QE Girls vs Tyne Met Girls

This was our first game of the season, preparation had been made the week before with Gary “GShore” Hogg showing us his attacking and defending strategies. We needed maximum preparation for the biggest game of the season against Tyne Met as this result last year ended in a 14-0 defeat and the reverse was 11-0.

Everyone was up for the game with a quick team selfie, not so quick when you have Gary trying to work the camera, and a warm-up we then lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Gary’s managerial tactics coming to light, and with a sudden transfer of Alex Friskney in as goal keeper the night before we didn’t know how this game was going to end up.

The game started off very even with both teams having equal possession, which was surprising for us considering previous results, with just their number 10 playing a free role providing us with a challenge. She wasn’t afraid to shoot from 21 yards out but with nothing to show for it. They had a few good chances but with an excellent save from Alex to block the shot into the top right corner we knew we had to up the pace. Great play from Emma on the left hand side put a great through ball for Kelsey who had a good chance to put us 1-0 up when she broke through the defence beating the opposition for pace and striking the ball just wide of the right post.

The end of the first half was near and both teams had had equal opportunities to score with possession around 52%-48% to us, obviously. With an inspirational 5 minute team talk from Gaz we were ready for the second half. We lined-up with the same formation and straight away broke away onto goal from the right hand side with Charlotte Feather getting through the gap in the defence. The strike was saved by the keeper and we were awarded a corner, something in which the manager had be prioritising in training the week before for a good 40 minutes, so we knew we had a chance to put his theory to the test. The short corner was taken and a good cross in from Kate provided a chance for Charlotte Firth to have a shot on goal but was deflected by their defender.

Their left full back and winger were linking up well but with excellent defending from Bethany Dean it proved difficult for them to cross the ball in. They then had to try and go down the middle where Eliesha was strong and put in some good tackles to win us back the ball. From a defending perspective we were very strong with everyone putting in a great effort and closing down the ball to limit the shots. However, as we focused too much on defending we had no-one upfront to get us the goal to put us in front. We cleared the ball, which was given to their right-winger, she attempted to cut inside but with an excellent tackle from Kaye it went out for a corner.

In the final minutes of the game we knew we had to stay tight and mark our players. The ball was crossed in but with a good header they managed to get it into the top left corner, if I was a few inches taller I could have cleared the ball off the line.

With an all-round good performance and managing to concede 13 goals less than last year Gary was very happy with the result.

Attendance: 4

(Wo)Man of the Match: Bethany Dean.

Team: Alex Friskney, Bethany Dean, Bethany Edgar, Aimee Black, Kaye Deighton, Eliesha Singh, Amber Hemming (capt), Emma Tummelty, Charlotte Firth, Charlotte Feather, Kate Merryweather.

Subs: Tanisha Waters, Kelsey Holmes, Tiff Butler and Amanda Ormston.

QE C vs Hartlepool B

With a disappointing result first game of the season against the Boro, we were all keen to get our first win of the season under our belts. The bus journey was fairly eventful with the tunes of Davo and Conner Underwood (who looks remarkably like Stephen Quinn from Hull city). However the good atmosphere on the bus was not to last due to our bus driver, who was completely clueless when it comes to directions, got us completely lost. This meant we had to get changed on the bus which is always a struggle. Arriving for a 2 o’clock kick off at quarter past was not the best preparation for the game. After a quick warm up of about 3 minutes PC informed us of what he wanted out of the team and he tried to implement his pass and move tactics onto a baller friendly pitch which we were playing on. Suited me right down to the ground.

We lined up as follows:

GK: Tomo

RB: Sam ‘the rock’ Williams

CB: Davo

CB: Conner

LB: Josh

RM: Tom

CM: Curtis (skipper)

CM: Doug ‘the gazelle’

LM: Murphy

ST: Jack

ST: Harry

We started well with some good possession football, especially playing out from the back. However they started to get on top and in their main man who was playing a free role started picking the ball up and driving at our defence. We started giving away sloppy free kicks in dangerous areas and Tomo was pulling off some decent saves (for once). Ten Minutes later we were let off the hook when a corner came and the ball had appeared to have crossed the line but the ref didn’t give it, it was miles over the line if I’m being truthfully honest. However we began to create some chances of our own and we got a lucky chance when their keeper miss kicked his clearance that fell to Murphy who was roughly about 30 yards from the goal, he unleashed his shot and it flew into the Hartlepool goal. Look up the word ‘worldy’ in the dictionary and there is a picture of that goal. After the goal however we started to play poorly and spent the rest of the first half trying to get the ball into their half of the pitch. We were defending excellently with Sam playing exceptional at right back. Going into half time one up but on the back foot, PC gave some inspirational words and we went back out for the second half. However the second half was not much better than the first, we were giving away too many free kicks which fortunately for us, their guy that was taking them couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo. We did concede shortly after due to a refereeing error in which the ball had gone out of play from the corner, literally it was out of the cage before the wind brought it back in. Nevertheless they scored from it. A classic case of the old saying ‘play to the whistle’ in which PC loved saying to us all game. With the introduction of Ali with 20 minutes to go we started to push forward and create chances but failed to finish.

Final Score:

Hartlepool 1 – QE 1

MOM:

Sam Williams

Although Ali was excellent when he was brought on

Attendance:

6 (including PC and subs)

QE B Team vs Redcar and Cleveland College

Team Lineup: Josh Bancroft, Hamish Campbell, Iain Atherton, Liam Brown, Sam Henderson, Josh Dowson, Harry McGuire, Christian Aither (c), Jordan Fogg, Cameron Edgar, Sam Mann

Substitutes: Lewis Malcolm, Jamie Barron, Max Tennant, Lewis Timms

After what felt like forever sitting on the bus on the way to Redcar & Cleveland college we got ready and were ready to kick off within 10 minutes. After losing the toss and their captain choosing to kick off the first half we soon realised it was going to be a game where we spent the majority defending and trying to keep our shape as a team. They began strongly and were stroking the ball around quickly and always making space for each other to try and find a way through our solid back line. The three central midfielders of Dowson, McGuire and Aither had their work cut out as their number 10 and 4 were linking up nicely and bringing the rest of their team into the game. From the start Brown and Henderson were really solid at the back halting every attack that came their way. However, with the centre backs constantly under pressure from balls through the defence it wasn’t long before one of their passes came off and their striker was able to round Bancroft, who was unlucky to not be able to get his hand to the ball, and make it 1-0 to them. With them having a lot of the ball early on and them taking a fairly early lead we could have given up and let the goals flood in but we stuck together as a team and kept battling on. It also didn’t help us with the fact that every 50/50 decision was being given their way by the referee and at times felt like it was 12 against 11.We knew we could match them physically and Dowson and the two centre backs were challenging well to win our side the ball and Aither and McGuire were doing well to try and get the ball to the wide men of Fogg and Edgar who were when they could getting past their full back and trying to get a ball in to Sam Mann who was looking lively. After the majority of the first half being played in the middle of the park Sam Mann was unlucky that the ball over the top by Bancroft just went through to the goalkeeper before he could meet it. We went into half time 1-0 down after defending well and preventing the opposition from opening up a bigger lead.

At half time dave got the hairdryer out and made two changes replacing McGuire and Fogg with Tennant and Timms. He also gave Christian the task of trying to stop their number 10 from dictating the game like he did for most of the first half. After halftime we came out much more confident and were seeing much more of the ball with their most influential players quiet because of the high energy of the whole side. We began stretching their back line with Edgar and Timms running beyond their fullbacks and causing their back line problems with some good crossing with Mann making the defenders know of his presence pushing their two centre backs about. Our effort was eventually awarded when Max Tennant did well to win the ball and play it into Mann who sent Timms down the right hand side who did well to get a cross in and find Dowson on the edge of the six yard box who guided the ball past their goalkeeper and got us level. Shortly after that Dave made his third substitution bringing off Aither and replacing him with Malcolm to try and get another goal to win the game. However, shortly after they got the ball into a dangerous area and for the first time all game a usually solid back four were let down by a lack of communication between each other and their striker was able to nick the ball away from Campbell and smash the ball past the helpless Bancroft. With the game very much end to end and chances coming at each end it was Redcar who nearly doubled their lead when their winger cut in and ran through the middle and forced a very good save from Bancroft who saved and held well to his right.

With around 20 minutes to go we started dominating the game creating chance after chance with the two wingers putting in some very good crosses we were just unable to get that equalising goal. Malcolm then had a blocked shot from the edge of the box after making space for himself well. Now that we had the momentum Redcar couldn’t handle the pace and strength of Sam Mann and his commitment paid off when a ball through the defence meant it was a race to the ball between Mann and the goalkeeper where Mann came on top and slid the ball underneath the keeper into the bottom left corner. After this Dave made his last change bringing on the solid Jamie Barron in place of Dowson and put Sam Henderson up front and moved Malcolm into centre mid to try and push on to get the winning goal.

Once we got that equalising goal it was clear who wanted the win more out of the two teams with Mann firstly unlucky rattling the post from close range before trying to get the ball across the goal to Malcolm where the goalkeeper was able to collect the ball. With minutes to go Sam Henderson went through on goal and many of us thought Sam Henderson was going to win us the game but the versatile front man got caught in two minds and ended up dinking the ball straight into the goalkeeper's hands. With the game coming towards the end Sam Henderson was played over the top and the whistle was shockingly blown. This summed up the game to be honest as an excellent battling performance against a very good side was made even harder by some of the refereeing decisions given against us. But all in all this was a very good point for us and shows how strong our whole squad is.

Man of the Match: Liam Brown - Came up against very good strikers which he dealt with well all game and never panicked when on the ball and helped link the defence with the midfield very well. Even though he is the only first year in our back four, he controlled the back line well with Henderson and if it wasn’t for him and his centre back partner we wouldn’t have came away with a draw.

QE C Team vs Middlesbrough

QE vs Middlesbruuuuhhh College

 

First game of the season was always going to prove difficult with most of the lads not having played together before, also due to the late drop out of Doug Birks. Nevertheless we started positively enjoying most of the early possession and winning our individual battles. After 10 minutes our hard work paid off with a throw down the left from Murphy that split the Boro defence and Jack capitalised and placed his shot into the bottom corner. After going one up we switched off and conceded not long after. We continued to create chances but couldn’t take these chances, and shortly after we paid the price when one of the Boro lads struck a shot from 20 yards that managed to lob all 6 foot and 8 inches of our goalkeeper. Not long after this, Boro scored again with a smart move down the right hand side. Going into half time 3-1 down we knew we had to up our game. With the introduction of Davo at half time the game entered a stage of aggression with Davo deciding to wire their entire team, because he got them all fired up I ended up getting absolutely levelled by their centre half (I plan to get him back in the reverse fixture). After everyone calmed down they increased their lead to 4-1 after a through ball and low shot from their striker that Tomo would have saved if he had not went down like a sack of potatoes. However he did produce a good goal kick that sent Harry clean through who squared it to Jack who grabbed his second goal. However literally from the kick off we conceded again and the score remained at 5-3 with the last 15 minutes being the most boring 15 minutes of my life. Probably due to the real ginger Pirlo being brought off during this time.

 

Final Score:

QE 3 – Boro 5

Motm:

Jack Adams

QE B Team vs Tyne Met

After the long awaited and anticipated first game of the season Dave Scott called us all in to give the first motivating team talk of the year and prepared us for the kick off. He selected the team with a simple 4-4-2 with Lewis Maguire in goal, a back four of me, Sam Henderson, Liam Brown and Iain Atherton, the midfield was Cameron Edgar, Christian Aither, Harry McGuire and Jordan Fogg then the strikers was Sam Mann and Liam Foster.

After a nervy start we were soon on top dominating the game keeping a solid back four whilst the midfield were controlling and winning everything in the middle. The chances were being created by both the two wingers (Cameron Edgar and Jordan Fogg) whilst the two strikers were getting into the great positions but were just unlucky. We started very energetically and were soon rewarded with the first goal of the game and made it 1-0 with a brilliant finish from Sam Mann right in the bottom corner which gave the keeper no chance. After the game kicked off again we carried on dominating the game and putting the Tyne Met defence under pressure which they couldn’t handle. We were then able to capitalise on the possession when a beautifully whipped ball was floated in and Liam Foster was on hand to guide it into the bottom corner with a wonderful header. We were now 2-0 up and looked solid. The defence was tight with Sam Henderson and Liam Brown putting a great shifts in whilst we were still creating chances up top. We were then rewarded a free kick on the half way line which Iain Atherton whipped in with his wonderful left foot into a dangerous area but we were unable to win the header. The ball then came out towards the edge of the area where I was standing, I was able majestically leap in the air and was able to fire a bullet header into the top corner of the net from 18 yards out which broke the net it was so powerful. No keeper in the world would have been able to save it. This meant we were cruising at 3-0 however Tyne Met were able to break through our defence for the first time of the whole game through the luckiest of balls over top which we were unable to clear and they were able to pull one back. We were now winning 3-1 but we were then quickly able to make it 4-1 after another great cross from Cameron Edgar was converted in by one of the Tyne Met defenders. The half was coming to an end but Tyne Met were able to get another goal just before to make it 4-2.

The second half soon began after a few changes were made from the gaffer. On came Josh Dowson to replace Christian and on came Sam Fields. The second half kicked off and we carried on from where we left with both substitutes making an early impression on the game. Josh Dowson was making himself known by bullying the Tyne Met midfielders with his size and mopping everything up. Dave brought some fresh faces on to mix the game up and on came Jamie Barron, Max Tennant, Lewis Malcolm and Lewis Timms. We were creating some great chances up the other end to put the game away however two quick goals from Tyne Met meant the score was 4-3. Tyne Met were able to get another goal which saw their striker go one on one with Lewis and was able to slide it under the Lewis. While attempting to smother ball Lewis sustained a terrible injury which meant he had to be stretchered off with a possible broken leg, wish you the best and a speedy recovery. We were able to quickly give Matthew Bancroft the quickest call up ever from the QE league. He had a good start until he got lobbed by one of Tyne Met players. Tyne Met was able to take the lead for the first time. The game started to settle until the Tyne Met keeper messed up which meant that Lewis Malcolm was able to score a two yard tap in which he couldn’t have missed. This mistake rewarded him with his first goal for the B team after an interesting season last year to say the least. This meant that the score was levelled with the last fifteen to go. We were able to dominate the last ten minutes creating chances with Timms causing havoc down the wing but we weren’t able to capitalise on however another day they would have been straight in the back of the net.

Overall it was a very good performance from the lads and was unlucky not to get a win but plenty of positives to take out of it. Everyone put a good shift in and things can only get better.

Man of the match: Sam Mann was the man of the match after a superb performance from the striker.

QE A Team vs Gateshead

The A team travelled to Gateshead for the first game of the season, accompanied by both the netball sides which brought a smile to Robert Wests Face. The squad consisted off 12 new faces from last year with 10 very eager first years who couldn't wait to get going. Mark decided to go with a 4-3-3 formation with Denny leading the line. The game started with Gateshead having lots of possession but not causing us many problems. Craig (Worst hair cut) Edwards was a clear threat to the opposition on the right hand side beating there left back on several occasions. The first half finished with Gateshead been 1-0 up scoring just before the break. Scotty was pleased with the performance at this point, seen as in they have trained every day for 6 hours since the beginning of August. Mark made several changes at the break hoping that we could find an equaliser in the second half. These included the two pretty boys Jamie Maddison and Tom Cookson. A few opportunities came our way, with Hal Denny and Craig Edwards having clear chances. Robert (Pest) West was denied a clear goal scoring opportunity mid way through the second half with the goalkeeper handling the ball outside his box. The game was very even throughout the second half, but with 5 minutes to go Gateshead doubled their lead meaning the game finished 2-0 to the home side. This was a very good performance from us which will hopefully carry on for the rest of the season!


Team: Melling, Hutchinson (Bates), Grocott, Nelson, Bell (West), Wright (Nicholson), Lorimer (Maddison), Clark, Edwards, Denny, Middleton (Cookson).


Attendance : 250