Joao Suchocki’s finish in the twelfth minute was the catalyst for an excellent showing from Bloomsbury’s U9s, and what followed were strikes from George Thompson and captain Riku Takami to secure the victory against LFS Tufnell and claim the three points, at home in the Camden and Islington Youth Football League (CIYFL).
The second goal; pounced upon in poacher’s style from someone who’s really began to elevate his game, that’s credit to his efforts in training in recent weeks. This game, an exhibition from George in bringing his teammates into play. Mastering the space, penetrating with forward movements creating more passing options for his teammates, attracting the press and passing smartly. A seriously complete attacking performance from George, and capped off with a well-taken goal. The final goal of the game, after some quick, intricate exchanges of the ball with Bastian, was finished acutely by the skipper and crowned a man of the match performance, one of supreme intelligence and industry playing in a variety of positions. The recognition from Riku pointing towards and celebrating with Basti, one of the best scenes of the morning. Riku has quickly made himself at home with this team, and is adored and appreciated by all those around him.
It wasn’t just the goal-scorers on song either, it’d be rude not to mention that a penalty was awarded to the opposition. The ball rattled off the crossbar and Kurt McDermott in goal was quick to react to the rebound, pulling off a great save to keep in-tact another clean sheet for his record.
A match with real high-quality football, from both sides. The U9s came up against a technically strong team: very impressive in drawing tackles and bypassing them with quick feet. Our timing in the tackle during this game was askew, many found themselves diving into the challenge instead of being patient. A great challenge for the boys in this respect and even better to come out of it with three goals and clean sheet, with the selflessness of the team shining through and maybe most appeasing, the endeavour in which they applied their week’s theme and topic. This week was a free week and so the focus for the U9 Golds was on set-pieces. Set-piece routines are difficult to train for most age groups, but it was great to see the players not committing any foul throws, and also that they were very impressive in producing creative set-pieces, as opposed to the common cross or shot. As we look to add another dimension to our game, set-pieces are something we’ll work to improve as progress through the season. Freekicks were tougher to showcase what was worked on in training as the majority in this game came from deep positions and therefore was more difficult to recreate our routines, nonetheless, keeping possession was the focus of the deep freekicks and we achieved this. Corners were more fruitful in this aspect, the players rotated well and always offered the short pass to attract defenders and create space.
An excellent Saturday morning for Bloomsbury’s U11s as they dispatched of their opponents in their friendly. They were on fire this week.
A slow start meant the score-line sat level after the first quarter, but following a few changes and great reaction from the group, they found themselves in front by four goals by the second quarter. By the penultimate quarter, they’d taken full control of the game: engaging in 1v1s, creating overloads and utilising the space in between the Desire lines – able to put away a ton of goals across the final two quarters. The boys were successful nine times out of ten when playing out from the back, with huge thanks to Jorge – who played up a year from the U10s – as his fast, high-quality decisiveness on the ball allowed us to start many attacks and be in a much more secure and settled position when entering the middle and final third.
The group can be greatly proud of themselves for growing into the game with such stature, showcasing so much quality by the end. Nine different goal scorers out of a twelve-man squad, speaks volumes to the overall standard of performances. The pick of the bunch of the goals, two top-corner rockets: the first in the 68th minute, a stunning free kick bouncing off the crossbar into the top left corner from Mohamed Farhat, and the 76th minute, where Zeid Mehareb after a top class defensive performance, beat three opposition players before smashing the ball top bins.
It was the same story for the U13s in their friendly against the same opposition, a comfortable and significant margin with Bloomsbury once again the victors.
Joel and Che especially enjoyed themselves, linking up really well; with Joel receiving the ball then playing Che in behind for Che to have a 1v1 or the opportunity to cut it back for another teammate. The pressing in this game from the boys was also executed to a great standard, especially first half, forcing lots of opposition goal kicks due to staying and pressing high which led to getting the shot off or creating an opportunity. The set-up muchly aided the ease with which the boys pressed as they showcased how comfortable they are within their 3-5-2 formation, as for squad member Joe Barron, the formation gives them the platform to win their midfield battles and when they need to defend, they’re covered by the two wingbacks who are prepared to help the defence.
This week’s match-report for the Under 13s was written and brought to you by Joe Barron, with a great analysis and understanding of the match, to cap off an impressive performance on the pitch!
A last-minute equaliser from a free-kick salvaged the draw for Camden Elite and meant points were shared between them and Bloomsbury’s U14s in the CIYFL.
Conceding so deep into the match was a sucker punch and gave the U14’s an important lesson in managing the game, recognising, and controlling the situation, as they should have walked away with all three points.
Apart for the dampener, it was a solid performance from the boys. In a week where they worked on their effectiveness from set-pieces, they reaped the rewards. The first goal… straight from the training ground. The ball went short at the corner, set back to the taker who delivered a powerfully driven cross which was met by Josh Sylvanus. Seriously satisfying to see the hard work to replicate, succeed.
Also in this game, our recognition of triggers, knowing when to initiate the press and understanding what situations we can take advantage of when out of possession, was much better. Our 1v1 success, driving past players and beating them, too was very impressive, particularly Prince & Jorge Brito, as was our patience building the attack.
Gutting not to win, a draw that feels like a loss, but importantly, and what is normally the case with this talented group of players, many positives to take.
Fantastic Friday night festivities for Bloomsbury versus Fusion as goals from Alex Smith sandwiched between a Dylan Summerhayes brace meant the U15s took all three points in a 3-2 victory in the CIYFL. Alex, particularly deserving of a shoutout: his goal was brilliant but after a powerful, persevering, inspired run – the last action of the game – he assisted Dylan to snatch the game.
A professional win, even sweeter because we beat a team we lost to twice last year. Even though we conceded avoidable goals from set-pieces, the team’s character and hunger to battle right to the last second, winning at the final sequence, tremendous to witness.
It may have only been a friendly fixture, but the 5-3 battle between Alpha FC and Bloomsbury’s U15s in which Alpha triumphed, was a great spectacle.
They lost, but Bloomsbury showed great character to come back from trailing 3-1 to level at three a piece, in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, through a lack of concentration during the last embers of the game, we conceded two in the last three minutes. Not the result we wanted, but nonetheless a great team effort. Special mention to Prince Kitaka’s powerful performance, scored a goal and bossed the midfield the whole game, winning his individual battles and positioned himself excellently during the whole match.
Considering this weekend the U16s struggled to get enough players on the pitch due to COVID and it being school half-term, they performed admirably.
Goals from Philo Marsh, Alexey Kleckovkin and Eliot Hysini and a hat-trick from Freddie Brennan kicked off the weekend as Bloomsbury beat Stoke Newington Yellow 6-1 on Friday. A man less right from the beginning and 1-1 at half-time, the second half was a textbook copy of what had been practiced during their free week in training where ‘combination play to finish’ was the focus. The young men showed great coordination as a team, displaying lots of smart, intricate combination play as players looked to find the spaces to split the opponent’s lines and hurt the opposition.
On Saturday, the team travelled one and half hours to Oxford for a friendly against the National League Side, and though they didn’t win, put in a really good account of themselves, keeping the 0-1 lead from Eliot’s strike for most of the match. But two late injuries would go on to cripple the performance, leaving the team with no substitutes as tiredness began to creep in, and Oxford took advantage to win 3-1.
The final game of the weekend on Sunday was started by only nine players and yet despite that, we scored our first goal early. With ten men we scored our other two and secured a 3-2 victory away from home to HMH. Though we were handicapped in manpower, it did not stop our ability to create multiple goal-scoring opportunities, nor did it detract from our resoluteness, as the defence was solid and cut out most of the threats posed to them whether it came via ground or air attacks. Special mention to Arteen in goal, as he made two crucial saves that allowed us to bring home the three points despite the obstacles we had to overcome.
This weekend highlighted the dedication of our young men, playing through pain and travelling long distances, competing, and triumphing, marvellously against strong teams.
The girls steamrolled their way to a nine goal stomping in the CIYFL. It’s not often you have the goal-keeper as one of the standouts for the victors when the game is at that sort of margin, but Phoebe had another exceptional game in net. Her eleventh minute save where she reacted quickly to a counter attack and came out on top in the 1v1 against the striker was just one of many examples of her imperious keeping.
The shoutouts don’t end there either, Janet and Nea were also exceptional. The former’s hat-trick; epitomised and rewarded her tenacity, willingness, decisiveness and ruthlessness. Nea adapted to her environment superbly, playing in the back and on the wing, where her efforts were rewarded with a late finish. Special mention to Marwa too, who’s athleticism was unmatched throughout, bombing up and down, creating chances and being a crucial part of many of the goals. One off from double digits and a clean sheet is fantastic, but what was one of the most pleasing aspects of the win was how the week’s work on set-pieces was taken into the game. There were no foul throws, and of the eleven offensive corners, shape and structure were upheld, mirroring what was learned in training.
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