Tuesday 14th December 2010 - New Bradwell St Peter 5 Leighton Town 0
Having not had a game for nearly a month, the youth team were at home to face local rivals Leighton Town in their next league fixture. Having lost to the Peter's at home Leighton were determined to get back the bragging rights for the remainder of the season.
From the off Leighton looked to play at a high tempo and with pace a plenty out wide they looked to get the ball in to the channels and see what their wide men could deliver. With less than 10 minutes played the Peters the pre-game plans were torn up as Matt Hayes had to retire injured from the game, captain Ryan Coyle moved to centre back and Grady Fryer made an earlier than expected entry in to the game in central midfield, Leighton continued to press but some resolute defending and a couple of good saves from Sam Jay the Peters keeper kept them at bay. On 20 minutes Leighton again were pressing on goal Sam collected the ball, quickly distributed it to Jordan "Doogie" MacDougal who in turn played a inch perfect pass for Derrick MacDonald to run on to, he beat the despairing Leighton defender and whipped in a great cross which Michael Kalugin met perfectly to clip home and make it 1 - 0 to New Bradwell and so for all their possession, Leighton saw themselves go a goal down. The Peters were now seeing more and more of the ball, Grady was imposing himself in midfield and Charlie Fisher who was still buoyed up from his County Representative Squad call up was his usual imperious best, playing some sublime passes and the tide was now definitely turning in the St Peters direction. The Peters defence was soaking up all that Leighton threw at them and they then quickly turned defence into attack and on 34 minutes this again produced the goods, this time Mikey turned provider, he crossed for his strike partner James Atherton, James then completely deceived the defence by stepping over the ball and letting it run to Derrick and Del calmly drilled home his shot to make it 2 - 0. Leighton to their credit didn't let their heads drop and with half time approaching some great work by Joe Hooper their centre mid saw him turn and snap of a shot in the Peters box and with Sam beaten only a fantastic goal-line clearance by Nathan Hawkins stopped the goal, Nathan's effort though summed up the whole team's determined approach and half time saw them go in with a well deserved 2 - 0 lead.
The lads knew that Leighton would throw everything at them in the second half and again defended manfully from 1 through 11, Pius Ofori was giving his all on the right wing and was beginning to have a bigger and bigger impact on the game, Jack Howells partnering Ryan at Centre back made some immense tackles and cover tackles and for all that Leighton could throw at them, Sam in goal was little troubled and soon enough the Peters started to impose themselves on the game again and on 70 minutes a corner was won from a Pius effort at goal and Doogie sent in a perfect near post cross which Mikey again met brilliantly to head home and make it 3 - 0. James who had run his socks off all game was replaced by Tom Gordan and Tom Thornton came on to replace Jack and as the game opened up the Peters lads played some of their best football and with the best move of the game they scored their fourth, Derrick broke from a Leighton corner, drove in to the opposition half and then released Charlie, Charlie in turn played the ball to Tom Gordan and he slid in Mikey who thumped his shot past the Leighton keeper to wrap up his hatrick on 76 minutes. Now it was all about keeping a clean sheet and Leighton again to their credit continued to press and only a photo fantastic save from Sam denied Michael Porter, Sam was then on hand again to deny Michael this time from a free kick, the final word of the game came fittingly from Michael Kalugin who wrapped up a man of the match performance by scoring his fourth after some fine work from Tom Gordan, Tom's fierce shot could only be partied by the keeper and a grateful Mikey was on hand to slot home his fourth and the team's fifth goal giving them a well deserved 5 - 0 win and completing a double over Leighton this season. This year has seen the lads play 7 in the league, winning 6 and drawing 1.
Man of the match went to Michael with notable mentions to James, Nathan, in fact all fourteen players in the squad for a well deserved win.
Team:- Sam Jay, Nathan Hawkins, Matt Hayes (7 Grady Fryer), Jack Howells (65 Tom Thornton), Doogie MacDonald, Pius Ofori, Charlie Fisher, Ryan Coyle (c), Derrick MacDonald, James Atherton (68 Tom Gordan), Michael Kalugin
Yellows:- James Atherton, Ryan Coyle
Reds:- None
Sunday 21st November 2010 - Botley Boys & Girls 3 New Bradwell St Peter 9
Having beaten West Bletchley away in the first round of the County Cup, St Peters were rewarded with another away trip, this time to Botley Boys who ply their trade in the Oxford Invitational League.
A nice early start saw St Peters arrive at Botley on a cold and wet Sunday morning in good time to get in a decent warm-up and to take on board the comments of Chris and Simon.
St Peters were out of the blocks immediately, playing up the slope and in to the wind and only a string of great saves from the Botley keeper kept the scoreline at 0 - 0 in the first 10 minutes. Having seen Chelsea lose to Birmingham the day before after having 23 efforts at goal to Birmingham's one, both Chris and Simon wondered if today wasn't going to be their day and on 24 minutes this fear was given more credence when on a rare forage in to the St Peters half a cross in to the box down low was initially saved by Sam Jay in goal only for him to spill the ball on landing and the grateful Botley striker was on hand to back heal the ball in to an empty net. Up to this point the makeshift St Peters defence had been little troubled but this gave Botley a huge lift and they grew in confidence. St Peters continued to press themselves and on 33 minutes those rarest of sights occurred, a cross by Charlie Fisher was met by the head of Derrick MacDonald and his header was steered past the helpless Botley keeper to make it 1 - 1. Thinking this would settle the team down neither Chris or Simon could believe it when a lack of communication led to a throw in and some confused defending saw Botley restore their lead on 37 minutes 2 - 1 and game on. It was only literally with the last touch of the half that Jack Howells met a Jordan "Doogie" MacDougal corner that St Peters were able to level the scores to make the half time score 2 - 2.
The half time talk was taken up a lot with talk about composure and concentration, you couldn't criticise the boys for the first half as a lot of them were playing out of position, particularly in defence and in terms of possession and chances they had totally dominated the first half, so they were simply asked to play with composure and at a high tempo and they did exactly that in the second half. Botley buoyed up by the first half performance still needed to be broken down and on 52 minutes Charlie Fisher started the process when he latched on to a Michael Kalugin through ball and slotted home to make it 2 - 3. Within a minute Doogie made a great run and played out wide to Derrick and his cross was met perfectly by Curran Sagoo who clipped the ball home to make it 2 - 4. Two minutes later and the game was effectively won when Pius slammed home a left footed effort to make it 2 - 5. Botley to their immense credit never let their heads drop and when they won a free kick just outside the area, their right back perfectly sent his effort over the wall and in to the top left hand corner to make it 3 - 5, however St Peters response was immediate when from the kick off Ben Rymer worked his way up field and hit a cracker of a shot to beat the keeper and make it 3 - 6. Further goals from Curran again on the end of a Derrick cross on 75 minutes, from Derrick who grabbed his second after some great interplay with Michael on 83 minutes, finishing with his right foot and from Michael on 89 minutes which capped a great personal display having seen the keeper pull off save after save to deny him all game, wrapped up the scoring making the final score 3 - 9 and taking the Peters in to the last 16 of the competition.
Man of the Match went to Charlie Fisher for a great all round display with a notable mention to Michael Kalugin
Team:- Sam Jay, Grady Fryer, Tom Thornton (60 Dan Similaki), Jack Howells, Jordan McDougal, Curran Sagoo, Ben Rymer, Charlie Fisher, Derrick MacDonald, Pius Ofori, Michael Kalugin
Monday 15th November 2010 - Boreham Wood 1 New Bradwell St Peter 1
This was a top of the table clash between two unbeaten teams, the St Peters went in to the game on the back of a played five won five record with Boreham Wood two points behind thanks to their draw at Leighton Town.
Arriving at Boreham Wood FC, the lads were well impressed to see both the quality of the venue and the playing surface and they all knew that if you couldn't play football on this pitch then you couldn't anywhere.
The game kick off with a frost slowly spreading over the pitch and a freezing cold night setting in but both teams started the game at a frantic pace. Boreham Wood's players who are all involved in their clubs Scholarship Programme and both train and study full time immediately showed the level of their playing ability with some fantastic one and two touch football that was lovely to watch and playing a 4 - 5 - 1 formation, both Jamie Cox and Ryan Coyle in midfield had their hands full to stop their counterparts seeing a lot of the ball but along with Ben Rymer and Derrick MacDonald playing wide the entire NBSP midfield worked hard to apply pressure and win their fair share of ball and when they did get it, possession was kept and the ball played in to the feet of our two strikers Josh Crawley and Pius Ofori. It only took 7 minutes for the first goal to come and when the ball was won by Jamie and played in to Josh, Josh turned quickly and snapped off a shot which beat the Boreham Wood keeper to make it 0 - 1. This gave the Peters Youth a big lift and they set about working hard to close down the opposition and deny space, however on 18 minutes a deft through ball released the Wood's striker and he was unceremoniously brought to ground when trying to round Sam Jay in goal and a penalty awarded along with a yellow card for the Monk. Looking like the scores would be levelled, Wood then spurned the chance when their penalty taker missed the target and the Peters still lead 0 -1. For all Wood's intricate play which was a pleasure to watch, St Peter's also played their own style of passing football and both sides created chances, Pius in particular could have bagged a couple of goals and Sam in goal made a couple of sharp saves to Deny Woods, however their was little he could do on 36 minutes when the Woods striker was again released and he slotted home to make the scores level and take the teams in to half time at 1 - 1.
The second half saw both teams looking to secure the victory, Boreham saw a lot of the ball but Matt Hayes and Jack Howells in the centre of defence were superb for the Peters as were Nathan Hawkins and Jordan Doogie MacDougal at fullback, Sam pulled off a number of saves with one top drawer save to tip the ball over the bar and again both Pius and Josh had efforts well saved by the opposition keeper. Grady Fryer came on for Jamie, Curran Sagoo for Derrick and Tom Thornton for Nathan and all played their part in a tough fought second half that saw the defences come out on top with no additional goals being scored. So in the end a well fought draw with honours even and a result that was probably better for St Peters than Boreham Wood.
Man of the Match went to Matt Hayes for a fantastic defensive display.
Team:- Sam Jay, Nathan Hawkins (70 - Tom Thornton), Matt Hayes, Jack Howells, Jordan McDougal, Ben Rymer, Ryan Coyle, Jamie Cox (60 - Grady Fryer), Derrick MacDonald (65 - Curran Sagoo), Pius Ofori, Josh Crawley
Yellow Cards - Jay, Howells
Tuesday 09th November 2010 - New Bradwell St Peter 5 Crawley Green 2
After last weeks second half comeback, both Chris and Simon were looking for a more complete performance from the boys in the return fixture against Crawley Green. Having beaten Crawley 4 - 2 at their place, it was hoped that the team wouldn't be complacent and the pre-match build up was all about starting fast and imposing themselves and indeed this is exactly what the starting 11 did, with less than a minute played Josh Crawley was released through on goal but his shot slipped past the far post, minutes later a corner was forced out of Crawley and Colm Rooney rose superbly only to header the ball over the bar when unmarked in the area. Crawley however are a good side and full of battling spirit and they looked to force themselves back in to the game and with two big strong forwards up top it took all of the home sides efforts to stop them. On 6 minutes a Crawley corner saw Sam Jay in goal punch the ball outside the area, but the Peters were to slow to close down the lose ball and only after a couple of ping pong efforts was it cleared to safety and it was Crawley who should have taken the lead. On 19 minutes Josh again found himself clear on goal and his cross was met perfectly by his strike partner James Atherton, but James saw his shot brilliantly saved by the Crawley keeper and then the sucker punch. On 21 minutes, with the Peters trying to play their way out of danger, the ball was lost and quickly fed through to the Crawley striker and with their first real effort on goal Crawley were 0 - 1 up. The next 20 minutes saw Crawley on top and St Peters playing some of the worst football they have played all season with passes going astray or over hit, shot's from ambitious ranges and the occasional efforts on target were all excellently dealt with by the Crawley keeper, so it was a relief to only go in to half time a goal down.
The half time team talk was interesting with a definite good guy bad guy feel to it but the tactics seemed to work. St Peters came out buzzing and within two minutes Charlie Fisher had drawn them level, his free kick wasn't dealt with by the keeper and it was 1 - 1. St Peters continued to press and looked much livelier and kept the ball much better, however Crawley didn't lay back and give up and from one of their attacks a shot took a wicked deflection and beat Sam in goal to make it 1 - 2. St Peters didn't let their heads drop, continued to press the opposition and with Doogie coming on to replace Josh and Derrick moving to striker the attack had pace a plenty. On 15 minutes St Peters won a corner and from Doogies inch perfect cross Colm again out jumped the defence and powered home his header to make it 2 - 2. The game then almost took on a cup tie atmosphere and it looked like it would be settled by a mistake but both sides defended gallantly. Then the goal came that finally broke Crawley's resistance, Grady Fryer who had come on to replace Ryan Coyle played a lovely through ball to release Derrick, with his pace he was never going to be caught but it did take three bites for him to finish after the keeper made two fines saves only for the ball to again fall to Derrick and third time lucky he buried his shot to make it 3 - 2 on 30 minutes. St Peters continued to press and on 42 minutes they won another corner, this time sent in by Charlie and Colm was on hand to bundle the ball home to make it 4 - 2, then came the goal of the game in injury time, Charlie picked up the ball outside the area and banged home his shot to make it 5 - 2 and give Bradwell a well deserved win if only for their second half efforts.
Man of the match went to Nathan Hawkins for an excellent performance, with notable mentions also going to Charlie Fisher.
Team:- Sam Jay, Nathan Hawkins, Matt Hayes, Colm Rooney, Max Folland, Ben Rymer (70 Tom Thornton), Ryan Coyle (65 - Grady Fryer), Charlie Fisher, Derrick MacDonald, Josh Crawley (53 Jordan McDougal ), James Atherton
Sunday 17th October 2010 - West Bletchley 3 New Bradwell St Peter 6
After the disappointment of the midweek loss to Enfield in the league cup, the Youth Team were keen to get back to winning ways in the Berks and Bucks County Cup, but they were going to be made to do it the hard way with no less than six players unavailable through work or injury. Taking a squad of 12 to the game, one of which had to leave at half time, this was always going to be a tough fixture against a team riding high in Division 1 of their league.
The game started off at a frantic pace with the Peters looking to impose themselves early on and within two minutes they thought they had won a penalty, Derrick MacDonald burst down the wing and was brought down, but the referee adjudged it was inches outside the penalty area. The resultant free kick was tipped over the crossbar by Billy Parker in the Bletchley goal and this wasn't the only time that the keeper would deny Bradwell. On 7 minutes a Derrick cross was met by Michael Kalugin and again the keeper was on hand to deny the Peters but on 16 minutes their was little he could do after Jordan "Doogie" McDougal sent in a tantalising corner and when it wasn't taken cleanly Charlie Fisher was on hand to prod the ball home 0 - 1 to the Peters. One then became two when a Doogie shot fooled Billy in goal and on 18 minutes it was 0 - 2 and what looked like plain sailing. However Bletchley were having none of it and using the pace of James Atherton upfront, they broke quickly from a Peters attack, fed it through to James who delightfully nutmeged his marker, outpaced the defence and smashed his shot past stand in goal keeper Tom Thornton to make it 1 - 2. The remainder of the half saw Billy performing heroics in the Bletchley goal and the Peters having to defend solidly against the counter attack.
The second half saw St Peters determined to re-impose themselves on the game, but again a string of saves from Billy kept the score line the same and it wasn't until the 68th minute that they managed to beat him, a fantastic flowing move saw Doogie play the ball in to Pius Ofori, he controlled and played it wide to Derrick who took his time, picked his cross and Ben Rymer smashed home his shot to make it 1 - 3. Thinking the game was now won, St Peters may have taken their foot off the gas or simply the fact that a number of the players had played a full game the day before for the senior teams meant their energy levels dropped but whatever the reason, Bletchley punished them, a long throw from James was poorly dealt with and the ball was bundled home to make it 2 - 3. Bletchley now really pushed for the equaliser and to their credit they got it on 30 minutes, James was again on hand to slot home a shot from an acute angle and take the tie in to extra time.
Now it was really a case of how deeply the Peters could dig, with no subs available it was up to the players on the pitch to respond and how they did. The first period of extra time saw them dominate possession and retain the ball well, Michael finally got rewarded for all his effort with a goal on 93 minutes and then a short corner from Jason Sykes who had replaced Max Folland at half time was played to Pius and Pius dinked a cross in to Colm Rooney who powered home his header to make it 3 - 5. The second half of extra time saw the Peters tighten up their shape all over the pitch and put the icing on the cake with a well deserved second goal from Charlie Fisher who had been immense all game, his thumping shot leaving Billy no chance in goal and making the final score 3 - 6 to New Bradwell St Peters. A massive well done to West Bletchley for a thoroughly entertaining game of football and good luck for the rest of the season.
Man of the match went jointly to Charlie Fisher and Ben Rymer who were superb in midfield, notable mentions also to Nathan Hawkins & Michael Kalugin who worked hard all game and finally to Tom Thornton for agreeing to step in as the keeper and he acquitted himself admirably.
Team:- Tom Thornton, Max Folland (45 Jason Sykes), Colm Rooney, Jack Howells, Nathan Hawkins, Doogie McDonald, Charlie Fisher , Ben Rymer, Derrick MacDonald, Pius Ofori, Michael Kalugin
Yellows - Charlie Fisher, Jason Sykes
Thursday 23rd September- Crawley Green 1 New Bradwell St Peter Youth 4
After a break from action last week due to the team having a bye in the first round of the Brian Hitchin's cup, the lads were raring to get back in to action away at Crawley Green and build on their solid start to the season. St Peters started brightly with some good interplay all over the pitch, Nathan Hawkins making his first start of the season looked solid at right back and across the pitch the boys looked to get the ball down and play. Crawley Green were also looking to play and they worked hard to feed both of their two strikers early and get up to support them and after St Peter's had fashioned themselves a couple of chances which they couldn't take, it was Crawley that took the lead, a long through ball got behind both Colm Rooney and Matt Hayes at centre backs and Bradley Currington took the ball past oncoming keeper Sam Jay and was forced wide but played a ball across for Callum Frater to slot home to make it 1 - 0 on 25 minutes. This gave St Peters a kick up the proverbial and they started to retain possession better and chances fell, to Ryan Coyle, Derrick MacDonald and Charlie Fisher but a couple of good saves and some sloppy finishing didn't help the Peters. However on 39 minutes a slick through ball from Nathan released the impressive Michael Kalugin and he slotted home past the keeper to make it 1 - 1, a score line that took the teams in to half time. The second half saw both teams looking to play better and St Peters weathered a good start from the opposition and slowly started to impose themselves on the game. On 54 minutes some great interplay saw Pius Ofori create some space for Charlie Fisher and he hit a peach of a shot into the top right corner to make it 1 - 2. Within two minutes the lead was further increased, again Pius was instrumental in creating space and slotting through Michael and he bagged his second of the game with a crisp finish to make it 1 - 3. Then came an unsavoury incident which marred the game, some inflammatory words were said that incensed Pius, he lost his cool and challenged the player who made the comments which then resulted in both players being dismissed from the game. Down to 10 men each the game opened up considerably, St Peters kept the ball well and made Crawley work hard for possession and when they did get it St Peters defended solidly. Matt Hayes was sublime, Tom Thornton came on to replace Ben Rymer and Jason Sykes to replace Derrick and St Peters controlled the game. Another Crawley player was sent off for two quick fire yellows for dissent and Nathan Hawkins wrapped up a fine personal performance with another well worked team goal, Charlie fed the ball in to Michael who in turn found Nathan and Nathan thumped home his shot to make it 1 - 4 and seal a well earned victory.
Monday 06th September 2010 - Leighton Town 4 New Bradwell St Peter 4
The Youth team picked up their second win of the season, taking all three points away to Leighton Town. The Peter's started at a frantic pace and Derrick MacDonald earned the team an early penalty which Pius Ofori converted, Michael Kalugin then scored two excellently worked goals to make it 0 - 3 with under 20 minutes played. Leighton pulled one back from a free-kick and shortly before half time made it 2 - 3, then leveling just after half time from a corner to make it 3 - 3. The Peter's were now the ones chasing the game and when Leighton made it 4 - 3 with 60 minutes gone the traveling away supporters were left wondering how the game could have turned so dramatically. However, there is a strong belief growing in this team and the Peter's grabbed the initiative back, the squad is strong and the substitutes strengthened the team and restored its composure. Pius equalized to make it 4 - 4 and then completed his hatrick with a superb headed goal to give the boys a deserved 5 - 4 win. For 60 minutes of the game they cruised and if they can take away the dodgy 30 minute spell, they will do well this season.
Tuesday 31st August 2010 - New Bradwell St Peter 2 Tokyngton Manor 1
This was the first outing for the youth team. A number of new players have joined to strengthen the squad even further from last season and this year the team will be managed by Simon and Chris Folland. Chris has joined from Cranfield Youth and Brook End Colts who were by far the most successful youth team side at their age group, winning numerous league and cup titles and a number of their players have joined the squad which bodes well for the upcoming season.
The game didn't get off to the best of starts with Tokyngton being delayed and the game finally kicking off at just after 20.30, however both teams didn't let this stop them playing football and Tokyngton in particular who had only the briefest of warm-up quickly showed they were here to play football. The first real effort at goal came from St Peter's, a well worked passage of play saw debutant Jamie Cox solidly win the ball in the middle and release Pius Ofori, but his shot narrowly cleared the cross bar on 9 minutes. Tokyngton had pace a plenty out wide and this was where most of the threat came from, however Sam Jay in goal wasn't really called on to doing anything in particular and even though both sides worked hard, neither could break down their opponents defence. Tokyngton had the advantage in height and certainly from set pieces looked dangerous but a good save by Sam from a free kick and solid defending at corners kept them at bay, Derrick MacDonald on the wing for St Peter's was giving his markers a torrid time and he came closest to opening the scoring when some great interplay between Pius and Michael Kalugin up front made space for Derrick to run on to the ball, but his shot thumped against the post and away to safety on 28 minutes and in the end the half finished scoreless.
A quick turn around didn't leave much time for a team chat, but Tokyngton's management had clearly seen the threat from Michael and Pius and asked their players to work much harder to deny them space and for the first 10 minutes of the half they shaded it in terms of possession and attacking threat, but again solid defending by Matt Hayes and Ryan Coyle at centre backs in particular denied them. On 58 minutes a free kick was won by Pius and Ben Rymer stepped up and planted a fantastic effort up and over the wall in to the top left corner to make it 1 - 0 to St Peters. This goal deflated the opposition somewhat and St Peters now pressed hard for a second. Both Pius and Michael came close and with Derrick and Ben causing problems out wide a lot of the play was in Tokyngton's half, however their speed up front was always a threat and St Peter's had to work hard on their shape and covering to deny them. On 65 minutes Colm Rooney came on to replace Jamie with Ryan moving to centre midfield and Nathan Hawkins came on to replace Tom Thornton at right back with a final change a few minutes later seeing Max Folland come on to replace Jordan "Doogie" MacDonald. It took until the 77 minute for the second goal to come, a whipped in corner from Max was met by Michael who clipped the ball in past the near post defender to make it 2 - 0 to St Peter's and provide a bit of breathing space. Tokyngton made some changes of their own, putting their rapid right winger on up front and they pressed hard to get back in to the game, finally grabbing a goal with 5 minutes left on the clock. St Peter's continued to press themselves and the game really opened up, Tokyngton had a big shout for a penalty late on which they didn't get and on the balance of play, St Peter's ran out worthy 2 - 1 winners to get the season off to a great start.
Man of the match went to Mark Hunn for a great performance in the centre of midfield, with notable mentions also going to both Michael Kalugin and Derrick MacDonald.
Team:- S Jay, T Thornton (60 - N Hawkins), M Hayes, R Coyle, J McDougal (65 - M Folland), B Rymer, J Cox (55 - C Rooney), M Hunn, D MacDonald, P Ofori, M Kalugin
Yellow Cards - McDougal