Berry Boys Tournament

GET IN THERE !!!

Today the Lions and Leopards travelled to Laindon for the Berry Boys Tournament, this tournament was set specifically for the under 6's and would consist of two groups, Group 1 would see our Lions team face opposition from Kelvedon Hatch, Hannakins Farm, Berry Boys and Corringham. Group 2 would see our Leopards face Kelvedon Hatch, Hannakins Farm and Thundersley Rovers.

Firstly congratulations to the Lions for winning their group, Although i did watch parts of their games i do not know the full scores and results, so hopefully one of the coaches or parents will be able to update this later and add some pictures.

With all the coaching and arranging of players it is hard to keep track of goal scorers and to write up a full play by play match report so i will let the pictures do the talking !!

FOREST GLADE LEOPARDS WIN WIN WIN WIN to become tournament champions in their group. The whole team played exceptionally well today and really seem to have found the style they want to play, We have a very strong team that will all battle for the ball and battle for their team mates, We are lucky enough that we have players that can play comfortably in a few positions, So a great big Well Done to them all.

Match results

Leopards 3 - 0 Kelvedon Hatch

Leopards 4 - 1 Hannakins Farm

Leopards 2 - 1 Thundersley Rovers

Leopards 6 - 0 Kelvedon Hatch ( 1st & 2nd place decider )

 An early attack and chance

 Keeping up the pressure

 Evans first goal of the day

 All back covering the defence

 Back to attack, Evan rounding the keeper

 Darcy calling for the ball

 Reily playing his own game

 A neat pass from Jake to Max

 Had to put this in "Just because of Darcy's hair"

 Max calling for the ball 

 Celebrating another fine goal

 Getting stuck in

 A nice bit of control from Max

 A big strike from Evan

 Charlie staying back

 Getting the ball back to keep up pressure

 Charlie pushing forward from his Midfield role

 Reily on his toes for a little bit of action

 Pushing up again

 All a bit of fun

 A well earned play time

 Reily,Owen,Darcy,Evan,Max,Charlie,Jake

Happy Coaches and their squad

 Lions In action

 Another Lions actions shot

 Sam leading the way to collect the Lions medals

Coach Stuart and Steve chillin with the boys

Coach Stuart doing his best Worzel Gummidge impression 

Great Wakering Tournament Photos

For anyone who is interested there was a professional photographer at the recent Great Wakering Tournament that took loads of shots of the FG U6 Lion's and Tigers. Take a look at the link below. Click on the "read more" link in the U6's box and it should display all the pictures. There are about 3 pages to troll through.

http://www.rebelsportsphotography.co.uk

Sunday Training Update

For Sundays end of season training session please be aware that the Cafe/Club House is not open - so bring plenty of refreshments for the kids.

After training it has been suggested that we go to the White Horse in Ramsden if anyone is interested.

SUNDAY 29th JUNE : End of Season Training

All, the 2013/14 season now draws to a close and this weekend will be the last training session prior to a 4 week break during the month of July. Please note that training for this weekend will take place on SUNDAY 29th JUNE at the usual time of 9.30am and NOT SATURDAY. As this will be our final training session of the 2013/14 season we are planning a relaxed fun session for the children and adults.

Coach Steve has managed to secure a radar system that measures the speed of a ball from behind the goal. This should provide endless amounts of fun for kids and adults. We are proposing a little competition where each adult pays £1 to kick two balls using the radar system and the top speed on the day wins the money. In addition to this we are hoping to procure another giant inflatable football (but Gaffer Stuart will be banned from kicking it this time!!!!). If anyone has any other suggestions for fun football activities to incorporate in our final session then please leave a comment on the blog or contact one of the coaches.

Also as a reminder it is now time for us to get the registrations in for the 2014/15 season. All parents should have received a letter notifying you what team your child will play in for next season. In order to register the players with the FA we MUST have 2 x passport size photos and a photocopy of a birth certificate or passport as proof of age. Without this we cannot register a player with the FA and subsequently your child will not be allowed to play in the Mini Soccer League starting September this year. Please try and bring the required documents to Sunday's training session so that we can progress all the applications. Also as a reminder the annual subs for 2014/15 are required by the end of July 2014.

Finally can we ask all parents to return the "home - blue" and "away - yellow" football shirts to the coaches this Sunday. We need to collect in all of the kit so that we can redistribute officially to the teams that will be entered into the Mini Soccer League. As the kits are technically speaking the property of Forest Glade we will then be asking each parent to sign to say that you have received a home and away kit ready for the league next season. As part of this process we also want to make sure that all the kids have the same shirt number on their home and away kits (currently most people have different numbers). Please keep the shorts and socks, it is only the football shirts which need returning.

Great Wakering Tournament

Two weekends ago the Forest Glade Under 6's fielded two teams in the Great Wakering tournament. The event only featured 5 teams, FG Lions, FG Tigers, Corringham Athletic, Leighwood and Great Wakering. Each team got to play everyone in the tournament and therefore our Lions and Tigers both had 4 games each in a very well organised event. Each game was 14 mins duration with no half time and all the usual rules that we play. For the Tigers we ended up with 1 win and 3 defeats.

 

For the Tigers our first game was against an old foe, Corringham Athletic. The first few minutes were a bit tense as they took and early lead and then we quickly pulled back to 1 - 1. The Tigers soon settled into the game and some lovely flowing play resulted in a comfortable 5 -1 win. It was great to see some of the skills we had practiced a day earlier being employed by the kids. There was some great runs and crosses.

 

Here are a few action shots from the Corringham game.

 

Ryan given space to make a run.

Joshua readies himself in goal as Ethan and Alfie track back.

Joshua makes the save.

Alex puts another one in the net en route to a hatrick.

Alfie looking up and crossing the ball exactly as we had practiced in training a day earlier.

Alex taps in another goal.

The shots keep coming and FG could have scored even more.

Lorne and Alex on another attack.

Ethan was doing plenty of running and ball skills to get himself out of trouble.

 

In our second game the FG Tigers met the FG Lions and you kind of get the feeling the Tigers were mentally beaten even before kick-off. Given that the Lions and Tigers train and play together each and every week this ended up a very one sided win for the Lions and was subsequently the worst defeat for the Tigers all day long. Well done to the Lions though who were on absolutely storming form.

Joe on a run with Ethan and Ryan chasing.

Alfie on a run.

Ryan in space with Ethan coming up for support.

Another centre kick for the Tigers as the Lions repeatedly found the back of the net.

Ryan in action against the Lions.

 

Joshua can only watch on as Joe find the back of the net again.

Joshua rolling the ball out in an attempt to get the ball out wide for the Tigers.

George and Ethan chase the ball.

Alfie launches a big throw-in towards Lorne.

A long range shot at Joshua.

Alex tries to make a run behind the ever strong Sam in defence.

The game against the Lions ended up with the Tigers conceding a penalty which was taken by George. He caught the ball very well and blasted it straight at Joshua cracking him square in the face. It was a fantastic save (if by accident more than skill) which resulted leaving the big man in tears and with us looking for a new goal keeper for the last two games,

 

The Tigers 3rd game was against Great Wakering and ended with a 1 - 0 defeat. To be honest I think the Tigers dominated the play and easily had the most of the possession, but we just couldn't find the back of the net. A draw might have been a fare result with this game, but the boys really should have won this game.

Ryan dominating in the mid field against Great Wakering.

Ryan looking to get a cross into the box.

Another save by Great Wakering as our boys cannot seem to find the back of the net.

After 2 games in goal, Joshua plays outfield as a defender against Great Wakering.

Ethan fending off a challenge from a Wakering player.

Lorne makes a run down the left side of the pitch.

Ethan runs rings around 3 Wakering players but cannot find the back of the net.

Then Alfie passes the defenders but still no goal.

Maybe the goals weren't coming because our centre forward stepped up to play a game in goal.

Ethan showed good speed to track back and help Joshua in defence.

Alex takes a goal kick.

Alfie takes a great looking corner.

The Tigers final game of the day was against Leighwood Lions who had gone undefeated all day and were tournament champions in the end. The Lions lost 2 - 1 to Leighwood and therefore myself and coach Lee expected this to be a somewhat difficult game and probably one sided for our Tigers. We primed the boys before the game that Leighwood were very good and were likely to score a lot of goals but to just enjoy the experience as it was their last game and to keep their chins held high and a smile on their faces no matter what. In the end the score was a very respectable 2 - 0 which in my opinion was as good as a win against such a good team, and to be honest we had a few good shots on goal ourselves. To be benchmarking ourselves against good teams like Leighwood should be seen as a really positive sign for the Mini Soccer League next season.

Ethan, Alex and Joshua push forward against the Leighwood Lions.

Alex's long range shot goes wide.

Lorne played in goal for the Tigers in our final game and really did a great job making quite a few important saves. Have we finally found a keeper for the team?

Lorne not afraid to come off his line to put pressure on an attacker.

Ryan slides in for a tackle against a Leighwood player.

Joshua and Ethan worked well in defence with one tracking back when the other moved upfield.

Alfie on the ball....

Lorne taking a goal kick.

Ryan on a run with Joshua running along side in support.

Alfie determined to get to this ball ahead of Leighwood.



Tigers take a centre kick as Joshua realises he is out of position and heads back to defend.

So at the end of the tournament Leighwood were announced as the overall winners and I think the FG Lions came in second with their only defeat at the hands of the champs. I think the Tigers played some great football in 3 of the 4 games but were a little disappointing against our own Lions team. So another tournament over, some great experience gained and some very well earnt medals for the boys.

FG Tigers with their medals L-R : Alfie, Ethan, Lorne, Ryan, Joshua and Alex.

Team picture with coach Lee and coach Jason.

Thanks again to Nikola for providing the pictures from the tournament.