The first of our six cup finals on a very important day with our 2 main rivals playing each other in a double header, We get off to a rather inauspicious start !within 2mins a predictable long ball from our oppos catches Carlos in two minds and he  shins a glorious own goal from 18yards!, we originally thought that leverstock would be one of our main challengers this year as we were quite impressed with them when they came to the walkers earlier in the season!, they are a bit like stoke city ! very uncompromising, physically strong ,they make a challenge ball or not!, it turned out to be this style that was to be their downfall on this occasion ,first Reece was felled in the area ,Jason converted 1-1 ,then in the second half Tony was brought down, Jason cool as you like! converts 2-1 ,they seemed to lose a bit of interest after that and despite Phil making a couple of good saves ,we were well on top !,near the end Reece feeds Dario who tucks the ball away nicely 3-1, Dario led the line really well! his first touch superb! but the man of the match was Reece Burdett who worked so hard today! well done mate, only bizarre  results can prevent us from finishing top two, but the big prize would now seem to be  between us and Harpenden Vultures! ,watch this space!,

Tony C co manager

Top versus bottom! , trouble is everybody wants to beat the team at the top , our opponents certainly had unregistered players !    and it showed big time , but Tony  T and i never panic about these things as we have complete faith in this group of players!,15 mins in we take the lead through Reece scoring from close range after a flick on by Jon from a throw in near the byline 1-0 , but we are getting caught in possession in midfield with both Nick and Jon having off days! they equalize  from  such a situation and then score a wonder goal to lead 2-1 at h/t, their two forward players who’s names even their own people didn’t know ! were causing us all sorts of problems,Tony made 2 changes at h/t bringing on Tony Leeds and Lee T for Jon and Yussef , we tell the boys to be patient and believe in each other and not to panic, we go 3-1 down from another good goal from them, and Phil has had to make 3 one on one saves just to keep us in it! ,its now with 25 minutes to go that two remarkable things happen! we throw our last dice by bringing on Dario (unavailable for the last month) and Jason decides enough is enough and takes the game by the scruff of the neck ,a long throw by Dario produces a goal for Jason ,another an own goal, and then a superb reverse pass by Dario puts Tony in for his first and a long kick by Phil put Tony in for his second ,somewhere in between that lot they hit the post! and Alex handles on the line ! but the ref says unintentional !, so justice is done ,massive performances from Jason ,Alex, Carlos,Andres,and Phil who kept us in it! ,but man of the match goes to Tom Obrien who put in a really mature performance at right back both defensively and going forward , well done lads!

Tony C .   

Sorry about last weeks missing match report (bit busy)  we went down 5-0 to Southgate in the cup a sterling performance considering we lost 3 players to injury including the influential Nick Mann ,matched them for half an hour but a combination of fitness and a couple of class moves from our oppos did for us (well they are the best team in the entire WFL )  What do i say about the double header v Evergreen ! A seriously depleted squad!,an injury to Jason D after 1 min! 120 mins with 10 men!, these would normally be valid excuses  but our opponents were bottom of the league ! too many of our players wanted to win it on their own ! i cant fault the effort though , we should now be sitting 6points clear at the top!  and have made things difficult for ourselves, really don’t feel like  reliving the key moments too depressing!, so well just put it behind us and look forward to a massive match v Harpenden next Sunday, hopefully we can get some players back from injury !  and thank goodness its not Mothers Day ! eh Tom? TonyC.  

We welcomed  Panathinaikos to the walker ground for a match that we knew wasn’t going to be easy ,following our narrow 1-0 win at their place earlier in the season, we  survived an early scare in the first 30 seconds when our visitors really should have scored but wayward finishing was to be Panas Achilles heel today! they went on to rattle our crossbar twice during the game, they certainly defended well though ! 0-0 at half time and our lads were getting a little frustrated, We asked the guys to be patient and to get the ball to feet around the box as we felt that we were trying to play balls in behind for the strikers to chase down, Wouldn’t you know the breakthrough comes from a through ball where Jason is fouled in the area ,he stepped up to convert to the keepers left , the players relax a bit now and a couple of minutes later Yuseff  Mia cuts in from the right and unleashes an absolute rocket into the top corner! , his first goal for the team and already contender for goal of the season, Yuseff had an all round fine game for which he earned man of the match!, a trade mark Tony Leeds goal  completed the scoring but as i say it could have been very different had Pana took their chances, many thanks to Dino for refereeing standing for no nonsense and staying in control for the whole match,TC

Same opposition as last game but a totally different match! as the Hatters had only 8 players 9 second half, obviously the game was one sided but its worth noting that our oppos were very sporting throughout ,what pleased me most on our part was that we kept going to the end yet showed the respect to our opponents that they deserved as we know that they are a good side!

Anyway, 4 goals for Tony Leeds, 3 for Reece Burdett, a first for Carlos and also for Andres, and one each for Dario and Phil who came out of goal late on!, We welcomed back Ben Wade to the team in the second half and Yussef showed some good touches when he came on, man of the match today was Andres Vargas who after his good show in the last match was outstanding today constantly available, making great runs, and so reliable when on the ball!, he just never gives it away ,if we could make him a little more extrovert wed have a semi pro  on our hands, keep it up Andy!

League action next week weather permitting,

Well done lads Tony C .

 A warm (no pun intended) welcome back after the extended break , and we couldn’t ask for a tougher match on our return ! having played our opponents earlier on in the season we Knew they would be a tough nut to crack ,we had a longer warm up than usual concentrating on our touch and passing and got a slice of luck early on when a through ball from Tom O brien was chased down by Lee and although his first touch was a bit heavy the keeper stayed on his line and Lee managed to poke the ball through his legs 1-0 ninety seconds in ! , this gave us some belief and confidence and we went on to create several chances with the as usual lively Jason spurning 3 presentable opportunities,no complaints though as most were created by himself with superb skill and industry , as is the way in football if you don’t take your chances ………, just before half time we defend a corner badly the ball bounces at least twice and they tap in at the far post 1-1 h/t , we talk at the break about how well we are playing and if we go again as we are more chances will come and i know that fatigue will play a part on both sides and notice that they only have 1 sub  whereas we have 3 , the match resumes in the same vein , tough tackles in all areas but its us creating the chances with Andres having his best game for some time hitting the post with a shot across the keeper  and having another fine effort saved !2 great efforts from Nicky Mann also producing fine saves!., we introduce Reece for Tony on about 55mins and Dario for Alex on 65, Alex by the way had a fine game for his first time at centre half ! doing the right things 98% of the time well done mate, finally  82mins Jason scores 2-1  ,we lose our skipper to a knee injury and after a reshuffle Carlos hobbles off with cramp! we have to see out the match with 10 men but despite me screaming at the lads to kill the game we get a break away and Reece puts Dario in to slot home the third! final score 3-1, top performances from Andres, Jason, Lee, Nicky , and Tom Ob , but man of the match on this occasion Jack Clark our captain did not put a foot wrong commanding and assured well done skipper, Tony C co manager.       

A welcome return to action after a three week break due to adverse weather we also welcome onboard two new signings in Tom Obrien and Yussef Miah , the boys were desperate to play some football and TonyT and i had the luxury for the first time of being able to select from a squad of 15 ,sadly the rules at this age group state that you can only play 14!

We start the game on the front foot and quickly establish a 2-0 lead although it has to be said due mainly to some poor defending from the home team ! , close range finishes from Tom Obrien on his debut and   Reece  both coming from corners not cleared , Jason added  a third before h/t, i suppose its a bit churlish to criticize at 3-0 but i felt that we were drifting back into an old habit of playing too much through the middle and working too hard individually on the ball instead of making the ball do the work and bringing  the wide players into the game, after a lot of shouting we did do this but often our final ball from the flanks was lacking quality , i know that will come right  and i only mention this because i know how well this team can play! any way a fine strike from Nick from 30 yds, and a superb individual effort from Jason completed the scoring.

One more game this year before another enforced break for Christmas a little matter of the challenge cup , ah its good to be back! congrats to Jason Doherty for his man of the match performance , onwards and upwards TC

We made our second visit of the season to a very sporting Wheathampstead team having  played them in the  challenge cup.

They are obviously having a difficult season yet continue to play the game in a good spirit!

A very wet morning that thankfully gave way to a dry spell for the duration of the game, 2-0 to us at the break with goals from Lee and Dario but to be fair there wasnt much between  the two sides , as in the previous  game the home team were playing a very high line and when man of the match Tony leeds gave us the 3rd goal early in the 2nd half the oppositions heads began to drop, and although they got a  consolation late on we run out comfortable winners with hatricks for Lee Thornycroft, Tony Leeds, and im especially pleased to say for Dario Zavagno, completing the scoring with goals from Nick, Jack , and Alex ,

A final word for a young referee by the name of Mark Winchester who had a fine game! 

Well done lads,

Tony C                   

A stiff test for us this week against a well organized second season under 18 side in Omonia,the game was played in a good spirit throughout with plenty of respect shown by both sides!, the breakthrough came in the 19th minute when a long ball by Yasher was chased down by Lee who managed to get a foot to it before the keeper to steer the ball around him and tap home.

We continued to have plenty of possession and on 37 minutes an interchange of passes between Reece and lee saw lee shoot across the keeper from the right hand side of the area to make it 2-0 at half time, i said to the lads at the break what a difficult scoreline 2-0 can be and that the next goal would determine how the rest of the match would pan out ,And in the absence of my co manager tony t i make my first mistake withdrawing Yasher and putting Jon at the back to partner Jack the reason  being i wanted to get more natural width on the right where Dario was playing a little narrow, unfortunately in the first minute Jon plays a mid fielders pass out of defense to Nick who’s misplaced pass is intercepted for our oppos to score 2-1, to be fair the boys responded creating a number of chances and generally dominating !,65 minutes and i make my second error in withdrawing Dario  when  i should of taken off Reece who was strangely out of sorts today!, apologies to the two lads who were subbed but there you go I’m not Alex Ferguson! ,we see the game out for a valuable 3 points ,

Well done lads ,
Tony C .  

An atrocious morning weather wise!, driving rain, gusting winds, ideal conditions in my day!, seriously though when one considers that the opposition had only nine players! it has to be said that we lacked the ability to stretch them by continually trying to go through the middle where the ball was sticking in the surface water and allowing the home team to get amongst us and break our play up.

0-0 at half time, tony t and i impressed upon the lads the need to get the ball out wide  and the opener came from a free kick on the right taken by carlos and headed home by tony leeds,then a through ball by Dario was tucked away by Jon cerveno ,the third came from an interchange of passes by nick and tony for lee to finish, at this point Tony and i decided to make a few positional changes with carlos and Andres up front and Reece and lee at the back, we continued to create chances and further goals were added by Jon and Dario, a chilly Phil did get his chance to make his save for the cameras! a one handed tip over near the end, well done to Alex  pk who put up a sterling show and i cant help but think it could of been very different had they had eleven players!.

Tony C (co manager)