The Big Freeze

The Wycombe Junior Cup tie for our Reserves against Hazlemere and the League Cup tie for our A-Team against Titans on Saturday and also the Youth Team League fixture against APBS Youth on Sunday have all fallen victim to the elements due to the two pitches being frozen solid.

The Hellenic League has called off the entire programme for tomorrow. This means the away cup tie for our First Team at Tytherington Rocks FC has also fallen victim to the frost.

The game started slowly with the wind blowing from end to end playing a huge part. Alex McEwan must have headed the ball 20 times in quick succession over on the far side.

The U13 Rangers Sqaud

Then Loudwater had their first break out of nowhere and it was 1-0 to the home side. Luckily Kane made it 1-1 soon after following some great interchanging passes with Luke and Jack. This helped us keep the pressure on Loudwater and stay focused.

The ball seemed to be stuck in the Loudwater penalty area for the rest of the match with the woodwork, the goalkeeper and the wind doing everything to keep the ball out the net, but against the run of play Loudwater suddenly scored again in the second half, 2-1. But minutes later we were awarded a direct free kick from just outside the 18 yard box. Frank Keegan stepped up and with a looping ball over the keeper’s outstretched arms, we equalised. A goal he will tell his grandchildren about! More chances went begging, but finally, in the dying seconds of the game a penalty was awarded to Penn for a shirt pull. Despite hitting the cross bar early on Zach Gladman calmly stepped up and slid the ball into the right hand corner of the net. The restart was immediately followed by the final whistle, and the celebrations started. Finally a win for the Penn Rangers.

There were some individual highlights as well as the goals. Eventual man of the match winner George Tuck stopped all attacks that came his way, while linking up nicely with the midfield players. Luke Butler had a goal disallowed and both keepers, Lee Maynard and Callum Brown played with confidence and also did their bit to prevent any leaks at the back. Adam Coles defended solidly and on several occasions turned the run of play from defence to counter attack with ease.

Harry Pymm battled from the back with Jack Keating, Corbin, Alex and Ryan controlling the midfield. Our wide players Ben and Frank made good use of the space making some direct runs at goal. Frank and Jack’s set pieces were high and long, dropping dangerously into the Loudwater 6 yard box.

First win of the season!!!

It seemed like an eternity before we scored and for a while the feeling on the touchline was – not again! This was a momentous game for us. After so many missed opportunities, our seasons epitaph, we managed to keep the belief and desire until the very end. We wanted the win more than anything else and it really showed.

A big thanks to Marion Gladman for allowing Zach to play. Thanks also to all the parents who came along in the blustering wind. Never a good day for deciding on shorts!

Match report by James Keating

This is a first for Penn & Tylers Green FC: James Williams-Richardson is the first full international player to wear the blue & white stripes. It is a great honour for our club to have a player on our books who played two full World Cup Qualifying games for Anguilla against San Salvador on 6th February 2008 with the return leg played in Washington DC on 26th March 2008.

Anguilla with James kneeling on the right

Says James before today’s game against Rayners Lane “the return leg was a bit one sided (as the result showed) but the experience to play for the country of my Grandfather in front of a large crowd was fantastic”.

We are certainly very proud to have James involved here at French School Meadows, Penn & Tylers Green Football Club’s first full international.

Andreas Latta (Secretary)

During the Middle Ages the Rayners Lane road was used for transporting grain to the mill on Pinner Green. Well at present times there was evidence of tons of sand being transported during the week to make the pitch playable. To be fair the men at Rayners Lane worked very hard to get the game on but the playing surface is definitely suffering.

Grimmo fires them up

On a very windy afternoon Penn & Tylers Green FC went to The Tithe Farm Social Club with reasonable optimism after the last two good performances in the league. The game started off with the boys in blue and white pressing forward slightly having more of the game. Debut boy James Williams-Richardson and Owen Hunte-Millington causing a few problems for Rayners Lane’s defence early on.

Like so many games before this season territorial advantage could not be converted into goal opportunities. Rayners Lane tried to take the game to us but real shots on goal were not in evidence. It was another unnecessary mistake in midfield which gave the team in yellow and green their one nil lead. Once the striker had the opportunity he took the goal well but he should never have had the chance in the first place.

The stretch before the game

An injury to Antonio Sepede meant an early substitution with Adam Weedon coming on. Penn & Tylers Green FC kept battling and despite the state of the pitch managed to create a good move which led to the deserved equaliser with Rino Sepede crossing from the by-line for Owen Hunte-Milligan to finish from close range.

We thought this might be the platform for things to come but somehow slack defending allowed their winger to get the ball in from the left with the ball, assisted by the wind, finding its way over Matt Cannings into the far top corner.

Half Time Rayners Lane 2:1 up.

Still optimistic with the wind now favouring Penn & Tylers Green FC the game followed the pattern of the first half but disappointingly shots on goals and chances in general where just not forthcoming for either side. Leo Dinmore, Chris Hurst, James Louison and Jack Dean kept battling and pushing on but it just would not click today. Dean Munday and Dan Arnett kept it tight at the back but Rayners Lane always threatened to be dangerous on the counter attack. Rino Sepede limped off with a reoccurring injury and was replaced by Luke Cohen.

Entering the pitch

One incident in the second half reduced the boys in blue to ten men. No comment on this forum other than that the game should have continued with 11 men each. Unfortunately this did not help and although Penn & Tylers Green FC kept pressing and taking the game to Rayners Lane the inevitable happened and some lose defending near the end sealed the game in the home team’s favour.

This was another unnecessary defeat. There is no game for the first team next Saturday and then there is the journey to the other side of the world for the away cup tie at Tytherington Rocks F.C. a football club based in Tytherington, near Thornbury, Gloucestershire.

Lonely fan finds someone to talk to

Man of the match: Owen Hunte-Millington

Match report by Andreas Latta (Secretary)

In a hard fought and sometimes feisty game, Penn and Tylers Green FC twice came from behind to earn a well deserved point at top of the table Aston Clinton.

On a sunny but chilly afternoon, Penn and Tylers Green FC kicked off hoping to maintain their good form of late. The game was largely uneventful in the first quarter with neither side testing the opposition goalkeeper. However, following a scramble in the Penn and Tylers Green FC goalmouth an unfortunate ricochet off a Penn and Tylers Green FC player let Aston Clinton score at the far post, giving goalkeeper Conor Latta no chance.

Man or the Match - Alex Morgan

Penn and Tylers Green FC immediately fought back, prompted by Curtis Stone in midfield, and this led to a superb through ball by Joe Sullivan to Will Brangwin who shot across the goalkeeper into the far corner of the net. Unfortunately Joe then had to be replaced owing to illness, upsetting the balance of the team with Ross Brace who had looked very comfortable at centre back moving to midfield and Jordan Ives coming on to take his place in defence.

Plans for Penn and Tylers Green FC to up the tempo in the second half were further disrupted when Jordan Burnard had to be replaced at half time owing to injury, causing a further formation change with Jordan Ives moving forward and Sean Bennett coming on into the middle of defence. Even though there were many changes, the defence remained solid with Charlie Whitfield and Sean Bennett performing well.

Scored the first goal - William Brangwin

Again, there was little incident in the first period of the second half with Alex Morgan marshalling the defence well and Luke Cohen covering almost every inch of ground and putting in a true Captain’s performance. However some confusion in the Penn and Tylers Green FC defence allowed Aston Clinton to put in a right wing cross and the ball was headed in without challenge.

Fabio Battista scored one

At this point, the discipline in the game began to deteriorate and Ross Brace, (along with an Aston Clinton player) was rather harshly sent off after reacting to an extremely heavy challenge. There were three further bookings, two for Aston Clinton and one for Penn and Tylers Green FC as the game threatened to boil over. A feature of this current Penn and Tylers Green FC team is that their spirit is strong, and prompted by a superb all round performance by Will Brangwin they gradually began to take control of the game. With five minutes to go, an excellent through ball put Fabio Battista away and showing great composure he chipped the ball over the advancing goalkeeper for a well deserved equaliser. The game ended with Penn and Tylers Green FC pressing for a winner and Aston Clinton on the back foot.

Man of the match: Alex Morgan

Match report by Alex Morgan

The village of Lambourn is located near the source of the river Lambourn on the beautiful chalk downlands of England. The village is famous for its association with the training of the world’s finest race horses.

Skipper leads out the team

There are over 2000 horses in training in the Lambourn valley with over 50 Racing Yards. The boys were not really interested in this as there was a football match to be contested. The pitch played well despite the frosty conditions. Lambourn Sports were excellent and very welcoming hosts.

We might as well make one thing clear right at the beginning of this report. This was a very good away point but it should have been three. The same old story: Slow start followed by being on top for about 70 minutes of the game and not being clinical enough with our finishing.

The Gaffer at Lambourn

In the first five minutes of the game both teams testing each other out. Lambourn then threatened to dominate the game and it was in this period that they managed to take the lead. A through ball caught out Aiden Taylor, and as he was carrying an injury he could not recover the ball despite his attempt to get it clear with a last minute sliding tackle. Their forward slotted the ball home with from just inside the box with only Matt Cannings to beat.

This was not the ideal start. Shortly after that Aiden Taylor limped off and was replaced by Nathan Quantrill making his debut for the boys in blue & white. Matt Cannings was not really tested from then on. Penn & Tylers Green FC worked hard for the equaliser but playing too deep meant that the game was stretched with too much of a gap between our midfield and Rino Sepede up front. At least Dean Munday and Antonio Sepede were solid ensuring that the first half finished with Penn & Tylers Green FC slightly on top 0-1 down but still in the game.

The Loyal Fans - Tweedle Dee and Tweedle McDum

The gaffer Giovanni Sepede had words at half time. This was obvious as the boys stepped up two gears and dominated the rest of the game. The best chance came after a brilliant through ball from Jamie Hunt left Liam Ratcliffe with a great opportunity with just the keeper to beat, who produced an excellent save. Was this to be one of those days? Fortunately not; Chris Hurst raced down the left flank and produced an excellent low cross into the pass of Jamie Hunt who slotted home from about 18 yards with an excellent finish. Felix Magath and Sandro Mazzola would have been proud of that.

Felix Magath

Shortly after that Gary Crick crossed from the left with Liam Ratcliffe finishing well. Celebrations were short lived as the goal was ruled out for off side. Rino Sepede had to come off in the 73rd minute with an injury and was replaced by young Luke Cohen, who nearly scored but his attempt was cleared off the line by a Lambourn defender.

Sandro Mazzola

Penn & Tylers Green FC kept pushing for the winner with Jamie Louison and Jack Dean working their socks off – but to no avail. The final whistle went and although we did not win at a high flying Lambourn Sports the boys should be pleased with the second half performance – they played well.

The Team: M Cannings – A Taylor – G Crick – D Munday – A Sepede (Captain) – J Hunt (1) – C Hurst – J Dean – J Louison – L Ratcliffe – R Sepede. Substitutes used: L Cohen – N Quantrill. Substitute not used: JonPaul Iaciofano. Manager: Giovanni Sepede

Jamie Hunt - Scorer and Man of the Match

Man of the Match: Jamie Hunt

Match report by Andreas Latta (Secretary)

The abandoned Division 2 (East) match against Finchampstead has been rescheduled by the league for Saturday, 24th March 2012 at French School Meadows.

Injured Finchampstead Player

The original game had to be abandoned by the referee when the score was 3:4 due to a player injury and subsequent fading light.

Penn & Tylers Green FC arrived at the APBS ground full of confidence off the back of four straight wins, however due to the terrible pitch conditions there were worries that the game may not go ahead. Soon enough, a man arrived with a bucket of soil to patch up as many holes as he could and the eager referee let the match proceed as normal.

Man of the Match Anthony Quigley, scoring five goals

With several players unavailable due to illness, Penn & Tylers Green FC had to adjust their usual line-up; Sean Bennett made his first start at centre-back, which allowed Jordan Ives to push forward into midfield and Will Brangwin to slot into the centre with Curtis Stone and Luke Cohen. There was also a full debut for the youngster Ed Howe.

Penn & Tylers Green FC started fairly slowly, as is a characteristic of their performances in recent weeks, but soon began to knock the ball around well and Jordan Ives and Fabio Battista both put great work in on their respective wings to whip decent balls into the box; the finishes however were in short supply.

The speed of Alex Morgan and Charlie Whitfield prevented any threat of an opposition counter-attack throughout the early stages, and the addition of Sean Bennett’s height meant that few opposition balls found their way between Conor Latta – who was exceptional the entire match – and the back three.

Penn & Tylers Green FC began to apply some serious pressure thanks to the tireless running of forward Ed Howe and the breakthrough was inevitable. Fabio Battista broke down the right wing and squared it to Tony Quigley, who netted calmly. This gave the away side confidence, and both Luke Cohen and Will Brangwin in central midfield began to win the large majority of possession whilst Curtis Stone began to spread the ball nicely. Penn & Tylers Green FC soon won a free kick on the edge of the box, and up stepped Tony Quigley to drill it home – “Roberto Carlos-esque”.

Fabio Battista scored one

Many would have expected Penn & Tylers Green FC to continue to dominate possession, and with it the match. Yet, due to some lapses in concentration and lazy tracking back, APBS had an opportunity of their own to score and did so as their captain headed in at the back post. The game became scrappy as the end of the first half drew closer, as none of the Penn & Tylers Green FC players communicated enough to initiate a penetrating attack. As the half time whistle went, Penn & Tylers Green FC were slightly worried about their performance, despite the one goal cushion.

After some stern words from Paul Benning at half time, the team was more disciplined in the second half, with the midfield tracking back at all times and more being played out wide more often. APBS seemed to tire quite early in the second period, probably due to the fact that they only had a squad of 11. Nevertheless apart from a goal-mouth scramble where they hit both the bar and post in quick succession, they appeared a small threat in front of goal.

Penn & Tylers Green FC on the other hand had a flurry of chances, many of which Fabio Battista should have scored. Unlike his Italian counterpart, Tony Quigley had an eye for goal and netted two more in quick succession, both of which Luke Cohen claims to have assisted – “alright Luke”.

The Gaffer had words at half time

With about half an hour left to go Ed Howe was replaced by Jordan Burnard, making his first appearance after months out with a recurring hamstring injury. Although the Penn & Tylers Green FC formation shifted slightly, there was no adjustment in the way they played and soon enough Fabio Battista finally made it on the score sheet by rounding the keeper and slotting the ball into the empty net: his most difficult chance of the day.

Author of the match report - William Brangwin

Few would have blamed Penn & Tylers Green FC for passing the ball around for the last ten minutes, but Tony was after more goals and ran through half the APBS team to score his 5th – quite selfishly I must say.

The match finished APBS 1 – Penn & Tylers Green FC 6

Man of the match: Tony Quigley

March report by William Brangwin

]]> http://www.penntylersgreenfc.co.uk/2012/01/11/youth-team-goal-hungry-after-the-break/feed/ 0 http://www.penntylersgreenfc.co.uk/2012/01/07/it-was-not-to-be-3/ http://www.penntylersgreenfc.co.uk/2012/01/07/it-was-not-to-be-3/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:40:09 +0000 Andreas http://www.penntylersgreenfc.co.uk/?p=2485 Penn & Tylers Green FC 0 – Thatcham Town Reserves 0

On a bright and fresh afternoon on an excellent pitch Penn & Tylers Green FC and Thatcham Town Reserves, incidentally the only two teams to beat Newbury this season, played out an exciting 0:0 draw.

Action at French School Meadows

Our visitors from The Colthrop Board Mills (closed down in 2000), where paper had been produced for over 200 years played in their Red, black and yellow away kit today. They normally play in the same colours as Penn & Tylers Green FC.

The first half saw a slight territorial advantage for our visitors from Thatcham but this was not turned into anything tangible with Matt Cannings having to save only once from close range. Penn & Tylers Green FC were a little bit too passive and despite creating a few openings with Rino Sepede working hard as the lone striker today, there was just not enough agility in midfield for the majority of the first half.

Before anyone could blink the first half was over and everyone eagerly headed back to the clubhouse for hot a beverage and update on the FA Cup scores.

Half Time 0:0

So close

The second half was much better from Penn & Tylers Green FC’s point of view. The pace picked up and there was an aura of urgency about. In fact the boys in blue and white definitely had the upper hand. Unfortunately this advantage could not be turned into goals. The biggest chance came from the penalty spot. Liam Ratcliffe was fouled by the goal keeper Steven Howe after an excellent through ball. He was booked for his troubles (right decision I think). Chris Hurst, who scored from his last two penalty attempts, saw his spot kick saved well by the keeper. Thatcham had a couple of counter attacks but did not really seem to trouble our defense too much.

The boys kept going forward, playing some very good football and were very unlucky to see Rino Sepede’s shot rebound from the inside of the post. Another two chances were kept out by Thatcham’s keeper Steven Howe before Chris Hurst saw another attempt from close range go straight into the keepers arms.

We had enough chances to win the game but as in previous matches we just do not have the “killer instinct” at the moment.

Man of the match James Louison

After last week’s defeat at Chinnor a draw is definitely a point into the right direction. We are now looking forward to next week’s away league encounter with Lambourn Sports.

Man of the match: James Louison

Match report by Andreas Latta (Secretary)

Festival of Football

Six a side tournament for boys and girls teams aged U7 to U12

Sunday 6th and Monday 7th May 2012

Entry Form 2012

This is the club’s 26th Tournament Anniversary. So coaches of all age groups (Juniors to Seniors) will be helping their fellow coach and this year’s Tournament Director James Keating make 2012 another very special 6 a side Football Tournament indeed.

We need to confirm sponsors as soon as possible. So please ask around and let us know if anyone is prepared to dig deep for some local publicity. We usually get approximately 10,000 visitors over the course of the weekend. So there’s plenty of opportunity for local businesses to obtain some positive PR.

Check out Facebook, Twitter and this website for regular news and updates.

www.facebook.com/pages/Penn-Football-Festival/296331120377990

www.twitter.com/penn_football

Andreas Latta (Secretary)