Merley Allendale YFC

Tigers Under 8   2007 - 2008

League: Dorset Mini Soccer Under 8 Section 1

Final Position: 10th out of 10 teams

Sponsor: Oakley Village Butchers

This was the first season for the Tigers. They played 7 a Side in the Dorset Mini Soccer League. Training is on Saturdays at Merley First School 10.45 to 12.15.

Stats

League: Played 18, Won 0, Drawn 0, Lost 18, Goals For 5, Goals Against 130

Shield:  Played 1, Won 0, Drawn 0, Lost 1, Goals For 0, Goals Against 14

Players Awards

Ceremony held at AFC Bournemouth on 17th May 2008

Player's Player Of The Year:             Thomas Morgan

Most Improved Player Of The Year:  Charlie White

Manager's Player Of The Year:          Oliver Sargeant

Match Reports

Sunday 16th September 2007   Poole Town Colts 5   Merley Allendale 2
So here we go then, after only eight training sessions, one friendly and a mini tournament, we finally start our first ever league game. The game started slowly, both teams finding out how good the other was, with a lot of good play by both teams in the middle of the park. Poole then got the first goal with a well hit shot from just outside the box.
      It wasn’t long until we were 2-0 down, another shot from outside the box, Oliver Dukes our goalkeeper managing to save but could not hold onto the ball, giving their striker an easy tap in.
We then started to put a lot more pressure onto the Poole goal area, looking as if it wasn’t going to be long before we scored our first. Just before half time, Oliver Sargeant scored to make it 2-1 at the break.
      The second half started well for Merley with our second and equalizing goal coming from Jake Howarth. Poole then went straight from the restart to score their third. We seemed to tire after that, allowing Poole to score two more before the end of the game, giving a final score of 5-2.
      Very well done to all my players considering most of the teams we are playing in this league have been together a lot longer than we have!!
M.O.M. -  Ryan Patten

Sunday 23rd September 2007   Merley Allendale 0  Heathlands 9
Unfortunately we came up against a very well organised team with one very talented 7 year old who just about beat us single handed, this was one young player every manager dreams he could have in his team, but very seldom finds.
      The good thing to come out of this game though for us, was all the Merley players heads never went down and even going in at half time 5-0 down, we still tried to push for goals in the second half.
Heathlands managed another 4 goals in the second half to make it a final score of 9-0.
A disappointing result yes but I was proud of all my players, especially the younger ones Kayla Rendell & Joe Rusling who both played their first ever league game.
M.O.M.  - Joe Rusling

Sunday 30th September 2007   Parkstone Hawks 18   Merley Allendale 0
      We went into this match knowing that it was going to be a busy day for our defence and goalkeeper. Parkstone having played two games like everyone else in this league were top having already scored 18 goals with none against.
      I can’t fault the effort my players put into this game each and every one of them, it was just a game that the opposition were just too good and too strong for us and in my opinion Parkstone will win this league at a canter.
      If it wasn’t for some heroic goalkeeping from our man of the match Oliver Dukes the score could have been well into the twenties. Well done all my players for the effort you all put in especially Oliver dukes & Thomas Morgan, all we can do is learn from playing teams like this and the results will come.
M.O.M. - Oliver Dukes

Sunday 7th October 2007   Merley Allendale 0   Kingswood Youth 8
    Going into this game with one or two players missing, we decided to experiment with positions but unfortunately it took awhile for us to settle. We were already 3-0 down before we really started to compete, by half time it was 7-0.
      Second half started having changed a few players and positions, we started to look more like we knew what we were there to do. We started to cause their defence some problems with the speed of Matthew down the wing and more pressure on their players from William and Ryan giving us a bit more of the ball. Unfortunately we could not make our pressure count with a goal. We also looked a lot better in defence with some good tackling by Ryan Brett & Oliver Sargeant and when Kingswood managed to get pass these two Oliver Dukes was up to his job with some very good saves.
      The only goal of the second half came from the opposition late on making the final score 8-0. Very well played to all the Merley players, especially the second half performance.
M.O.M. - William Calton.

Sunday 14th October 2007   Poole Borough 8   Merley Allendale 0
      This has to be our most disappointing result of the season so far because 8-0 does not reflect at all how well we played in this game. Being able to put out possibly our strongest side so far this season we started the game very strongly and should have gone ahead not long after the start when Thomas went on a run through Poole’s defence and it was only the fact that he couldn’t keep his balance at the time of the shot that we didn’t score.
      Both sides really started to compete with it becoming a very end to end game but even when Poole did manage to get past our midfield, Peter & Ryan B managed to be strong in defence with some very good tackling and Oliver making the saves when needed. Chances were coming our way also with Ethan, Ryan P, Thomas & Matthew playing some very good football. Just before half time, Poole made the break through with a well struck shot that Oliver had no chance with this goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of our players because on chances we really should have been 2-1 up at the interval not 1-0 down.
       In the second half after changes had been made, we could not find the fight we had in the first half and very soon the strength of Poole showed scoring 7 more goals before the end.
M.O.M. - Thomas Morgan.

Sunday 21st October 2007   Merley Allendale 0   Lytchett Red Triangle 7
      Yet another defeat but improvements are being seen all the time. We now have to start believing we can score goals, because the chances we have been creating in the last three games, the final score in each, does not reflect how well we have played. Once we start putting the pressure on the opposition buy scoring from all the chances we create the results will start going our way.
      Even though we lost this game it was enjoyable to watch both teams playing some nice football and its nice to see that all the players, winners and losers still come off the pitch smiling and enjoying their football.
Player of the match: Oliver Sargeant.

Sunday 28th October 2007   Poole Town Rovers 5   Merley Allendale 0
     It was a good end to end game for the first half with all the players finding the wet pitch and windy conditions helpful at times. It was one of those games were the first team managing to get the brake through would go on and win.
       Unfortunately for Merley, Poole got that first goal soon followed by their second. The second half started very much the same as the first both teams pushing for a result but like most of the games before this we seem to tire a lot earlier than Poole allowing them to put a lot more pressure on our goal, all this pressure told with Poole scoring three more before the end.
      Well played by both teams in very difficult conditions.
Player of the match: Charlie White.

Sunday 4th November 2007   Merley Allendale 0   Rossgarth Youth 5
    Going into this game we were hoping for our first points of the season, both teams at the bottom of the table with no wins to date. Having 13 of our 14 players available we looked like we could solve our problem of tiring early in the second half.
     The game started well both teams looking about the same ability and strength, chances were coming at both ends but neither team could find the net. Some strong play in the middle of the park by Merley’s only girl player Kayla nearly created a chance for Jake to score but the Rossgarth defence managed to clear. Just before the half time whistle, Rossgarth got the opening goal making it 0-1 at half time.
     Starting the second half with six changes we were hoping to be stronger than Rossgarth but unfortunately they had the same idea and changed four or five of their players, In the end it came down to them finishing their chances and Merley not. By the final whistle Rossgarth had scored 4 more to make it 0-5 at the end.
Player of the match: Kayla Rendell.

Sunday 11th November 2007   Merley Allendale 1  Poole Town 9
    We finally have a goal to talk about, not having scored in our last seven games, we managed to score one of the chances we have been creating in the last two or three games. The goal came midway through the first half from a bad back pass to their goalkeeper, Jake Howarth getting the final touch. Unfortunately for us we were already 3-0 down. Poole got one more before the break to make it 4-1.
      The second half was a bit more one sided for Poole, making six changes at half time and three of the six where from our under 7’s we didn’t have the strength or energy to create any more chances. With all their pressure Poole got five more goals to make the final score 9-1.
Player of the match:  Jake Howarth.

Sunday 25th November 2007   Merley Allendale 1  Poole Town Colts 4
     This was our best performance this season so far, not because of the score but the way the kids put all their effort into this game. We had four of our older players out this week so Kayla & Joe where called upon from our under 7 age group. The sun in our eyes first half didn’t help and at half time we were 3-0 down but in the second half we started to play some nice football and the only team that looked like scoring was Merley.
     Poole managed to score their forth midway through the second half against the run of play but even after that all the pressure was on the Poole goal. Eventually just before the final whistle we managed to score, Peter coming in at the far post squeezing the ball in between the goalkeeper and post.
     The final score was 4-1 to Poole, but very well played by all my players, we are improving and I can’t see it being much longer before we get our first win.
Player of the match: Ryan Brett.

Sunday 16th December 2007   Kingswood Youth 9  Merley Allendale 0
     Yet another result that doesn’t tell the story of how well Merley played. The score makes it look a very one sided game, it couldn’t be further from the truth, The way we started, if we could have put away the chances we created, we should have been two or three up before Kingswood got anywhere near our goal.
     In the end it came down again to playing a team that where stronger, playing together for a lot longer, and being a little better at putting away their chances.
Player of the match: Peter Copp.

Sunday 6th January 2008   Merley Allendale 0  Poole Borough 2
     Our best performance so far this season, All the hard work the children are putting into their training is starting to pay off. The game started well for Merley with us creating the first chance just after the kick off and a second chance coming straight after. Poole then settled and started to put some pressure on us but Charlie in the Merley goal was having a very good game. It was only a very strong shot by the Poole striker just before half time that sent us in 1-0 down at the interval.
     The second half was very much like the first with two very evenly matched sides. It was the same Poole striker with another strong shot half way through the half that won this game for Poole.
     The most pleasing part of this game for me as manager, is the way my team worked so hard for each other, I could have named anyone of the 11 players that played as player of the match.
Player of the match: Ethan Colton.

Sunday 13th January 2008   Lytchett Red Triangle 6   Merley Allendale 1
     Considering the very wet and muddy pitch, It was another very good performance from Merley.
The score once again doesn’t reflect how well we played, we gave Lytchett two very easy goals from our goal kicks which made it very hard to get back into this game. Our goal came just before half time with some very good play between Matthew, Jake and our goal scorer Thomas.
     With the score at half time being 3-1 we went into the second half knowing it would be difficult having to play up hill and on the wettest part of the pitch, but we did get the chances to bring the score closer making the Lytchett goalkeeper and defence work hard. In the end Lytchett put away their three chances to give a final score of 6-1.
Player of the match: Matthew Brett.

Sunday 27th January 2008   Rossgarth Youth 5   Merley Allendale 0
    This was the classic game of two half’s, Both teams playing well and if it wasn’t for some wayward shooting by both teams it could have been 2 all at half time, Merley were really playing well as a team and went in at the interval 0 – 0.
     We started to believe we could get our first points of the season, but it was not to be, we soon went 1-0 down just after the restart and the boy’s heads went down from that point on. In the end Rossgarth scored their 5th with the last kick of the game.
Player of the match:  Thomas Morgan.

More Pictures

Click on these or the picture above to see a larger version

		Merley V Lytchett Red Triangle at Fenners Field Sunday 21st October 2007
		Merley V Lytchett Red Triangle at Fenners Field Sunday 21st October 2007
		Merley V Lytchett Red Triangle at Fenners Field Sunday 21st October 2007
		Merley V Lytchett Red Triangle at Fenners Field Sunday 21st October 2007