Such a Perfect Day....almost!
Gloucester B travelled to Brummy-land for their first fixture in the Midland Challenge Trophy against good friends of the association, Erdington & Saltley and each player played their part in what was to be an almost perfect day of football.
Jones however did try his best to scupper any trip at all through excessive wind-breaking - leaving enough of an odour in the air to kill a small dog. Sadly, his own brand took him by surprise as within a few minutes he had passed out and was asleep/unconscious, head flat against the back of his seat.
Anyway, upon arrival at the Castle Vale Stadium, the boys took some deep breaths of the lovely fresh air and proceeded into the community-filled arena for their morning match-up, where it was noticed by a number of opposition parents as to how impressive the boys looked in their GPSFA regalia.
With the coaches having been fed a sumptuous sausage sandwich and the boys now geared up for the game, Gloucester lined up for kick off, but were caught by surprise early into the game.
E&S took an early lead as the visitors failed to clear properly and left a gap in the middle of their defence for Barrett to run through after a pass from Price. Barrett's initial effort was saved by Boakes; however the goalkeeper’s parry found its way back to the striker for him to slot home.
Gloucester responded perfectly and within 90 seconds they had their equaliser. Good link-up play between Villiers and Fisher on the right saw the ball find its way through to Bee, whose shot ricocheted out to Villiers who slotted home.
A good clearance from Ball allowed Bee to find himself one-on-one with the keeper, only for the winger to put his effort over the bar. However, he made up for this with a nice one-two with Fisher, setting up the latter for our second - a sweet strike with his left into the top corner as we finish the first third 2-1 to the good.
The second-third saw chances aplenty for the visiting team, yet the score remained the same. With Taylor having his best game so far (keeping it simple), Villiers tracking back superbly, Fisher linking up with, well, everyone and Kennedy making some fine interceptions, the boys had set themselves up well to break down Erdington and get themselves the third goal.
However, efforts from Fisher, who had received a number of good passes through the middle from Mulraney all fell wide of the post. Kennedy's header from a Mulraney free-kick hit the crossbar and his resulting effort from the following corner went just wide. Another great opportunity saw Werner head clear, Kennedy into Fisher then Fisher to Bee, whose shot rebounded off the keeper for Fisher, but he put the ball wide.
The final clear opportunity saw Werner intercept the ball on the half way line and twinkle his way around several E&S players, creating an opening to slot past the keeper, only to put the ball wide.
Phew, chances missed had thankfully now come to an end and we're now into the 'finishing' third - literally.
The yellows quickly gained a two-goal cushion after Kennedy's shot rebounded out of the box from where Villiers struck the ball superbly over the top of the goalkeeper and into the net. This was followed by an Erdington goal kick given to their left-back. His pass back to the goalkeeper was pounced on by Fisher who only needed one touch to set himself up for a top-corner finish.
Another clearance by the E&S defence was perfectly dealt with by Mulraney, whose half-volleyed pass was played into Fisher who again took one touch and smashed home - another good finish to complete his hat-trick.
Three perfect corners in succession by Taylor saw the first cleared off the line, the second headed onto the post by Jones and the third met by the head of Mulraney to put it past the keeper and make it six.
The final kick and header of the game came as Kennedy's shot from the right was parried onto the head of Taylor who slotted home, giving the visitors a well-earned 7-1 victory.
All the boys played their part in this win, not one boy let their team mates down. After a slow start, Ball and Mason looked very solid, but a special mention goes out to Werner who had his best game so far - intercepting the ball and looking very composed when in possession, creating many situations that led to Gloucester attacking again. He doesn't like playing in defence, but to his own detriment maybe, is starting to look like a quality part of the back-line. Also, Fisher in midfield was told beforehand that he could be a very influential player if he kept it simple and linked-up with his team-mates and this he pretty-much did to perfection.
In this game, we started to look like a team that can get the ball down and link-up well, not just look like some capable individuals. Who knows what can happen this season, but If we choose to build on this performance, then the outcomes might just be that little bit more within our control.
And a perfect day for football was completed by a 7-0 win for Civil Service, two assists for Harris and a victory for Liverpool. Happy days.
Gloucester: Dory (Boakes); Bambi (Mason), Ball, Werner; Balala (Bee), Piglet (Taylor), Jones, Fisher, JV (Villiers); Mullers (Mulraney), Rowling (Kennedy).
Jones however did try his best to scupper any trip at all through excessive wind-breaking - leaving enough of an odour in the air to kill a small dog. Sadly, his own brand took him by surprise as within a few minutes he had passed out and was asleep/unconscious, head flat against the back of his seat.
Anyway, upon arrival at the Castle Vale Stadium, the boys took some deep breaths of the lovely fresh air and proceeded into the community-filled arena for their morning match-up, where it was noticed by a number of opposition parents as to how impressive the boys looked in their GPSFA regalia.
With the coaches having been fed a sumptuous sausage sandwich and the boys now geared up for the game, Gloucester lined up for kick off, but were caught by surprise early into the game.
E&S took an early lead as the visitors failed to clear properly and left a gap in the middle of their defence for Barrett to run through after a pass from Price. Barrett's initial effort was saved by Boakes; however the goalkeeper’s parry found its way back to the striker for him to slot home.
Gloucester responded perfectly and within 90 seconds they had their equaliser. Good link-up play between Villiers and Fisher on the right saw the ball find its way through to Bee, whose shot ricocheted out to Villiers who slotted home.
A good clearance from Ball allowed Bee to find himself one-on-one with the keeper, only for the winger to put his effort over the bar. However, he made up for this with a nice one-two with Fisher, setting up the latter for our second - a sweet strike with his left into the top corner as we finish the first third 2-1 to the good.
The second-third saw chances aplenty for the visiting team, yet the score remained the same. With Taylor having his best game so far (keeping it simple), Villiers tracking back superbly, Fisher linking up with, well, everyone and Kennedy making some fine interceptions, the boys had set themselves up well to break down Erdington and get themselves the third goal.
However, efforts from Fisher, who had received a number of good passes through the middle from Mulraney all fell wide of the post. Kennedy's header from a Mulraney free-kick hit the crossbar and his resulting effort from the following corner went just wide. Another great opportunity saw Werner head clear, Kennedy into Fisher then Fisher to Bee, whose shot rebounded off the keeper for Fisher, but he put the ball wide.
The final clear opportunity saw Werner intercept the ball on the half way line and twinkle his way around several E&S players, creating an opening to slot past the keeper, only to put the ball wide.
Phew, chances missed had thankfully now come to an end and we're now into the 'finishing' third - literally.
The yellows quickly gained a two-goal cushion after Kennedy's shot rebounded out of the box from where Villiers struck the ball superbly over the top of the goalkeeper and into the net. This was followed by an Erdington goal kick given to their left-back. His pass back to the goalkeeper was pounced on by Fisher who only needed one touch to set himself up for a top-corner finish.
Another clearance by the E&S defence was perfectly dealt with by Mulraney, whose half-volleyed pass was played into Fisher who again took one touch and smashed home - another good finish to complete his hat-trick.
Three perfect corners in succession by Taylor saw the first cleared off the line, the second headed onto the post by Jones and the third met by the head of Mulraney to put it past the keeper and make it six.
The final kick and header of the game came as Kennedy's shot from the right was parried onto the head of Taylor who slotted home, giving the visitors a well-earned 7-1 victory.
All the boys played their part in this win, not one boy let their team mates down. After a slow start, Ball and Mason looked very solid, but a special mention goes out to Werner who had his best game so far - intercepting the ball and looking very composed when in possession, creating many situations that led to Gloucester attacking again. He doesn't like playing in defence, but to his own detriment maybe, is starting to look like a quality part of the back-line. Also, Fisher in midfield was told beforehand that he could be a very influential player if he kept it simple and linked-up with his team-mates and this he pretty-much did to perfection.
In this game, we started to look like a team that can get the ball down and link-up well, not just look like some capable individuals. Who knows what can happen this season, but If we choose to build on this performance, then the outcomes might just be that little bit more within our control.
And a perfect day for football was completed by a 7-0 win for Civil Service, two assists for Harris and a victory for Liverpool. Happy days.
Gloucester: Dory (Boakes); Bambi (Mason), Ball, Werner; Balala (Bee), Piglet (Taylor), Jones, Fisher, JV (Villiers); Mullers (Mulraney), Rowling (Kennedy).
