ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL OF SOCCER 2008 TOURNAMENT

UNDER 11'S TROPHY

10TH TO 14TH APRIL 2008

Young Guns Under 11's tour began at Greens Gym, Chingford at 10am on Thursday morning where all the TEAM boarded the bus together with Manager Ryan, Assistant Manager Turgay and Driver/volunteer helper Alan.

Turned out splendidly in new tracksuits and polo shirts sponsored by JEMBATHROOMS.CO.UK we made our way to Portsmouth for a 13:30 sailing, though due to traffic problems we actually went across on the 14:00 Ferry.

With no sign of travel sickness, we headed to the upper decks of the ferry as we bid the mainland goodbye for a few days.

After leaving P'mouth, it would be 25 minutes before we arrived at Fishbourne, so we decided to hold a meeting to discuss and finalise room allocations

On docking at Fishbourne, we made the short 10 minute journey to the Little Canada Holiday Park, which would be our home for the next 4 nights. We booked into our cabins after which the boys all went for a kick about on the field, before dinner was served.

No.12; Callum, Matt, D, Mason      No.11; Tom, Tay, Lew, Lorrell         No.9; Caine, Joseph, Alex               No.8; Stan, Billy, Omar

After dinner, which a lot of the boys did not particularly enjoy on the 1st night, Turgay and Alan took the boys for a nice long walk along the beach, and discovered a Fish and Chip shop and a Chinese Takeaway to the delight of some of the boys who had not eaten that well at dinner. During this time, I attended the Managers meeting, where we discovered the times and duration (22 minutes each way) of our matches and our opponents. With 2 groups of 5 teams, everyone would play each other in addition to another 'wildcard' fixture against a Team from the other group, thereby guaranteeing 5 games plus a possible semi-final and Final. With the first game taking place at 9:30am the next morning, it was lights out 9:30pm on the 1st night, for a 1st morning wake up call of 7am.

DAY 2;

Game 1 v. Newchurch Colts

We arrived at the pitches at 9am and begun a good pre match warm-up ahead of our 1st match in the Competition.

The Pitches were full-size and the surface looked good, but with a very strong swirling wind, it would make passing football difficult. The Guns started the match well, playing some good controlled attacking football and despite playing up the slope 1st half managed to go in at the interval 1-0 up after Lorrell stabbed home from close range after a good link up play wide left between Divannie and Matty.

The 2nd half was all Guns where we really should have put the game beyond doubt but the Newchurch Keeper made 2 or 3 great blocks. Tom was getting forward well from left-back and we wrapped the game up 2 minutes from time when Mason hit a rasping drive into the roof of the net with his left foot from outside of the box. Final score 2-0.

With the 2nd match of the day kicking off at 11:45am, we headed back to site to relax for 30 minutes before returning to play our 2nd fixture.

Game 2 v. Elmfield Youth

The 2nd match saw the wind much stronger now with the ball continually being held up or running away depending upon which direction it was travelling. We struggled to deal with this in the 1st period and again against the slope, this time we found ourselves trailing 1-0 at the interval. Elmfield had 2 of the best technical players we have came up against all season, both dangerous in possession with good touch, balance and understanding of positional play.

After a good half-time pep talk, the boys responded tremendously, playing with renewed energy constantly looking to get back into the game, with both Mason and Callum instrumental in driving us forward. Lewis was put through 1 v 1 but hit the outside of the post, Omar found space in the area twice but twice was denied by the Keeper before Matty looked to have pulled us level when he chipped the keeper as he advanced only to see a covering defender slide and hook clear from what looked to be behind the line, Alan certain the ball actually brushed the inside of the net. No matter, we kept going... Lorrell oh so close from a corner before Mason hit a shot from outside the area which according to him and others on the pitch at the time was heading for the top corner only for the wind to then blow it inches wide of the far post. It wasn't to be our game and though we felt we were the stronger TEAM.. we were somewhat unlucky to have not taken something from the game.

We returned to Little Canada frustrated but looked forward to an afternoon of activities that Turgay had lined up for the boys;

QUAD BIKES;

Everyone was to get 5 laps of the circuit with time strictly kept, the fastest to complete the course would be crowned Champion.

Divannie emerged as an early leader with an excellent time of 1 minute 25 seconds. 

Caine and Alex did threaten to break his record but fell just short at the last. With just Stan and Lewis to go, Divannie was still in the lead but an excellent ride from Stan saw him equal D's time of 1:25 and we faced the prospect of a ride-off or would final participant Lewis whiz through and take the prize.

In a thrilling finale, Lewis motored his way around to record a time of 1 minute 12 seconds and take the Title, for which he will receive a Trophy at the end of season presentation.

The Final scoreboard was as follows;

                        Lewis       1:12   CHAMPION!

Divannie     1:25  Stan       1:25     Caine        1:28

Alex        1:30  Joseph R   1:36     Lorrell        1:38

Omar        1:48  Tom      1:53     Billy         2:04

Matty        2:04   Taylan     2:46    Mason       2:46

Callum       Did not finish

HIGH WALL CLIMB

Again the format was simple...fastest to the top...if you could make it that far, which 5 of the TEAM did not, but it was good that they had a go and they all managed to get beyond halfway. The 1st to get to the top was Ryan, who after a rapid start, deteriorated just as quickly putting in a time of 2:15.

This encouraged the boys and Callum quickly shattered my time posting a 1:17 ascent. As the competition wore on, the times were getting better with Caine the 1st to break the 1 minute mark, but in a reversal of the finale of the quads, Lewis was in front with 43 seconds with only Divannie left to go. Determined to snatch back a title from Lewis, Divannie literally ran up the wall posting an incredible time of 29 seconds, for which he will receive his trophy at the end of season presentation.

                            Final scoreboard;  

Divannie    0:29   CHAMPION!

Lewis      0:43   Lorrell      0:44

Alan       0:48   Stan      0:51

Caine       0:52   Billy      1:05

Callum      1:17   Tom      1:51

Taylan      2:14   Ryan      2:17

Matty       did not finish

Mason     did not finish

Alex       did not finish

Joseph R    did not finish 

Omar       did not finish

Dinner for the evening followed and after such an exhausting busy day, all the boys were keen to tuck in. With the next days games scheduled for the afternoon, some of the boys went swimming after their meal whilst others went to the field for another kick about. Lights were out at 10:30 with morning wake up call scheduled for 8am.

DAY 3;

Turgay again had organised morning activities to keep the boys busy ahead of our 2 afternoon matches.

ZIP WIRE

After breakfast it was 9am meet for the zip wire. Anyone who managed to make the climb up to the platform and then fly down the cable was a winner with nearly all the TEAM, including the 3 adults making it, although Ryan with his fear of heights was the only one holding on to the instructor on the platform as the height did make me very dizzy and anxious.

Special mention to Joseph R, Omar, Mason and Taylan who despite all looking very nervous managed to complete the task.

ARCHERY

The 2nd of the mornings events was met with a mixed response by the group with only half the group showing any interest in this task, a competition was arranged by the instructor, where after a tense finale Joseph R was crowned winner after edging out Taylan and Lorrell and earning the nickname 'Bullseye', whilst Turgay and Alan certainly made good impersonations of Robin Hood and Friar Tuck!

With everyone meeting for lunch at 12:30, we left the site at 13:30 for our 2pm kick-off time.

Game 3 v. Southampton Tyro League Blue

This was always going to be the toughest game of the Tour against a League Representative Team selected from the 6 Division Tyro League which has a good reputation for feeding the equally well regarded Southampton Academy. With Saints winning both their opening day fixtures, we realistically needed to take something from the game. The large vocal support of the Tyro Team would also be against us.

With the slope of the pitch and the now even stronger swirling wind proving to be a factor, we had a TEAM discussion about which way we should play 1st half. It was agreed by most (though not all) that we would prefer to play upslope 1st half to come strong in the 2nd half.

The game started even enough though it must be said we did seem to lack sharpness and energy with Tyro much the more determined into the tackle and to the 2nd ball. As the game went on, Tyro's pressure began to build and after they took the lead 15 minutes in, 2 more were added before the break as we appeared shell shocked in the face of a rampant Tyro. With us now having the slope for the 2nd period, we knew we had to get something quickly if we were going to force a comeback and after making 3 changes we went out highly motivated.

The response from the boys was excellent, we were much faster at winning the ball and for the opening 7 or 8 minutes we put Tyro to the sword, creating some really good goal scoring opportunities. Omar was sent through 1 on 1 against the keeper twice in quick succession, but the 1st saw a great save from the keeper and the 2nd he screwed his shot wide. Lewis then went through, cutting in from the right side of the box, again denied by the keeper. All good chances and as the clock ticked away so did our chances and Tyro registered twice more in the closing stages. A disappointing result but I can't help thinking that on another day, there may not be as much between the sides.

Game 4 v. Brading Town Colts

With confidence low after the previous result, we faced our 'wildcard' fixture against a Team, regarded as the strongest on the Isle of Wight and who had a 100% record in the other group. As the game kicked off at 4pm, the heavens opened and with the prevalent swirling wind it made for incredibly difficult conditions to not only play in but spectate. Brading cheered on by massive local support were 1 of the most physically aggressive Teams we have faced, which seems to be the norm for the Island teams as the refs let a lot go and we were not given a moment to breathe let alone play. That said against the slope, we managed to take an early lead when Lewis picked the ball up and ran and ran and as he entered the area let fly with a terrific drive into the top corner. 1-0 Guns.

Brading continued to come but we were defending our box well until the referee made an amazing decision to award Brading a penalty when Divannie clearly poked the ball away from the attacker. The boys were livid and I cant blame them for that. The penalty was put away and Brading nudged in front just before the interval. Again we would have to come back 2nd half where we got off to a bad start when Brading added a 3rd as we let their winger run and run. Still we looked to come back and again we created enough chances to have won the game but again we just could not find a finish as Lorrell, Matty and Omar all spurned gilt edged opportunities.

Tyro would meet Brading in the final where Tyro triumphed 1-0.

With us out of the competition, the bus ride back was a sombre affair, so after dinner we decided to lift spirits by driving to Sandown Pier and spending a couple of hours in the arcade playing crazy golf, air hockey and the machines, where in particular the 4 at a time racing was good fun.

We returned in time for match of the day and a very productive TEAM meeting.                                                           

DAY 4;

The morning of our penultimate day saw us up early after an admittedly late night to play our final fixture of the competition kicking off at 9:30am.

Game 5 v. Oakfield Youth

A tired and weary Young Guns took to the field against Oakfield who needed a win to reach the semi-finals. With Joseph suffering from illness, Caine donned the gloves for the 1st period. Our worst display of the season saw us go in at the interval 2-0 down with no sign of a comeback in the face of a very determined Oakfield desperate to make the last 4 of the Competition.

The 2nd half though saw the boys really dig in, with Omar now taking over in goal, Caine slammed home to make it 1-2 and put us right back in the game. Our pressure was good and we were creating regular openings.

With 3 minutes remaining, Matty got on the end of a good dribble and cross from Mason to level the scores at 2-2, sending Oakfield out and at least giving us a high to end the competition on.

With no activities lined up for the afternoon, we took the boys to the beach at Sandown for an hours beach football whilst Turgay stayed back at base with the unwell Joseph.

With the Sun shining, it made for a good hours play.

After lunch, we went to the Bowling Alley in Ryde, where the boys enjoyed some good games of bowling in amongst watching the Gunners totally outclass Man U, but again like us rue missed opportunities.

We returned to site for dinner, before heading to the Yacht Marina at Cowes for the Tournament Presentation, where the boys received their competition medals from Tony Cottee.

It was then back to site for our final night at Little Canada, where we held our own presentation for 'Players Player of the Tournament' and 'Best Attitude and Behaviour'. In the voting for Players Player, Tom and Alex each received 1 vote, Matty and Joseph 2 votes each with Mason and Callum sharing the award with 4 votes each and each receiving a trophy.

Matty Gould took the 'Best Attitude and Behaviour' award where his prize was 2 tickets to Arsenal v. Everton in a couple of weeks time.

All in all a really great experience for all involved and though we did not do ourselves justice on the field of play, several factors can be attributed to this. The strong wind coming in from the sea made passing difficult and with the activities we had lined up together with the sea air we did appear very tired at times. With a lot of the boys staying away from home for the first time, and many of the other teams local and having good support, we were always going to be at a disadvantage.

Though the football is what we went away for, it was important that the overall experience was enjoyable and fun, even if that meant detracting somewhat from the football, which I'm sure it did. That said we did well in all our games and can count ourselves a little bit unlucky with big decisions going against us at big points in our games. Certainly from what I saw, we were good enough to have reached the semi-finals. We were definately out-fought but never out-played. We should also remember that of the 14 players on Tour, 9 joined the TEAM this season.

The tournament itself was very well run with an excellent format and we congratulate the organisers on this.

We would finally like to thank all parents for giving the boys permission to travel and the boys for generally being impeccably behaved, representing the Club well. Big thanks also to Turgay and Alan who were a great help and good company to be around.

EUROPE HERE WE COME!