GAME 1 - Burnbridge Wanderers Youth JFC V Frys (Pitch 5)

Burnbridge 0 - 0 Frys

Starting – Harry(GK) Vicky George Matthew Charlie Louis Ashley - Subs - Dan Ryan Oliver

Formation 3-2-1

After last weeks poor start, myself & Richard decided that above all else, this week we must NOT lose that first game. We put this across to the players and they responded well, everything had gone a lot better this week and the tournament set up was busy! But good. We started off well and never really looked in trouble but we struggled for rhythm all throughout this game ,we were strong and “Up for it” though and that was to prove key throughout the day. We played just about the whole 6 minutes with the ball but I think Burnbridge didn’t want to lose the 1^st game either so sat 5 players in defence it seemed, this made it hard for us to break them down and in the end Burnbridge held strong FT0-0

GAME 2 - Backwell Athletic JFC V Frys (Pitch 6)

Backwell 1 - 1 Frys

Starting – Harry(GK) Vicky Ryan Matthew Ashley Dan Charlie - Subs - Louis George Oliver

Formation 2-3-1

Ok, so we had started without losing, now it was time to start with a more attacking emphasis so we gave Matthew a little more freedom from defensive duties and pushed him more into an attacking role. This seemed to work a treat as we had Backwell on the back foot from the off. All Backwell could do was to keep clearing the danger at every chance they got. There was good work at the back from both Ryan & Vicky in getting the ball under control and playing it straight back up field to put us straight back on the attack. About mid way through the game our hard work eventually paid off, Ryan had received a clearance, played it to Mathew who in turn played to Charlie who played the ball across the box, Ashley running in getting in a shot that he couldn’t have scuffed better! If the ball had have gone in any other direction it would have been wide or direct at the keeper such was the angle 1-0 Frys

We then restarted and carried on in much the same way, they had never threatened but were soon to show us that a game aint over until it’s over!

With almost the last kick of the game Backwell punished us for a simple 1 second lapse of concentration, Backwell put another clearance forward and with a delayed response from us it gave Backwell the opening they’d been looking for. The ball squirmed its way out left and an un marked Backwell player came through at the back to get the equaliser with about 10 seconds left. It was a shame as we had put 110% into this game as we figured that these would probably be the strongest contenders in our group. We had wanted to win this one because of this and we had came so close. To their credit, Backwell are a good side. They were well organised and also sure footed, I think if they had got us on the back foot first then it may have been a totally different game but I don’t think they deserved the equaliser. Unlucky on this one team FT1-1

GAME 3 - Westonzoyland Zebra’s Youth JFC V Frys (Pitch 2)

Westonzoyland 0 - 0 Frys

Starting – Harry(GK) George Ryan Matthew Louis Oliver Charlie - Subs - Ashley Vicky Dan

Formation 1-4-1

We had now wanted to push on and get ourselves amongst the leaders in the group, most results had returned in draws from our groups first 2 games so we thought it was time to go for it, unfortunately! The lapse in concentration we’d talked about from last game was now affecting me!! Because to my dismay I had started the game 1-3-1 (1 player missing!) and we played about half the game before the mistake was pointed out to me by my other half Vickie, I quickly put on Matthew much to the puzzlement of the referee who quickly “Then!” did a count of players on the pitch, sorry for this one all, the game ended 0-0 as we never really got going, we had a few chances but this pitch seemed a good 15 yards longer than the last 2 and with a player missing for half the game we quickly tired, it was scrappy game by both teams and I think it ended in a fair result, maybe it would have been different if we’d started with a full squad but I guess I’d just switched back to 6’s as most tournaments are! Mind you, it was a sunny day!! FT0-0

GAME 4 - Wincanton Town JFC V Frys (Pitch 7)

Wincanton 1 - 1 Frys

Starting – Harry(GK) Vicky Dan Matthew Charlie Louis Ashley - Subs - George Ryan Oliver

Formation 1-4-1

Now we had to get a win, its was good to still be undefeated but we needed to take a few more chances, This time I made sure the starting line up was correct and checked double and treble to make sure! Again the emphasis was to attack and get our selves in the lead.

The team started well and again just as we had done against Backwell in game 2 we got straight in amongst the action, everyone wanted the ball and was quick to cover each other and it wasn’t long before we got our break through, Ashley claiming his second of the day and putting us firmly in control1-0 Frys . At the restart we had asked Matthew to come back and cover the defence so as to give us a little more defensive cover and this again seemed to keep us solid and kept us in control.

What happened next can only be described as a freaky football moment; you cannot attach blame to any player nor can you train to combat such an occurrence. Wincanton had won a corner of which they had played it high into the box, it took a deflection off of another player and looped towards goal, Harry got fingers to it and managed to knock it onto the bar but the ball then came downwards and hit one of our players on the head and bobbled into the net. The defender in question was heart broken about this but he can’t be that critical of himself, I guess it was just another one of those things that makes football a great old game. They say these things even themselves out over time so we are gonna have one hell of a season when it comes our way! We restarted and quickly set about re taking the lead, the best chance to win it came just before the end with a long high ball put forward by Harry. The ball bounced kindly for Ashley running through to meet the ball and lob the on rushing keeper, only to watch his shot go just inches wide. It was hard to accept a draw in this game, we deserved 100% to win it but I guess it just wasn’t going to be our day. FT1-1

GAME 5 - Chillcompton Sports Youth JFC V Frys (Pitch 2)

Chillcompton 0 - 1 Frys

Starting – Harry(GK) Ryan George Matthew Charlie Louis Ashley - Subs – Dan Vicky Oliver

Formation 1-2-2-1

The pressure was really on us now, we had checked the other results and they were all going pretty much our way with the exception that Backwell had drawn 3 Won 1 with 1 game still to play, A win here would put us 1 point ahead of them and top of the table, so it was attack attack attack. We again quickly got straight in to the game. All showed great character here, there was a desire to win amongst them that we would like to see more often. Their determination was soon to pay off as the goal came from a determined effort, there was a scramble in the Chillcompton box and Ashley made first to the ball and put it home to give us the lead 1-0 Frys

After the restart we tried to get a 2^nd but had to be cautious not to lose the lead, if we had drawn we would be a point behind and totally out, we battled hard to the end to keep it 1-0 and now had to wait on the result of Backwell next game FT1-0 Frys

The Decider

Backwell Athletic JFC V Westonzoyland Zebra’s Youth JFC (Pitch 2)

So this game had to finish with a Backwell defeat so it was amassed support for Westonzoyland here, I had pitched up with Richard behind Weston’s goal. We made a few choice coaching comments to their keeper when needed too ;-) I think we helped twice at least anyway, lol. To be fair it was like a battlefield for Weston who just constantly faced a barrage of attacks from Backwell, only one point of hope occurred when a Weston player picked up the ball and ran towards goal but couldn’t finish it even with all the support from the stands! Weston never got another chance and the game ended 0-0 Backwell through L

Managers overall view

I cant knock the players for today’s show, those present from last week clearly showed they wanted to make up for their previous displays while the players coming in did a fine job and just kept up with the set tempo. I think we still need to work on our slow starts but overall it was a very satisfying performance even while being disappointed to miss out on the semis by just one goal, we were also later to find out that we missed out on the sporting team award by just 0.5 points too! I think maybe we did deserve something from the day, the determination shown deserved something alone but I guess that’s football. Personally I think we came a long way today, we saw what 100% effort can bring and if we take that into every match then we will get just reward. The tournament set up was great and the facilities also, it was a little cramped on the outer pitches and the under 8’s had to kick from the floor at Goalkicks would be the only moans of the day. I thoroughly enjoyed it though and look forward already to next years event.