February 2011 News
U11s do project proud
19 February 2011
Dulwich Magic 5 St. Matthew’s 1 Venue: JAG’s Sports Ground
A 5-1 defeat for the youngsters was very much a case of a result not telling the whole story. With four regular players not showing up and 3-o down after about less than 10 minutes, the boys rallied, pulling one back and going in at half time very unlucky not to have at least levelled the scores. This was down to several outstanding saves by the Dulwich keeper. The second half was pretty much the same, Dulwich taking their chances and their keeper denying us yet again. Footballing-wise, our youngsters are great to watch and once they have developed their awareness and discipline, we have no doubt that they will be some team. Their attitude is second to none.
L. Dema
Edited: February 20th, 2011
U13s book place in final
19 February 2011
St. Matthew’s 5 Bethwin A 0 Venue: Brockwell Park (KO Cup semi-final)
With the cup semi-final upon us, all eyes were on the weather report and the Brockwell Park pitch, especially after the abandonment of all fixtures at Tooting Bec. After a quick pitch inspection, though, we were ready to go against a Bethwin team who were only one of two teams to have beaten us this season. Our pre-match preparations didn’t get off to the best of starts when our goalkeeper turned up with a swollen hand, unable to take part. With a stand in goalie we knew we had to keep it tight at the back and we did just that, allowing Bethwin only one real shot on target during the whole match. Through hard work, stern defending and quick closing down, we carved open a few good chances early on and soon went 1-0 up. Despite difficult weather conditions to contend with we kept the ball well, spreading it around nicely in the opposition’s half. By half time we were 3-0 up and looking very composed. The second half was more of the same and after 10 minutes we eventually netted a fourth, with a fifth soon after. After some scrappy matches in recent weeks, the boys showed some great composure, always looking to play the ball out of trouble and working hard for one another. A great result and, more importantly, the best team performance of the season, with everyone putting their all into the tie and playing some beautiful football along the way. Well done boys - a well-deserved big day out to look forward to in the spring.
James Alexander
Edited: February 20th, 2011
U12s make great strides
St. Matthew’s 1 Lambeth All Stars 2 Venue: Brockwell Park
We started on the back foot and were under constant pressure. Fortunately, our new keeper, Steven Jackson, made some great saves on his debut. Against the run of play, though, we managed to break away with a direct counter attack to score first. This gave us the confidence to keep much better possession. But Lambeth were always threatening and eventually got past our defence and keeper to score towards the end of the half. The second-half performance was a great improvement as we attempted to play the ball on the ground, but Lambeth grabbed a second goal from a poor defensive clearance. We put Lambeth under increased pressure for the rest of the game but the score remained 2-1. This was a great improvement, though, against a team to whom we lost 10 – 3 at the start of the season, and a result the boys can be very proud of.
Ashley Bosah
Edited: February 14th, 2011
U11s Unlucky in mud
12 February 2011
St. Matthew’s 1 Peckham Town Reds 2 Venue: Brockwell Park
One of the best games of the season was played out on a swamp of a pitch. The St. Matthew’s youngsters were a credit to their manager and the project, passing the ball around and playing quick one-twos against a typically big, strong Peckham side as though they were playing on a perfect surface. Chances-wise they should have won the game and certainly deserved more than Dequan’s nicely worked goal; but the result is irrelevant, this game showed just how much these boys have progressed in their very first season. Roll on 2011-12. Special thanks, too, to our four mums who braved the mud on the touchline.
L. Dema
Edited: February 13th, 2011
U13s in the semis
5 February 2011
St. Matthew’s 9 Sporting Duet 2 Venue: Brockwell Park, Siberia
It was time to turn our attention to the cup again this week and a quarter-final draw against the league’s French representatives, Sporting Duet. Although from a division below, Duet could have posed us some problems; however, early on in the first half the goals started flowing. Despite a fairly one sided match, the game was marred with frayed tempers on both sides, a sign of how important the tie was to both teams. With a typical Brockwell Park wind blowing up the hill it was hard to play our usual passing game, but at least the weather didn’t seem to affect our finishing and we went in at half time 6-0 up. Some clinical finishing, defence-splitting passing and an outstanding save by our goalkeeper, Justice, gave us an unassailable lead. With the pressure off we changed things around at half time, with defenders going upfront – and scoring – and our centre forward moving to right back. A hotly contested penalty allowed Duet to pull one back, and a long-range effort that moved about 6 different ways in the wind made the final score 9-2. Well done boys – get ready for the semis!
James Alexander
Edited: February 11th, 2011
U13s hot in freezing cold
29 January 2011
Clapham Rangers 0 St. Matthew’s 9 Venue: Tooting Bec
Run faster, work harder if you want to keep warm was the message from the touch line as the boys braved the biting cold at Tooting Bec against Clapham Rangers. After going 1- 0 up early on and 7 – 0 up at half time, the pressure was off and we were able to experiment a little, with players playing in different positions. This saw our 3 usual midfielders drop to defence, who at times forgot about their defensive duties and gave us a scare on the touchline. Although we never quite got into our passing game on a terrible, bumpy pitch, some of the play in the centre of the pitch was superb – as was the finishing. Justice still had to make two great saves, however, to ensure another clean sheet.
James Alexander
Edited: February 11th, 2011
U12s and 13s triumph over Brixton rivals
15 January 2011
St. Matthew’s 4 Church Manor 1 (U13s) Venue: Brockwell Park
With the threat of a rain induced postponement averted, St. Matthew’s set about
securing their name was in the hat for the next-round draw of the Youth League
Cup, against our north Brixton rivals Church Manor, a team in fine form. Although we ran out 4-1
winners, we certainly didn’t have it all our own way. At 1-1 it was tough going for a while but a great long range effort from Lloyd late on in the first half ensured we went into the break ahead. Some superb passing during the second half created some great chances for us, and it wasn’t long before we went further ahead. Then with around 10 minutes left we made sure of the win with a fourth. The hard work the boys are putting in on the training ground to improve their fitness and ability to keep possession is now paying off on the pitch – unbeaten now in our last 6 games.
22 January 2011
Bec Utd. 0 St. Matthew’s 5 / St. Matthew’s 4 Bec Utd. 1 (U13s) Venue: Brockwell Park
A double banker against Bec Utd. saw us gain the maximum 6 points in our push up the table. 5 -0 and 4 -1 victories were gained in some style. The flexibility of the team was on show during both games, with both the right and left midfielders dropping back to help out in defence, and it was great to witness such team work.
James Alexander
22 January 2011
St. Matthew’s 7 Axten 1 (U12s) Venue: Brockwell Park
The boys took full advantage of the opposition turning up with two men short. From the kick off we camped outside the opposition goal and after some 20 minutes we eventually managed to break down their defence. Once we scored, the goals just kept coming. We did concede a goal out of a defensive error but throughout the game our defence hardly had anything to do. Despite the two-man advantage, a great day against local rivals. The team will be further boosted by the signing, at long last, of a new goalkeeper. A big St. Matthew’s welcome to Steven Jackson.
Ashley Bosah
Edited: February 11th, 2011
DAILY TELEGRAPH & MHT FUNDING
We are pleased to announce additional funding of £2,000 has been secured from the Daily Telegraph and our kit sponsor Metropolitan Housing Trust. The £1,000 grant from the Telegraph is part of their ‘Sport For You’ programme set up by journalist Gareth A Davis. Our project is one of the first to receive funding and was chosen from hundreds of applications nationwide. A photo taken at our U11s match against Peckham Town and an interview with the project manager will appear in the paper’s April 25 edition. To view the on-line version, please click on the following link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/amateur/8418867/Sport-for-you-breaking-down-barriers.html
The £1,000 from MHT is part of their Stellar Young People’s programme and was awarded for the 20 referrals sent from our project, in partnership with Anthony Savery, MHT’s Community Sports Development Officer.
Edited: February 10th, 2011