Christchurch v Poole Town

BYFL Cup Semi-final

Match Result: 6 - 2

Goal Scorers: Ethan, Harry, Olly B (2), Ollie G (2)

Poole Town must be sick to death of the sight of us. We beat them in
the Dorset Cup Final at the end of last season and then did the league
double over them earlier this season. After the euphoria of last week
this game started off quite flat. Ollie G was back after his broken arm
and was playing up front and Brandon was back from two weeks holiday.
Poole Town seized the initiative early and we looked hesitant at the
back. At one point Jean Nicol missed a chance to put them in the lead
but it was a good move down our left which led to Olly Balmer putting in
a good cross which Ollie G finished well. So one nil to us at half time
and in all honesty pretty much against the run of play.

We tried to fire up our team at half time; Poole Town had lost the
Dorset Cup semi final a couple of weeks ago on penalties against
Kingswood and we knew they wouldn't want to lose two semis in three
weeks. Instead though it was Adam who equalised for Poole Town in the
first couple of minutes. Our team have an admiral never-say-die
attitude and Olly Balmer scored a superb second but once again Poole
Town got an equaliser.

This seemed to be the kick up the backside we needed and we scored 4
goals in the last 15 minutes including a penalty from Olly Balmer.

6 - 2 probably flattered us but well done to the team! Two cup finals
and this one will be against Kingswood at the end of March. That gives
us 4 or 5 weeks straight of league games where we have played only 8
games; the fewest in the league.

Christchurch v Aldershot

Hampshire Cup Semi-final

Match Result: 5 - 2

Goal Scorers: Oliver B (4), Harry C

Wow where do you start with a match report for this game. 5 - 2 doesn't
quite make it a Valentine's Day massacre but in terms of what we
achieved it just as well had been. Aldershot are the holders and as a
club are becoming a Centre of Excellence next season. We had requested
a postponement given we were missing Dec, Ollie G and Brandon. Despite
all the efforts of Mark, Mary and some at BYFL we had to play and
managed to register Jordi in time to bring us up to ten.

I think the origin of 'cometh the hour cometh the man' is unknown but it
should be rewritten as 'cometh the hour cometh 9 boys and a girl'.
Every single one of them performed at their absolute best. It would be
unfair to single any one child out as they all played so well. Playing
on his own up front Olly Balmer ran and harried defenders and most
importantly for us he held onto the ball when we got it up to him.
Ethan and Bubba ran and tackled everything in midfield, on the wings
Oliver Davis and Harry were creative going forward and gave such
protection to our full backs that particularly in the second half we
were put under little pressure. Tom and Max just look as solid as any
centre-half pairing you can think of. Livs and Jordi at full backs
worked as hard as they could and fed Harry and Oliver. And Jeremy in
goal was solid and commanding and came out to clear when he needed to.

So, the game; We started well (not like us) and Olly Balmer put us ahead
within 5 minutes but they equalised almost immediately. We kept at it
though and Olly scored a second but again they equalised; this time with
a long rang shot that no 'keeper could do anything about. The character
our players show is awesome and Harry put us 3 - 2 up about 4 minutes
before the break.

In the second half we were prepared for an onslaught but instead Olly
Balmer completed his hat-trick following a quick throw. At this point
some of their parents created quite an intimidating atmosphere by
complaining loudly but yet again our character shone through and Olly
added a 5th.

I truly hope all the players are proud of themselves because as parents
we could not be more proud of them no matter what happens against
Salisbury in the final.

A special thanks too for others from the club who have given us such
support: Mary, Mark, Craig and Tris.

Michael

A superb result for the ten players of Christchurch who outplayed their opponents to rightfully earn their place in the Final of this age group Hampshire Cup. The Club are extremely proud of the result achieved by this team, whom despite playing the whole match being one player down due to holidays, showed true fight and team spirit to defeat their fancied opponents. Every player, parent and supporter should applaud the determination of this team to win against all the odds, those involved with the Club will know what is meant.

Mark Duffy (Chairman CYFC)

Broadstone v Christchurch

Match Result: 0 - 6

Goal Scorers: Olly B, Nathaniel (2), Oliver D, Jordi, Harry C.

This was our first league game since the first week of December and only
our 8th so far this season. A tiny pitch and Broadstone's tactic of
crowding three or four boys round the ball made for a very frustrating
first half in which we created very few goal scoring chances whilst at
the same time never looking like conceding ourselves. We turned round
only one nil up but our quality came through in the second half and we
added a further 5 including a debut goal for Jordi; two from Bubba
playing centre midfield, the second a sublime move with Olly Balmer; and
good to see Harry on the score sheet.

Hampshire Cup Semi Final next week!!

Christchurch v Sandhurst

Hampshire Cup quarter final

Match Result: 5 - 0

Goal Scorers: Olivia, Oliver B (2), Nathaniel, Ethan

This game had originally been scheduled for 10th January but had been
postponed three times and was our first game since beating Hythe in the
quarter final on 13th December. It was therefore not surprising we
started off looking like a team short of match practice. This was also
our first game since Ollie G broke his arm and so we reshuffled and
played Olivia up front. And were delighted that she scored our opening
goal after about ten minutes. We dominated the rest of that half but
squandered the four or five good chances we created. Second half was
equally frustrating: Sandhurst were a strong, competitive team. Finally
Olly Balmer scored our second and in the last ten minutes we added three
more. So we're through to the semi which is scheduled for the 14th but
there are still other fixtures to be played before we know who we will
be playing.