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Team Profile, Information and Match reports 14/15

Under 15’s Reds

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Managers Profile:

Name: Richard George

What is your football background? Played football all my life

But not to any decent level as if you see me play you can tell.

I now follow Rochdale as I’m too broken to play anymore

How long have you been involved with Pennine Juniors? This is my 7th season as a coach

How long have you been managing a team? 7 years

What do you like most about managing a team? Who said I like it???

What do you find challenging when managing a team? Everything but mainly keeping the

players keen

What has been your funniest/best/ most memorable moment? too many to name, but

probably the Dads v Lads games, but we have had to stop them as the Dads are all too old

now!

Describe your team: quiet but very effective when they are in the mood!

What are you focusing on in training? Passing, passing and passing! It’s the best skill in the

world!

Tell us the best game to date and why: Failsworth Villa away 2012/2013 season won 5-6

best game of football I have ever been involved in, end to end stuff and we just had enough

with only 11 players but they all worked so hard and deserved the win.

What advice/tips would you give to young, up and coming footballers? Play as often as

you can even if it’s on your own, and no virtual football doesn’t count

Contact details:

Richard 07941 041199

Training times and details:

Cardinal Langley Wednesday 7.30 - 8.30

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Results at a glance:

Pennine Juniors Under 15’s Red 2014 / 2015 Season

Date

Home Away Scorers MOM

06/09/14 13/09/14 20/09/14 27/09/14 04/10/14 11/10/14 18/10/14 1/11/14 15/11/14 29/11/14 07/02/15 14/02/15 21/02/15 28/02/15 07/03/15 14/03/15 QF 21/03/15 18/04/15 SF 21/04/15

Failsworth Pennine Red Middleton Lads Pennine Red Chaddy Park Pennine Red Springhead Tottington Pennine Red Pennine Red Bridge Middleton Boys Pennine Red Pennine Black Whitworth Pennine Red Woodbank Pennine Red Pennine Red

4 1 4 3 2 2 5 3 4 2 0 2 2 3 2 1 3 0 1

Pennine Red Pennine Black Pennine Red Whitworth Pennine Red Woodbank Pennine Red Pennine Red Failsworth Middleton Lads Pennine Red Pennine Red Chaddy Park Pennine Red Pennine Red Whitworth Pennine Red Pennine Black Tottington

2 6 0 2 4 5 2 3 4 9 6 3 1 0 3 0 0 3 6

L. Nicholls / Cunningham Kershaw L Nicholls / Vitti 2 (1pen) L.Nicholls(2) Vitti Coughlan Kershaw / McBurnie Vitti / L Nicholls Vitti 2(1 pen) L. Nicholls Vitti 2, L Nicholls Vitti 2 Kershaw, McBurnie, McNicholas, George , Huszar, Cunningham McNicholas, Coughlan, L Nicholls Huszar, Vitti L Nicholls, George 2 George Coughlan

Haynes Myers Newstead Vitti L. Nicholls Kershaw L Nicholls George / D. Nicholls Myers Coughlan Kershaw D Nicholls Cheweshie L.Nicholls Cheweshie Mcburnie Myers Haynes / George

Goal Scorers Man Of The Match Awards

L Nicholls 9 Haynes 1.5 Cunningham Kershaw Vitti Coughlan McBurnie McNicholas George Huszar

2 3 11 3 3 2 4 2

Myers Newstead Vitti L. Nicholls Kershaw George D. Nicholls Coughlan Cheweshie McBurnie

3 1 1 3 2 2 x 0.5 1.5 1 2 1

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Match reports: Date: 6th September 2014

Away v Failsworth Villa

Result: lost 4-2

Hi All

Yes we are back with another season, also back with familiar foe in Failsworth Villa.

There was a lot of rain between 8-9 am which had a few people questioning if the game

was on, but by 10.30 there was only a bit of drizzle in the air and the pitch looked in really

good condition, so hopefully we could get our passing game going.

We started ok but Failsworth no. 16 was controlling the midfield and we struggled to get

the ball to our forwards, and it was Failsworth who had the better of the opening chances,

but we have a new keeper this season Will Myers who made several excellent saves to

keep the score line 0-0.

About 20mins into the game saw the turning point, a long hopeful ball over the top from

Failsworth saw Will slide out to gather the ball but, a Failsworth forward followed the ball

in and left a foot in and caught Will! It didn’t look that bad a challenge from distance but

when Will didn’t get up I knew there was something wrong and not to go into too graphic

detail, Will now has 3 holes in his knee!!!

We shuffled the pack and Tom George went in goal and continued with some great saves

as it was all Failsworth, as the injury to Will shock us up a bit.

With all the pressure we finally cracked as we let their no.9 walk right through our

defense and square a ball to their no.16 on his favoured left foot and he smashed it past

Tom who could do nothing about it! (I don’t think even Will would of saved it )

We did have some chances as Jake Cunninghams cross was perfect to an unmarked Elliot

McBurnie but, Elliot’s header was scuffed and went straight to the keeper, Matt Haynes

on his debut also came close after a goalmouth scramble but his effort went just wide.

Half time 1-0

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We struggled to get a hold in the second half as Failsworth scored 2 early goals and

then sat back and tried the counter attack

The last 10-12 mins saw us challenge and after good work by first Elliot McBurnie who

dropped the ball back to Sam Huszar who crossed it first time straight to Luke Nicholls

who spotted the advancing keeper and just poked it past him to score our first goal of the

season.

This gave us a bit of a lift and after some great individual play by Harry Kershaw beating 3

men down the right wing he then put a great cross into Jake Cunningham who guided the

ball home.

This was all in vein though as the full time whistle blew on our first game of the season

Full time – 4-2

Man of the match – Matt Haynes – superb debut fought for everything today and was

really unlucky to come off on the losing team after battling so well (this is one to watch!)

Special mentions to – Dan Nicholls, Sam MaC and Tom George, after the injury to Will all 3

along with Matt gave there all

My thoughts – we lost the battle in midfield today and never really got our football going.

There are tough games coming up and we will have to put a harder shift in! although in

patches we did show some willingness and football !

Date: 13th September 2014

Home v Pennine Black

Result: lost 1-6

Hi All

First home game of the season and the visitors were our Black team, easy game then!

From our large squad we ended up with only 12 players available! Dan (groin) Charlie

(shin) Jacob (away with school) & josh (playing for school) so it was always going to be

hard.

We started confident enough but a little uneasy as players had to switch to slightly

different positions but I felt as the game went on we started to get into it more, just as

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things seem to be looking good, the black team pounced on a ball through the middle

and scored 0-1.

This didn’t change us too much and it wasn’t long before Harry Kershaw produced a good

run down the right wing beating at least 2 players before getting a cross back to Brandon

Coughlan who struggled to get the ball out of his feet, which led to an easy save for the

keeper.

It was Brandon’s commitment that did see us back into the game as he chased a lost

cause, he put pressure on the black defence and as the defender stumbled, Brandon took

control, he didn’t panic as the keeper came out to close him down, he got his head up and

squared the ball to Harry in space who rolled the ball into the empty net 1-1.

The black team turned the pressure up and we wobbled a bit but Will Myers in goal

(hopefully see the whole game out!) commanded his area and pulled off a couple of great

saves.

We couldn’t hold on and the black team scored 2 more before half time the which we

brought onto ourselves as they came from not clearing the ball well enough !!

Half time 1-3

The second half saw us give in a little and the black’s scored 3 more goals to make it a

comfortable win for themselves, with us only having one effort on goal which came from

Luke Nicholls but the keeper came out and saved well.

Full time 1-6

Man of the match – Will Myers - easy this one, making his full debut!!! Will kept the score

to an almost respectable scoreline! He commanded his area and pulled off a string of

superb saves

My thoughts – we still don’t have the right balance in midfield and the defence struggled

with pushing Matt Haynes up and no Dan Nicholls. I think we missed the players not

available today, but no excuse the best team won today!!!

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Date: 20th September 2014

Away v Middleton Lads

Result: lost 4-0

Hi All

Away this week v Middleton Lads

This was going to be a tough test as I have put Middleton down as one of the favourites

for the league this season even though they started in the Championship not the

premiership! (Error on behalf of the league) in there only game in the championship they

played Pennine White and won 9-1!! (although Mike said could have been 20!!)

We didn’t start well and with Middletons first attack they got the lucky bounce as the ball

pinballed through a couple of our defenders and it fell to their forward who slotted the

ball home 1-0.

We did wake up after that and started to compete with the addition of Harry Kershaw and

Jacob Vitti sitting in the middle we have a bit more fight and pace in there, chances for us

were limited but Luke Nicholls manage to spring the offside trap for a one on one with the

keeper, but the keeper was very quick off his line and managed to smother it.

We were limiting Middleton to shots from outside the area but Will Myers continued his

fine form with a couple of great saves, it looked like we would go into half time 1-0 down

but luck isn’t going our way at the moment, Middleton played a ball over the top to their

winger who was 3-4 yards offside but the ref waved play on, our defenders gave chase but

couldn’t catch him and they scored again 2-0, I asked the ref why he wasn’t offside and

the reply was one of our players got a touch as the ball came across !! now I wasn’t a

100% sure if they hadn’t changed the law overnight, so I have confirm with another ref,

the conclusion was the player was still offside when the ball was played so the ref got it

very wrong!!!!!

Things got a little heated after that and a certain player need calming down with a

substitution! I understand their frustration but we have to stay calmer.

Half time 2-0

We completed very well with Middleton and I was hoping for a chance to get something

back, although we pushed at times we never really tested the keeper again, and with the

pressure mounting on our defence they pined us back too much, but the defence stood

strong and it was another mistake by the ref that led to the next goal, Wilson Chewshie

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tracked the attacker back and just managed to toe poke the ball away from the attacker

into our penalty area Will came out and collected the ball, to everyone’s surprise the ref

gave a free kick in our penalty area for the keeper picking up a back pass!!!! Even the

opposition weren’t sure what was happening as they went to take a corner!!

This threw us off guard a bit and from the free kick we didn’t clear the ball well enough

and Middleton scored 3-0

Middleton scored another late on 4-0

Full time 4-0

Man of the match – Matt Newstead – superb work rate gave everything he had, in both

tackling and team performance, great effort Matt

Special mentions –

Will Myers kept his fine form going with some spectacular saves (think some were for the

camera though )

Matt Haynes – another solid performance

Tom George – working with Matt and setting examples for the rest of the team.

My thoughts – very happy with the team today, every player put in a great TEAM

performance, for a lot of the game we competed with one of the best in the premiership,

so it goes to show this is where we should be!

Well done Team Pennine shame we got nothing from the game!

Date: 20th September 2014

Home v Whitworth

Result: won 3-2

Hi All

Home this week v Whitworth

Missing players this week Charlie (shin) Will (Shoulder) Josh (should have been school but

ill) and Sam Mac (away on a mystery day out for Ian’s 50th birthday)

Whitworth have struggled in this league as well this season with losing their first 2 games

9-1 (Woodbank) and 3-2 (Springhead) so a close game was expected.

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Before we started we had a talk about keeping hold of the ball and playing the ball on

the ground as we have been panicking recently and just hoof balling at times, and never

really getting our game going, and I think it sunk in

We kick off (more on this later!) and started as planned to try and control the game, we

played the ball around with Wilson Cheweshie and Harry Kershaw controlling who and

where the ball should be played and we dominated procession, we created a few chances

in the opening 15mins, the best 2 where to Matt Newstead and Elliot Mcburnie both one

on one with the keeper, but Matt hit the ball at the keeper and Elliot just poked it wide.

Whitworth were struggling to get into the game and started becoming frustrated and

resorted to late/niggly and dirty challenges the persistent fouls were also getting a few of

our players frustrated as well!

Against the run of play Whitworth scored the first goal, from a corner a flick at the edge of

the 6yd box looped over everyone, Tom George in goal got a outstretch finger to it but not

enough to stop it.

Half time 0-1 – Ref had words with both teams as he was getting frustrated with the abuse

he got and rightly so, even with the niggly fouls we need to keep calm and let the ref get

on with it.

Second half started the same as the first as Jacob Vitti tried to take the kick off, which he

nearly got away with as the ref didn’t realise it was the Whitworth players who spotted it

!!!! within a couple of minutes of the restart (by Whitworth) a long ball from Matt Haynes

in defence cleared the Whitworth defence and Jacob Vitti ran on through and smashed

the ball from a tight angle into the far corner, the keeper got something on it but I think

he was just trying to get out of it’s way !! 1-1

We continue passing our way through and they continued to keep fouling in particular

no.s 9/5 and 17, eventually the ref called their no.9 over and booked him!

Jacob keeping his cool showed how good he can be with a superb solo run down the right

wing beating 3 players with power, pace and skill and then squaring a pass across the face

of goal to Luke Nicholls who was there to tap in 2-1 absolutely brilliant goal, which started

from passes from the middle out wide to Jacob.

Not everyone kept there cool, Sam Huszar was frustrated that the ref didn’t give a foul for

a Whitworth player tugging him back, so he fought back by shoving the player right in

front of the ref and he awarded a free kick, Sam didn’t hide his frustration at the ref and

got his last warning! From the free kick we cleared the first attempt but their no.9

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smashed the ball from 30yds into the top corner 2-2. He shouldn’t of been on the pitch

as 5 mins earlier he went right through Harry, the ref went for his cards and then realised

the lad had already been booked and bottled it and just had a word!!

We needed a lucky break or a bit of magic and we got both, Elliot played a brilliant ball

through the middle to Luke who controlled it well and headed to goal for a one on one

with their keeper, just as he went to pull the trigger the chasing defender hack him down

from behind! Penalty and the ref had no choice to send the whitworth player off!

Jacob stepped up and from a very long run up slotted into the corner without the keeper

even moving.

Full time 3-2 a fully deserved first win of the season

Man of the match – Jacob Vitti – could have been one of many players today but scoring 2

goals setting up another along with the fight and determination swung it to him.

My thoughts – tough game with the niggly stuff but most of the game we played the best

football I have ever seen us play. The ball was moved around all the players from defence

to attack and back again. Really well done and a deserved win (which should have been

more but a win is a win)

Date: 4th October 2014

Away v Chadderton Park

Result: won 2-4

Still no full squad as Charlie Johnson has decided he doesn’t want to play football at the

moment and wants to have time away, Sam Mac (overnight bug) & Josh Burke all missing.

The weather leading up to the game had been showery but as we warmed up and started

the game it stayed dry, but not for long!

We started quite sluggish and struggled to continue our fine form of pass and move, and

we let Chadderton dominate although their main source of attack was a diagonal ball

from the left over our centre halves which we did seem to control quite well.

After 15mins or so we changed the formation slightly and moved Luke Nicholls up front,

which paid off straight away as a huge kick from Will Myers in goal bounce into the

Chadderton goal area and Luke pinched the ball off Jacob Vitti’s toes and ran at the

keeper and slotted the ball home 0-1

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Moments after the restart Luke charged at goal again after leaving the full back for

dead, cut back in shot but it was blocked then it came back to him but this time his effort

hit the bar and they cleared the danger.

They didn’t learn as moments later Luke skinned the full back again but this time squared

the ball back to Jacob on the penalty spot who drilled the ball home 0-2.

A couple half chances came and went for both teams but I was expecting coming in at half

time 0-2 up but Chadderton had a couple of strokes of luck after a diagonal ball was

pumped over but Tom George headed clear but it hit the advancing Chaddy player, the

ball went back passed Tom who turned and gave chase and as Tom slid in to block the

shot this unfortunately this wrong footed Will and the ball crept over Will’s leg to give

Chaddy a lifeline 1-2

Half time 1-2

Chaddy started the second half as they started the first and attacked, but without any real

effect, but from a corner, Will punched the ball clear to the edge of the area and an

unmarked Chaddy player smashed it back through the crowd to make 2-2.

We didn’t deserve to be level, but we couldn’t seem to finish our chances Jacob and Luke

both had several chances but didn’t take them! We did manage to get back into the lead

from a wonderful ball across from Jake Cunnigham, which saw Brandon Coughlan try his

legendary overhead kick!! He didn’t quite get it right but standing just behind him was

Luke Nicholls who calmly drilled it into the bottom corner 2-3

With the missed chances I wasn’t sure whether this was going to be our day and if it

wasn’t for some heroic defending from our back 3 we might of come away with nothing,

all 3 gave everything including Matt Haynes getting a knee to the back of his head!!!

I felt we needed a fourth just to seal the game and it was Brandon who got it, after a ball

across Brandon managed to get on the end of it and it looped over the keeper to the far

post for his first red team goal

Full time 2-4

Man of the match – Luke Nicholls – superb skills, 2 goals and 1 superb assist along with his

determination to win for the team saw us to victory.

Special mention –

Ian McNicohlas – commitment to the team as Craig was away on reffing duty he stepped

up to assist the ref, even though Sam was on his sickbed!!! Truly a team player

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Brandon Coughlan – his running and commitment was brilliant and a first red team goal

to cap off a great performance.

My thoughts – again should of seen this game off, as we got in front and looked

comfortable but didn’t take all our chances, which against some of the stronger teams in

this division will cost us, but a good enough performance for our 2nd win of the season,

well done.

Date: 11TH October 2014

Home v Woodbank

Result: lost 2-5

Hi All

Home to Woodbank

Woodbank have been a bit of a bogey team as we played them 3 times last season and

narrowly lost all of them, but with the recent results and displays I was hopeful of a

positive result.

After a delayed start (the ref was late!) the game started but we forgot! after a lack of

communication Woodbank pinched the ball from Dan Nicholls and squared it across the

face of goal for an easy tap in 0-1 and it didn’t take long for a second to come, straight

down the middle for a one on one with Will myers but the forward held his nerve and

rolled it into the corner 0-2. And so onto the third! The Woodbank winger was allowed

time on the ball to get his cross in, which floated over the top of Will Myers straight into

the goal 0-3.

A little tweak of positions we put Harry Kershaw into the middle of the park and with his

very first touch in that position he let leash with a thunderous shot from 30yds right into

the top corner 1-3, could we get back into this?

We started to find or feet (or wake up) and pile the pressure, after good work in the

middle of the pitch saw Elliot McBurnie receive the ball on the corner of the penalty box

and smash the ball towards the goal, it got a deflection on the way which wrong footed

the keeper a bit and went into the goal 2-3

Keeping the pressure on saw us have a couple of chances before half time, after a bit of a

goal mouth scramble the ball came to Sam Huszar on the edge of the box who swung his

left boot at the ball coming out of the area but unfortunately it hit the upright and Matt

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Newstead under pressure hit wide. Although we had the pressure it was Woodbank

who scored next 2-4

Half time 2-4

Second half we started where we left off very dominant but luck was not on our side, we

battled and charged but couldn’t find the last telling ball, as time was running out after

several goalmouth scrambles, we finally got the break though after Jacob Vitti took it

upon himself to beat everyman! Finally they resorted to bring him down in the area for a

penalty. It seem to take ages for Jacob to take the penalty as a few of the Woodbank

players were trying to put him off, unfortunately this worked as Jacobs shot was saved by

the keeper and the keeper just about held on as we advanced in for the rebound.

Against the run of play and many many many subs later Woodbank score another 2-5

Full time 2-5

Man of the match – Harry Kershaw – ran the midfield today and popped up with a

contender for goal of the season

Special mention – Jacob Vitti – worked his socks off today and gave the best TEAM

performance this season, his winning the ball and then bringing other players in was a joy

to watch (shame about the penalty)

My thoughts – Not sure how we lost today. Seems we need to take our chances and

create a bit more luck for ourselves .

Date: 18th October 2014

Away v Springhead

Result: lost 5-2

Hi All

Away this week v Springhead

Springhead are team we should be competing with and I was hoping for a positive start

after last week’s sluggish start!!

We were all early, in fact we beat Springhead to the pitches and we seemed ready for the

game, and we started well (not like us at all!!!) and we even got the first chance as a ball

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played through to Luke Nicholls put him one on one with the keeper, but the keeper

was like lighting off his line to close Luke down and the keeper parried it away. We

continued the pressure and the keeper came to the rescue again as he blocked a shot

from Brandon Coughlan and also saved the follow up from Wilson Cheweshie.

After the first 10mins of dominant play we got suckered in as Springhead played the ball

wide got a lucky break and managed to put a good ball in across the face of goal for an

easy tap in. 1-0 this was their first venture into our area!!!!!

The game started to get a bit tighter and there was a few very late challenges on our

players that the ref seemed to miss everytime! But he also had his eyes shut for

Springhead’s second as their no.9 was offside, Craig stood there with the flag up as the

no.9 finished the ball into our goal, a lot of confusion then came as nobody knew if it was

offside or a goal ?????? eventually the ref gave a goal and that set the tempo for the rest

of the game. 2-0

We had another couple of chances both falling to Luke but the keeper did enough to put

him off or block him.

With the ref not handling the players, the game turned very scrappy with both sets of

players reacting to every challenge, but we still looked like we could get back into this

game, and it wasn’t long before Luke closed down a Springhead defender and won the

ball off him, he went towards goal shrugging off challenges with his twists and turns but

just as his path was blocked he looked up and saw Jacob Vitti on the edge of the area and

dropped the ball to Jacob’s feet who smashed it into the goal 2-1

Half time 2-1

We came out strong in the second half with the belief that we could get something out of

the game, but it continued to be a scrappy game as the ref had NO control and it was

difficult for either team to play football, the ref did actually give a free kick to us after

Harry Kershaw was brought down for the 20th time or so! Which was on the edge of the

area, (at this point I did mention we never score from a dead ball situation!) Brandon

Coughlan stepped up to and curled it towards the penalty spot but the Springhead were

first to react and headed out, only to Luke on the edge of the area, who controlled with

one touch and then hit a screamer to the top corner !!!!! 2-2

Our very frustrated parents, along with the players went mental! as this was the very least

we deserved. However only 30 seconds after the restart we could of gone behind again

after we let them deliver a ball into the middle to an unmarked player who then went on

to shoot but scuffed his shot wide!!

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With the game in going into the last ten minutes it would be the team that kept their

nerve or got the lucky break, and again no luck for us as Springhead scored again and

tempers started to flare with absolutely no control of the game we lost our concentration

and conceded another 2 goals

Full time 5-2

Man of the match – Luke Nicholls – ran the defence all over today and scored an absolute

screamer

Special mention – Will Myers – another great performance in goal

Harry Kershaw – ran the midfield again today and showed

composure after a tough battle in the middle

Dan Nicholls – asking me to take him off as he thought he would get

booked or worse and it wouldn’t help the team, only to get back on again and show what

a classy defender he actually is !

My thoughts – this division is hard enough without getting refs like this week in week out,

but we have to learn to ‘play the game’ take the knock get back up and start again and not

to get dragged down to arguing and losing concentration.

Date: 1st November 2014

Away v Tottington

Result: drew 3-3

Hi All

Away v Tottington

This is one of the fancied teams in the division after winning our division last season

beating us twice in the process (4-2 and 0-4) and also beating our Black team in the final of

the cup 3-0, we knew it would be a tough game.

Players missing this week – Matt Haynes (hoilday) Wilson Cheweshie (minor operation)

We had a strong ref and he warned us right from the start that he wouldn’t take any

abuse, so I said right from the start we are here to play football, not to get involved with

little personal battles as when we play football we can match any team!

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The team responded well to this and matched our opposition for the first 15mins the

only problem we had was with Will Myers in goal, who was struggling with dizzy spells,

which meant we had to bring him off (hopefully it was just the fact he had been away on a

school trip to Spain for 5 days and this was his body saying you did too much!) so Tom

George stepped up in goal.

The game got a little scrappy as it went on as we seemed to frustrate Tottington as I think

they thought this was a walk over. From a corner to Tottington their no.5 decided that he

would called Craig who was running the line some rather choice names (Craig was

oblivious as normal to the comments) in ear shot of the ref, who called the player over

and booked him! (he did warn everyone) this made matters worse for them as every call

was shouted at by the Tottington players ! we added injury to insult from a free kick

correctly awarded to us just inside the Tottington half, Harry Kershaw hit it at the keeper

(I think he over hit it ?) but the keeper dropped the ball and then fell backwards which left

Jacob Vitti to nod the ball passed the keeper on the ground 0-1 shock on the cards ??

especially as Jacob never scores with his head

We had been playing quite a high line and catching their attackers offside but they

managed to get a lucky call and go on to squeeze one passed Tom 1-1

Half time 1-1

I think the Tottington Manager had a few strong words at half time and to be fair

Tottington came at us very strong but we defended really well with people putting their

bodies on the line. From a corner to Tottington, I dragged Luke Nicholls over with the

pretence that I wanted a word, but it was just to give him some space, which worked as

we defended the corner well and Brandon Coughlan played a defence splitting pass for

Luke to run onto, he managed to get there just before the advancing keeper and prodded

the ball passed him and then followed the ball in to the empty goal 1-2 !!

I was hoping we could keep the score line the same for a while and contain them, but us

being us let them get straight back into the game, we let their left winger to beat 3 of our

players and then square the ball back to the edge of the area where a Tottington player

had a free shot and drilled in to the bottom corner 2-2

Things got tougher for Tottington as Elliot McBurnie chased down their big no.5 and

pinched the ball off him and started to get away into the corner, and without any reason

he decided to push Elliot, 2 handed in the back and bundle him over, the ref had no

hesitation in producing a second yellow and then a red card!

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We then defended like our lives depended on it, the only time their no.14 got the

better of Dan Nicholls in the game he turned Dan and got a shot away to the far corner,

but Tom managed to ‘pull off a worldy’ (I thought it was going wide but it looked good)

After yet another goal mouth scramble, the ref blew his whistle? We all looked round

puzzled as he awarded a penalty to Tottington! after the game the ref explained that their

no. 15 got brought down from behind as he went to kick the ball, I have since found out

that the no.15 kicked Jacob who was stood in front of him?

Tom chose his corner but the Tottington player went the other way 3-2

This wasn’t over as we pushed to get back into the game and no more so then Harry

Kershaw running through the middle, he in my opinion took the wrong option and lost the

ball only to close it down and win it back, charged into the penalty area beat 2 players

then pushed past a third only for them to clip his heels and bring him down! Penalty!!!!!!

Jacob stepped up and smashed it into the bottom corner with enough power that even

though the keeper got fingers to it he couldn’t keep it out 3-3

Full time 3-3

Man of the match – this was given to Tom George at the game, but I was going to give it to

Dan Nicholls until I got swayed by others so I have decided to give it to both of them

especially as it is both their birthday weekends (Dan today / Tom Monday) both were

outstanding

Dan was back to his best and didn’t get dragged into confrontation and played their

striker off the park

Tom for standing in for Will in goal but also gave a superb performance he even had Will

saying he wouldn’t of saved the ‘worldy’

My thoughts – I said we can compete with these teams as long as we don’t get dragged

into verbal battles which we lose our concentration and focus, we did that today and I feel

we were slightly unlucky to come away with only one point.

Page | 18

Date: 15th November 2014

Home v Failsworth Villa

Result: drew 4-4

Home this week to Failsworth Villa, familiar foe as we have been in the same league as

Failsworth for the last few seasons with mixed results, this was also our first reverse

fixture of the season as we lost 4-2 away on the first day of the season.

We didn’t start too well and Failsworth looked to capitalise on this, with their no.16

dominating midfield and getting away rockets from the edge of the box, if it hadn’t been

for Will Myers in goal and the cross bar we could of 0-3 down in the first 15mins!!!!

We did manage to get a couple of chances ourselves early on as Luke Nicholls crossed a

first time ball in which Jacob Vitti just missed and the keeper got a finger to it to push it

just behind Brandon Coulghlan coming in at the back post.

It was Failsworth who struck first though, we got dragged apart by a simple cross field ball

and didn’t clear it and gave them an easy opener 0-1, it wasn’t long before we got

punished again giving another easy goal 0-2. It looked like it was going to be one of those

days (again) as every ball seemed to fall to Failsworth, I was hoping for half time to hurry

up so we could reorganise better, but only 20mins had gone!!!! We needed to get back to

basics as we kept panicking and playing the ball long, we did manage to string a few

passes together and you could see the difference immediately, after a couple of good

passes in midfield the ball got pushed wide to Brandon who put a great cross into the back

post to Jacob, who from the narrowest of angles squeezed it back past the keeper 1-2

game on?

NO only a couple of mins later Failsworth had a 2 goal cushion again! Simple football left

big gaps for Failsworth to tap in their third 1-3

Half time 1-3

Second half we seemed brighter (couldn’t of been my team talk! Must have been Craig)

and right from the off we challenged better, Luke Nicholls did really well to close down

the opposition and pinched the ball off the defender ran into the box and square the ball

back to Jacob who guided the ball into the back of the net 2-3 game on ?

NO within 5mins we had let Failsworth run through the middle for a free strike at goal,

Will Myers got a strong hand to it but not enough to keep it out 2-4

Page | 19

I thought Failsworth started to look tired and started to sit back a bit, this was enough

for us to push forward and through some great closing down play Luke managed to steal

the ball again this time crossed into the middle of the goal which Elliot McBurnie rose to

meet under great pressure from the defender but Elliot held him off and buried the

header passed the keeper 3-4.

We could sniff something from this game now, although Failsworth still had chances Will

was on fine form keeping them out but it was attack attack!! After great work from Jacob

down the right he crossed the ball in to the danger area for a bit of a goal mouth scramble

but the ball fell to Luke who smashed the ball home!!!! 4-4 Luke really deserved that goal

along with the team.

With only moments to go we thought we had pinched the winner as the ball fell to

Brandon at the back post who controlled the ball and then drilled it into the goal, but as

he turned to celebrate he eventually spotted the ref had given off side!

Full time 4-4

Man of the match – Will Myers another superb performance from the big man in goal

Special mentions – Jacob Vitti – worked his socks off today, never stop all game and

took his goals really well, top performance

Dan Nicholls – definitely Dan the man is back! Kept a very good

player quiet for the majority of the game

My thoughts – to keet coming back showed real character today and we were very

unlucky not to get all 3 points, another good performance shame we have to give the

opposition a goal or 2 before we get going!

Date: 29th November 2014

Home v Middleton lads

Result: lost 2-9

Hi All

Home this week to Middleton lads, we knew this would be a tough game as we lost 4-0

earlier in the season (after playing really well!!)

Players missing this week Matt Newstead (dislocated hip!!) and Wilson Cheweshie

(unavailable), we also had Jake Cunningham (struggling with his knees) Josh Burke

(recovering from man flu) and Tom George (with man flu)

Page | 20

We had a team talk before the game about trying to keep the game very tight and try

and frustrate Middleton as we know they can lose their cool, but right from the first

whistle, Middleton’s first goal from a superb crossed ball in to the middle, which their

forward glanced a header into the bottom corner 0-1 . Their next was helped by the ref as

he was in the wrong placed and didn’t give the obvious offside 0-2

We struggled to get into the first half at all, but we did have a couple of chances first to

Jacob Vitti who couldn’t quite get the ball from under his feet and ended up hitting over

the bar from 8yds out and the other effort was from Brandon Coughlan who made a great

chance in the middle and although the Middleton defender shouted down his ear as he

kicked the ball to put him off, he got a good strike away but the keeper made a good save.

We continued to gift Middleton easy chances which they gladly took

Half time 0-5

I was hoping for a bit of fight for pride in the second half, but mainly continued gifting

goals for the opposition with some very sloppy passing and lack of commitment and

effort, we did manage a couple of consolation goals via Jacob Vitti, his first was an

individual goal after he received the ball on the left he ran into the penalty area opened

his body up and smashed it into the corner, his second was after an error in the middleton

defence he chased a lost cause for the keeper only to hit it against Jacob and he followed

the ball into the goal

Full time 2-9

Man of the match – Brandon Coughlan most of the good things we did today came

through Brandon, he never stopped running and never gave in

Special mention – Jacob Vitti – worked really hard today and took his tally to double

figures today, well done

My thoughts –this was definitely the worst performance of the season! We left it down to

the usual suspects today against a very good team who wiped the floor with us!! There

were too many sloppy passes and not enough commitment, too many times did I see a

mistake and then instead of trying to make up for it we watched the ball go away from us.

The only way we can compete with these teams is if we stay and play as a team meaning

every player puts 100% in for all the time on the pitch!!

Page | 21

Date: 7th Feb 2015

Away v Bridge

Result: won 0-6

Hi all

Back after the very long winter break!! although strictly speaking the pitch wasn’t quite

thawed out!! One of the goal areas was still frozen quite bad, but we decided to man up

and get on with it.

The game was a cup game, first of the season as we got a bye in the first round against a

Bridge team struggling a bit in the championship but with this being the first game in over

2 months who knows!!!!

We lost the toss which meant we would have to defend the frozen goal mouth early on, I

like Will Myers, were hoping we could keep the ball away from the area so the ground

wouldn’t be a problem! This half worked as we started quite well keeping the ball and

created a few half chances but nothing quite clicked

With the pitch being bobbly in places it was too easy to get any real rhythm to the game

but we did create a lot of space down the left hand side which Brandon Coughlan and Tom

George linked up really well in the first half, but good defending from Bridge stopped us

capitalising on this as we struggled to get a decent shot off, that was until Harry Kershaw

stepped up and smashed a 30yd shot off the underside of the bar to break the deadlock!!

It was a wonderful strike that left the keeper no chance 0-1

We looked dominant after that but Bridge managed to keep us out for the rest of the first

half! Although we had a scare towards the end of the first half as Sam McNicholas tried to

cut a ball out, unfortunately he didn’t get the touch he wanted and it fell kindly to their

big (and strong) forward, but Will was quick off his line and threw his body into blocking

the forward on the frozen area!!! This resulted in words that I don’t use (potty mouth

Will) but he was in a lot of pain!!!

Will did get back to his feet and carried on

Half time 0-1

Second half we came out and showed what we can do, with Harry now finding his passing

range it wasn’t long before we scored our second, harry won the ball in the middle of the

pitch and fired a ball over the top to Elliot Mcburnie who chased after it, the keeper

Page | 22

hesitated for a second but Elliot didn’t and flicked it over the keeper, it did hit the

keeper but not enough to stop it from going in 0-2

We were now in cruise control and the next goal came from a VERY unusual source, Sam

Mac playing at left back for a change found himself at the edge of the Bridge penalty area,

and when the ball fell nicely to him he placed the ball into the bottom left hand corner

with the power and precision of a top striker!!! An absolute stunner for his first goal in 11

aside football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 0-3

They were queueing up for a chance now (well if Macca can score!)

The next one came after Jacob Vitti tried to score a solo goal after taking 3 players on the

keeper made a save and the ball fell kindly to Elliot for his second except Tom out of

nowhere beat him to it to snatch his first of the season!!! 0-4

Still more to come as there was 20mins to play yet, this time it was Sam Huszar who got

the run of the ball, as he found a bit of space similar to Sam Mac position and the result

was the same as he placed it into the bottom left corner for also his first of the season 0-5

With time starting to run down we did manage one more this was from a corner, Harry

whipped the ball in and Jake Cunningham powered a header downwards and in to the

net, apparently there was a slight defection off a defender, but defo Jakes goal

Full time 0-6

Man of the match – Harry Kershaw – ran the midfield all game, he was tough in the tackle

with great determination, but equally good with his distribution

Special mention – Dan Nicholls and Matt Haynes – brilliant at the back as the full backs

pushed on they worked perfectly together and never really gave Bridge a chance.

The forward line – none of the forwards scored today but that doesn’t mean they didn’t

play their part, all 3 Brandon, Luke and Jacob worked their socks off and created chances

for the others to have the headlines this week

My thoughts – always good to be back after a long break and it was great to see the lads

put a good performance in, a clean sheet and six goals by six different players, I happy

today

Page | 23

Date: 14th Feb 2015

Away v Middleton Boys

Result: won 2-3

Back with league action again this week with a trip to Middleton Boys

With the game on then off then back on again it had been a confusing week!! And as we

thought we had no game Wednesday (apparently 8 players were missing from there

squad) we didn’t work on the defending long balls as the Middleton last year were big tall

players!! Of course as it worked out the league told them they have to play the game and

they managed to scramble 10 players (most of which were big and tall!)

The pitch was a big pitch and I was hoping this would work to our advantage as we had a

total of 11 players available (Matt Newstead still out with long term injury, Elliot

McBurnie and Matt Haynes both away and Sam Huszar with a groin injury picked up at

school on Friday)

Discussion before the game between Craig and myself was the left back position with me

opting for Josh Burke moving Sam Mac into centre half and Tom George out on the left as

any of the 3 could play left back, but shortly after the game started we realised it wasn’t

working as Middleton played long ball and with josh not being the tallest we need to

change it, unfortunately just a little too late as their no.7 managed to get clear down the

middle and put Middleton ahead 1-0.

Minutes later the no.7 managed to break free again but this time Will Myers in goal was

closer to the ball and made a great save which Jake Cunningham cleared to safety

We did make the numbers work as we kept pushing forward and now with the change at

the back with Tom as centre half, Macca at left back and josh on the left we coped much

better with the Middleton attack, with Tom getting tight and Dan Nicholls covering. Even I

get it wrong sometimes

Harry Kershaw was again battling hard in centre midfield although there was a height

difference so we needed to play the ball on the floor as this would be a leveller.

We managed a succession of corners and instead of just pinging them in we tried different

things and from a short corner that ‘man’ Sam Mac from a good 25yds have a speculative

punt which flew over the keepers head into the goal !!! Macca 2nd goal in as many games

!! 1-1

We kept the pressure on and from another well worked corner a great ball landed at

Brandon’s feet unmarked and he made no mistake and smashed it home 1-2

Page | 24

Half time 1-2

We came out confident but we needed to seal the game, we had chances as Jacob Vitti

made the keeper be brave as they both chased a through ball, Jacob just got there first but

the keeper got lucky as the ball bounced off his leg, the next came after a cross field ball

for Brandon to chase, but the keeper was quick off his line to put Brandon off and nothing

came of it.

We pushed for the 3rd but couldn’t quite get it as we didn’t pull the trigger early enough in

either the pass or the shot and we did find the keeper in decent form!

At the other end the defenders were keeping the Middleton forwards quiet and restricting

them to long range efforts, but as we got tired you could see them getting closer to our

goal and when Tom was late getting across to cover the No.7 didn’t move as he expected

and Tom clattered him for a free kick 25yds out, the dead ball was suited for a left foot

shot as the no.7 left footed I shouted that I thought it was coming from him but he

stepped over the ball and the right footed no.10 hit it sweetly across to the far post

passed the outstretched hand of Will in goal 2-2

Middleton looked the stronger but with 10mins to go we changed things around with

Jacob sitting in midfield and Harry and Luke Nicholls leading the front line, this nearly (and

should of) paid off as Wilson Cheweshie fed a great through ball for Harry to run onto and

confidently fired into the corner, but the ref blew for offside, the supporters for our team

where right in line and all said Harry was onside and goal should of stood, this was really

the only mistake the ref made but it could have been costly!

With only a few mins left neither team could really take control until Josh Burke popped

up at the back post pinched the ball off the defender, managed to get a shot away under

pressure, the keeper could only parry the ball away and Luke Nicholls popped up and

forced the ball over the line 2-3 !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Full time 2-3

Man of the match – Dan (the man) Nicholls – absolutely brilliant today, he just saw the

danger stayed calm and mop it up, since the game against Springhead early in the year he

has channelled his emotion and performed with class

Special mention – Harry Kershaw – since the break Harry has shown the determination

and desire to compete and then still asks the question ‘am I doing ok?’ another superb

performance and almost pinched another man of the match performance.

Page | 25

My thoughts – made hard work of the game today although the pitch was bobbly we need

to pull the trigger a bit earlier in both pass and shot although our work rate and team

spirit is at an all time high, well done for another 3 pts.

Date: 21st Feb 2015

Home v Chadderton Park Vipers

Result: won 2-1

Hi All

Home this week v Chaddy Park

Game went on just about! as the snow had fallen overnight, but not enough to worry our

mighty players!! Also the downpours Thursday and Friday didn’t help which left the pitch

very heavy indeed.

We were down to the bare 11 players again as Josh Burke (fell down the stairs Friday

night!! / Brandon Coughlan?? Elliot away on hols, and Matt Newstead still out injured

We started well and Chaddy didn’t look very confident, as they just pumped balls up to

their speedy forward who most of the time was a good yard offside, this however was

broken quickly and he managed to show why they play that way by scoring with from a

one on one with Will Myers in goal 0-1.

A couple of mins later he managed to get through but Will managed to block this attempt

and the ball was cleared, a swap around of positions saw Matt Hayes drop into centrehalf

and Harry Kershaw back into the midfield with Tom George out wide left seemed to

steady the ball over the top and nullified the threat.

It wasn’t long before our forwards managed to link up for our first, after good work from

Jacob Vitti to win the ball he turned and ran at goal, I was shouting for him to shoot as he

arrived at the penalty area but he flicked the ball to Sam Huszar coming in from the right

wing, who calmly got the ball out of his feet and drilled it into the far corner of the goal 1-

1

Sam , Jacob and Luke Nicholls were linking up really well and from a similar position as the

goal Sam went close again this time just hitting the side netting

Half time 1-1

Page | 26

We came out bright again in the second half with some nice play but still not really testing

the keeper (who had switched from the one in the first half) and with Chaddy’s only

threat over the top not working as our back line just stepped them out despite the

manager and coach constantly moaning ‘that was never offside’ despite being 2yds off!!

We were just waiting for a little spark to get us going and I was sure we would come out

easy victors, it finally came after a slip in the Chaddy back line and Jacob was away from

the half way line not many will catch him but with the pitch being heavy and bobbly the

defender was catching but Jacob knew what he was doing as he entered the penalty area

he smashed it passed the keeper for 2-1 Another change of keeper for Chaddy followed

We now should of pushed on as chances came but we never took any of them, hitting

wide and high when we did finally manage to get shots off.

With time ticking on we need another goal to kill the game as we knew we weren’t clear

enough and Chaddy only needed one chance to see them back into the game, so when

Jacob hit one behind the defenders for Luke to chase on to we were expecting a chance,

the ball went a little wider than hoped but Luke is quick, the keeper came rushing out and

challenged but Luke was there first and pushed it past the keeper who then clipped Luke

and he went down.

The ref awarded the penalty and booked the keeper both right decisions even if Chaddy

disagreed!

After some debate I instructed Jacob to take it and clearly he wasn’t too confident today

as he went for power rather than his usual precision and hit it straight at the keeper (it did

knock him back a foot!) it came back out and Sam Mac (yes sniffing for another goal!)

tried guiding it in with his left foot but it went just over the bar!!

Full time 2-1

Man of the match – Wilson Cheweshie great game for Wilson today kept everything

simple never panicked and seemed to be everywhere.

Special mention –

Sam Huszar - really good first half drove at the defenders hustled and fought and a

superbly taken goal

Sam Mac – great defending again today showed how to tackle stayed on his feet and

never let anyone passed

Page | 27

My thoughts – another good win, but we all know should have been more, great attitude

to the game in difficult conditions.

Date: 28th Feb 2015

Away v Pennine Black

Result: lost 3-0

Away this week to our Black team!

Always knew this was going to be a tough game as the Blacks are sitting top of the table

having only lost once this season, we were also hindered with missing players again, this

week managing 12 Players Harry Kershaw fail a late fitness test (ankle) Josh Burke (knee)

Matt Newstead (hip), Matt did turn up for the game and is looking well and itching to get

back into action just waiting for the all clear from the doctors in a couple of weeks

fingers crossed

We had issues with the ref before the game as he had to leave at 12 o’clock as he had a

game elsewhere which meant we would have to play 30mins each way!!! He was politely

told not to bother!!!! And Craig Kershaw stepped in and reffed instead.

On a pudding of a pitch we set up with a 451 formation with Luke Nicholls playing upfront

on his own, this was to try and fill the midfield and frustrate the Black team, with us

hoping to catch them on the counter attack and it worked for a long time in the game as

not much happened in the first 25mins or so as we limited the Blacks to the odd half

attempts and mainly just played them offside which was quite easy

The Black team as always got the lucky break as a ball was played over the top, with the

forward being 2yds offside it was missed by the assistant ref and they went on and scored

1-0 this definitely was undeserved as we had matched them to that point.

With our heads down a little the Blacks piled the pressure on and from a nothing of a

cross we hesitated and the Blacks prodded home from 3yds out 2-0

Half time 2-0

Second half we changed things and went back to 442 with Jacob Vitti joining Luke upfront,

I knew this would probably give the Blacks a few more chances but also open a few for

Page | 28

us?? Luke got a half chance from the edge of the area and made the keeper pull off a

great tip over the bar, so the chances were definitely there!

Our defence were still holding strong and causing their forward to get frustrated leading

to the first booking of the game as he was caught offside yet again and for the 3rd time he

continued with the ball after the whistle had blown and kicked it into the goal but as the

ref wanted to have a word he couldn’t keep quiet and I'm not sure which of the 2 offences

he got the yellow for!!!

It wasn’t long before their frustration showed again as another Black team player received

a yellow for something he said to the ref.

The Blacks managed another goal, this came from a missed timed sliding tackle from Matt

Haynes he missed the ball caught the player who stayed on his feet and managed to get in

the hole left by Matt and score 3-0 to make matters worse Matt also received a yellow

card for the tackle, which I thought was a bit harsh as this was his first misjudged tackle of

the game. With 20mins of the game left it finally started to open up as both teams pushed

forward, we were finally getting forward more and when Brandon Coughlan robbed the

defender in the penalty area he squared the ball across the face of goal which Jacob

totally missed but Luke coming in behind him tapped in, but he was adjudged to be

offside! I must admit I have never seen offside given for a ball played square across the

face of goal before!!

Our next chance was created by Luke Nicholls after he tried getting between 2 defenders

who just bundled him to the floor for a free kick just on the edge of the area, Jacob

stepped up but his shot went over the bar.

Will Myers pulled off a couple of great saves towards the end of the game but no more

goals for either team

Full time 3-0

Man of the match Luke Nicholls thought he ran his socks off today and really deserved a

goal.

Special mention – all the back 5, all played superb today holding the attackers off and

limiting them to half chances

My thoughts – a couple of people told me after the game we were just a bit short of

matching the Blacks today and I agreed I think it’s a mixture of belief and strength that we

don’t quite match up to at the moment but with this being our first season in the top

Page | 29

flight we keep learning and getting stronger. Harry was a big miss today, so we need

him to stop getting tackled by girls!!!!!!!!!!!

Date: 7th March 2015

Away v Whitworth

Result: won 2-3

Hi all

Away this week v Whitworth

It was a feisty encounter the last game we played against Whitworth, as they decided the

best plan was to kick lumps out of us!!! But after meeting their new manager his first

words where ‘we have changed things around now and we now don’t kick lumps out of

the opposition’ you can only be hopeful that he was true to his word

This of course turned out not to be right as right from the off the same tactics seem to still

be there with nudges before the ball is received and the odd kick after the ball!! All this

was ignored by the worst ref I have come across!!!!!! When he waved play on after Harry

Kershaw was two footed I will never now, we were very fortunate not to come away with

a serious injury!

Back to the game!

The pitch was quite bobbly and we struggled to control the ball but Whitworth seemed to

be better on their home pitch and matched us in the early stages, with half chances going

both ways, but it was Whitworth who struck first as their forward got half a yard and

smacked the ball from 25 yds (wind assisted) into the corner of our goal 1-0, this wasn’t

against run of play but I did think we were gaining the advantage!

After the goal we continued with pressure and after a great throw in by Sam Mac over a

Whitworth defender Brandon Coughlan cross over to Luke Nicholls was inch perfect for

Luke to half volley over the keeper to draw the match level 1-1

After this the ref seemed to forget he was there, after several misses of off the ball

challenges and numerous offsides not given led to a challenge on Harry Kershaw! And I

repeat I am glad all my players walked away without a serious injury!

We continued despite the WORST ref I have encountered in football! Trying to play our

game, after finally getting a free kick (think the ref must of woken up for a short spell!)

Page | 30

Harry stepped up and drove the dead ball to around the penalty spot where Tom

George guided the ball passed the keeper to make it 1-2 which was deserved!

We continued to dominate the game and pushed forward, but struggled to find the killer

ball rather than have an attempt!! Although we did get a penalty after Harry (again) was

kicked to the ground! After nobody wanted to take the responsibility our captain Tom

stepped up. He struck the ball well but not in the corner, the keeper got down well and

got a good hand on the ball but didn’t do enough to keep it out 1-3

Half time 1-3

Half time came and I told the lads to keep calm and not to rise to the Whitworth’s

challenges or the ref for his lack of control!

We needed the next goal just to kill the game but it was Whitworth who scored next as a

long ball over the top was put away to make a nervy last 20mins 2-3 although we created

some very good chances as Jacob Vitti hit the post from a header from Tom George’s

corner, Brandon’s shot just cleared the bar and Harry Kershaw just missed getting a

couple of shots away, but never got the killer goal to finish the game off!

Full time 2-3

Man of the match – Wilson Cheweshie – superb though out the game totally controlled

the midfield and when he did several Maradona turns on that pitch! was amazing to

watch!

Special mention

Elliot McBurnie – absolute class today, he never stopped running and was immense with

his tackling!

Dan Nicholls – so strong at the back, another classy performance

My thoughts – horrible team to play against and a really poor ref, but I was really glad we

showed our class today and never got sucked into playing at their level!! Roll on next

week when we can give them another lesson!!!!!!!

Page | 31

Date: 14th March 2015

Home v Whitworth

Result: won 1-0

Hi all

Home this week in the cup v Whitworth, having played them last week we know all about

them (and their threats via facebook!!)

The Ref had requested us to kick off a bit earlier @ 9.15 as he had another game

elsewhere, even though Whitworth had agreed they didn’t turn up until 9.20 so it was

decided that we cut the game down to 35mins each way.

We didn’t start well, I think the lateness of Whitworth shook our concentration, we were

very lucky not to of conceded in the first couple of minutes as Whitworth used their long

ball game well as caught us cold, if it wasn’t for some hesitant finishing and great recovery

from Matt Haynes we could have been 0-2 down!!

It took about 15mins to start properly as Harry Kershaw and Wilson Cheweshie started to

gain control in midfield which allowed other players to come into their own, Brandon

Coughlan started to become a real threat on the left wing combined with the runs of Luke

Nicholls and Jacob Vitti I thought it was only time before we got on the score sheet.

I had asked that we at least tested the keeper more this week and the lads responded well

with efforts from Harry and Brandon but not quite testing him enough, our best chance of

the half came to Jacob who beat 3 players in the penalty area for a one on one with the

keeper who stood strong and saved from screamer of a shot from a narrow angle.

Half time 0-0

We continued to dominate the game and chances where coming from all directions as the

keeper pulled off several top class saves Harry, Brandon, Tom George and even Matt

Haynes with a great run from the half way line hit a screamer just over !!

I started to think it wasn’t going to be our day and it was going to go to penalties when

Brandon jumped for a nothing ball in the penalty area which bounced straight to Tom who

was unmarked from 6yds out who didn’t quite strike the ball as he wanted but it looped

over the keeper for his 3rd goal in 2 games 1-0

This was the breakthrough we needed and all we had to do now was hold our nerve and

see the game out which we did with ease.

Page | 32

Full time 1-0

Man of the match - Elliot Mcburnie – really impressed with his worked rate,

determination and quality, he never gave up running and battling today but showed great

class and distribution with the ball

Special mentions – Two sets of pairings are really coming together as the season

progresses Dan Nicholls & Matt Haynes in central defence and Wilson Cheweshie & Harry

Kershaw in central midfield, these partnerships are making us a very tight unit hard to

breakdown and a great springboard for attack, great work rate and understanding of their

roles are really starting to pay off.

Tom George – For popping up with the winning goal didn’t want to go to penalties!!!!

My thoughts – Good team performance today and if we hadn’t found a keeper in such

good form we could have been out of sight, glad Whitworth came to play today rather

than kick us off the park, we kept our nerve and stood tall and dominated throughout.

I thought we looked really solid at the back and midfield and looked very dangerous in

attack with the confidence coming back to our forward line

Date: 21st March 2015

Away v Woodbank

Result: lost 3-0

Hi All

Away this week v Woodbank

Woodbank seem to be our bogey team as we have never got anything out of the 4

previous games v them, but with one loss in the last six games in all competitions we were

confident of getting a result

A couple of late text meant we were missing Jake Cunningham and Wilson Cheweshie

from the line up, but we did have Matt Newstead back after 3 months off from a hip

problem.

Seemed it was another one of those games for us against our bogey team, as straight from

the kick off a couple of lucky bounces and us still being a sleep thinking others will get that

left Woodbank with a gift of a goal within 30 seconds!! 1-0

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We never recovered and midway through the first half after a shambles in our penalty

area a cross was popped over to the back post to find 2 unmarked Woodbank players

which one of them nodded into the goal 2-0

Half time 2-0

Second half was pretty similar to the first as an unmarked player in the box flicked a heel

at the ball and it dropped into the goal 3-0

Full time 3-0

Man of the match – none – we lost as a team today with no outstanding performances!

Special mention – only real high note of the game was to see Matt Newstead back playing

after such a bad injury

My thoughts – we nearly got caught napping last week and just about managed not to

give the opposition a goal start, and then went onto win the game, we didn’t learn and

was caught half a sleep but we then lacked any real desire to push on and get back into

the game, I asked at half time and several times throughout the second half to play the

balls wider as that’s where the space was but all we seemed to do was pump balls straight

down the middle and let them come straight back at us. We huffed and puffed without

any real conviction. This is such a shame as the previous 6 games we had fought hard and

we deserved every point we got, so let’s go back to basic’s next week and start working

for each other and playing football!

Date: 18th April

Neutral ground semi-final Main cup (@ Unsworth) v Pennine Black

Result: lost 0-3

Hi All

At a neutral ground this week (Unsworth) for semi-final of the main cup v our black team,

not sure why the league decided to play both semi-finals on neutral ground, perhaps they

thought the pitch would be better!! But I think Unsworth had forgot to get the sheep out

as the grass was very long and very bobbly and obviously not been rolled since the winter.

However we did start well with Brandon Coughlan being a menace upfront and was

unlucky within a couple of mins gone, but not really testing the stand in keeper too much,

Jacob Vitti also had a chance header but couldn’t quite get on the end of it and headed it

wide.

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The game seem to settle down after this without too many threats from either team,

our back line seemed to have the long ball over the top covered as the black team

couldn’t manage to stay onside, when they did manage to stay on Matt Haynes and

keeper Will Myers had them covered, Will was given the a few words of encouragement

before the game and this seemed to work as at times he played like a sweeper.

5mins before the break the Black team managed to spring the offside trap as their winger

broke free chased into the area as Will came rushing out to close the angle the winger

squared the ball across very unselfishly for the black’s to tap in 0-1

Within a couple of mins from half time we got caught again this time Will pulled off a

great save but the ball didn’t go out of play and even though we had plenty of players

back working hard the 3 forwards for the blacks managed to score 0-2

Half time 0-2

Second half we changed things around and decided to go for a 433 formation and have a

go, but both teams struggled to get going, the blacks also changed things around and had

a couple of good chances but Will was having a great game being brave coming off his line.

We did manage a couple of chances late in the second half as Matt Newstead sent a

rocket just over the bar and Sam Huszar turning at the edge of the penalty box and just

drilling his shot wide from his left boot.

The blacks had the final say after a goalmouth scramble they managed to bundle the ball

over the line as Will’s big hands couldn’t do enough to keep the ball out

Full time 0-3

Man of the match – Will Myers had much more influence on HIS defenders today, really

strong goal keeping performance.

Special mentions – Matt Haynes definitely up for this game showed great determination

strength and skill and was only just pipped by Will for the man of the match

- Matt Newstead and good cameo after his injury and a great shot, also

for lending his boots to Wilson after Wilson’s boots split, also to Sam

Huszar lending his boots to Matt shortly after good to know we are a

team!

My thoughts – good battling from our team today but the right team won, nobody let the

team or themselves down today. Good performance!!

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Date: 21st April 2015

Home v Tottington

Result: lost 1-6

Hi all

First of our evening games Home v Tottington

Sorry the report is a little sketchy as it is several days after the match and some of the info

has gone missing out of my head!!!!

We knew this would be a tough game as Tottington had only dropped a couple of points

all season losing and drawing to our Black team and us pinching a 3-3 draw at their place!!

(one of the results of the season).

We started really well and looked like we had no hangover from losing in the semi-final of

the cup the Saturday before, with us looking comfortable all over the field, and we got the

first goal! We won a free kick just outside the Tottington penalty area, Harry Kershaw hit

the ball with pace into the six yard box where Brandon Coughlan got a slight touch to

guide it away from the Totty goal keeper 1-0. With Brandon having a fan club on the

sidelines he made sure to celebrate!!!!!

After this Totty showed the fight in their team coming through the manager who shouted

and criticised every decision against them along with the ‘home ref’ (Craig) this seemed to

have us lose our concentration, from a series of very long bullet throw ins and corners

right under the bar we found ourselves 1-3 at half time.

Half time 1-3

The second half continued as the first with their manager very vocal (Perhaps I need to get

more vocal and abuse the ref’s!) and the very long throw ins continuing Totty scored

another 3 goals, final 10mins we finally got to grips with the throw ins and started to play

football again, we created a couple of good chances with Tom George just missing with a

screamer and Wilson Cheweshie testing the keeper

Full time 1-6

Man of the match – split decision

First half – Matt Haynes marshalled the defence superbly stopping Totty

having any chances through open play.

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Second half – Tom George rolled his sleeves up and tried to take control

back to Pennine

Special mention – Will Myers – although he struggled with the throw ins and corners

made some brilliant saves.

My thoughts - if we took out the throw ins and corners which nearly all the goals came

from we were quite close to Totty, biggest problem for me was we switched off after we

scored and let all the moaning and complaining from Totty get to us, We stopped our

game and panicked and resorted to playing a long high ball instead of playing the ball on

the ground. We have the players to compete at this level but sometimes our mindset isn’t

there!!