The biggest highlight of the game was that even when Bloomsbury were somewhat slow and struggling to maintain possession, the players still had the goal threat as they managed to take a 3-0 lead despite not being close to their best. Alfie Demetriou with a top-class hattrick, the first being a quality finish into the bottom corner in a 1v1. The second goal was an incredible volley from just outside the area, hitting the top left corner, and the final goal being a neat header from a corner. Honourable mention to Zeid Mehareb, who dominated the midfield battle and managed a hattrick of assists, despite trying to claim the fourth one from an own goal. His set-piece deliveries were of a high nature as they looked a threat from every corner. The team held themselves to a high standard and refused to react towards unnecessary fouls and comments and lead by example, and simply focused on what really mattered, the football. Securing the win was a true testament to the effort they had put in.
PFA was a very tough opposition, and all players battled hard, giving it their all in all aspects of the game. Two fantastic goals from Eleas and a brilliant finish from Nabil, all others put in a memorable performance and should not be disappointed by the score line at all.
Bloomsbury dominated the fixture and most players managed to get on the scoresheet, and a much higher level of intensity was seen, a great way to bounce back from the first match. There were some fantastic individual performances seen too! Huge thanks to both the players and the parents for supporting the team. Happy faces at the end after the big win!
Moment of the match came from today’s man of the match Blaise. The opposition launched a counterattack and were 3 on 1 with our goalkeeper, Blaise ran the entire length of the pitch and pulled off a brilliant slide tackle just as the opposition poised to shoot, preventing what would have been a game winning goal. Sean had a great game, defensively solid in the first half, and a very impressive second half performance in goal, despite not being particularly familiar with the position. Noah pressed well, closing down the opposition and winning the ball back high up, he also used his skills in appropriate situations, making himself very difficult to disposes and creating lots of great opportunities for himself and his team. Louis worked relentlessly in the first half, rarely giving the opposition time on the ball and putting in challenges all over the pitch and grabbed himself the goal that sparked the comeback, a great performance. Oliver played well, some great passing that led to some good opportunities for the rest of the team, he did a really good job of retaining possession and helped the team out lots today! Ayman did a fantastic job on the wings, constantly eluding the defence and working himself into good positions, very deserving of the goal he scored. Rocco played in goal first half, and pulled off some unbelievable saves, preventing the opposition from scoring a lot more goals than they did in the first half. In the second half he played outfield and dominated the defence and created lots of opportunities for his team, wonderfully setting up Blaise for his goal.
A brilliant half-time team talk, with great engagement from the players, a real excitement and hype created. This translated into the way they played in the second half, fully deserving of the comeback. A brilliant team performance, not letting the three early goals get to their heads and fighting right to the end. You could see how much it meant to the players and the parents, a brilliant test of character against a very tough and rough opposition that was a year older. Massive congratulations to the players and thank you for providing one of the most entertaining matches!
A fast start from the U8 Black team against a strong ELA side could not be maintained in a tight game over at Coram’s on Saturday. With some fantastic recent results pushing the U8 Black team up the inter-house form table, the boys came into this fixture full of confidence which was rewarded early on. A fantastic run from Leonardo ended in him being taken down in the penalty area in which he nonchalantly brushed himself off to put the Blooms 1-0 up. That would be the highlight of a lacklustre 1st half when compared to recent fixtures with Noah having a fantastic half in goal to keep the score at 3-1 going into the break. The U8 Black team stepped up the intensity in the 2nd half, with players rotating position frequently throughout and working a lot harder to support the player in possession, something that was discussed heavily at half-time. This was rewarded via a great piece of defensive play by Laurie, who in turn shifted the ball to Ori who played one of his trademark long through balls that set up Robert to sweep home via the inside of the far post. This set up a nervy finish for the opposition who even though were pushing forward to increase their lead and being denied by a fantastic performance by Nico in goal, were very susceptible to a counterattack. Only the opposition goalkeeper kept the score line intact for the opposition in turn handing a 1st loss in 4 for the much-improved U8 Black side.
The highlight of the game was Marco’s fearless battling to regain and maintain possession finally paying off as he intercepts a pass, takes on the defenders and blasts the ball into the net from range, a fantastic finish to top off a brilliant performance. Rob played very well having two fantastic goals in the first half, clinical finishes that left the goalkeepers no chance. Noah fought to the final whistle, constantly pressing the opposition and giving them very little time on the ball, driving forward whenever the opportunity arose and creating plenty of chances for himself and others. Niko was brilliant on the wing, causing lots of problems for the oppositions defence, always direct and a constant goal threat, unlucky not to have scored with the way he was playing. Ivan pressed well and put in lots of challenges, stopping many attacks and progressing up the pitch effectively when in possession. Laurie was extremely solid today, he went in goal for one half and did very well, then stepped up as the sole defender and cut out all chances the opposition created for themselves, incredibly well done, a man of the match performance from him! Leonardo was brilliant both technically and tactically, grabbed himself a goal with a very tidy finish into the bottom corner and set up his teammates plenty of times with some excellent passing. A great team performance, everyone tried their best out there, always applying pressure and driving forward as a unit, very deserving of the win today, continuing their fine form! Players were happy with the performance today, a great team spirit and very supportive of each other in all situations.
Bloomsbury started the game in a 2-1-3 formation. Though the intentions were correct, they struggled maintaining possession and preventing counter attacks, finishing the half 4-1 down. But Bloomsbury were determined to change things! The message at half time was a change in formation to a 2-2-2 to prevent the midfield overload and to make decisions before the ball arrives. The players did just that, scoring quickly and kept pushing. Joao was superb up top with Deniro, providing all the width and being super direct, dribbling past players and getting loads of success. The formation changed again to a 1-2-3 as the boys pushed to the very end. They made superb fuses after an amazing Kurt volley in the last minute! Overall a great game, particularly for the neutral. Very proud of the boys and their efforts!
Goals from Morley, Adam, and Jon in the 1st half proved to be enough for the U10 Gold team to come away with the win vs PFA in what proved very much to be a tale of 2 halves. Starting extremely brightly in the 1st half, the Bloomsbury boys passed the ball around fantastically to create openings for one another with the week’s topic of support very much on display. This was highlighted fantastically by the great passing pattern from back to front that led to Jon firing across the goalkeeper to put the U10’s ahead. Proceeding this were 2 dazzling solo goals from Morley and the very impressive Adam who had earned his call-up to the U10 Gold team after some fantastic displays with the U10 Black team. In contrasting fashion, the 2nd half saw Bloomsbury sink deeper, inviting pressure from PFA in which if it wasn’t for the firm defensive performances from Jorge, Vanya, Samuel, Archie, and player of the match Ylli, would’ve resulted in a different score line. It wasn’t to be for PFA though who although managed to pull 2 goals back could not change the outcome of the game and towards the latter period of the 2nd half could’ve been further behind if Zac and Ylli were able to convert their well-built chances.
Fixtures against East End Lions are always tough for the U10’s teams and the squad are very much aware of this as a result of previous fixtures. They press well, are very organised, and have a couple of players that can change the game on a sixpence. This game would prove to a very different affair though with the U10 Black team well and truly blowing away the Lions in what would prove to be the best performance on show by a U10 team this season.
Sticking with what was a very familiar 3-2-1 formation, the boys showed great width via the wingbacks deployed in the back 3, and a solid spine via the centre-back in the 3, double pivoting pair in the 2-man midfield (which ensured one central midfielder remained deeper, allowing a free-roam role of sorts for their partner), and a very mobile solo outlet up front. Tactics aside though, it was the way in which the team shifted the ball from back to front and left to right and vice versa that impressed, with each and every player offering copious amounts of support to the player in possession which allowed us to play fast 2/3 touch football. Morley, although very much untroubled in goal, was calm and calculated in his distribution that enabled Bloomsbury to build out from the back. Max, Zak, and Bert provided the width needed to go beyond the opposition defence as well as recover when required as well as great decision making in terms of when to dribble or when to give. Otto and Kieran expertly built from the back also via balls out wide or into central areas where debutant Gabi was consistently finding pockets of space to work his magic in. Goals came from Bert in which he showed great use of both feet from various angles and deliveries, Otto having a fantastic header from a corner, and Gabi who marked a very impressive debut game at Bloomsbury with a dipping long rage effort via a great corner routine completing the demolition. Defensively, East End very rarely got into the attacking 3rd, with tenacious pressing, firm tackling and great retaining of possession very much nullifying them with each and every player working hard to win possession back if lost. The U10’s as a whole have come on as a collective since the start of the season and this result well and truly demonstrated this in abundance. An extremely proud day for the lead coach for sure which was very much mirrored in the delight on the face of the 7 fantastic members of the match day squad for this game.
It was a difficult game, especially, starting slow and having to chase ever since. Strahinja Zizic and Taj-Deen Abdulai were great at showing confidence in possession, looking to connect and create with teammates, but also carrying the ball confidently. Wide players caused threat, Ethan Ardill and Rubens Baron were dangerous for being positive and quick in possession, unfortunate not to score more.
Being 5-0 down after 20 minutes, it was a frustrating score, when looking at the context of the fixture. It’s important that the boys reacted well, after starting slow. This was impacted only losing the remaining 60 2-1. A great reaction from the players, which was definitely needed after a poor start. The application of learning wasn’t as good as it should have been, which means this topic will definitely be revisited.
It took Bloomsbury just 60 seconds to break the deadlock in this game, with Aaron finishing the first attack of the game. However, the remainder of the first quarter was cagey and often scrappy, with East End Lions cutting out many of Bloomsbury’s attempts to break lines or play in behind. The second goal came on 23 minutes when Arthur got the first of his brace, 3 minutes into his debut for Bloomsbury! This was followed up 7 minutes later when Joèl struck the ball in off the crossbar from outside the box. With 5 minutes before half-time, Bloomsbury sensed their opposition tiring on the big pitch and took advantage; scoring 3 in 5 minutes! The first came from Ebenezer, who tucked home Simon’s initial shot. The second was scored by Aaron from inside the box, before Ebenezer scored another rebound when he was perfectly placed to finish from 3 yards. The instruction at half-time was to keep playing in the right way and the boys did that, with Aaron completing his hat-trick on 45 minutes, Zac grabbing finishing from a cross on 62 minutes, and Joel putting a free kick in to the top left corner on 64 minutes! The pace of the game slowed but Bloomsbury weren’t done yet and continued to drive forward, attack after attack. The final goals of the game came from Arthur, his second of the game with a beautiful free kick from outside the box, and Simon with the last kick of the game.
It was great to see Aaron scoring a hat trick whilst playing on the left wing. He has worked really hard for the team and often deserves more goals, so today was reward for that ongoing effort. Ebenezer also deserved his goals having been in the right place at the right time, reading the game well and holding his position as instructed. Every player was superb, but Arthur was outstanding on his debut, scoring two and fitting in to the team as if he had been playing with us all season. There should also be an honourable mention for the East End Lions goalkeeper, who kept the score line to 11 despite facing many more shots in the game. Zac enjoyed the opportunity to get further forward in the final quarter, scoring one and creating for others. The boys also enjoyed rotating formations and trying new tactics throughout the game.
Shola was nervous about playing in an 11-a-side goal for one of the first times but made multiple amazing saves that shocked everyone that attended. Combined with this her long distribution was amazing being able to find players to bypass a press. Tore when she got on the ball had very close control especially around high pressure. She was able to shift it away from defenders and retain possession. Tanya worked extremely hard to recover anytime the team lost the ball and would do it in a smart way. She would recover to the biggest threat instead of just following the ball. Yas after being out of performing for a while with an injury showed a lot of desire to get a result. This was key in her wanting to change positions to have an increased influence.
The team did struggle but with all factors going against them there wasn’t too much disappointment at all. Playing an age group, or two for some, up and with one player down for the majority as well as hardly playing the format they played they did well. Learning needs to start coming into play and players need to take responsibility for their own learning.
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