ALBURY EAGLES Football Club

Matches Played Saturday 6th October 2007

A very disappointing result this week. After competing really well in the first half, Albury led 3-2 at half time with 3 goals from Dan Kelly. But in the second half the boys let things slip and struggled. We did not tackle and just did not compete with Southwater. But I felt we should at least have forged a draw, as Dan Kelly was clean through in the last minute only for the goalkeeper to make a really good save. Man of the Match was Dan Kelly who scored all 4 of our goals.

This week we travelled to Northchapel, Albury started the game very well with 2 or 3 chances in the first 10 minutes. Dan cannon opened the scoring for Albury to take a well deserved lead. Northchapel had 3 shots in the first half and scored 2 goals. Albury never gave up and with some great passing between Sam, Archie and Dan we equalised just before half time. In the second half we continued with the pressure and Harry was rewarded to make it 3 - 2, unfortunately Northchapel equalised to make the last 5 minutes tense. The effort put in by the boys was fantastic notably Cameron Rodgers who never gave Northchapel any time on the ball. With a couple of minutes to go Dan completed his hat-trick and Albury their deserved victory.

Albury Eagles under 12s maintained their winning ways with a home win against last season’s promotion partners Heron Way Olympic. Dominating the game from start to finish, the Eagles found it hard to convert the majority of possession into goals. When the opener did come, it was well worth the wait as David Hearns cracked a fantastic volley from the edge of the area into the top left hand side of the Heron Way goal.

Having failed to capitalise on their efforts in the first half, Albury set out to put things right in the second. Goals from Tom Cantoni, Philip Smith and two apiece from Christopher Brooks and Harvey Marshall overwhelmed a tiring Heron Olympic team. Although seldom called upon, Eagles goal keeper Laurie Owen kept his concentration well when Heron broke away which left Laurie with a one on one with the Heron Olympic striker. Diving to his left, Laurie parried the well struck shot around the post to earn himself a clean sheet for the day and the player of the week award.

After a return to better form in recent games, the Eagles started the game brightly and were dominant in the first quarter but despite good possession and some flashes of class, most moves petered out and as the game went on the Eagles looked less convincing. St Pauls held a good shape and broke out in attack swiftly but rarely threatened the Eagles goal with Adam Clarke continuing his recent confident performances. As half time approached St Pauls hit the bar from a well hit shot and then several minutes later the ball broke in the box and St Pauls beat the outcoming Adam to the ball to go 1-0 up. The second half saw more urgency from the Eagles getting the ball forward more quickly but despite this possession was not used well with too often players holding the ball and rarely playing into space to create opportunities where the strikers could hurt the opposition. In defence, Tom Cain and George Mackenzie were again quick to cut off St Pauls attacks and player of the week Jack Bewsey's tackling and anticipation stood out as St Pauls created no significant chances in the second half. In midfield Matt Foster battled throughout and Zac Summerfield came on to have his best half of the season to date with some strong tackling. Harry Ford was unlucky to have an equalising goal disallowed by an incompetent linesman who flagged against players who were not interfering with play. Harry Ford again went close with a long shot past the onrushing keeper that crept past the post and Oli Stephens got round the defence but pulled his shot wide. The Eagles only created three clear chances despite much greater possession and a timely return to passing football will be required in next week’s difficult cup match.

Any hopes that new members of the Tadworth league would be easy pickings have been dispelled after two heavy defeats.
Following a 7-1 drubbing in a pre-season friendly at Teddington-based Hearts, the league season began with the visit of Woodmansterne. Slick, skilful and well organised, the visitors soon took a grip on the game
as the Eagles' ability to snooze their way through the early part of a match re-surfaced and Woodmansterne went ahead after just three minutes
with a well-taken finish.
Roused from their slumber, Eagles contested the game well for the rest of the half, playing some neat football but creating only one chance, Elliott Cozens firing wide after a nice move. A second, well-taken goal four minutes before half time knocked the stuffing out of the Eagles as the second half became one way traffic. Woodmansterne took a firm grip on the game and as Eagles' heads went down the goals went in.
A long winter could lie ahead.

The Eagles finally got into their stride with an impressive 10-0 victory away at Chilworth. Although the opposition weren’t the strongest I think it was a great confidence booster and bodes well for the rest of the season. The goal scorers were: Jago Roberts 2, Jamie Reed 4, Henry Stevens 3, Harry Poil 1.

The Griffins beat the Lions 6-2, but I hear the Lions put up a very impressive fight in the second half. The Griffins are a very strong team this year and I think the Lions did exceptionally well. The goal scorers were, for the Griffins : Bruce Perry 2, Peter Doherty 4. For the Lions Harry Hayes 2.

Matches this Saturday 13^th October......

All of our four 11 a side teams were drawn at home in the First Round of the Horsham Cup fixtures.

Thanks to Wonersh Sports Ground, we are able to host two of the games over there.

Albury Cricket and Football Club AGM

Thursday 29^th November @ 8pm

Albury Cricket Pavilion

All members welcome to attend.

NEWSLETTER