Ferndale youth U15 Girls Match REPORT PaGe 4

Saturday 15th March 2008

Perrywoods Youth 0 Ferndale Youth 3 (Rebecca Wright 2 Vicky Jones 1)

This will go down as the most important and hardest match to win this season against a very good Perrywoods Team. This was the first game in 2008 where Ferndale U15s have been able to field a full team of 11 players and even then it was with usual goalkeeper Vicky Jones up front and our super striker Shanice James in goal as she was not 100 % fit but refused to let her team down. This was second against third position in the league so it was important for neither team to drop points.

The game that was watched from the side lines was a tough, fast game with neither team prepared to give an inch to each other. Perrywoods often won the aerial battle with Ferndale just winning the passing game but there really wasn’t much in it.

The defensive display from both teams was top notch with both teams to date letting in no more than an average of 1 goal a game and it was obvious from this display the reason why.

Goal scoring chances were limited but it was from a low driven corner that found Vicky Jones on the front post to slot home the first and very important goal. This was a game where the winners would be the ones to take their goal scoring opportunities and it was midway through the second half when the ball came out of the Perrywoods box to bounce in front of ‘Becks’ Wright that she cracked a superb volley into the back of the net.

This just brought Perrywoods more into the game and the back three of Jodie, Charlie and Sophie with holding midfielder Becky worked extremely hard to keep a clean sheet while Connie and Lucy worked hard to try to win the midfield battle against a very talented Perrywoods captain.

Emma made driving runs down the right wing and caused Perrywoods many problems while Emily on the opposite wing worked tiredlessly up and down the wing winning many important headers which saw her leaving the field of play for a while to get treatment for a bloody nose and a change of shirt.

It was during the latter stages of the 2nd half that saw Becky Jones play a superb long through ball in front of Becks. The very talented Perrywoods goalie was quick off her line to cut the angle down but Becks did the correct thing and hit the ball first time to secure the win. Perrywoods did come back at us and were very unlucky with a superb driven shot from the edge of the area that hit the bottom of the post before Ferndale cleared the ball.

Well done to both Vicky and Shanice who entertained us in their reversal of rolls but Player of the Match went to Connie who seemed to cover every blade of grass and who simply got stuck into the match with shear determination.

I would like to praise the behaviour from both teams both on and off the pitch who made this match the most enjoyable and nerve jangling match so far this season.

A big thanks to Charlies dad for running the line for us!

Saturday 29th March 2008

Balsall & Berkswell 0 Ferndale Youth 17 (Becks W 8, Vicky 1, Lucy 1, Charlotte 1, Shanice 3, Becky J 2)

A long journey towards Coventry saw Ferndale collect the three points to keep the pressure on Wyrley. Credit to Balsall who never gave up and worked extremily hard. Ferndales clinical passing opened up the Balsall defence to create some lovely goal scoring. Charlotte claimed her first Ferndale goal (and dad ended paying a goal scoring bonus) Emily Smith raised her game and pulled the game wide winning many challenges. Of all the Ferndale players Emily won player of the match because she was able to lift the quality of her game. With still many matches still to play the final division champions will be pushed all the way

Saturday 5th April 2008

Ferndale Youth 4 Alvechurch Lions 0

Alvechurch Lions are a very hard working side and in this game they didnt disappoint. They won many of the arial balls and worked tiredlessly to keep Ferndale at bay. A long range effort from Becky Jones netted the first goal with the Alvechurch goalie at full stretch and the ball going in just below the cross bar. The Alvechurch goalie pulled off the best display that we have seen all season and commanded her area and with her form at this high standard it will take a good team to take points off Alvechurch towards the close of the season. The passing of Ferndale was at its best during the 1st half but Alvechurch worked hard to break down any attacks. By half time Shanice had doubled the score but this game was far from over.

Within the first 15 minutes of the second half Ferndale were awarded a penalty for a trip in the box. Becky Jones has an excellent record from the spot and has a cool head under pressure and is the lady for the job. Yet again the Alvechurch goalie pulled off the save only for Becky to pounce and slot in the 3rd goal. This still didnt stop Alvechurch as they came at us but it was down to a cool finish from Shanice James as she slotted the ball inside the left hand post with just 10 seconds left to play.

Credit to the Alvechurch manager who has put in a lot of hard work into this team and their improvement has been massive. Any teams yet to play Alvechurch- Beware- This team never gives up until the final whistle !

Another 3 points on the board for Ferndale with a very busy finish to the season ahead. Keep up the good work girls - you can be proud of what has been achieved so far this year but we still need to keep the hard work going

Player of the Match - Jodie has improved this season and is an important member in the team. A good display and good work rate in both halves earnt her the trophy this week -Well done!

Goalscorers Becky Jones 2 Shanice James 2

Saturday 12th April 2008

Boldmere Falcons 1 Ferndale Youth 5

This is a Boldmere side that has the quality to take three points off any team in the league if they are not shown respect. It wasnt long after Ferndale had taken a 2 -0 lead that Boldmere came back 2-1 and it was a case of who ever scored the next goal would have pole position. Ferndale with thoughts at the top end of the league and Boldmere knew that they were getting very close to upsetting another team at the top of the league. Ferndale kept to their passing game and made use of the wings. Emma Pearce was on top form on the wing and made excellent use of the balls played to her throughout the game.In defence Jodie didn't miss a thing and performed to her own high standards. The midfield battle is so important to enable us to bag these wins and yet again the girls did not disappoint. Eventually Ferndale wore down their opponents to win the game 5 -1

Another 3 points in the bag but the scoreline flattered Ferndale and Boldmere deserved more for all their hard work. Well done girls and keep up the good work !

Goals Becks Wright 4 Shanice James 1

Players of the Match Jodie & Emma

Saturday 19th April 2008

Solihull Borough 1 Ferndale Youth 5

This was to be Ferndales 7th league match with only 10 players. The high winds were to leave the spectators feeling like they had recieved 'botox' injections while the players red faces would clash with the orange shirts. A small pitch combined with a very entertaining ref would keep away the cold with the Ferndale crowd enjoying themselves. For the second week the score doesnt give credit to a very hard working Solihull team who always looked threating on the break and put away some great shots from the edge of the area. Ferndale struggled to grab hold of the game in the opening 10 minutes so the formation was changed from 3-4-2 to 3-5-1 thus packing our midfield and reverting to a formation that the team thrives on. It wasn't long after that The Ferns took the lead.At half time Ferndale had a comfortable lead at 4-0 with Becks Wright (the goal poacher) netting 2 and Shanice bagging a brace. If Ferndale thought that the opposition would give in we were to be very mistaken. Solihull came at us and it was long before they were rewarded. A shot from the right hand side of the pitch from just outside the area was to reward the Solihull team for all their hard work. As soon as the player hit the ball it was goal bound as it looped over Vicky at pace and bellowed the net. By now the Ferndale team had settled with a 4 player midfield with Shanice allowed to play a free roll. Ferndales 5th goal was a superb shot from Shanice at the angle of the goal and she buried the ball to give Ferndale the win. This was yet another display were the whole team can take credit for a win that had to be worked out and credit can be given to our opposition for being so resillient. The player of the match award was a difficult disission. Vicky Jones has commanded not only the goal area but the respect of her defence and had to be alert today.The 3 player defence worked hard with Emily dropping in from the wing, Jodie still riding on a high with the training being taken into the match situation and Sophie Chilman leading the defence eventhough she was struggling with fitness. The midfield played well as they were understrength. Bec Jones covered everyblade of grass while the determination from Lucy is always superb especially when there is very little time to be had on the ball. With Connie there is always the desire to do well while Emma Pearce kept many balls in, took on the opposition and delivered quality crosses. The deadly duo of Becks and Shanice is paying dividends , while Becks has the art of bagging goals from any scraps that are there for the taking in the goal mouth, Shanices' fancy fast footwork has the ability of crafting goals that take the breath way. Keep up the good work girls !

Player of the Match Shanice James- This is the first time this season that Shanice has produced the all round performance for the whole of the match. Since the beginning of the season Paul and myself have worked hard to get the very best from this player and this is now paying dividends. Everyone has always known that her skills are outstanding but Shanice is now warming up properly (when shes not off to the loo!) and is listening to instructions before the match and at half time. Her cheeky smile and colourful hat means that she is popular with both parents and players. It was a pleasure for both coach and manager to give this award this week. Keep up the good work !

Saturday 26th April 2008

Ferndale Youth 7 Perrywoods 1

''A game of two halves'' is the famous saying and this certainly was ! Ferndale made the best start to this game, the best start this season and this continued for the 35 minutes of the first half. Everything that has been taught on the training pitch was taken onto the playing field. The full width of the pitch was used with the ball regularly spread wide and a combination of short sharp passes and one twos made it an uphill battle for Perrywoods to compete eventhough they never dropped their heads. A 6-0 lead at half time and it looked like this was to be the performance of the season.

If we thought we were going to carry on were we left off we were very much mistaken. Becks Wright was carried off the pitch shortly after the start after twisting her knee and this would be the end of her game. Down to ten players and it was still game on. Perrywoods worked hard to keep us at bay and made us struggle to make headway. We now seemed to struggle to spread the ball around and whether it was the result of a long season or the slightly humid weather but we never got back into our stride. Perrywoods bagged a very well deserved goal within the last 2 minutes of play to bring the result to 7-1.

If their were negatives in the 2nd half there certainly wasn't any in the first half and it is always the positives that need to be taken to the next game. It was 'cracking' football to watch and this was sounded out by one of the Perrywoods parents who was quick to comment on how good the passing play is from Ferndale. Mark Hilliard (Perrywoods Manager) wrote in the match report '' Ferndale play excellent football". Another three points on the board and a trophy at the end of the season is a very realistic possibility so lets go out there on Wednesday evening and play the same stardard of football that we did in the first half of this game. Thanks to Perrywoods who are a very sporting team and a pleasure to play - Good luck for the rest of the season !

Goalscorers- Shanice 5 Becky 1 Becks 1