This is to confirm that, as already mentioned to parents/carers by myself or Fabio, there is no game this weekend for the Eagles, as they have a bye in the cup.

Also, as a number of players were not available for the Sunday morning Lansdown training session Fabio had in mind, in place of a match, it has been decided not to proceed with that either.

Please remember that training from next week, will be on Thursdays, from 6.30pm to 7.30pm on the Kingswood School astro pitch. This is behind the main school buildings of Kingswood School on Lansdown Road. The astro pitch can be reached along Fonthill Road, which is a left-hand turn immediately past the school’s swimming pool for those that know it (that is, a left turn as you go up Landsown Road).

                                                                               Tony Day

The U10 Falcons just got the better of Bradford Town B in a very tight match in the Preliminary Round of the Mid Wilts League Cup at Winsley on Saturday, 29 September. After a very keenly contested game, the Falcons came out on top, 1-0 thanks to a second-half goal from Peter Bowen.

Much of the game was played in steady rain, which sometimes made it difficult for both teams. However, the Falcons managed to play some good passing football and competed really well for the ball all over the pitch. In the first half, things were pretty even, with Larkhall creating some dangerous attacks and were unlucky not to score once or twice.

With Peter putting in an energetic performance with lots of strong tackles and Kean showing some great touches on the ball, including the ability to lose defenders easily with brilliant stop turns, the Larkhall midfield had lots of possession, with Peter and Harrison always trying to thread passes through the Bradford defence for Ryan to run on to. George too, produced some great passes and he, Matthew and Austen worked hard in defence to limit the shots Bradford Town were able to create. However, they couldn’t stop Bradford hitting the bar of Joe’s goal, which was the closest either team came to scoring in the first half.

In the second half, there was lots of end to end football with both teams having opportunities to score. On one occasion with the Larkhall defenders losing the players they were marking, a Bradford Town player broke free and was one on one with Joe. Surely Bradford were going to score and go one up……….? No! Thanks to a brilliant save from Joe, the score stayed at 0-0. Kean also hit a post for the Falcons after a great bit of attacking play. Not long afterwards, some strong defending by George saw him win the ball from his opponent and he played a fantastic pass down the line for Peter to run on to. Peter raced into the penalty area and with the goalkeeper coming out, hit a brilliant, hard shot into the corner, to put the Falcons into the lead!

Bradford created several more chances and forced some corners, but Larkhall managed to stop Bradford scoring with some very committed defending and another really good save from Joe, when he tipped a long-range shot over his crossbar.

This was a really good performance by all the boys and a fantastic result, especially as Bradford Town are in a Division two higher than the Falcons. Well done guys, you can now look forward to the next round on 4 November!

Larkhall Falcons: Joe Dennis, Matthew Le Butt, Austen Davis, Harrison Davis, Ryan Musgrove, Kean Hayward, Peter Bowen, George Williams

                                                                          Tony Day

This week’s game is at Green Lane in Devizes. Here’s a link to the ground on Google maps.

Go to Devizes then leave the town on the A342 (Nursteed Road in the link above) At the edge of town turn right into Marshall Road. Then turn Left at the next roundabout into Green Lane and the pitch is then on the left.

Kick Off is at 10:30.

If you want to follow me, meet at the riverside car park in Batheaston at 9:30. (This is on the main road (old A4) opposite Bannerdown Road on the far side of Batheaston, probably easiest to find by going to the end of the bypass, turning left, and then the car park is immediately on the left after crossing the mini roundabout at the bottom of Bannerdown. ) Here’s another link, the car park is marked by the arrow.

See you there or at Devizes,

Terry

Last weekend saw the Falcons play Trowbridge Town Youth C at their Staverton ground.  It was a fine, dry and warm morning and the Falcons quickly settled into to some equally fine football, passing the ball smoothly and swiftly and creating a host of exciting scoring chances.

Once again Joe Han-Hauser found the net. first with a quick thinking tap in and then with a well -placed long range shot into the corner of the net.  Freddie Isaksen sealed the 3-0 win with a close range netting of a fine and fast cross from Alex Pippard. Exhillarating stuff indeed.
 
The clean sheet must be attributed once again to some incredibly brave and sharp goalkeeping by Robbie Cashel, the talk of the touchline! On at least three occasions he faced a one on one situation and came out on top. What a confidence building foundation-stone to have at the back of a team!
 
The Eagles were involved in a really close game of great football, only to go down by a solitary goal 2-1, despite sterling work from Ryan White, a precious goal from Nick Atwell and the usual  battling efforts of the two Jacks - Day and Witty Smith - , Charlie Bird and Harry Williams. Harry had a particularly good match and his experience will be invaluable to the Eagles, having played in last years Under-9’s.
 
Our squad Godfather, Russ Morley, returns on Wednesday and I look forward to being able to  cheer on and advise the Eagles with a welcome day off this Saturday. They have only played three matches together and seem to be gelling extremely quickly. With a couple of extra players to enable rotations, I predict they will be a match for the Falcons by midway through the season if not earlier, so please encourage any of your Under 9 friends to come along to training and see if they like the atmosphere, enjoyment and attention they can have with Larkhall Athletic Youth FC. They will be extremely welcome!

Best wishes, Otto Hauser Under 9s coach

We are playing Mere F.C. away at 10:30 on Saturday. Their ground is at Mere Primary School off Springfield Road in Mere. Anyone who wants to travel in ‘convoy’ meet me at the ‘Harvester’ at the roundabout at the top of Wellsway by 9:00 (This pub might have changed name?) I think it will take about an hour to get there.

Here’s a link to the meeting point on Google maps.

And here is the ground on Google.

I think the best route is around Frome and then take the B3092 which eventually goes through Mere.

Mere provide refreshments like drinks and sausage rolls etc. afterwards, so if you can, allow a bit of time for these afterwards, and take the boys some dry clothes if it looks like rain.

It’s our first game so please remember boots, shin pads, and water/juice/sports drink.

See you there,

Terry

With England women today qualifying for the Quarter Finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in China and Larkhall U12 Girls winning their first-ever game in great style (see separate news item) women and girl’s football is on the up!

Our Club has been and is working very hard to promote and develop girls’ football in Bath. A key part of these efforts is our Club’s organisation of the Girl’s "World Cup" for Bath Schools, on 25 September (4.00pm onwards). The event, which is being sponsored by Sah Rang (who also sponsor our U9s) has been timed to coincide with the latter stages of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in China while avoiding the dates of the England women’s matches (and those of the home nations in the rugby World Cup!).

14 schools - including Newbridge, KES, St Marks, St Michaels, Oldfield, St Gregory’s and Ralph Allen - have entered teams for what promises to be a great event. In all, this means that almost 150 girls will take part in the tournament, which is fantastic. 

We very much hope that the event will encourage more girls to want to join LAYFC to train and play with us. Fingers crossed for the weather!

If anyone reading this would like to find out more about playing girls football at LAYFC, please come along on 25 September (see details above) or contact Tony Day (07833133031, tony@day1426.freeserve.co.uk).

Tony Day, Co-chairman Larkhall Athletic Youth FC

Both of our U9 teams recorded impressive wins over the weekend.

For the Falcons, Joe Han-Hauser scored three goals and Tom Walker two, but special mention must go to Robbie Cashel, who saved three highly likely scoring attempts from Melksham. 

 The boys all seemed to enjoy playing and the spirit and sportsmanship between both sets of players and parents was excellent. It was a really encouraging team performance from the goakeeper right through every position on the field to the strikers. 

It was especially pleasing to see players of such a young age passing the ball around and, with several welcome new additions to the side, showing a growing understanding as a team after only three training sessions.
 
The Eagles had an absolutely fantastic win away at Bradford to score eight! Jack Day did one better than a hat-trick with four and Nick Atwell (2), Jack Witty-Smith (1) and Ryan White (1) all shook the back of the opposing net.
 
I was especially pleased for the Eagles after their setback last week which did not reflect how well they’d played against a team with more players. The Eagles have great potential and huge enthusiasm, and to bounce back and not be demoralised by their first match defeat is tremendous.
 
All in all a wonderful weekend for the Under-9’s. Thank you to all the players from both the Falcons and the Eagles, as well as to their supporters!

Best wishes, Otto Hauser (Under 9s coach)

This season, our two U10 teams are in the same division and the teams produced a thrilling match at Kingswood on 16 September. The lead swapped several times, but the Falcons eventually won 5-3, after the Eagles gave them a very hard game.

 Allowing for the fact that the Eagles are a newly-formed team, playing together for the first time, they did extremely well and produced some really good, passing football. It was great to welcome the following new players to the club: Marco Baldan, Thomas Van Hout, Joe Baldwin, Oscar Archer, Wilson Richards and Mitchell Court. Every one of the guys played very well and showed lots of skills and a brilliant attitude.  Thanks to some great passing football and good finishing, Mitchell Court and Oscar Archer (2) both scored for the Eagles on their debuts. Thomas Van Hout played in goal for the first half for the Eagles and Wilson Richards in the second half. Both boys made some great saves, preventing the Falcons scoring certain goals.  It was also lovely to see Brennen Vowles back playing for Larkhall. Brennen played with the U9s last season and showed, playing against the Falcons, what a great tackler he can be. In midfield, Marco Baldan, Oscar Archer and Joe Baldwin worked their socks off; making important tackles as well as skilful runs and through passes. Mitchell Court too showed good skill and passing ability and was always a danger to the Falcons’ defence. During their time out of goal, Wilson and Thomas settled quickly into the team and both showed that they will fit into the Eagles’ team very well this season. For the Falcons, Peter Bowen produced a typically powerhouse display, running strongly with the ball and showing his ability to beat defenders with his strength and skill. Peter’s efforts were rewarded with a very well-taken hat-trick. Kean Hayward and Ryan Musgrove were also a constant threat to the Eagles with their dribbling and close skills. The Eagles had to work very hard to defend against Kean and Ryan, but couldn’t prevent Kean from scoring two good goals. In midfield and defence, brothers Austen and Harrison Davis played very good games, making many good tackles and passes, while Matthew Le Butt, was as dependable as always, often timing his tackles or interceptions perfectly. In the Falcons’ goal, Joe Dennis had a good game as usual making some good stops, but could do nothing to prevent the Eagles’ goals. 

All in all, it was a fantastic match and a shame that either of the teams lost, but the game was great to watch and demonstrated that Larkhall is lucky this season in having two U10 teams with lots of potential. Well done everyone who played and to all the parents/carers and friends who came to support the children – it does mean a lot to them.