Sciennes Yellows 0- 3 South Morningside .
Back in the Meadows and facing the daunting task of playing South Morningside, who had given us a bit of a doing the last time we met.
The special one set the yellows out with a solid looking formation of Feodor in Goal, Valdi Aidan and Joseph in defence, Dawood Joe and Freddie in midfield and Owen and Matthew spearheading the attack. Connor and Ahmed were on the bench
The yellows started brightly but were soon forced back into some desperate defending and sadly Morningside broke through early after struggling to get the ball clear. One nil to the visitors, however the yellows did not fade and dug in and continued to hold firm despite continued pressure from Morningside. There were fine saves from Feodor and a goal line clearance from Dawood. Pressure continued to build and Morningside were awarded a penalty after a rush of n blood to the head by Aidan resulted in a penalty for hand ball. Feodor kept his nerve magnificently to stand up to a shot drilled down the middle and produced a fine save. The yellows were now starting to get a toe hold in the game and there were shots from Freddie and Connor. However just before half time Morningside broke up field in a flowing move that finished with an unstoppable shot being fired into the top left corner.
In the second half Freddie took over in goals, and the defence started with Valdi, Aidan and Joseph looking solid, Matthew Joe R and Connor were in midfield, and Owen was paired up front with Feodor. Ahmed and Dawood both came on to contribute good solid performances in midfield and the whole team worked hard for each other. The yellows had more of the play in the second half and created further chances though the visitors continued to carry more threat in front of goal. The second half seemed to be drifting to a conclusion when Morningside produced a third goal from nowhere in the closing seconds, sadly taking the shine of what had been a much better second half performance.
Sunday 29 May 2011
MATCH REPORT : BLUE away to Bonaly, 28th May 2011
Sciennes Blue V Bonaly Bombers 28/05/2011, Senior Match Reporter Richard brings us the latest...
After a string of good results ( 6-2 against Liberton, 9-3 against Tollcross and most recently 5-1 against South Morningside.....apologies for the lack of match reports) the Blues were in confident mood as they made their way to Paties Road to take on Bonaly Bombers. Confidence was only slightly dented by the fact that we were reduced to only seven players. Last season this fixture saw the Blues on the wrong end of a doing but the coaches were hopeful that the good recent form would continue.
Both side warmed up in slightly breezy conditions. Slight concern as we realized we were going to be playing on half of a full size pitch which was wasn't necessarily going to be to our advantage given that we had no subs. Further concern as Coach Favours recognized one of the Bonaly boys from the Hibs set-up. Game kicked off with Coll in goal, Murdo and Joe at the back, Hamish, Alex and Sam in midfield and Jude up front.
Bonaly started confidently and Blues were immediately under pressure. After a good move it looked like Bonaly were certain to score but Coll pulled off a great stop with his feet low to his left. An early let off! Bonaly were moving the ball about well and clearly had some talented players.
However, against the run of play Blues broke upfield. Jude found himself one-on-one with the goalie and buried his shot in the left hand corner to give the Blues a 0-1 lead.
Bonaly swarmed back up the field from kick-off looking for the equaliser. Coll clawed one shot round the post for a corner and then moments later was well beaten by a shot which rebounded of the post, hit him in the stomach as he turned and went just wide for the corner.
It was end to end stuff though with Blues looking dangerous on the break. Hamish was unlucky not to score with an imaginative back heel from an Alex cross which flew just wide. Jude and Sam both had good shots well saved. Then Alex had the easiest of finishes after a great move involving Hamish and Jude had pulled the Bonaly defence apart leaving Alex a tap-in from a yard. 0-2 to the Blues. Bonaly were still looking threatening but Murdo, Joe and Sam were defending brilliantly to deny them many clear cut chances. Just before half-time it could have been 3-0 when Alex looked certain to score but his shot from close range trickled wide of the post.
H.T. 0-2 BLUE
A great first half for the Blues but a feeling that we were perhaps a little fortunate to be two goals up against this team. No place for complacency as we were shooting into the wind in the 2nd half. Sam swapped with Coll in goals.
Worst fears were confirmed when right from kick off Bonaly's star ran through the Blues defence and fired a great shot past Sam who had no chance. 1-2.
Blues didn't panic though and continued to play some really good football working the the ball through the full-backs who were linking well left and right with mid-field. On one such occasion Coll at right back drew the Bonaly forward before playing a nice one-two with Hamish and then released Jude. Jude ran on to the through ball and unleashed an absolute belter which just clipped the inside of the post as it flew into the top-left hand corner. Great goal!. 1-3.
The sky then darkened and the rain came down causing the reporter to stop taking notes as his ink was running. On resumption Bonaly had pulled the score back to 2-3 with a slightly fortunate effort that had squirmed under Sam's body aided by the greasy conditions.
Could have gone either way at this point as Blues were having to deal with a lot of pressure. But the whole team worked their socks off and defended brilliantly from the forwards to the backs and limited Bonaly's goal scoring opportunities. Jude then completed his hat-trick to make the score 2-4. Bonaly manged to score one more goal after a rare blues error but the result was put beyond doubt when Hamish netted for his second of the morning. Final Score 3-5 BLUE.
What a really great performance! Probably the strongest team we've played this season I think and a team that we were beaten by last year. Everyone without exception has come on massively this year and this has made the team difficult to beat. What was really good to see was that even when we lost a goal there was no panic or finger-pointing and everybody just carried on. (Bit like Barca against Man U). Throughout this game and almost all of the others this season the team passed really well and played some great football.
Well done all and good luck next week at the Wardie Festival!
After a string of good results ( 6-2 against Liberton, 9-3 against Tollcross and most recently 5-1 against South Morningside.....apologies for the lack of match reports) the Blues were in confident mood as they made their way to Paties Road to take on Bonaly Bombers. Confidence was only slightly dented by the fact that we were reduced to only seven players. Last season this fixture saw the Blues on the wrong end of a doing but the coaches were hopeful that the good recent form would continue.
Both side warmed up in slightly breezy conditions. Slight concern as we realized we were going to be playing on half of a full size pitch which was wasn't necessarily going to be to our advantage given that we had no subs. Further concern as Coach Favours recognized one of the Bonaly boys from the Hibs set-up. Game kicked off with Coll in goal, Murdo and Joe at the back, Hamish, Alex and Sam in midfield and Jude up front.
Bonaly started confidently and Blues were immediately under pressure. After a good move it looked like Bonaly were certain to score but Coll pulled off a great stop with his feet low to his left. An early let off! Bonaly were moving the ball about well and clearly had some talented players.
However, against the run of play Blues broke upfield. Jude found himself one-on-one with the goalie and buried his shot in the left hand corner to give the Blues a 0-1 lead.
Bonaly swarmed back up the field from kick-off looking for the equaliser. Coll clawed one shot round the post for a corner and then moments later was well beaten by a shot which rebounded of the post, hit him in the stomach as he turned and went just wide for the corner.
It was end to end stuff though with Blues looking dangerous on the break. Hamish was unlucky not to score with an imaginative back heel from an Alex cross which flew just wide. Jude and Sam both had good shots well saved. Then Alex had the easiest of finishes after a great move involving Hamish and Jude had pulled the Bonaly defence apart leaving Alex a tap-in from a yard. 0-2 to the Blues. Bonaly were still looking threatening but Murdo, Joe and Sam were defending brilliantly to deny them many clear cut chances. Just before half-time it could have been 3-0 when Alex looked certain to score but his shot from close range trickled wide of the post.
H.T. 0-2 BLUE
A great first half for the Blues but a feeling that we were perhaps a little fortunate to be two goals up against this team. No place for complacency as we were shooting into the wind in the 2nd half. Sam swapped with Coll in goals.
Worst fears were confirmed when right from kick off Bonaly's star ran through the Blues defence and fired a great shot past Sam who had no chance. 1-2.
Blues didn't panic though and continued to play some really good football working the the ball through the full-backs who were linking well left and right with mid-field. On one such occasion Coll at right back drew the Bonaly forward before playing a nice one-two with Hamish and then released Jude. Jude ran on to the through ball and unleashed an absolute belter which just clipped the inside of the post as it flew into the top-left hand corner. Great goal!. 1-3.
The sky then darkened and the rain came down causing the reporter to stop taking notes as his ink was running. On resumption Bonaly had pulled the score back to 2-3 with a slightly fortunate effort that had squirmed under Sam's body aided by the greasy conditions.
Could have gone either way at this point as Blues were having to deal with a lot of pressure. But the whole team worked their socks off and defended brilliantly from the forwards to the backs and limited Bonaly's goal scoring opportunities. Jude then completed his hat-trick to make the score 2-4. Bonaly manged to score one more goal after a rare blues error but the result was put beyond doubt when Hamish netted for his second of the morning. Final Score 3-5 BLUE.
What a really great performance! Probably the strongest team we've played this season I think and a team that we were beaten by last year. Everyone without exception has come on massively this year and this has made the team difficult to beat. What was really good to see was that even when we lost a goal there was no panic or finger-pointing and everybody just carried on. (Bit like Barca against Man U). Throughout this game and almost all of the others this season the team passed really well and played some great football.
Well done all and good luck next week at the Wardie Festival!
MATCH REPORT : RED at home to Bonaly, 28th May 2011
Neil was out of coaching action for a week. Thankfully Phil was taking notes and managed to pull together a match 'report' (of sorts). For what we are about to receive...
Yeah, uh-huh, you know what it is. Black-and-yellow, black-and-yellow.
Yeah, uh-huh, you know what it is. Black-and-yellow, black-and-yellow.
Yo, lissen up y'all, and lissen up good
'bout sumthin went down in the Sciennes neighbourhood
Bo-naly came callin all dressed in black-and-yellow
Them kids were neat them kids were cool them kids were kinda mellow
But, man, the Meadows? That's Reds Posse turf
We aint takin' nuthin from no black-and-yellow smurfs!
Everybody stretch to the left
everybody stretch to the right
we're gonna feel it
when our muscles ache tonight
We had net-dude Keir, and bro's, let's make it clear: they only scored once to beat net-dude Keir.
Cuz at the back there was Jack, ya hear what I'm saying?
When he came callin', those black-and-yellows, they sho' did start a-prayin.
His homey at the side was Ollie The Man. He got timing, he got style and a kinda big smile, and those de-fendas they ran and ran for miles and miles and miles.
Passin' to Kjartan, the cool Ice Man, releasing super-lethal strika Stru-u-an.
Man, that boy can play, he can twist an' turn and shimmy, and lay one off for Rocket Man - that's midfield dude Puff Danny. His boots were smokin', man, y'oughta all a been there.
In the air, in the air, the ball kept a-flyin, right to the back of the black-and-yellow net. But we aint there yet, said Felipe and Roberto,
we gotta keep a-runnin, gotta play the full concerto, gotta keep the beat, keep it neat, keep it on the ground, keep a-tunin' in to the Red Posse sound.
Gotta keep it calm, keep it cool, control our Tinie Tempah, gotta rememba to play it through to strika dude Eyvinda.
And I'm tellin' ya man, who needs a Vidic or a Becks, when ya got a tackling midfielder like A-a-lex.
So just to rap it up and let y'all know what those Reds done,
They been and gone and won the doggone game 5-1.
(Great match, played in a great spirit -- played safe with positions till we felt comfortable to change things, switching defence and midfield, and even giving a spell up front for Jack. Yielded goals for Jack, Struan(?) Eyvindur(?) Ollie and Danny, whose goal from pretty much the half-way line was a corker.)
Yeah, uh-huh, you know what it is. Black-and-yellow, black-and-yellow.
Yeah, uh-huh, you know what it is. Black-and-yellow, black-and-yellow.
Yo, lissen up y'all, and lissen up good
'bout sumthin went down in the Sciennes neighbourhood
Bo-naly came callin all dressed in black-and-yellow
Them kids were neat them kids were cool them kids were kinda mellow
But, man, the Meadows? That's Reds Posse turf
We aint takin' nuthin from no black-and-yellow smurfs!
Everybody stretch to the left
everybody stretch to the right
we're gonna feel it
when our muscles ache tonight
We had net-dude Keir, and bro's, let's make it clear: they only scored once to beat net-dude Keir.
Cuz at the back there was Jack, ya hear what I'm saying?
When he came callin', those black-and-yellows, they sho' did start a-prayin.
His homey at the side was Ollie The Man. He got timing, he got style and a kinda big smile, and those de-fendas they ran and ran for miles and miles and miles.
Passin' to Kjartan, the cool Ice Man, releasing super-lethal strika Stru-u-an.
Man, that boy can play, he can twist an' turn and shimmy, and lay one off for Rocket Man - that's midfield dude Puff Danny. His boots were smokin', man, y'oughta all a been there.
In the air, in the air, the ball kept a-flyin, right to the back of the black-and-yellow net. But we aint there yet, said Felipe and Roberto,
we gotta keep a-runnin, gotta play the full concerto, gotta keep the beat, keep it neat, keep it on the ground, keep a-tunin' in to the Red Posse sound.
Gotta keep it calm, keep it cool, control our Tinie Tempah, gotta rememba to play it through to strika dude Eyvinda.
And I'm tellin' ya man, who needs a Vidic or a Becks, when ya got a tackling midfielder like A-a-lex.
So just to rap it up and let y'all know what those Reds done,
They been and gone and won the doggone game 5-1.
(Great match, played in a great spirit -- played safe with positions till we felt comfortable to change things, switching defence and midfield, and even giving a spell up front for Jack. Yielded goals for Jack, Struan(?) Eyvindur(?) Ollie and Danny, whose goal from pretty much the half-way line was a corker.)
Sunday 15 May 2011
MATCH REPORT : YELLOW at home to Buckstone 14th May 2011
Sciennes Yellows 0- 3 Buckstone, 14/05/11, Robin takes up the story...
The first home game for longer than I care to remember! All those cones, trying to find the right nets, building the goals, it all comes flooding back to me, all those things that I struggle with.
Anyway the yellows had a big squad and seemed up for the game. Starting with Feodor in goal, Valdi, Joe and Connor in defence, Aidan, Freddie, and Matthew in midfield and Owen leading the line. On the bench were Joseph B, Dawood, Matthew and Amir.
After an initially bright start the yellows came under a sustained spell of Buckstone pressure but seemed to be coping well with this. Unfortunately some poor refereeing (Yes, yes it was me! And yes I already wear glasses) awarded Buckstone a throw in thinking Valdi had played the ball (Sorry Valdi!) Amid the resulting consternation Buckstone took a quick throw in and broke forward to score. Feodor who was having a great game was left helpless. 0-1 Buckstone
Ron “the special one” was ringing the changes. The yellows pushed forward with Freddie shooting just wide. However Buckstone continued to have the bulk of the play and goal number two arrived just before half time at the end of a fine passing move from Buckstone. 0-2 at half time.
The start of the second half saw further tactical changes with Freddie taking over in goals, Connor, Joseph B and Dawood in defence, Ahmed Feodor and Matthew in Midfield and Amir leading the attack, with frequent changes from the bench. The yellows started much more brightly and managed a period of pressure. Early in the half Feodor had a fine drive that tested the Buckstone keeper from a narrow angle, and this was shortly followed by an effort from Aidan which must have stung the opposing keeper’s hands as he desperately parried the ball away. Buckstone came roaring back into the game but Freddie performed heroically between the posts. There were fine forward runs from Aidan, Matthew and Owen but to no avail. The frequent changes from the bench were causing some confusion amongst the management team, and sadly we entirely missed the Buckstone third goal (0-3 Buckstone) as we tried to work out who should be where on the pitch, and how many players we actually had on.
The yellows kept on plugging away gamely but alas could not get anything out of the game. Final score 0-3 to Buckstone, but if it had not been for the incompetent referring in the first half who knows what might have been?
The first home game for longer than I care to remember! All those cones, trying to find the right nets, building the goals, it all comes flooding back to me, all those things that I struggle with.
Anyway the yellows had a big squad and seemed up for the game. Starting with Feodor in goal, Valdi, Joe and Connor in defence, Aidan, Freddie, and Matthew in midfield and Owen leading the line. On the bench were Joseph B, Dawood, Matthew and Amir.
After an initially bright start the yellows came under a sustained spell of Buckstone pressure but seemed to be coping well with this. Unfortunately some poor refereeing (Yes, yes it was me! And yes I already wear glasses) awarded Buckstone a throw in thinking Valdi had played the ball (Sorry Valdi!) Amid the resulting consternation Buckstone took a quick throw in and broke forward to score. Feodor who was having a great game was left helpless. 0-1 Buckstone
Ron “the special one” was ringing the changes. The yellows pushed forward with Freddie shooting just wide. However Buckstone continued to have the bulk of the play and goal number two arrived just before half time at the end of a fine passing move from Buckstone. 0-2 at half time.
The start of the second half saw further tactical changes with Freddie taking over in goals, Connor, Joseph B and Dawood in defence, Ahmed Feodor and Matthew in Midfield and Amir leading the attack, with frequent changes from the bench. The yellows started much more brightly and managed a period of pressure. Early in the half Feodor had a fine drive that tested the Buckstone keeper from a narrow angle, and this was shortly followed by an effort from Aidan which must have stung the opposing keeper’s hands as he desperately parried the ball away. Buckstone came roaring back into the game but Freddie performed heroically between the posts. There were fine forward runs from Aidan, Matthew and Owen but to no avail. The frequent changes from the bench were causing some confusion amongst the management team, and sadly we entirely missed the Buckstone third goal (0-3 Buckstone) as we tried to work out who should be where on the pitch, and how many players we actually had on.
The yellows kept on plugging away gamely but alas could not get anything out of the game. Final score 0-3 to Buckstone, but if it had not been for the incompetent referring in the first half who knows what might have been?
MATCH REPORT : RED at home to South Morningside, 14th May 2011
Sciennes RED 3 - 3 South Morningside
After the thriller last week SM arrived at the Meadows with a modified team to take on the RED team. The usual squad assembled - Keir The Goalie, Ollie, Jack, Kjartan, Danny, Eyvindur, Struan, Hector and Alex A.
"Start well. Lots of passing. Encourage each other. I've got this complicated short corner drill I'd like to show you...". One or two of the squad drifted off to sleep as the team talk came to a close.
SM raced out of the blocks. Not that there were any blocks. It is just an expression people use. Doesn't make sense in football. Athletics yes but only for running races, short ones, upto 400m. Anyway - SM started well. An early break should have seen them take the lead but under pressure from Ollie the SM forward thrashed his shot straight at KTG (Keir The Goalie).
After a very quiet week last week Struan looked better. Some nice early dribbling took the ball up the pitch and forced a corner. "Ah-ha..." said the coach "...watch this...". Just then one or two RED players bumped into each other and Danny fired the corner over everyone and out for a throw. "...ho-hum...".
Another nice run from Struan took the ball into SM box, a great cut back and Kjartan, arriving at speed, was very unlucky to see his shot saved by the goalie. More RED pressure forced the SM goalie to look smart as a shot from Eyvindur was pushed round hte post for a corner.
"Think about it..." yelled the RED coach. Danny took the corner short to Hector. Hector dummied the pass back to Danny and instead rolled the ball across goal and Struan smashed the ball into the net. 1-0 RED.
Wow. Improvised short corner routines!
RED team had their tails up now. Great play in midfield from Kjartan released Danny, a fantasic cross to the back post was just missed by Alex as he flew in from left midfield. "We've seen that one before" mentioned the coach to no-one "...Hector has scored a couple like that...".
Move of the game coming up. Jack out to Struan, to Danny, to Struan, to Eyvindur, skips past a defender and crosses to the back post...where a flying Hector nudges the ball home. Wow. 2-0 RED.
Quick reshuffle of the team. Eyvindur goes up front, Alex on the left of midfield, Hector on the right, Danny in the middle. Ollie and Jack at the back are looking good. SM pressure but O&J are doing their thing. The pressure on the RED defence is growing though and SM are firing shots from distance. Keir is handling them well. A quick ball to Jack is fired out wide to Eyvindur who takes the bal in his stride and charges forward. Not much support so the coach yells "help him" as Eyvindur rounds the first defender, "help him midfield" as Eyvindur rounds the last defender. The charging midfield players slow to a trott as Eyvindur smashes the ball into the net! No help required. Great finish. 3-0 RED at HT.
"Same again please. Nil-nil. The wind is getting up so this is going to be hard. Now about these corner routines...". Team talk ends with the wind causing some concern to the RED coaching team.
SM do their quick start thing again. Lots of pressure, lots of saves but following a magnificent leap Keir is unlucky to see the rebound being poked into the net. 3-1 RED.
The game flows from end to end now. RED are soaking up trouble but Eyvindur and Struan are helping out, dropping deep then taking the ball up the pitch away from danger. SM have the wind and taking over in midfield. Their flying winger gets the ball and sets off at speed again. Skipping through a couple of tackles being being faced by O&J. One smack of the ball later and a helpless Keir is kicking the ball out of his net as a wind assisted beauty flies into the top corner. 3-2 RED.
Things are getting tense now. SM post is rattled by Struan. Keir makes a couple of wonderful saves. The wind is really getting up now. It looks like only a matter of time before the equaliser is fired home. A shot from SM is curling into the top corner when Keir, from flies to his right and tips the ball round the post. Coaches notes read "save of the century - Keir". It was truely magnificent. Celebrated like a goal by KTG!
Into the final minute now. Can RED hang on. Getting the ball away is proving more and more difficult. The RED team look exhausted by their efforts into the biting wind. 30 seconds to go. SM midfielder breaks a challenge. Shoots. Oh no. In off the post. Very, very, very unlucky. 3-3.
Ref blows his whistle. To the RED team it feels like a loss but they should be proud of their efforts, great passing, great keeping, great goals. A couple of unlucky goals against. All round a great display from the RED team!
After the thriller last week SM arrived at the Meadows with a modified team to take on the RED team. The usual squad assembled - Keir The Goalie, Ollie, Jack, Kjartan, Danny, Eyvindur, Struan, Hector and Alex A.
"Start well. Lots of passing. Encourage each other. I've got this complicated short corner drill I'd like to show you...". One or two of the squad drifted off to sleep as the team talk came to a close.
SM raced out of the blocks. Not that there were any blocks. It is just an expression people use. Doesn't make sense in football. Athletics yes but only for running races, short ones, upto 400m. Anyway - SM started well. An early break should have seen them take the lead but under pressure from Ollie the SM forward thrashed his shot straight at KTG (Keir The Goalie).
After a very quiet week last week Struan looked better. Some nice early dribbling took the ball up the pitch and forced a corner. "Ah-ha..." said the coach "...watch this...". Just then one or two RED players bumped into each other and Danny fired the corner over everyone and out for a throw. "...ho-hum...".
Another nice run from Struan took the ball into SM box, a great cut back and Kjartan, arriving at speed, was very unlucky to see his shot saved by the goalie. More RED pressure forced the SM goalie to look smart as a shot from Eyvindur was pushed round hte post for a corner.
"Think about it..." yelled the RED coach. Danny took the corner short to Hector. Hector dummied the pass back to Danny and instead rolled the ball across goal and Struan smashed the ball into the net. 1-0 RED.
Wow. Improvised short corner routines!
RED team had their tails up now. Great play in midfield from Kjartan released Danny, a fantasic cross to the back post was just missed by Alex as he flew in from left midfield. "We've seen that one before" mentioned the coach to no-one "...Hector has scored a couple like that...".
Move of the game coming up. Jack out to Struan, to Danny, to Struan, to Eyvindur, skips past a defender and crosses to the back post...where a flying Hector nudges the ball home. Wow. 2-0 RED.
Quick reshuffle of the team. Eyvindur goes up front, Alex on the left of midfield, Hector on the right, Danny in the middle. Ollie and Jack at the back are looking good. SM pressure but O&J are doing their thing. The pressure on the RED defence is growing though and SM are firing shots from distance. Keir is handling them well. A quick ball to Jack is fired out wide to Eyvindur who takes the bal in his stride and charges forward. Not much support so the coach yells "help him" as Eyvindur rounds the first defender, "help him midfield" as Eyvindur rounds the last defender. The charging midfield players slow to a trott as Eyvindur smashes the ball into the net! No help required. Great finish. 3-0 RED at HT.
"Same again please. Nil-nil. The wind is getting up so this is going to be hard. Now about these corner routines...". Team talk ends with the wind causing some concern to the RED coaching team.
SM do their quick start thing again. Lots of pressure, lots of saves but following a magnificent leap Keir is unlucky to see the rebound being poked into the net. 3-1 RED.
The game flows from end to end now. RED are soaking up trouble but Eyvindur and Struan are helping out, dropping deep then taking the ball up the pitch away from danger. SM have the wind and taking over in midfield. Their flying winger gets the ball and sets off at speed again. Skipping through a couple of tackles being being faced by O&J. One smack of the ball later and a helpless Keir is kicking the ball out of his net as a wind assisted beauty flies into the top corner. 3-2 RED.
Things are getting tense now. SM post is rattled by Struan. Keir makes a couple of wonderful saves. The wind is really getting up now. It looks like only a matter of time before the equaliser is fired home. A shot from SM is curling into the top corner when Keir, from flies to his right and tips the ball round the post. Coaches notes read "save of the century - Keir". It was truely magnificent. Celebrated like a goal by KTG!
Into the final minute now. Can RED hang on. Getting the ball away is proving more and more difficult. The RED team look exhausted by their efforts into the biting wind. 30 seconds to go. SM midfielder breaks a challenge. Shoots. Oh no. In off the post. Very, very, very unlucky. 3-3.
Ref blows his whistle. To the RED team it feels like a loss but they should be proud of their efforts, great passing, great keeping, great goals. A couple of unlucky goals against. All round a great display from the RED team!
Sunday 8 May 2011
MATCH REPORT : YELLOW away to South Morningside, 7th May 2011
South Morningside 2-1 Sciennes yellows, at Meadowspot. 07/05/11 Robin takes up the story...
There were some nerves after the last disappointing meeting between the teams but here we were again back and looking for revenge, and with a larger squad.
South Morningside were experiencing some technical difficulties gaining access to the hut where the goals were kept. A bold decision was taken to play with jumpers as goal posts, at this point some of the older people present (well me and Ron) went quite misty and rheumy eyed remembering days long gone by. (It’s the short term memory that goes first you know). The sight of a SM coaching pacing out the goals precisely and then dropping his jumper was truly heart warming.
The team was set out with Feodor at his commanding best guarding the net, a solid looking back three of Valdi, Joe R and Joseph B, a bustling midfield of Ahmed, Aidan and Connor and Owen up front. With a very strong looking bench of Freddie, Dawood, Matthew and Amir.
The game kicked off with the yellows instantly the front foot and trying to get forward, and play was soon flowing from end to end. The special one was using his large squad to great effect and this paid dividends when Amir, who had come on up front, eluded his marker and found space to slot home from close in after a long through ball (0-1).
I have to confess that the description of the goal was second hand as your reporter had gone off to look for another pen for the “special one” who was struggling to keep track of his substitutions. The yellows settled and seemed to be coping well with some fantastic goal keeping from Feodor (mentioned in the Morningside half time team talk as they were in despair of beating him).
However Morningside were able to snatch an equaliser before the break when a defensive error played in a striker leaving Feodor with no chance. Half time one all.
The second half continued with an ebb and flow of attack and counter attack. Sciennes remained focussed despite the unlikely sight of a passer-by shoving a dog (a dirty hairy terrier looking thing) up the wing in a shopping trolley. You just don’t get that sort of thing at the Nou Camp. Ahmed had one of his best games to date working hard and passing well, Connor was his usual industrious and busy self. Joe R had another good game prompting from the heart of defence and Freddie must have covered every blade of grass. There were a couple of surging forward runs by Aidan and Owen but to no avail. Matthew and Dawood also performed well in midfield. Valdi and Joseph were committed and effective in defence.
However despite all this good work Morningside snatched the lead with a well work goal with the ball being driven low into where the corner of the net would roughly have been following on from a neat passing move.
The game seemed to be petering out when controversy erupted. Morningside claiming for a third goal, which the ref (from Morningside) correctly ruled had hit the post.
A good all round team performance but sadly not quite the result to match
There were some nerves after the last disappointing meeting between the teams but here we were again back and looking for revenge, and with a larger squad.
South Morningside were experiencing some technical difficulties gaining access to the hut where the goals were kept. A bold decision was taken to play with jumpers as goal posts, at this point some of the older people present (well me and Ron) went quite misty and rheumy eyed remembering days long gone by. (It’s the short term memory that goes first you know). The sight of a SM coaching pacing out the goals precisely and then dropping his jumper was truly heart warming.
The team was set out with Feodor at his commanding best guarding the net, a solid looking back three of Valdi, Joe R and Joseph B, a bustling midfield of Ahmed, Aidan and Connor and Owen up front. With a very strong looking bench of Freddie, Dawood, Matthew and Amir.
The game kicked off with the yellows instantly the front foot and trying to get forward, and play was soon flowing from end to end. The special one was using his large squad to great effect and this paid dividends when Amir, who had come on up front, eluded his marker and found space to slot home from close in after a long through ball (0-1).
I have to confess that the description of the goal was second hand as your reporter had gone off to look for another pen for the “special one” who was struggling to keep track of his substitutions. The yellows settled and seemed to be coping well with some fantastic goal keeping from Feodor (mentioned in the Morningside half time team talk as they were in despair of beating him).
However Morningside were able to snatch an equaliser before the break when a defensive error played in a striker leaving Feodor with no chance. Half time one all.
The second half continued with an ebb and flow of attack and counter attack. Sciennes remained focussed despite the unlikely sight of a passer-by shoving a dog (a dirty hairy terrier looking thing) up the wing in a shopping trolley. You just don’t get that sort of thing at the Nou Camp. Ahmed had one of his best games to date working hard and passing well, Connor was his usual industrious and busy self. Joe R had another good game prompting from the heart of defence and Freddie must have covered every blade of grass. There were a couple of surging forward runs by Aidan and Owen but to no avail. Matthew and Dawood also performed well in midfield. Valdi and Joseph were committed and effective in defence.
However despite all this good work Morningside snatched the lead with a well work goal with the ball being driven low into where the corner of the net would roughly have been following on from a neat passing move.
The game seemed to be petering out when controversy erupted. Morningside claiming for a third goal, which the ref (from Morningside) correctly ruled had hit the post.
A good all round team performance but sadly not quite the result to match
MATCH REPORT : RED away to South Morningside, 7th May 2011
South Morningside 3 - 4 Sciennes P5 RED
At long last the RED team won away from home against rivals and bogey team from SM. Lovely day, bit cold, blue sky, bit of a wind, bumper squad. Team lined up with Keir The Goalie, defensive pair of Ollie and Kjartan, Danny on the right, Jack in centre mid, Eyvindur on the left, Struan up front. Hector and Alex A ready to go from the bench.
Last minute instructions from the boss - keeper to defenders quickly. early pass from defence, midfield track back, strikers pass, work together, stay positive, and...a number of other things over his page of notes that he forgot to say! Among the things he forgot to mention was a reminder about the short corner routine.
Kick-off - RED race up the pitch, shot from Struan, saved for a corner. "Oh, I meant to tell them about corners..." muttered the coach to the away support "...we've been wasting them recently, but it was over the page in my notes...". Just then, Danny flings the corner into the box and Jack smashes it into the net. 0-1 RED.
Banter ensues within the away support. Coach folds up his notes and decides to leave them to it. Suddenly SM break following a period of pressure from RED team. Ollie and Kjartan are swamped and SM fire past a helpless Keir. 1-1.
Play rages from end to end now. Keir makes a couple of wonderful saves as SM storm back into the match. Ollie and Kjartan are brilliant at the back, fixing things, mopping up pressure and playing the ball out from the back. Midfield is tricky. Jack is forced back as SM pile into the middle, Danny and Eybindur make some great breaks but the SM defence hack the ball clear. Hector is as busy as ever helping in defence and midfield. Alex has an injury problem early on but battles on showing lots of willingness to tackle. Struan is quiet upfront with a couple of giants bullying him off the ball. This is going to be a tough match!
Slight reorganisation, Eyvindur as striker, Danny on right, Struan on left, Jack in centre. Nice exchange of passes from Eyvindur and Struan sets up Danny. A wonderful shot from distance flies into the top corner. 1-2 RED.
Lots of RED pressure now. Eyvindur goes close. Jack fired one just past the post. Hector has one blocked on the line. A third goal looks likely...oops. Another break away and the SM flier (he can run like the wind) surges past the defence and fires another one into the net. 2-2 at HT.
"Unlucky. Playing well. Looking good. We can do this". Team talk over the coach sinks his hands into pockets and finds his notes again. "Oh, forgot about the short corner routine again!", he offered to the away support.
Danny into centre mid now and spraying the passes around. Eyvindur up front having a go at out muscling the big SM defenders. An excellent through ball from Danny gives Eyvindur a half chance...goal. Great, great finish. 2-3 RED.
More RED pressure now, passing well and playing like a team. Nifty footwork from Struan on the right wing forces a corner. "I really wish I'd reminded them about the short corner routine..." utters the coach as Danny puts the ball down, takes a short corner to Struan, who turns and plays the ball infield to a sprinting Danny..."that is the routine we worked on"...who fires the ball into the top corner. 2-4 RED.
One from the training ground. No massed celebrations with the coaching staff though.
SM summon up the effort for one last push. Huge pressure follows for the RED team. Hector is brave as he tackles and clears danger. Ollie and Jack are everywhere. Kjartan is blocking shots on the line. Keir the Goalie is in fine form, tipping shots onto the post, diving at feet. A remarkable series of shots resulted in the RED crossbar then post being hit before the danger is cleared.
Suddenly the RED team break upfield and SM look a little exposed. RED pile forward and Eyvindur lays the ball off to Jack who hits the ball just past the post! SM retrieve the ball and break upfield. Uh-oh. Great save from Keir but the scramble sees the ball forced home. 3-4 RED.
We are now well into injury time. The ref is looking at his watch. The RED coaches have thrown their watches away as they are obviously broken. The ref looks at his watch again. Blow the whistle. SM charge forward. Blow the whistle. Shot. Blow the whistle. Keir flies to his right. Blow the whistle. It is in the net...no! Keir has saved it. Blow the whistle. SM forwards charge forward for the rebound. Blow the whistle. SM forward smashes it into the net...no! Keir has saved it again. Blow the whistle. Where is the rebound? Keir stands and proudly lifts the ball aloft in one hand while clenching his other in victory. Still the ref has not blown his whistle! Keir drops the ball to Jack who hammers it up the pitch.
The ref blows his whistle and RED win away to SM! 3-4 RED.
Great team performance from Keir, Ollie, Kjartan, Jack, Danny, Struan, Eyvindur, Hector and Alex.
At long last the RED team won away from home against rivals and bogey team from SM. Lovely day, bit cold, blue sky, bit of a wind, bumper squad. Team lined up with Keir The Goalie, defensive pair of Ollie and Kjartan, Danny on the right, Jack in centre mid, Eyvindur on the left, Struan up front. Hector and Alex A ready to go from the bench.
Last minute instructions from the boss - keeper to defenders quickly. early pass from defence, midfield track back, strikers pass, work together, stay positive, and...a number of other things over his page of notes that he forgot to say! Among the things he forgot to mention was a reminder about the short corner routine.
Kick-off - RED race up the pitch, shot from Struan, saved for a corner. "Oh, I meant to tell them about corners..." muttered the coach to the away support "...we've been wasting them recently, but it was over the page in my notes...". Just then, Danny flings the corner into the box and Jack smashes it into the net. 0-1 RED.
Banter ensues within the away support. Coach folds up his notes and decides to leave them to it. Suddenly SM break following a period of pressure from RED team. Ollie and Kjartan are swamped and SM fire past a helpless Keir. 1-1.
Play rages from end to end now. Keir makes a couple of wonderful saves as SM storm back into the match. Ollie and Kjartan are brilliant at the back, fixing things, mopping up pressure and playing the ball out from the back. Midfield is tricky. Jack is forced back as SM pile into the middle, Danny and Eybindur make some great breaks but the SM defence hack the ball clear. Hector is as busy as ever helping in defence and midfield. Alex has an injury problem early on but battles on showing lots of willingness to tackle. Struan is quiet upfront with a couple of giants bullying him off the ball. This is going to be a tough match!
Slight reorganisation, Eyvindur as striker, Danny on right, Struan on left, Jack in centre. Nice exchange of passes from Eyvindur and Struan sets up Danny. A wonderful shot from distance flies into the top corner. 1-2 RED.
Lots of RED pressure now. Eyvindur goes close. Jack fired one just past the post. Hector has one blocked on the line. A third goal looks likely...oops. Another break away and the SM flier (he can run like the wind) surges past the defence and fires another one into the net. 2-2 at HT.
"Unlucky. Playing well. Looking good. We can do this". Team talk over the coach sinks his hands into pockets and finds his notes again. "Oh, forgot about the short corner routine again!", he offered to the away support.
Danny into centre mid now and spraying the passes around. Eyvindur up front having a go at out muscling the big SM defenders. An excellent through ball from Danny gives Eyvindur a half chance...goal. Great, great finish. 2-3 RED.
More RED pressure now, passing well and playing like a team. Nifty footwork from Struan on the right wing forces a corner. "I really wish I'd reminded them about the short corner routine..." utters the coach as Danny puts the ball down, takes a short corner to Struan, who turns and plays the ball infield to a sprinting Danny..."that is the routine we worked on"...who fires the ball into the top corner. 2-4 RED.
One from the training ground. No massed celebrations with the coaching staff though.
SM summon up the effort for one last push. Huge pressure follows for the RED team. Hector is brave as he tackles and clears danger. Ollie and Jack are everywhere. Kjartan is blocking shots on the line. Keir the Goalie is in fine form, tipping shots onto the post, diving at feet. A remarkable series of shots resulted in the RED crossbar then post being hit before the danger is cleared.
Suddenly the RED team break upfield and SM look a little exposed. RED pile forward and Eyvindur lays the ball off to Jack who hits the ball just past the post! SM retrieve the ball and break upfield. Uh-oh. Great save from Keir but the scramble sees the ball forced home. 3-4 RED.
We are now well into injury time. The ref is looking at his watch. The RED coaches have thrown their watches away as they are obviously broken. The ref looks at his watch again. Blow the whistle. SM charge forward. Blow the whistle. Shot. Blow the whistle. Keir flies to his right. Blow the whistle. It is in the net...no! Keir has saved it. Blow the whistle. SM forwards charge forward for the rebound. Blow the whistle. SM forward smashes it into the net...no! Keir has saved it again. Blow the whistle. Where is the rebound? Keir stands and proudly lifts the ball aloft in one hand while clenching his other in victory. Still the ref has not blown his whistle! Keir drops the ball to Jack who hammers it up the pitch.
The ref blows his whistle and RED win away to SM! 3-4 RED.
Great team performance from Keir, Ollie, Kjartan, Jack, Danny, Struan, Eyvindur, Hector and Alex.
MATCH REPORT : BLUE home to Tollcross, 7th May 2011
Flavours takes up the story of the blues...
Once we managed to remove the screws from the new cross bars (a run home to find WD40 and a spanner, and a pump for footballs), then discover we have one net, Paul Scott was sent to the dark recesses of the football store, the game got underway 10 minutes later than planned.
Both teams lined up expecting a feast of football and sure enough, after 5 minutes Tollcross (not so Giants anymore) managed to pass their way through our slightly nervy defence and slot home – Blues 0- 1 Tollcross.
Sciennes heads stayed up and with some great interplay in the midfield (Robert, Alex and Hamish) we went straight up the other end and Jude rattled in an unstoppable shot – 1-1.
The game ebbed and flowed as each midfield tried to outdo each other and take control. Robert on the left was in inspired form and tackled like a demon, and if Tollcross got through, the reliable and smiling Joe SH was there to mop up any loose balls.
Some sustained pressure from the Blues – Alex hit the bar and was cleared for a corner. The ball was played in and Hamish (or was it Jude?) squeezed the ball in the net from an acute angle. Blues 2- 1. The Blues went further ahead with Murdo barrelling his way through the middle and finished off coolly slotting the ball past the despairing arms of the keeper. Blues 3-1.
Again the Blues pressed up the field, substitutions being made swiftly and again with Alex orchestrating the middle of the park set Jude scampering through the middle and whacked the ball past the keeper Blues 4-1.
With half time approaching, another foray into the Tollcross half saw a great passing move ending off with a Alex pile driver into the roof of the net, blues 5-1.
Half time – phew, what can we say, same again lads for the second half. “what’s the score they piped up?” (nil, nil replied Coach Flavours!!)
Second half starts with Sam in goal for Coll and the sun in his eyes (did he bring a cap ???) disaster, Tollcross obviously a bit more pumped up passed their way up the park and score – Blues 5-2.
As in the first half, the heads didn’t drop and Robert took the ball for a run down the line, cuts in and blasts past the keeper – celebrations are shall we say, cool, no fuss!! Blues 6-2
Murdo decides that he needs to carry out a similar foray and a long pass from the back finds him sprinting down the right wing, keeps the ball in play and from the byeline manages to send a screamer into the bottom of the net – wow that was a finish. Blues 7-2.
Tollcross gather themselves and our defence is found a bit wanting and they score Blues 7-3
All is not finished, and Murdo completes his hat-trick with a smash and grab goal. Blues 8-3.
To complete the day, Coll bursts through two defenders, see a gap opening and whacks the ball towards the goal. The keeper is rooted to the spot and the ball flies into the back of the net. Coll couldn’t believe it and his celebrations were a joy to see!
Final Score; Blues 9 – 3 Tollcross.
Coll, Joe, Sam, Alex, Jude, Hamish, Robert, Murdo all played their part in this game, all with smiles on their faces and encouraged each other - when the going got tough, the tough got going. The coaches didn’t really have much to say, but “same again next week”. A huge “yes” was the reply, so roll on South Morningside.
Once we managed to remove the screws from the new cross bars (a run home to find WD40 and a spanner, and a pump for footballs), then discover we have one net, Paul Scott was sent to the dark recesses of the football store, the game got underway 10 minutes later than planned.
Both teams lined up expecting a feast of football and sure enough, after 5 minutes Tollcross (not so Giants anymore) managed to pass their way through our slightly nervy defence and slot home – Blues 0- 1 Tollcross.
Sciennes heads stayed up and with some great interplay in the midfield (Robert, Alex and Hamish) we went straight up the other end and Jude rattled in an unstoppable shot – 1-1.
The game ebbed and flowed as each midfield tried to outdo each other and take control. Robert on the left was in inspired form and tackled like a demon, and if Tollcross got through, the reliable and smiling Joe SH was there to mop up any loose balls.
Some sustained pressure from the Blues – Alex hit the bar and was cleared for a corner. The ball was played in and Hamish (or was it Jude?) squeezed the ball in the net from an acute angle. Blues 2- 1. The Blues went further ahead with Murdo barrelling his way through the middle and finished off coolly slotting the ball past the despairing arms of the keeper. Blues 3-1.
Again the Blues pressed up the field, substitutions being made swiftly and again with Alex orchestrating the middle of the park set Jude scampering through the middle and whacked the ball past the keeper Blues 4-1.
With half time approaching, another foray into the Tollcross half saw a great passing move ending off with a Alex pile driver into the roof of the net, blues 5-1.
Half time – phew, what can we say, same again lads for the second half. “what’s the score they piped up?” (nil, nil replied Coach Flavours!!)
Second half starts with Sam in goal for Coll and the sun in his eyes (did he bring a cap ???) disaster, Tollcross obviously a bit more pumped up passed their way up the park and score – Blues 5-2.
As in the first half, the heads didn’t drop and Robert took the ball for a run down the line, cuts in and blasts past the keeper – celebrations are shall we say, cool, no fuss!! Blues 6-2
Murdo decides that he needs to carry out a similar foray and a long pass from the back finds him sprinting down the right wing, keeps the ball in play and from the byeline manages to send a screamer into the bottom of the net – wow that was a finish. Blues 7-2.
Tollcross gather themselves and our defence is found a bit wanting and they score Blues 7-3
All is not finished, and Murdo completes his hat-trick with a smash and grab goal. Blues 8-3.
To complete the day, Coll bursts through two defenders, see a gap opening and whacks the ball towards the goal. The keeper is rooted to the spot and the ball flies into the back of the net. Coll couldn’t believe it and his celebrations were a joy to see!
Final Score; Blues 9 – 3 Tollcross.
Coll, Joe, Sam, Alex, Jude, Hamish, Robert, Murdo all played their part in this game, all with smiles on their faces and encouraged each other - when the going got tough, the tough got going. The coaches didn’t really have much to say, but “same again next week”. A huge “yes” was the reply, so roll on South Morningside.
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