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Last one on the bouncy castle smells of poo !!

I thought I would try a new, pre match pep talk this week. None of the find space, pass and move, work together rubbish that all the boys are used to ignoring! As we had arranged an end of season party, I kept it simple. Last one on the bouncy castle smells of poo! seemed to cover it.

The maroons responded to the new me, and found their feet after a slow start, to produce some lovely passing football. Goals from James, Dominic and two from Paul, helped us to a convincing win. 16 wins out of 20 in our first season – absolutely brilliant boys.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the boys and their parents for their contribution towards a super season. Can’t wait for the next one!

M.O.M. – Sam Fox

Team: George,Sam,Liam,Joseph,Oliver,Dominic,Paul,Sol,William,James

This was our last home game of the season against a very good Rishton side, who had beaten us 2-0 earlier in the season. Captain Paul away on holiday, and Liam arriving limping – the omens were not good!

However, the Maroons were not phased. Stand in captain Joseph, was a rock in the middle until two crushing tackles took the wind out of his sails. Sol and Sam were again, tremendous at the back. Oliver came close to scoring with some long range shots and never stopped running. The goals came from Dominic and James, who caused the Rishton defenders problems all morning.

Half time substitutions saw William and Santino come on, in place of Oliver and James. Both had a lot of the ball and Santino got his fair share of tackles in. William played some inteligent passes trying to unlock the Rishton defence again. William also had a cracking shot that flew just wide.

Rishton to their credit, put us under pressure late on in the game and were rewarded with a penalty for handball. Step forward once again, Langho’s very own “The Beast”. George saved his third penalty out of three, to make sure it was a good day all round.

Super performance, and super win celebration after the game, led by Sam.

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

M.O.M. George

Dynamo Defenders Deny Darwen!

As all the good managers (Wenger,Ferguson, Ellison and Isherwood) say, “sometimes you have to win ugly”. Today, thats what the Maroons did. All the boys were a little off the pace today, against the only team we hadn’t played so far this season.

Full credit to our opponents who had the better of large parts of the game. Langho struggled to cope with a physically strong Darwen team who are hitting form as the season draws to an end. In a game of few chances, Oliver came close to opening the scoring with two well hit shots early on. Sam and Liam had to be on their guard today, and once again did a fantastic job. Aparently Liam is now taking bookings for autographs and store openings, after consecutive man of the match performances.

Our first goal came after a nice peice of skill,which saw Dominic skip past two players before crossing for Joseph to fire a fantastic shot on the half volley into the top corner of the net. half time 1-0.

The Maroons started strongly after the break, but again, not a lot of chances were created by either team. It was always going to be nerve wracking with only a one goal lead. So it proved… as a very well worked move by Darwen lead to their equaliser. Back on came Paul from the bench, for Dominic, and it proved to be the turning point. A fantastic piece of individual skill allowed him to score the winning goal.A flick over the defender, a strong run and cool finish was a worthy winner of any game.

Darwen never gave up and another great save from George was needed for us to see out the game with another win. Not our best performance of the season but a win is a win. Well done  boys.

M.O.M. Liam Isherwood

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

The Maroons on fire!

A fantastic team performance from the Maroons today, helped secure a 3-1 win over a very good Blue Star team, who went into the game having only lost once this season. Every player gave their all to make sure we overturned the defeat from earlier in the season.

The first half was dominated by the maroons, who had a host of chances before taking the lead through Dominic. A free kick from Liam was sent into the box and Dominic cooly slotted home from close range.  Both teams were very committed, and the tackles were flying, but the Maroons added to their lead before the break, again through Dominic who can’t stop scoring at the moment.

Half time saw James replace Oliver. The Maroons kept pushing and were rewarded with a third goal. Liam fired another superb free kick into the box, which was touched in by Paul. Sam, who had been ill in the week, came off for a well deserved rest and William took his place at the back. Blue Star then came at us for the last 5 minutes, looking to get something from the game. A long shot hit the bar and a super save from George meant the visitors couldn’t find a way through. With only seconds to go, a corner from Blue Star was somehow missed by everyone and found its way into net. This proved only to be a consolation goal, and didn’t take the gloss off a very well deserved win for the Maroons.  Full credit to Blue Star on a great all round game of football.

Well done Boys.

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

M.O.M. – Liam Isherwood – Its about time someone gave you the credit you deserve.

JASPER JARRETT MAKES HIS DEBUT!!

Another super performance from the boys this week.  Goals from Dominic (4) Paul (3) and James (3) helped us to a convincing win. Full credit to Pleasington, who never gave up and were much improved from the first encounter at the start of the season.  After a delayed kick off due to the frost, the Maroons were raring to go and strong midfield displays from Oliver, Joseph and James meant we were six up at half time.

After the break, we witnessed our first ever pitch invasion. Jasper Jarrett, the 8 week old springer spaniel, ran onto pitch looking to add his name to the scoresheet. He was quickly removed to a chorus of “Boo’s” and spent the rest of the match in police custody!  It didn’t affect the boys too much who scored 4 more once play had resumed. ( Note to Joseph – If your going to throw the ball back to the referee, make sure you don’t hit him on the back of the head with it!!)

Special mention to William Dolton this week. He was taken ill a few minutes before kick off and had to miss the game. Get well soon.

Once again – Brilliant boys – well done.

M.o.m. – Dominic Brown

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

I was quite worried going into this fixture. After a tough encounter with Mill Hill earlier in the season, coupled with 4 of my starting 7 away on a sleep-over on Saturday night, i feared the worst. 

The adventurers arrived at the Rydings in good time for kick off, thanks to coach driver for the day, Lucy Isherwood. It was a case of, give us your best for 30 minutes and then go and sleep for the afternoon.

The game started with both teams pushing forward and chances falling to both sides. Sam and Liam had to work hard all morning to contain a very good Mill Hill  forward line. A job they carried out to perfection (almost).

Our attack line of Paul and Dominic worked hard and created a host of chances in the first half, but couldn’t find the back of the net. It was commented (by his mum),that Paul has now hit the post nearly as many times as he’s scored this season. The breakthrough came half way through the first half,  a shot from Paul was saved by the keeper, but the ball fell to Joseph who forced the ball home from close range. Minutes later it was the same combination and Joseph added his second of the day.

Half time 2-0.

Changes at the break saw Santino come on for Dominic and Oliver make way for James. The second half belonged to James, who put in a fine performance and capped it with a super first goal for the Maroons. A liam free kick was sent into the Mill Hill box and a sweet half volley left the keeper no chance. 3-0.

I have to give Mill Hill every credit, as they kept coming at us right to the very end. They have 1 or 2 very good individuals, who gave us headaches all morning. It was a sign of our character that the Maroons dug deep and everyone did a defensive job when called upon. Mill Hill got their rewards late on, as a stumble by Liam, led to the referee awarding a penalty for handball. Step forward Mr Stretch. A man of the match performance last time out was followed up with a super penalty save. 2 out of 2 now for George,  which earned him the m.o.m. again.

3-0 final score. Well done boys.

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