Latest reporting takes in the period 16th October to 6th November, which also includes a Half term period.

Half term training with Planet Sport on the Heath was well attended on 25th/26th Oct. Many thanks to Chris Jones for fronting an excellent 2 day experience for some 3 dozen Eagles and Griffins. We shall be repeating the exercise again on 14th/15th Feb 2005.

Saturday training and matches returned to the Heath on 30th Oct, following improvements to the playing surface.

Grateful thanks, in the interim period, to Shere Rec who accomodated most of our training for five weeks.
The whole outfield has been seeded and fertilised, with regular attention now producing much better grass, greatly helped by a warm and damp October.

The under 8s department have managed to add a second league side to the Tadworth league this winter. The Griffins team are run by Trevor Stephens, with Nick Sanders taking care of the Eagles u8s.

By now, I hope most league players will have been issued with a training top. And very smart they are too !! There is an ongoing subsequent order being made to kit out the remainder. The club has added 30 players since the first order was made, with current membership now at 123!
Albury Cricket Club provided a substantial donation to enable us to achieve the exercise, and many parents have made a point of acknowledging this kind generosity.

Matches played on 16th October...
U7s
Albury played two teams against Priory Panthers in Banstead. With two matches running simultaneously, we won the first two games convincingly, both 3-0. Goals came from Tristan Moses (2), Henry Stevens, Thomas Wall, Tim Brooks, and Thomas Haldenby.
After a short break we then lined up to play the other teams. Priory must have made some changes to their teams because this time we lost one game 1-0, despite our dominating most of the game. But we won the other game 5-0 ! Scorers this time were Fred Sanders, Henry Stevens, and Tristan Moses (3).
All the players again played extremely well, and are beginning to learn to hold positions. Charlie Firth took the ball forward extremely well, and Tim Brooks saved us several goals by chasing the opposition back towards our goal and putting the ball into the corner before they could score.
Man of the match was Henry Stevens, whose first goal featured a stunning right footer, which rebounded from the defender, leading to an "instinctive" split-second header from Henry (using his right eye) to score in-off a second defender and the goalie. A virtuoso display! And a good time was had by all. Finn Jackson

U9s
Brockham Green 4-0 Albury Eagles
Albury Griffins 1-3 St Annes Blue
For the first time in their history the Eagles and the Griffins both lost on the same day. The Eagles went down 4-0 to champions Brockham Greens with the player of the week award going to Jack Childerstone. Despite the scoreline, Eagles played well in patches with good performances from defenders Colby Silver and George Stevens, and also from Edward Babbington and Nathaniel Farrant. The Griffins lost at home 3-1 to a strong St. Annes team who scored first with a deflected shot; Chris Brooks equalised just before half time. St Annes made it 2-1 with another deflected shot and added a 3rd with an excellent free kick 2 minutes from time. Player of the week went to George Duff with other good performances from David Hearns, Alex Dangerfield and Captain Harvey Marshall. John Duff

Matches played on 6th November…

U7s
Holmbury Wolves v Albury
played at Westcott Cricket Club, a low turnout meant we fielded teams of only 6-a-side, and did not perform up to our recent high standard.
In the first match Albury Eagles took an early lead (Thomas Wall) but finished 2-1 down, while the Griffins lost 4-0.
In the second round, the Eagles team lost 4-1 (Tim Brooks scoring), while a tired Griffins team lost 6-0.
However, everyone very much seemed to enjoy themselves, which is still the main thing. Finn Jackson

U8s
Albury Eagles 10-2 Brockham Red
A storming performance from the Eagles saw our most convincing win of the season. Aside from the impressive goal tally, this game marked a significant improvement in the passing, communication and use of space by the whole team. Quick out of the blocks, the Eagles took a 2 goal lead in the first 5 minutes, the first a stunning volley from Matt Foster. Brockham pegged us back to 2-1, but
after that it was all one way traffic with both man of the match Matt Foster (4) and Fraser Millis (3) scoring excellent hat-tricks. Other goals came from Tristan Moses (2) on an impressive debut and Tom Cain. Our defence was resolute throughout and Ralph Harvey Jefferson in goal was rarely troubled. Nick Sanders

TadworthTigers 0-0 Albury Griffins
How the Griffins failed to get the ball in the back of the net was a mystery,
as they dominated a match on a pitch which cannot have seen a lawnmower all year. The long wet grass prevented the Griffins playing their normal passing game but despite this, four chances went begging in the first 10 minutes with Sam Parsons and Adam Clarke both going close. As the first half continued Joe Mapp and Martin Doubtfire's early grip on midfield loosened. The Tigers had a
number of attempts on goal and in the closing minutes of the half, Oliver
Stephens made an instinctive save to a point blank effort to keep the scores
even. The second half was a similar story with Alex Connolly leading the play from back where the Griffins were defending well with James Matthews and Jack Bewsey putting in some strong tackles. Sammy Lewis had a fine effort on goal and Joe Mapp, who made an assured debut, had a rocket free kick blocked by the
Tigers defence. Man of the match Sam Parsons broke through on countless
occasions only to be defied by a combination of the pitch and the Tigers keeper! Trevor Stephens

U9s
Albury Eagles 2-2 Albury Griffins
The Eagles got off to a fine start as Lewys Bond made it 1- 0 after about 2 mins following some good work from Tom Cantoni. This Eagles goal was quickly followed by another from Colby Silver who scored from a corner. Phillip Smith brought the Griffins back into the match and made it 2-1 after a good attack involving most of the Griffins team. Just before half time Phillip scored again direct from a corner with the ball looping over keeper Jack Childerstone. In a goaless second half, there were some chances at both ends with both the Eagles and the Griffins having opportunities to win the match. All players played well and a 2-2 draw was at the end of the day a fair result. Notable performances for the Eagles from Nathaniel Farrant, Edward Babbington and their player of the week, George Blackbee. For the Griffins, Harvey Marshall, Oliver Cose and player of the week, Phillip Smith. John Duff

U10s
Albury Eagles 2-4 Tadworth Lions
A game of two very different halves left the Eagles still searching for
their first points of the season. A disastrous start saw the team concede
three goals in the first 10 minutes and resulted in the manager hastily
reshuffling the defence! Hope of a comeback returned briefly when Ollie
Harris scored from a long range effort, but just before half time a free kick
to Tadworth on the edge of the Eagles penalty box extended their lead. A
number of half time changes saw Danny (Chopper) Hunt make his debut and his no nonsense tackling and general all round enthusiasm, seemed to galvanise the whole team. Robbie Cross scored his first of the season and the team then set up camp in the Lions half searching for the goals to get them back into the match. Despite hitting the woodwork three times and a James Hern free kick just missing the mark, the Lions held on to
win 2-4. David Harris

Onslow 2-2 Albury Griffins
With the Griffins having an 11.00 am kick off it gave everyone a lie in; unfortunately we were still snoozing when Onslow scored in the first minute. This was the wake up call needed and Albury went on the attack, with constant pressure and numerous corners, Archie Neve finally scored with a clean strike which shot past the goalie!. A second was added by Harry Good giving Albury a deserved 2 - 1 lead. The second half was a closer fought battle with Onslow getting an equaliser. Albury produced a great team performance, with man of the match this week going to Archie.
Mark Hurman

U11s
Frensham 4 - 1 Albury Eagles
A great first half display, where Chris Caley scored with a fierce low shot 4 minutes before half time. Harvey Owen then hit the post just before the half time whistle. The defence was in total control playing the off-side trap well catching the opposing team time and time again. Zac Smith played well at the back in place of the absent Dan Kingshott. In the second half, we began to tire, and although Phil Earle did a good job as captain, the wheels started to come off midway through the second half with Frensham scoring 2 quick fire goals. We were then chasing the game and tiring badly. Frensham then hit us again with 2 more quick goals which finished us off. Although we lost, it was good learning for the boys. There were some fine displays including joint man-of-the-match awards for Harvey Owen and Alex Henson in goal.

U12s
Ashington 3 - 1 Albury Eagles
The u12s tough baptism in the Horsham League continued on Saturday, quite apart from the 28 mile car ride, although this was our best performance to date.
Route 1 tactics saw captain Westcott run on to a Will H kick and fire Eagles ahead after only 5 minutes, a lead which we held until just before half time, when Ashington equalised from a corner. Steady second half pressure from the home side eventually paid off with two further goals, although the Albury defence and keeper played extremely well as a unit. Tony Hern.

Manager’s Match Reports
A big thanks to managers for their reports, which shape these newsletters.

In particular, we need to sadly say farewell to Finn Jackson ..... as Finn writes...
"This will also be my final match with the club. As many of you know, my son decided he did not want to play football any more, and so it did not make sense for me to continue to coach. I have greatly enjoyed my time at the club (more than I expected when I started!) and know that I will miss it more than I realise. Tim Foulsham has agreed to take over the lead for Under 7s. Please continue to give him the support you have given me."

Albury Cricket Club AGM
ACC, our umbrella organisation, are holding this year’s AGM on Tuesday 7th Dec at the Pavilion on the Heath, 7.30pm start. All Eagles are associate members and parents are therefore most welcome to attend. Hope to see you there!

KEEPING UP TO DATE WITH EAGLES
Check out results and tables by logging onto:
www.cleardesk.co.uk/tadworth
whilst for the Horsham League, try:
www.yellowjersey.co.uk

Editor - Tony Hern
01483 202936 07891 480343
Email: tonyhern@lineone.net