ALBURY EAGLES Football Club

ALBURY CRICKET AND FOOTBALL CLUB

SUMMER SPORTS DINNER

SATURDAY 24^TH APRIL

ALBURYHEATH

Put this evening date in your diary, when the whole sports club get together for a fabulous evening meal and excellent entertainment.

For more details, please contact Tim Wall on 01483 202949 or email tim.w@dnxmarketing.com

League play finished this past weekend, with some especially vital games being played at U10……

Phil Smith pounced in the final 5 minutes as Albury Eagles came back from two goals down to beat Steyning under 14s in a thrilling Horsham League encounter.
The striker scored the winner minutes before the end after Albury had levelled the score thanks to an unfortunate own goal by the Steyning team. Albury found themselves two goals down after failing to deal with the ball in defence after 30 minutes into the first half and again 10 minutes into the second.

But Albury remained strong and found the determination and confidence needed to gain the equalisers and to complete the comeback. Christopher Brooks scored the Eagles opener and after Steyning's own goal, Phil Smith slid passed his opponents defence to snatch the winner.
The Eagles again produced a performance in their last game of 2010 that demonstrated their explosive and penetrative best which has at times deserted them this season, but on the whole having consolidated a fifth position in the league and going through to the semi -finals in the cup competition this must be viewed as a successful season for the Eagles under 14s.

Albury Eagles completed their season with what in the end turned out to be a comfortable victory but were given a real battle by a disciplined and courageous Holmbury Wolves team.

In the first quarter the teams simply cancelled each other out; neither team achieving any real dominance or structure to their game and no real chances being created by either side. The Eagles managed to establish some consistent pressure towards the end of the first half, but chances were still hard to come by. The first real chance fell to Sam Moldon who cleverly controlled a long aerial pass from Jay Lawson but was unable to muster enough power on the shot to beat the Wolves goalie. Minutes later, a similar opportunity brought a much stronger shot from Sam, but was well blocked by the Hombury keeper.

With only two real chances created in the first half the 0-0 scoreline was a fair reflection and there was a distinct sense of unease in the local crowd and the real prospect of an upset.

Eagles started the second half in brighter fashion and better passing down the right started to create real opportunities with Sam Breach unluckily hitting the post after a neat move linking up with the hard working Jay Lawson and Sam Moldon. A few minutes later they linked up again and a strong cross from Sam Breach on the right was neatly turned in by his namesake. At this stage Holmbury were still very much in the game and continued to run at the Eagles defence requiring disciplined work and strong tackling from Brent and Jasper and bringing an important clearance from Archie Wells in the Albury goal. A few minutes later the second goal settled the match and the nerves of the local crowd when Sam Moldon and Jay linked up again before Sam laid off the perfect pass for Archie Eve to slot home from the left.

By now the Eagles were in their stride and the hardworking Wolves were perhaps tiring a little in the warm sunshine. Albury sensed their opportunity to further improve their goal difference and worked hard to do so - allowing Sam Moldon to convert another cross from the right wing and then complete a well deserved hat-trick with a neat left foot finish just inside the post.

The final score of 4-0 gave the Eagles a seven goal advantage over rivals Brockham overnight but they were pushed into second place in the league when the Badgers secured a 12-0 victory over Redhill on the Sunday.

TEAM: Archie Wells (goalie), Brent Savage, Jasper Whitefield, Archie Eve, Sam Moldon, Jay Lawson, Sam Breach, James Foulsham (sub)

The final game of Albury Griffins season saw the visit of champions-elect Walton Warriors as the top two teams in the Tadworth U10 ‘B’ League battle out a very entertaining match in the spring sunshine.

The match got off to a disastrous start for Albury when they conceded a deflected goal from Walton’s first attack in the opening minute. That stung The Griffins into life and they immediately started to take control of the game with Joe Lockhart and James Foulsham running the midfield and the Albury forwards Cameron Potts and Will Edwards looking lively. After ten minutes Albury equalised with a great run and explosive finish from Cameron Potts. Whilst Albury had most of the possession, Walton looked dangerous going forward and scored two goals in 5 minutes through a well executed lob and a close range finish following a good save from Ross Gilding. Albury showed great spirit though and Potts nearly grabbed his second goal of the game only to see his shot hit the post. The Walton defence stood firm though for the remaining minutes of the first half with Edwards and Foulsham both troubling the visiting keeper.

The second half continued in the same manner as the first with Albury having the majority possession but Walton looking dangerous on the counter-attack with Liam Langridge-Barker and Alexander Potts making important last-ditch tackles and the ball rebounding off the inside of the post as Walton looked to finish the game off. At the other end it just wasn’t Albury’s day with two excellent saves from the Walton keeper and numerous attacks being resolutely repelled by a determined defence. Finally, with 10 minutes remaining Will Edwards split the defence to send Foulsham through on goal and he didn’t disappoint as he rattled the ball into the bottom corner. Albury now piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser and Walton were lucky to keep the lead as Foulsham rattled the crossbar with the keeper beaten. As hard as they tried, Albury were unable to grab the equaliser they deserved and the match finished with Walton claiming the League title and Albury to reflect on a very successful season as runners-up.

Team: Ross Gilding, Will Edwards, Liam Langridge-Barker, Alexander Potts, Cameron Potts, Joe Lockhart, James Foulsham

A dominant Eagles team cruised to a comfortable victory over a battling Hearts team and maintained their title challenge with a score-line that significantly improves their overall goal difference.

The first goal came after only 4 minutes with Sam Moldon weaving through the Hearts defence to poke the ball past the Hearts keeper. Despite this early breakthrough the Eagles failed to really settle into their game and seemed overanxious to improve their goal tally. Despite many good chances and close misses, it was not until the 17^th minute that they added to their score with a clean left foot strike from Jay Lawson beating the goalie at near post. Jay doubled his tally a few minutes later with a brutal right foot shot crashing into the roof of the net and Nathaniel Hallam added the fourth and classiest goal with a sweet right foot shot just evading the keeper’s outstretched fingers in the top right hand corner.

With the match effectively settled at half-time, the second half was a low key affair although goals came at regular intervals with good contributions from the whole Eagles team. Sam Moldon scored the goal of the match lashing the ball past the keeper after a quite brilliant cross-field pass from Jay.

The courageous Hearts team never let their heads drop and battled hard throughout but must have been relieved when the final whistle blew after conceding 10 goals.

Scorers: Jay Lawson (4), Sam Moldon (3), Archie Eve (2), Nathaniel Hallam (1)

TEAM: Archie Wells (goalie), Brent Savage, Jasper Whitefield, Nathaniel Hallam, Archie Eve, Sam Moldon, Jay Lawson, Sam Breach

A goal from Laurie Owen, eight minutes before full time snatched victory against Copthorne under 14s in the Horsham and District youth league. The Eagles dominated for most of the game but were frustrated by their own inability in front of goal and the commitment of the Copthorne side. Christopher Brooks and Phil Smith battled hard up front but their work failed to gain anything to show for it as the game looked to be heading for a draw.

Albury were thankful to the late contribution of Laurie Owen who scored the winner near the end after Harvey Marshall threaded a through ball between the Copthorne defence to allow Laurie to place the ball low and to the left of the diving Copthorne keeper to put the Eagles into the lead. Man of the Match Lewis Keen made sure that the Eagles kept their advantage with some good challenges in midfield and Albury keeper Jonathan Pennock refused to allow any levelling of the score with some fine stops in goal.

NEWSLETTER