were clearly on the back foot and didn't know what to do with us - Jack Br again hit the woodwork and had another chance cleared off the line, but on a separate occasion the ball broke for Jack Bi and he drove it forward and slotted it away. From KO we carried on again, completely controlling the play. Two weeks ago, when we played Upton, Jack Br tried to score from the halfway line and was just inches over the crossbar - today, Jack was in the same position, confidence flowing and he struck the ball again. This time it was perfect and flew into the top right hand corner (our left) with the goalkeeper having no chance to save it - what a goal!!! As a coach, it was an exceptional technical goal that he has been working on for a while now, but for the first time you'll hear my opinion as a parent - it was absolutely amazing and I am so, so proud of him today (many treats and rewards followed today - a fate apparently shared by a few parents today I believe!). End of Q2: Upton 0 - Arrows 3.

Q3 was again really competitive, the main difference here was that the boys were starting to flag a bit, so much was the intensity that they had been playing with so far - but throughout the message remained and was executed perfectly - keep the ball, win it back when lost and push forward. Unfortunately it looked like Sion took a knock in this section and he was replaced by Tom who within minutes, grabbed the ball on the right wing and powered down the field and brilliantly finished to start to give us all hope that we were on for a victory. End of Q3: Upton 0 - Arrows 4.

I told the boys prior to this final quarter that this was the best I had seen the Arrows play as an overall unit - and to not let our attention dip - to go out and win the last quarter. They did us all proud and stepped up again - the dip in stamina in Q3 was gone and they, for a boy, went again - we were pushing the ball to the left wing, right wing and through the centre and we peppered the Upton goal with shots - again we could of scored 3-5 in this last section, but it eventually came to Tom - a great bit of build up play including the two Jack's found its way to Tom who showed great composure today and hit it home for our fifth (and left his dad wondering where the nearest cash machine was ;-)). End of Q4 and the match: Upton 0 - Arrows 5.

I've covered the highlights above - I could of written much, much more (!) but I need to say that this was a complete team performance - our goalies (Tom for 1 quarter and Oscar, my captain for today for 3 quarters) played very, very well - ball distribution was fantastic. Our defenders of Harry, OMG and Elliott built a barrier that Upton just couldn't get through, and this then formed the platform for all of our attacks. Jack Binns on the left and Sion/Tom on the right wings drove the ball forward repeatedly and when the ball was lost, fought quickly to regain it and launch the next wave of attack. And finally Jack Broadhurst, building on his last two games, he is growing in the role of Attacking Midfielder/Striker and is really giving the opposition something to be worried about - some of the Upton boys were having to literally grapple him to keep him confined (it didn't work though). Everyone gave a perfect performance today and I thank all the boys - this has been coming for a while now....

My captain today was Oscar - after scoring his debut goal last week I tussled with the fact that I was going to put him in goal for all of his sections today - but it paid off - he was great in training on Friday in that position as well as in warm up this morning and the result was that Oscar (with Tom in the 2nd quarter) provided our first competitive clean sheet of the season - believe me at this level that takes some doing!

Man of the Match was extremely difficult today - it could of gone to any of the boys; I nearly did that at one point to be honest, but ultimately, with his assisting Oscar in goal for that one quarter and more importantly coming on as impact sub in the third and then owning that right back position in the last quarter it had to go to Tom. Well done Tom, I'm really proud of you (and all the boys today) - Tom will therefore be my Captain, subject to availability next week against Newton.

Thanks everyone - great support as always.

Carl

AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717

10/04: Match Report: Blacon 2 - Waverton Arrows 2

A really good, competitive match on Saturday morning showed us at our best - great passing, good movement and a fantastic attitude, not only from our boys, but also from Blacon which was really good to see. Playing on Blacon's massive pitch was good too, lots of space to be able to play our game - we really applied what we talked about at the training sessions this week and I think we are getting more used to being back on grass.

Q1 was a great start for us, we really took control of the play and passed the ball around well. We had a few chances where the ball went wide or their keeper did well, and Blacon themselves had one or two efforts which Tom (starting us off in goal) controlled really well. A good strong start, Q1: Blacon 0 - Arrows 0.

Q2 carried on the momentum from the first period and we were really forcing Blacon to play on their own half - the ball broke for us on a number of occasions and on one of these, Jack burst forward and buried the ball in the back of the net. From their kick off, Blacon started to push on a bit and began to apply some pressure; we soaked most of it up with ease to be honest, but on one occasion we uncharacteristically didn't clear our lines and Blacon jumped on it to cross into the box where it was met by one of their boys who brought the scores level. End of Q2: Blacon 1 - Arrows 1.

Q3 settled back into being end to end for the entire period - both teams really battling each other and there were chances at both ends - Casper was fantastic in goal - he played three quarters between the sticks today and really gave the team confidence to push on. End of Q3: Blacon 1 - Arrows 1.

We went again in Q4 and although we battled well, I think the boys were starting to tire a little, the size of the pitch starting to wear them down. We carried on playing well though and had more chances to score, at one point Jack took a great shot, but the Blacon keeper pulled off a great save, but the ball fell to Oscar who kept composed and scored his first competitive goal - well done Oscar! We carried on going - both teams still not letting up and I honestly thought we were going to gain our first victory over Blacon... but it was not to be - a few minutes from the end and after a short period of intensive pressure on our defenders, Blacon managed to squeeze one into the net to bring them level. From kick off we just went for it - attacking their goal and really going for the win - the boys were really up for it, but again it wasn't to be, with numerous chances peppering their goal, we just couldn't get it over the line. End of Q4 and the match: Blacon 2 - Arrows 2.

Special thanks to Jack today for really leading the team well as Captain - he was a real danger throughout and the Blacon team did target him on a few occasions but he dealt with it well (at one point jumping over incoming tackles and dodging past three other Blacon boys with the ball still at his feet!). Deciding Man of the Match was really difficult today - it could of been any of the boys, or all of them! I ultimately chose Oscar as although some mistakes were made during the match earlier on, he really listened to me from the touchline and during the inter-quarter breaks, rounding it off with his first goal for the team. Oscar will be my Captain at the next game.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Cheers,

Carl

AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717

02/04: Match Report: Upton 4 - Waverton Arrows 2

Hi All,

Just before I get into the report I'd just like to call out last nights (Friday's) training. I know it was the last day of term for the boys and excitement was high, but myself and Darren had an uphill battle with most of the boys in terms of behaviour and applying themselves to what we wanted them to do. To be honest two thirds of what I had planned had to be discarded as instead I had to go back to some of the basics in order to regain and maintain control of the session. We are heading towards the latter part of the season now and the boys should really be behaving much better so obviously I was disappointed. Can I ask that you please feed this back to your boys and ask (again) that they come to these sessions with focus and willingness to learn. Can I also ask that, where possible, for at least the next session that we have some greater parental presence as this may help to reinforce the messages that we are trying to ingrain, particularly if they are asked to step out for 5 minutes (it means to them that you get to see them being told off which can in some cases act as an additional deterrent).

To the match today (Saturday); I really don't know what it is about Upton, but when we play there the weather is always horrible. We coped with it marginally better this time round, but clearly still some work to do. We started really well, being really positive with the ball when going forward and on the odd (and I mean odd) occasion that the ball got past Harry, some key saves were made by Jack Broadhurst (Jack Br) again helping the team settle and becoming calm and composed at the beginning of the match. A few chances either end, but overall very neutral; End Q1: Upton 0 - Arrows 0.

Q2 was again end to end, and it was unfortunate that to be honest the two major breaks that Upton had resulted in goals for them; both were through congested areas in front of goal which hampered our goal keeper seeing the ball until it was too late. We should of closed these balls and chances down much further down the pitch. We had one or two efforts, on in particular was a great half-volley from Jack Br, who was now playing outfield, that was only inches over the crossbar, but ultimately the period ended Q2: Upton 2 - Arrows 0.

Q3 started after a refocusing the boys in terms of getting their heads back up. They went out and took the game back to Upton, we had lots of chances but just couldn't put the ball away, until midway through the quarter the ball broke, Jack Br went through a few Upton boys and slotted it calmly home. Unfortunately it wasn't long after that that we conceded another through a fortuitous strike from a third of the pitch out by Upton, that just went straight past our keeper. However, reinforcing just how much of a good battling game this was, within minutes of kick-off, we were breaking forward, and this time Jack Binns, who had been threatening whenever in his Left Wing Back role belted it past the Upton keeper to take us to a goal behind. In the dying seconds of the quarter though, after a good corner from Upton, the ball bounced badly between two of our players and it bobbled in as an own goal to take us to an end of quarter score of Upton 4 - Arrows 2.

The final quarter was very similar to the first in that we were playing some great football but where getting hit by a wall of Upton players and we found it very difficult to get through them; the majority of chances fell our way but we were just wide on each occasion to make up the scoreline. End of Q4 and the match: Upton 4 - Arrows 2.

Thinking about the game afterwards, we have shown again that we are making progress; although we beat Upton last time, that was on astro at Goals and we are still relearning the difference with the game on grass, but for a real comparison we lost on this same pitch 11-3 in November last year so we have taken massive inroads in-between that period. There is clearly lots more to do and I a have several plans, all of which will be sent out over the next few weeks as we start to think about next season.

I'd like to pay special thanks to Henry who was our Captain today. Henry was one of the few boys that paid attention and did his best in training on Friday and he was like a sniper in front of goal during practice. He made a real effort to make a difference today, so thank you Henry.

Man of the Match came down to two boys today, it was extremely close, but ultimately it went to Jack Broadhurst for his first MotM due to his great goalkeeping in the first quarter, his great goal in the third and general all round positive performance - he really kept his head up for the entire match and it was great to see. Jack will therefore be my Captain against Blacon next weekend - squad to be announced shortly.

As implied, you'll see one or two emails coming shortly regarding the squad for next weekend and also availability for extra training, initially over the next two Wednesdays - please look out for these and let me know your thoughts.

Thanks all.

Carl

AFC Waverton U8 Arrows
07896 515717