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MATTHEW, FROM THE HALF WAY LINE, MATTHEW FROM THE HALF WAY LINE…..

The boys set off at a blistering pace for this encounter. In the past we have been guilty of starting too slow, not on this occasion 5-0 up at half time with goals from George x2, Jacob, GCLE and probably the best goal seen this season from Man of the match, Matt Stephenson.

Matt charged onto a loose ball on the half way line kicking towards the Whalley end and let fly with a stunning strike, whilst the ball was high up in the air and making its way to the goal (probably bothering local air traffic control) the director said. ” its going in that” and boy did it go in, no keeper in the world could have stopped it as it skimmed the cross bar and into the roof of the net. That alone would make him the worthy winner of the MoM award, but his all round game was as impressive as i can remember.

Half time and with things all but wrapped up we started our squad rotation policy with the boys leaving the pitch as a defender and then moments later being reintroduced as a striker.  Goalkeeper aside i think everybody played in every position, at times this resulted in a bit of chaos at the back and from this chaos Rossy Utd got a goal their second half display deserved.

Oscar was very unlucky not to score with a few efforts,  he punished the posts on more than one occasion.When the post weren’t in the way, Rossy’s stand in keeper was, he played a blinder. Rossy never gave up but the damage was done in that first 15 min spell,

The Saints go ‘trudging’ home!

 The U9’s put in their best display of the season and deservedly got their best result of the season so far (here’s hoping for more of the same).  Right from the kick-off Langho were clearly in charge and could easily have been a couple of goals to the good within the first few minutes, but a combination of good saves and the woodwork kept the score even (oh no!!!).  Eventually, however, we got the much needed breakthrough, Nathan, playing like the true striker he is fast becoming, picked up a rebound and found the back of the net, 1-0.   We had a few good chances on goal in the next few minutes but nothing on (oh no!!)  But not to worry, Elliot N netted the second after his usual strong display of dribbling skills.  Just before half time Nathan got the third, his second, from a good though ball from Matt.   The half time score line of 3 –0 (yippee!) was fantastic but didn’t fully reflect Langhos dominance of this match (getting greedy now!).  

 The second half followed a similar pattern, Langho in control from the outset and dominating all over the pitch.   That’s not to say that our two keepers, Daniel in the first half and Jamie in the second, didn’t play a crucial role in preventing Langho from conceding – far from it.  Our keenness to get forward sometimes left us exposed in defence such that a long ball up to their striker left us chasing back. Both keepers stood their ground, were confident and made a few great saves to give us our first clean sheet of the season.  The three boys that played in defence, Elliott B, Ben and George all put in great performances they got the ball up field quickly and decisively which contributed to the number of goals we managed to score and the clean sheet.

Matt was next to score with an unstoppable shot from distance that relied on placement into the top corner, rather than power, to find the net. Nathan’s tricks finally paid off as he got his hat trick with a neat back-heal flick. Josh got the sixth and final goal, following a bit of a battle down the right wing he managed to get a cross in, the resulting shot hit the post or a player (sorry lost concentration for a minute!), and  Josh darted in to score from the rebound.

It was great to see the team effort, this is the way to play boys each member of the team has a job to do and if you do it, this is the result.  Well done to all of you, lets keep this up.

 Goals: Nathan Hodson 3, Elliott Norman 1, Matt Neilson 1, Josh Connelly 1

MoM: Josh Connelly

“Almost reached the Stars but left feeling the Blues”

In under 8’s yellow division terms, this was a heavyweight contest. In the blue corner, a Blue Star team who had won 10 out of 12. In the red (or Maroon) corner, a Langho team who had won 10 out of 12. Something had to give, what was it going to be?

Unfortunately lady luck wasn’t with the Maroons today. A game that we dominated for long periods, was snatched from us with 8 seconds to go. The midfield duo of Joseph and Oliver were as strong as I have seen them this season. This led to the Maroons pushing forward hard in the first half. However it  proved to be our downfall, as a Maroons corner was caught by the Blue Star keeper, who launched a long ball down the middle. This wasn’t dealt with by our defence and a great run and super finish put us one behind going into the break.

Half time Jaffa cakes again worked their magic. Sol on for Liam who were both solid at the back, alongside the always impressive Sam.The Maroons responded with a superb second half performance. We totally dominated the first period of the second half. Goals followed from Dominic and a beautiful finish from Paul, gave us a well deserved lead. After this, we created a lot of chances, but couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. A massive chance fell to Dominic who somehow missed his kick with the goal at his mercy. But we were so in control at this stage, it didn’t feel like we would need a third to secure victory.

How wrong we were. The Blue Star team made even more substitutions (14 players turned up to play), and fresh legs decided the game. A strong run from midfield saw Blue Star force their way towards the Maroons penalty area. A push from Joseph led to a free kick right on the edge of our penalty area. The shot flew just wide, but gave Blue Star the momentum to force an equaliser shortly afterwards.

Only a few minutes to go, with the scores level, Blue Star came forward again and a 50-50 ball between the centre forward and George, was just won by the forward and gave Blue Star their third. George getting hurt allowed me to come onto the pitch. A cheeky glance at the referees watch saw 8 seconds to go. Not enough time to turn a fine performance into the rewards we deserved. It has to be said that the opposition were well organised and taught us a lesson in finishing. Full credit to them.

In summary we worked our socks off. But that’s football. Special mention to Joseph and Paul, who were superb today. Proud to be part of this team – well done everyone.

M.O.M. George – first this season – well done.

Team: George,Sam,Liam,Oliver,Joseph,Dominic,Paul,Sol.

Following the very successful re-launch of our annual tournament last year we are pleased to announce the details for the 2010 event.  Join us on Saturday 12th June, ( to get ready for England’s first world cup match!) and Sunday 13th June (to celebrate an England win!) at our Northcote Playing Fields

Saturday 12^th June                                           Sunday 13^th June

10:00 to 12:00      U7’s                               10:00 to 12:00       U8’ s

14:00 to 16:00      U9’s                               14:00 to 16:00       U10’s

There will be a maximum of 10 teams in each age group. Under the rules of mini soccer, and in accordance with the Football Association, the Under 7 and Under 8 age groups will be non-competitive; each player will receive an award for participating in the event. The Under 9 and Under 10 age groups will be played on a two-league basis with the winners and runners-up of each group going through to the semi-finals.  Prizes will be awarded to the winners and runners-up in each age group.  Players age limits as per the 2009/2010 season, and squad sizes must not exceed 9 players for each age group.

Entry fee: £30.00 per team,  places will be allocated on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis   Confirmation and joining instructions will be sent out directly to team managers by the end of May.

 For further details contact:

Lynne Harrison

Mobile:                 07866 751787                     Land line:              01254 246776        Email:                  Lynne10@dsl.pipex.com

FOOTBALL ON ICE!

The match was swapped to astroturf  which looked more like an ice rink than a pitch but the ref gave the nod so off we went. To keep things fresh we decided to swap things around and gave a few boys the chance to play in unfamiliar positions . Oscar was given his debut in the strikers role and Will C was started on the left,  both boys soon settled into the new roles in difficult conditions and put in fine battling performances.

The defence of Sam and Jacob  made it three games on the run without conceding a goal with the help of Blandy, who pulled off a great save from a fierce shot. GCLE made it 1-0 going into half time with a typical run and low hard shot into the bottom corner.

Second half, and more changes and another formation shuffle seemed to unsettle us,  prehaps to much tinkering by myself and the director  but its all good for the boys development. Rossy started to think an equalizer might be on the cards whilst we were still adjusting and put the defence under some pressure  forcing a number of corners. However just as the pressure was mounting the boys clicked into gear,  a quick throw by Mash found George  who managed to beat the Rossy defender for pace and took the ball from the half way line and smashed the ball into the top corner giving the Rossy keeper no chance of making a save. One chance one goal nuff said.

Without really getting out of 2nd gear the boys did enough, solid at the back and clinical in front of goal,  thats what made the difference on the day. MoM  Mash.

First headed goal update.

attempts on target – 0

attempts  off target – 0

Looks like the money is safer in the Directors wallet than it would be in Northern Rock, TSB . etc.

Brushed aside, a Whitewash not Langho Lads!

 The first game for 5 weeks saw the boys take on one of the highflying clubs in the league.  Although Crown won the 5-2 score line flatters them and if lady luck had been shinning on us the result could have been very different.  Crown went in front to a scrappy goal mid way through the first half, rumour has it that it might have been helped over the line by a maroon and blue shirt but we are more than happy to give it to the Crown player!  Langho squared it soon afterwards with a great solo effort from Elliott Norman.  This equaliser seemed to ruffle Crown and it looked like we were going to take the lead a few minutes later when Elliott Bates was fouled just inside the penalty area.  Blaster Bates then looked to have converted the penalty but not to be, the ball came back off the inside post, we were first to the rebound but the shot skimmed the bar.  Crown put the ball in the back of the net just before half time to take a 2 – 1 lead, which could have served to kill the game off but not so.  A few minutes into the second half and Elliott Norman claimed his second goal,  2-2 game on!  Both teams pushed forward to try and break the dead lock and Crown came off best, scoring 3 more times.  One of those being an attempt at a clearance from a corner that unfortunately found the back of the net, helped a little by a blue and maroon shirt.  Langho  had another good shout for a penalty that wasn’t given, no complaints the ref was excellent and kept the game flowing really well.  We had more goal chances, causing the Crown keeper to make some good saves.

 All in all this was a good team performances and a great match and, hopefully, means we can look forward to more of the same for the rest of the season. 

 Goals:   Elliott Norman x2

MoM:  Elliott Norman

Nice to be at home and nice to be on grass again. The Blues are fast becoming the draw specialists with our second scoreless draw in as many weeks, however this one was more entertaining than the previous one. Credit must go to our keeper Blandy and the defensive partnership of Matt and Jacob, who kept a very strong team under control for the majority of the game . Everybody worked their socks off and with a little more luck and some better forward play we may have got something from the game.

Both teams had chances to win the game but for one reason or another the back of the net couldn’t be found. Mash had the perfect chance when the ball dropped to him 6 yards out on his trusty left foot, id already began my celebrations as i was sure there would only be one outcome. I don’t know who was more surprised, him or me to see his effort  go wide.  We found ourselves in a similar position later on in the game with the ball destined for the same player in a similar position , Oscar had other ideas and bulldozed his way past and had a crack with his left peg, as i said at half time, you don’t shoot,you don’t score.

MHW had quite a few chances themselves and one thing all visitors to the Rydings should be made aware of is, if your bearing down on our goal, make sure you have the ball under close control cause Blandy is like a caged tiger flying out of his box and clearing every loose ball. His efforts between the sticks earned him the MOM award.

We were awarded an indirect freekick in a great position which totally confused the boys who hadnt a clue what to do with it, as it turned out we kindly passed it back to MHW and another chance went begging ( note to self, explain direct indirect free kicks at training)

A draw was probably the right result , lets hope for a goal fest next week.

Well done boys.

“Through the Mill”

At last. A game of football on grass! This was a scrappy game with a lot of ball chasing from both sides. Langho started well and looked to get forward quickly with some good passing and moving. This led to the maroons taking a 2-0 early lead inside the first 10 minutes. Dominic Brown scoring 2 for the second game running.

I thought we would build from here and move on to a comfortable win, but that wasn’t the case. Full credit to Mill Hill who pushed us until the end and nearly got a consolation goal only to be denied by the feet of George. Sam and Liam had another solid performance and Sam nearly got his first goal of the season, with a screaming shot hitting the bar.

Debut to William Dolton who showed some good touches and got back to get a foot in when needed.

All in all, a job done, rather than a win with style. Back to basics in my Tuesday night masterclass!!

M.O.M. Dominic Brown

Team: George, Sam,Liam,Joseph,Oliver,Dominic,Paul, William,Santino.

Langho’s Football Committee met on Monday 14th December 2009 in the Clubhouse. The notes from this meeting are now available for viewing. Continue reading Langho Football Meeting – 8:30pm Monday 14th December 2009

Not a great deal to say about this one, switched to the AstroTurf at Pleckgate this was a game which was very tight in the midfield,  neither side were allowed to create any meaningful shots on goal. The boys were put under some fierce shall we say robust tackles and came out with flying colours, no tears or tantrums more Alan Shearer in his pomp than Didier Drogba. pick yourself up, dust yourself down and get on with the game, which shows they are all made of the right stuff.

MoM George Ellison