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Although it would not be sensible for him to continue playing he now has a real opportunity to carry on helping our club. I must also say at this point that we have been very fortunate to have the help of another former player Tony Bell on the fitness training and I hope that this will continue.
We could not have started this season much better. The 1st team although dropping home points on saturday to a competitive Old Actonians side bounced back in remarkable style with a 3-2 win against the SAL Select side. We have worked very hard over the years to get to a position where our first team is able to take on a representative team and give such a good account of itself. This is the strongest I have seen the club in my 16 years association. We should be challenging for titles at all levels. On top of this we have 5 brand new sets of kit, a new sponsor in Altus, and now a new website. A lot of hard work is being done and my thanks go to Dave Hallam and Steve Beckett for the website, Rob Chamberlain for the sponsorship, and Chris O'Connor for holding us together. Thanks also to Jonty for being himself and Rob Jones for the almost impossible finances. The captains of all our 5 sides have done a great job so far and all they have to do is keep it up! I especially want to praise Matt Rolfe because his work so far this season has been remarkable and far beyond normal duties.
Our 2's have started with 3 successive wins. Well done Peter Morris and Andy Lea and well done also to Grovey for providing the experience at the back. We now have a number of players in the 2's who will push for first team places, and some of these showed up really well against the SAL. The 3's have a League title to defend and started with an ordinary draw. Last Saturday was much better with a 5-1 Cup success against Old Carthusians. We have enough good players in the 3's to defend that title. Most pleasing to me was to see the 4's start their campaign by defeating last seasons champions 3-0. I have big hopes for Andy Cattell's men this season.
The Vets have started with 3 straight wins and loads of goals. I am assured by Dave Hallam that some of the boys are playing the best football of their lives and that for 20 minutes they could give the 1's a game. Whenever you can arrange it David you are on! We have floodlights and a full pitch waiting for a Tuesday night so don't let me stop you.
Brian
DIRECTOR’S CHAIR 1st Dec 07
November and the first week of December are usually riddled with Cup Matches, if you are lucky enough to get through the early rounds. I have therefore held off writing a Directors Chair until the main bulk of the pre-Christmas cup matches are out of the way. We have not fared as well as I would have hoped as a club. The 1's are leading the way with a quarter final spot in the Surrey AFA and the last 16 of the Senior AFA. The 2's are disappointingly out of both of these competitions. The 3's had a good win yesterday against HSBC in the SAL Junior Cup but are out of the AFA, whilst the 4's exited the AFA Cup last week after extra time. We really ought to be doing better than this and my feeling is that too many people are missing too many games for one reason and another. Yes we have had a lot of injuries. We have also had a large number of absentees for personal reasons and this, in my opinion, has rebounded on us.
If you had said to me at the beginning of the season that the 1's would have another good start to the season, but that between them Alex Ewin and Nick Stavri would only have scored 1 goal, I would have found that hard to believe. Both Alex and Nick have struggled with injury so far but it looks like they will both be back this week. We have done very well to keep in touch, with our main goalscorers from last season out of action. Andreas Atkins has done well with 4 goals and Jimmy Elliott has made a return. Jimmy will need another small operation before Christmas however. "Mr play anywhere" Matt Kerr has done a great job filling in up front. We have also had injuries at the back with Andy Szwajkowski missing more than half the games and Junior Urwin out earlier on. It is good to have Junior back and playing well. We have also had to bring in James Bohanna, Craig Bonser and Andy Pierce earlier than expected but they have all done well and Andy has already played for the SAL Rep side. The midfield has been the stable part of the side this season. We have a real find in Danny Marsland and he has combined well with the ever-reliable David Howson who gets better and better. On the flanks Chris Kerr and Nathan Violet have been their usual enthusiastic selves and this has also found favour with the SAL rep team. Just like last season the skipper Matt Rolfe has done a superb job. I am delighted that Steve Whitelock has agreed to be assistant coach and he has made a good start. As the counter to this I am disappointed that Tony Bell will be leaving us to go to Australia. It is a super opportunity for him, something he has wanted to do for a while, but I shall miss him for his reliability and his enthusiasm. The 1's strangely have not played that well yet this season, but they are defending better, and learning to win games where they are not at their best. The form is slowly returning and if we can get a settled side we will be in with a chance after Christmas.
One of my big ambitions at the start of the season, as I contemplated a new role, was to see the 2's win something this season. They started in superb style. Sadly the wheels have come off a bit in the last month as they have been beaten in the Surrey AFA and the Intermediate AFA and lost poorly yesterday to a resurgent Carshalton. Injuries in the 1's have not helped, with Andy Pierce and Danny Marsland stepping up, but there has also been too much unavailability, crucially at Icarus. When the results start to go against you it can be hard to turn it around when constant changes are being made. Peter Morris has done a great job in the circumstances, aided by Andy Lea and the experienced Mark Grove. We are however developing good new players in the 2's. Joel Korocz looks in training like a player with a 1's future, whilst Nimmo and Ben Hughes have been keen and lively. Leon Roberts has done well up front despite carrying an injury. Karl Warner has been his usual "big" self and Nick Green has been neat and clever and continues to impress in training. A player who has also impressed me has been Webby at left back who has been very steady after his early injury problems. Justin Robson has been out for too long to have made an impression yet this season and Ted Datta is also only just coming back from injury.. We are still in a very good position in the League and a return to winning ways this weekend will be just the thing needed.
The 3's won the League last season and just like the 1's it has taken them a while to adjust this season. Although they are just below half way there is plenty of the season left in what may once again be a tight league. As last season the skipper Mike McCoy does a good job both throughout the week and on match days. I have been very impressed with the way Matt Beckett has taken on the vice-captaincy and he is regularly at training. The side is built around Nottsborough stalwarts. Rob Cootes, Duncan Watkins, Noony, Graham Williams, Crofty, Bernie Rhodes, Rob Moore, Steve Beckett, Harry Rugg, Rob Chamberlain, Rozzer have all been around for quite a while and are all very good players. To them we have added a bright new face in Luke Kelly who regularly makes training and occasionally now makes the step up to the 2's. Also added to the squad this season are former 4's players Mark Johnson and Louis Darvill who were stars in our 4's. Sadly both have been injured. The 3's have the Junior SAL Cup to look forward to after Christmas and a march up the league.
My other big ambition at the start of the season was to see the 4's do really well. Skipper Andy Cattell has a bad injury and has yet to make an appearance this season. He does such a good job, assisted by Ian Whittear and Stu Donovan, that I really hope they can continue the good re-building exercise after Christmas. The 4's are in second place in the league and this despite a huge amount of team changes. They have a very good goalkeeper in Paul Nixon, which is always a start. The defence has been quite unsettled with numerous changes and it is here that Andy needs to re-build. A good draw away at West Wickham looks like the start. In midfield Andy has some very good players with Alex Gardner, Pies, and James Kennedy in good form. Sadly the first 2 are injured at the moment. Joe Holden has made a comback to the club although he should be climbing up the sides. Mark Weclawek and Matt Holt are good regulars in this side, whilst Dustin Seale is the only Vet regularly playing at 4's or above. Gaz Goldsmith has been with the club for a few years and is a neat tidy footballer. If they can get all their players fit, or almost fit, they will still have a very good chance in the League and the Minor Cup.
All our sides have par or better records in the league. Keep coming to training, especially after Christmas, and we can improve on that.
Brian
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