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Team Colours    

Home: White Shirts.    Black Shorts.    Black Socks.
Away (Foxes) : Red Shirts.    Red Shorts.    Black Socks.
Away (Cubs): Blue Shirts.    Blue Shorts.    Blue Socks.

Season 11-12 Fixtures

Tournaments

Foxes came runners up in the Birstall Tournament 2011

Manager

Foxes: Phil Hughes
Tel: 07790 653309

Email Under 9s Manager

Coaches

Carl Yadav
Iain Sands
Paul Williams
Andy Smith
Michael Oswell
 

Training Information

Birstall United: Saturday Morning 9:00 - 10:30 at Meadow Lane, Birstall 

Squad Members:

Foxes:
 

(not in order) Parees Patel, Finley Hewitt, Vivek Parekh, Joel Hughes, Daniel Yadav,
Dylan Sands, Harry Sampson, Kyle Hewing, Emillio Stavrou

Cubs:

(not in order)  Devon Alderson, Spencer Smith, Frazer Clarke, Max Chapman, Daivik Sharma,
Emanuel Domingo, Harrison Tacey, Morgan Williams, William Oswell

Match Reports

Syston 0-2 Under 9 Foxes (9 Oct 2011)

Round four of the Mutual League Division 3 fixtures and the Foxes had a short away journey, all be it with a slightly convoluted route thanks to the marathon diversions, across Watermead to face neighbours Syston Town. The two teams   Shared the same starts to the season as well as geography with one win, one draw and one loss. With last week’s performance still fresh in the memory everyone was anxious to see if the boys could replicate that form.

Syston kicked off into a stiffish breeze with a long ball over the top that went straight out for a goal kick. The home side had the better possession in the opening minutes in the Birstall half without any creating any dangerous goal  scoring chances, a scuffed shot  easily dealt with by Joel in the second minute. The resulting clearance gave the Foxes some attacking possession with Parees whipping in a shot from the right saved by the keeper on 4 minutes.

A long clearance for the Syston attack to chase led to a series of corners that the Foxes dealt well with, the Syston attacker struggling to get any lift in the breeze.

Having defended strongly against the home team for the opening 7 minutes, the Foxes went on the offensive displaying some of the passing and movement from the previous week. Dylan won a ball on the centre spot, rounded 2 players, played a through ball for Dan whose first time strike went wide only for Emillio to knock the ball back across the box to Parees whose effort was saved. That clearance went for a Birstall throw, quickly taken to Emillio who ran into to the

box his deflected shot saved by the keeper. In a carbon copy of the move before, Dylan claimed the clearance in the middle, rounded a couple of players laid the ball off to Emillio in space on the left hand edge of the Syston area, controlled it with one touch and rifled his shot into the top right hand corner of the net. One nil to Birstall, 9 and half minutes played. Birstall continued to play with good tempo and attack the opposition goal, a quickly taken throw in yielded the Foxe’s first corner on 12 minutes, sent in-swinging by Dan just over attacking heads for a goal kick. Syston were now struggling to get the ball into the Birstall half and Parees picked up the ball on the right, beat his man whipped a shot from the edge of box; it took a deflection off a Syston defenders boot past the keeper into the net. Two nil to Birstall, 14 minutes played.

For the remainder of the half the boys continued to test the home keeper, Emilio and Dylan with shots saved, Parees, tussling and more often winning his 1:1 with the Syston left wing, crossing lots of balls from the right. The half ended with Dylan and Parees combining with a one two, the shot going wide for Emilio off balance to strike the ball with a back heel across the goal towards the far corner, the keeper saving yet another shot. The Foxes unlucky not to finish the half 4 or 5 goals to the good.

Both teams made changes in the second half. For Birstall Vivek replaced Emillio on the left, Kyle for Dan up front who donned the gloves for the first time for a stint in goal. The Syston change was tactical, moving personal to cover the centre of midfield which denied the Foxes as much time and possession on the ball at the start of the second period.

The home team also started to use the conditions to their advantage, playing many long balls over the top with the wind, but Harry and Fin remained unflustered clearing when needed but also trying to play the ball out from the back when the opportunity presented itself. Fin released Parees with a great low through ball down the right on 26minite.

The resulting corner was met by Fin, whose low strike was blocked and cleared.

Dan met and dealt with the Syston long balls, and thumped some long balls back himself, one releasing Vivek down the left whose deflected cross was picked up by Dylan, a Syston defender again cutting out the resultant cross from the bye line.

Emillio came back on for Parees for the last 10, slotting into central midfield, Dylan moving to the right wing. Syston continued to play long balls over the top, but were mopped up by the Birstall defence, Harry giving the impetus back to the Foxes with his clearances and long throw in. In the 35th minute a Syston counter led to a corner subsequently cleared and proved the last risky moment for the away team.

Birstall continued to create plenty of chances, Kyle and Viv pressing the Syston area, numerous balls played into the box but the Syston defence and goal keeper remained resolute and the score remained 2:0.

Overall another superb display from all the boys with plenty of attacking intent and solid defending, they passed the ball around well and were a threat from all areas of the pitch.

Well done to all, and thank you as ever to the parents for their support!!

Stoke Golding 1-8 Under 9 Foxes (2 Oct 2011)

Score lines often mask the story of a game, one sided score lines often discredit opponents and its all to easy to dismiss the value of a performance  when the perception is that the opposition was considerably weaker and not a fair match. The reality is that in their previous 2 games this year Stoke  Golding had in fact scored more goals than the Foxes had managed, and individually had a group of technically able players. What isn’t in doubt is that after 2 challenging games this year the boys hit their stride and produced a remarkable performance that left the usually overly talkative coaches, speechless.

From the first whistle the Foxes attacked relentlessly, allowing the opposition little time on the ball, cleanly winning challenge after challenge, not conceding one free kick. With the ball, they kept possession for long periods and moved it well amongst themselves.

Finley and Vivek dealt with the occasional forays into the Foxes half often turning defence into attack leaving Joel with little to contend with in the opening 20 minutes. Both Emilio and Parees bossed their wings providing numerous crosses. Dylan mopped up plenty of ball in the centre, Dan defending from the front and creating plenty of space for the midfield to run into. The Foxes were rewarded with 4 goals in the first half, 2 each for Dan and Emilio, the third the pick of the bunch. Having won the ball on the edge of the Foxes box Dylan and

Parees combined to advance the ball up the pitch with a series of wall passes for Dan to strike Parees’ cross first time into the net.

Half time saw some changes, Harry slotting into defence for Fin and Dylan taking over the goal keeping duties for Joel to stretch his legs down the right. Having set the tempo in the first half there was no let up in the second and the Foxes continued to attack, Joel slotting in down the right, Emilio and Dan were duly rewarded with their hattriks. Stoke’s resilience was rewarded with a goal when noting the attacking commitment of the Foxes  they employed the use of the long ball over the defence, that eventually paid off after a couple of attempts, an awkward bounce going the way of  a Stoke attacker and producing a well taken finish. Parees got in on the act with a strike from distance and Finley  with a poachers goal at the near post in the dying seconds. The most pleasing aspect of the performance was the attitude of the boys, who encouraged  each other from the off, showed due respect to the officials and were gracious in victory.

Well Done!!

Glenfield Panthers 2-3 Birstall U9 Cubs (2 Oct 2011)

This match showed everything positive that has become part of the ‘new look’ Cubs that we have seen through the summer tournaments and into the beginning of this season.

It was a red hot lunchtime kick off and the Cubs were playing up hill for the first half. It is fair to say that both teams were organised and it was a fluent game of football from the start. Despite coming under some early pressure, the Cubs defended well, with Devon having a stormer in defence. The Cubs remembered the drills that we practiced yesterday and marked up well when defending corners and throw ins. Daivik made a perfectly timed tackle in our penalty area to deny the Panthers a clean through shooting chance. It wasn’t long before the Cubs started mounting some attacks of there own. First, they had a four on one situation against the Panthers but failed to convert. Then they had a few corners and attacking free kicks . It wasn’t long before the deadlock was broken.

Harrison who had been motoring back and forward in the centre of midfield, got hold of the ball and ran into space on the right. He fired a low hard cross across the goal and Morgan was there running in at the back post to put the ball over the line. The game ebbed and flowed for a while after this with both teams having chances. Will was running the length and breadth of the pitch in order to keep the Panthers big central midfielder under control. However, the Panthers soon equalised and shortly before half time added a second despite Max making a brave first save, he couldn’t keep the second shot out.

Half time brought some much needed refreshments including being doused in water. The Cubs felt that they were still in this game and had played well. Will bravely put his hand up and said that he needed a rest and so the second half started with Manny on for him. This time the Cubs were kicking downhill.

Both teams had chances in the first part of the second half, but the heat was taking its toll and the pace was slowing. Manny had an excellent chance to draw level when he found himself clean through on the goalkeeper, only to pull his shot wide. Will came back on for an exhausted Harrison who had run his socks off as usual. The equaliser finally came about five minutes from the end, when after a shot from Manny was well saved from the keeper, it came back out to Frazer who stabbed his first shot straight at the goaly, but when it rebounded to him for a second go, he cooly lifted it over the keeper and into the back of the net. Great credit to Frazer for taking his time as it was one of those balls bouncing towards him that could have easily been ballooned over the bar if he had snatched at it.

With only a few minutes left and everyone flagging in the heat, those of us on the touchline would have settled for a draw. The Cubs, don’t know when to stop these days though and kept going forward. The ball came to Manny on the left of midfield in the final minute and he went on a mazy ‘Ricky Villa’ type run into the box dribbling past at least two Panthers before shooting low and hard into the bottom corner. The ref blew for full time seconds after the restart.

The Cubs were delighted and exhausted in equal measure. Their positional play when not in possession was much improved since the last game. They didn’t let their heads drop or moan at each other when they went behind and perhaps most notably different from last season, they showed a real competitive edge today, winning many 50:50 balls and showing that real desire to go on and win the game.

Well done lads. A cracking start. Two games in (both away), two wins, six goals, four different scorers.

The exact moment the winning goal was scored in the final minute.
BU players jump with delight as Glenfield hold their heads in the hands.

East Goscote Gunners 2-3 Birstall United Cubs (25 Sep 2011)

This was always going to be a tough first game for the Cubs, being away and also more importantly because they were a week later than the other teams in their division in starting (due to a late withdrawel from their opening day opponents).

However, as the first half got underway, it was clear that the Cubs were focussed and had got their ‘match heads’ on. They dominated possession from the start with some strong, positive running down the wings from Emmanuel and Devon. With Morgan and Harrison getting into good positions in the penalty area, we had a few early chances and it wasn’t long before the Cubs took the lead through a crisp strike from the right hand side of the penalty area from Emmanuel.

The Cubs kept pressing, with Daivik making some incisive tackles at the back and Spencer roaming forward for corners. The Cubs added a second after a throw in from Emmanuel looped up over the goalkeeper and was put over the line by Harrison.

This seemed to spur the home side into action and really for the first time, Max started to be tested in goal. Shortly before half time East Goscote halved the deficit with a similar strike to Emmanuel’s goal. Half time brought some changes in the Birstall team, with Frazer coming on as striker and Morgan moving to left midfield to replace Spencer. Will took over on the right from Emmanuekl who moved into the centre and Harrison replaced Daivik at the back.

The second half started positively, with Will making some great runs down the right, resulting in two or three corners. It wasn’t long before the Cubs made it a third when Harrison who was coming into midfield to join a Cubs attack hit a great shot from outside the penalty box, which gave the keeper no chance. Again, this seemed to spur on the home side and they started to exert mounting pressure on the Cubs. Not only were they pushing forward they were starting to beat the Cubs to 50:50 balls and intercepting passes. They scored after another period of pressure led to some confusion in the Cubs defence resulting in a goal.

It’s fair to say that East Goscote continued to dominate for the remainder of the half and looked most likely to score. However, the Cubs kept going and with some last ditch defending from pretty much all the players on the pitch and a couple of trademark Max saves, the Cubs hung on for all three points.

In the team talk after the game, the Cubs identified that they need to work on marking and positional play especially when the opposition has the ball. They felt pleased that they managed to get off to a winning start after such a tight game.


 

Netherhal Diamonds 2 - 1 Under 9 Foxes (3rd September 2011)

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This was a difficult opening game of the league season against a well organised Netherhall side played in difficult conditions, the boys struggling to  cope with a strong gusting wind. The Foxes started brightly, with a well worked centre yielding a corner in the opening seconds. The resultant kick was scrambled away by the Netherhall defence only for the clearance to be struck back in from range just over the bar. Had that opening salvo gone in the Foxes favour the outcome of the game might have been different, as it was minutes later an unmarked Netherhall attacker was able to convert a close range effort from one of their opening attacks. The early goal gave Netherhall the impetus and the Foxes were forced to defend for long periods in the first half. Netherhall pressured well and the boys struggled to create attacking opportunities of their own

Birstall played into a strengthening wind in the second half and this combined with the opposition pressure made it difficult to break out from their own half, particularly from restarts. Netherall scored a second in the middle of the half, a well struck shot from distance. The Foxes showed their usual fight despite this and kept battling and were rewarded with a goal courtesy of Vivek in his now familiar poaching position, in the dying minutes of the game. Well done to all.

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