A blisteringly hot 28 deg for our final match of the season at Perth Road with all 11 players available.  Our biggest match of the season, a draw no use to either team and only the winner could go on with a chance to win the league.  Mark agreed to put his shirt on and be our ref for the day so Lakis could support from the sidelines.  The early exchanges were pretty equal, with Finchley showing determination in the tackle, but as usual our defence was rock solid and Finchley were getting nowhere near Dylan in goal.  Zach and Alex were massive at the back once more, stopping every attack with both gritty tackilng and poise on the ball.  Towards the end of the half AP started to play some nice football and Finlay found Ned on the left.  He put a great ball into Sam's feet on the penalty spot.  Sam took a nice touch and tucked it neatly into the corner for 1-0.  Soon after Ben made some space on the right and slipped a nice ball into Sam who was once again unmarked.  A neat swivel and another left foot shot put us 2-0 up at half time.  Dylan was largely untroubled in the first half apart from a great save from a wonderful Finchley power drive.  The heat was getting to our midfield and Kirk duly rang the changes, allowing some fresh players to do the midfield running.  Tom came on up front and was causing Finchley trouble with his skills and determined running.  Finchley were running out of ideas and were seeing their season slip away from them.  They just could not find their way past our midfield and defence, so determined were we to hold onto this lead and join Edmonton at the top of the league.  We finished them off with the third goal midway through the second half, when Ned broke with the ball, past one, slipped it past another defender and the onrushing goalie, shrugged off two more scrambling defenders before knocking the ball towards the open goal.  But what was this?  Tom rushed in as the ball was crossing the line and slammed it in with his right foot.  Whose goal?  Make up your own mind, one thing I'm sure of is both of these boys deserve the golden boot prize at Presentation Night.  After that the Finchley heads dropped but AP worked hard with Joe and Tommy coming on and providing the fresh legs that we needed to hold on to our clean sheet.  The final whistle saw tears for Finchley but joy for AP as we join Edmonton on 38 points at the top of the White Division.  Over to Maccabi, who must win next Sunday to win the league outright, any other result and we are joint champions.  What a great end to a great season.  Well done everyone.  MOTM Alexander The Great.

Sunday's match is our final league game at home, 11am kick off.  As we know, if we win this match we have the possibility of being crowned joint champions with Edmonton Rangers, so this is our biggest game of the season.  We would to have all boys available for selection for this match.  We will try to strike a balance between winning this game and getting everyone some time on the pitch, but cannot guarantee that all boys will get to play.  If you don't get on the pitch, please don't take it personally. It may be that we need to go all out attack and go for a win or even put our defensive players on to protect a lead.  All players have different qualities, be safe in the knowledge all of you have contributed to this great 1st season, where we are still challenging for the title on our very last game.

We would also like to have a Parents vs Boys 11-a side match after the main event.  Boys Yellow shirts please, Parents Blue shirts please.

Squad(11): Dylan(GK), Tom, Tommy, Ben, Bertie, Finlay, Sam, Ned, Joe, Zach, Alex.

A happy return to the ground where the boys won their first trophy in the Enfield Rangers summer tournament.  Once more we dominated the match, with Zach and Alex making light work of repelling the early advances of Enfield.  The midfield of Finlay, Bertie and Dylan looked dangerous going forward in the first quarter.  We were creating a lot of chances as usual and Tom and Dylan were unlucky not to get early goals.  The pitch was like a very large potato field, with little bumps and bobbles seeming to conspire against us in their penalty area.  Dylan was finding open space on the left of midfield and created our first goal.  His shot was parried by their keeper and Finlay pounced on the loose ball to drive home hard and low for 1-0.  We continued to dominate until half time but the second goal wouldn't come.  We were unlucky early in the second half when Enfield equalised from a long punt from their goalie.  The ball bounced unkindly first in front of Dylan, then again in front of Sam and their striker was left with a gaping goal. 1-1 and feeling like we were going to see another match slip from our grasp. Still the boys came forward from midfield and pressed Enfield.  Tom broke on the right and slipped a neat ball to Ned runniing through the middle.  Ned controlled, jinked and dribbled the ball past 3 defenders and slotted low shot under the goalie from just inside the penalty area.  A great goal worthy of the winning the match.  We could have had more as we continued to press forward.  But we had to defend well too, with Ned making some crucial tackles on the left and Zach and Alex repelling Enfield's remaining attempts.  Worthy winners, we will take our league fight to the last game.  MOTM Zach (outstanding defending), Ned (great goal made the difference).

Sunday's match is in the League, away to Enfield Rangers, 11am kick off.  Most of you have been there before, but here's a map from their website: http://www.enfieldrangersfc.co.uk/ERFC%20map%20page.html.  Leave 30 mins to get there, we need to be there by 10:30am.  The turning into the club is just before the brow of the hill. 
Another must win league match, we need keep winning to stay in touch with the leaders.  White shirts please.

Squad (9): Sam(GK), Ben, Finlay, Bertie, Tom, Ned, Zach, Alex, Dylan.
Unavailable: Tommy, Joe

Just before kick off the heavens opened resulting in yet another game being played in heavy rain.  APYFC controlled the game from the beginning with Ben, Finlay and Dylan dominating midfield with some good passing moves.  However, clear cut chances in the first half were limited and shots at goal were all well saved by Oxhey’s keeper. Any Oxhey breakaways were comfortably dealt with by Alex and Tommy in defence with Joe in goal dealing well with the odd chance that fell to Oxhey.  The second half was one way traffic with APYFC carving out a series of chances with Ben, Tom, Sam, and Bertie all going close.  Oxhey’s keeper was again outstanding.  Just when it looked as if the breakthrough wouldn’t come, Bertie set off on another great run which he finished with a low shot past Oxhey’s previously unbeatable keeper.  Ultimately, a strong all round team performance with APYFC dominant in all phases of the game.  MOM Bertie for great wing play and a well taken goal.

Sunday's match is the return away to Oxhey Jets, 11:00am kick off.  Kirk is in charge this weekend, with myself and Ned having the weekend off.

Their website has directions and a link to a map: http://www.oxheyjets.com/directions.html.  The route described is from the M1 J5 and may be a bit of a roundabout way for us to get there, I'll leave it for you to decide.  I would go via the A41, then through Stanmore and approach from the south. I'd leave approx 40 mins to get there.  Oxhey Jets play in sky blue, so we'll need our Yellow shirts again.

Squad(9): Joe(GK), Ben, Alex, Tom, Tommy, Dylan, Sam, Finlay, Bertie
Rotated: Ned, Zach

A very disappointing day probably means the end of our league title challenge.  It was just one of those days where the ball would not go in for us.  I lost count of how many times we hit the woodwork, mainly from some fine shooting from Ned.  An unfortunate penalty miss set the tone and Oxhey got a scrambled goal shortly afterwards.  We totally dominated the play after that, with good passing from Finlay and good running from Sam.  Ben shone once more with some great passing and good control on the ball.  We only lost the second goal because we were pouring forward for the goal.  Nothing to gain by playing the blame game, we were just plain unlucky today.  MOTM Ben.

This Sunday match is in the league at home against Oxhey Jets, 12:00pm kick off.  Don't think this is going to be an easy one just because of Oxhey's league position.  A quick look at their results shows theay are not to be taken lightly (http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/TeamHist.cfm?CI=39945&DivisionID=1750&TblName=Matches&LeagueCode=WFL2007); they held Northwood away, something we failed to do and recently drew 2-2 with Hemel.  We are closing in on the league title, now is not the time for complacency.  I want a performance to match last week's against London Colney.  Yellow shirts please.

Squad(9): Dylan(GK), Zach, Tommy, Finlay, Sam, Bertie, Tom, Joe, Ned
Rotated: Ben, Alex

Our club presenatation night will be with the U8s, U10s and probably the U11s.  The club gives out 4 special prizes:

Clubman, Manager's Player, Leading Goalscorer and Player's Player.

See the following link for current leading goalscorers http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/TeamHistAll.cfm?CI=39937&TblName=Matches&LeagueCode=WFL2007&DivisionID=1750 (scroll to the bottom to see goalscorers). As mentioned earlier, this excludes pre-season friendlies and only WFL competition matches count for this prize.  The winner will be decided after our last league match on 11th May.

I need your votes for Player's Player by 27th April, so that we can get the trophy engraved in time for the presentation night.  Please send me your votes by e-mail.

Prizes for Clubman and Manager's Player will be decided by myself and Kirk.  Presentation Night will be at the AP clubhouse on either Thurs 15th, Mon 19th or Tues 20th May

Revenge is a dish best served cold.  And wet too as it turned out, as the April rain and sleet soaked us all towards the end of the first half.  It was pretty much all over by then though, with AP dominating the early play and going 2-0 up inside the first 15 minutes.  First, Ned found some space for a shot on the edge of the area and goalie was well beaten for 1-0.  Soon after, some good work from Alex and Tom B on the left, the ball broke for Ben on the penalty spot.  He twisted and hit a nice right foot shot into the corner.  2-0 was well deserved, with Finlay dominating the tackling from central midfield and Zach playing so solidy from defence.  We were looking very good going forwards too, with Bertie, Ned and Finlay and Tom hooking up well in the first quarter.  We were fluid in the second quarter when Ben came on and Alex slotted well into left midfield.  In the second half we faced the wind and rain.  We knew we had to keep it tight after what happened last time, but were still looking good going forward, with Ned doing some good runnning and providing the outlet up front.  Some good pressure down the right from Ben, Bertie and Ned gave Ben some space near the touchline.  He swung a great cross into the danger zone which forced an error from their defender and the ball was in the back of the net for 3-0.  I was only happy once the 4th came and the ghost of last November's away fixture was finally laid to rest.  More good forward play from Ned released Tom on the left who appeared to accidentally handle the ball, but tucked home anyway for 4-0 as the London Colney defence stood static.  The ref didn't see it so the goal stood.  It underlines the importance of always playing to the refs whistle.  The defending in the second half was exemplary too, with Tommy coming in and doing a great job.  Joe only had to make one save today and left the field cold and wet.  So a great win, 4 games to go and still in the hunt for the league title.  MOTM (joint) Zach and Ned, solid at the back and great going forward.

Sunday's gameis a league match at home, 11:00 am kick off.  We are playing London Colney, we need a good win to keep the pressure on the leaders.  Yellow shirts please.

Squad (9): Joe(GK), Ben, Alex, Zach, Finlay, Ned, Tommy, Tom, Bertie
On Holiday: Dylan, Sam

Cassiobury Rangers Pumas win 2-1 on penalties

Another great effort against a Red Division side who we matched for 50 minutes of open play.  We started a little slowly, being pegged back by a strong and determined Cassiobury.  After bringing off Tommy through illness, we re-grouped with Alex in defence and started to get a hold of the game.  Zach played an excellent first half, winning the ball every time and chasing back and closing down brilliantly.  Ned started to find openings on the left towards the end of the first half.  He ran the ball down the left, took it inside and fired a thunderbolt goalward.  Their goalie just managed to push it onto the bar for a great save.  We were on top more in the seconfd half with the slope and the wind in our favour and thoroughly deserved the opening goal.  Ned broke free again on the left,and crashed a shot at goal that the keeper could not hold.  Ben was on hand to neatly lift the ball over the sprawling goalie for 1-0.  I really thought we could hold on after that, since the defensive partnership of Zach and Alex were looking solid and were being greatly assisted by the midfield.  It was such a shame that we failed to show the required urgency in defence when the ball broke loose in the penalty area.  A half hit clearance bounced of their striker's leg into the net for 1-1.  The only defensive mistake of the game so I can't complain.  Zach and Alex worked so hard and deserved a bit more luck than we got.  We pressed ahead hard for the winner with some tireless running from Joe, great interplay between Ben, Tom and Joe and forceful running from Ned.  But the goal wouldn't come and the stalemate lasted through extra time.  Our boys were looking tired at the end.  The penalties didn't go our way this time and it was their goalie who earned them the victory with some match winning saves.  Well done boys, you've shown that you can match the top Red Division teams, even with players missing.  MOTM Zach, commanded the defence.

Our Challenge Cup Quarter Final has been re-arranged for this coming Monday 7th April.  The game is a 6pm kick off at Thomas Parmiter's sports centre.  See article below dated 25 March for directions.  Anyone needing a lift please let me know.  Since we'll be travelling in the rush hour it's probably a good idea to leave 45 mins to get there.  I'll be leaving at 4:45pm and aim to arrive at 5:30.  White shirts for this one, lets save on the washing... 

Provisional Squad(8): Sam(GK), Joe, Ben, Tom, Tommy, Zach, Alex, Ned.
On Holiday: Finlay, Dylan, Bertie.

Sunday's match is in the League, away to Enfield Rangers, 10am kick off.  Most of you have been there before, but here's a map from their website: http://www.enfieldrangersfc.co.uk/ERFC%20map%20page.html.  Leave 30 mins to get there, we need to be there by 9:30am.  The turning into the club is just before the brow of the hill. 
Another must win league match, we need keep winning to stay in touch with the leaders.  We will need to start sharp and strong after a long break.  Yellow shirts please.

Squad (9): Joe(GK), Sam, Ben, Tom, Tommy, Ned, Zach, Alex, Dylan.

Sunday's match is a Challenge Cup Quarter Final away to Cassiobury Rangers Pumas, 11:00 am kick off.  Their ground is at Parmiter's Sports Centre, High Elms Lane, very close to the M1 J6: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=511392&y=201727&z=2&sv=511392,201727&st=4&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=511392&ay=201727.
When you come off the M1 at J6, you will be forced to go the wrong way along the dual carriageway.  Immediately take the right hand lane and use the right turining to turn back southwards along the dual carriageway.  You will not be able to turn right into High Elms Lane, so will need to take the next right to turn around again, this time heading back north on the dual carriageway.  Then turn left into High Elms Lane, the ground is approx 500m on the right.

Cassiobury are 4th in the Red Division at the moment, so we have a tough game on our hands.  Lucky white shirts this week.  And don't get caught out by the clocks going forward on Sunday, if we turn up late we forfeit the game!

Squad: Dylan (GK), Zach, Alex, Sam, Finlay, Bertie, Joe, Ned, Ben.
Rotated: Tom, Tommy

Sunday's match is 11:00am kick off away at Oxhey Jets.  Kirk is in charge this weekend.  As I mentioned at training, this is a crucial league game; nothing below your best will be good enough.  We need to keep winning to keep the pressure piled on Maccabi and Edmonton.  Oxhey Jets are only bottom of our league because they've played less games than everyone else.  A quick look at their results shows that they are going to be a difficult team to beat.  See http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/TeamHist.cfm?CI=39945&DivisionID=1750&TblName=Matches&LeagueCode=WFL2007

Their website has directions and a link to a map: http://www.oxheyjets.com/directions.html.  The route described is from the M1 J5 and may be a bit of a roundabout way for us to get there, I'll leave it for you to decide.  I would go via the A41, then through Stanmore and approach from the south. I'd leave approx 40 mins to get there.  Oxhey Jets play in sky blue, so we'll need our Yellow shirts again.

Squad(10): Joe(GK), Ben, Alex, Tom, Tommy, Dylan, Sam, Finlay, Zach, Bertie(sub)
Rotated: Ned

A depleted AP took to the Perth Road far pitch today against a feisty Hemel side, with Sam and Tommy out through illness.  A slightly tentative start saw Hemel dominate the early exchanges before AP started to assert themselves.  Great defending from Alex and Ned in the first half, allowing Ben to get his foot on the ball and display his skills.  Joe played a great half at left mid, some nice passes and solid tackling pinning them back on their right side.  Towards the end of the first half the AP pressure came to fruition, when Ben and Tom found themselves 2 on 1 in front of goal.  The Hemel defender was expecting the through ball to Tom, but Ben droppped his shoulder, turned the ball left past the defender and tucked home beautifully with his next touch.  A great goal.  Hemel very nearly scored straight from the kick off, after a skewed clearance fell to their number 8.  He hit a fine vollley and Dylan had to make a good two-hands high save.  We were reasonably happy with 1-0 at half time, since we were playing the better football and defending well.  The determination to win was definitely there 2nd half but Hemel came back strong and their big no 9 forced an opening on the right touchline after beating two of our defenders.  He crossed well and the ball bounced of their striker's knee and into the net for 1-1.  AP were desperate for a winner to keep the league campaign on track.  Some great football was played down the right, with Ben and Bertie and Finlay linking brilliantly and Ned making some forceful runs.  Finally, towards the end, Ned found himself clear on the left, with Bertie and Ben unmarked in the middle.  A simple cross was all that was needed, but Ned took a shot from the corner of the penalty area instead.  In it flew, past the goalie who completely mistimed his dive.  The relief on the touchline was palpable.  AP held on for the last 10 minutes after some more Hemel pressure and fully deserved the three points at the end.  A close run thing, but the better team won.  MOTM Ben, great skills, passing and a wonderfully taken goal.

Sunday's match is a league fixture at home to Hemel Athletic, 11:00am kick off.  We should take some confidence into this game after our recent performances.  Yellow shirts please.

Squad: Dylan (GK), Ben, Tom B, Tommy McD, Alex, Ned, Joe, Sam, Finlay.
Rotated: Bertie, Zach.

A fine display of football today from AP who matched the Red Division side for long periods and outplayed them at times.  The boys made a good start and quickly realised they were more than a match for Borehamwood. Today we were allowed to play our football without being kicked and we caused Borehamwwod problems.  We were pressing with a few corners and Ned had a few shots at goal.  Bertie and Ben both looked dangerous up front in the first half.  The defence was rock steady as usual with Zach and Alex clearing every ball.  Borehamwood had a good spell towards the end which resulted in the ball being cleared off the line by their player, but 0-0 was a fair reflection of play at half time.  Sam made some great stops and looked comfortable catching and gathering the ball, and his kicking was exemplary.
AP were dominant after the change, using the strong wind to great effect.  Ben made some great skills on the edge of the area, Bertie was unlucky not to score one on one with the goalie and Ned hit a great free kick from almost the half way line that the goalie had to save from going in the top corner.  Borehamwood too, had their chances and their manager said to me that he felt it could go either way.  We were not surprised to have to play extra time. Once again we looked the more likely, with Bertie coming very close in the first period.  But in the end it was just not to be and Borehamwwod found the opening right at the end.  We were probably guilty of leaving their man unmarked at the far post for the goal, Sam did well on the first shot but was beaten by a good finish.  The second came soon after, when our heads had dropped.  All-in-all a great performance by AP, I know that we surprised Borehamwood with our quality and now we can look forward to taking on Cassiobury Rangers in the Challenge Cup Quarter Final.  MOTM Ben, great skills, our main creative player today.

This Sunday's match is a League Cup Quarter Final, at home to Borehamwood 2000.  They are a Red Division side, so this is a chance to really see how far we've come this season.  11:0am kick off. Yellow shirts please.

Squad(9): Sam(GK), Bertie, Ned, Ben, Dylan, Tommy, Finlay, Zach, Alex
Rotated: Tom B, Joe

What a performance, what a result!  There were no slow starts this week, with AP carrying on where they left off last week.  Playing into the wind first half, there was no quarter given by our defence.  Finlay and Joe were winning the battle of Quba and AP were surging forwards with some great football.  Short goal kicks, short corners, we played our football with confidence today.  We caught them out too with a short corner, when Ned hit an angled shot hard in at their goalie.  The goalie was unlucky this time, when their defender looped his clearance over the goalie for 1-0.  Credit goes to the ref for giving that one over the line.  Our second was fully deserved and came soon after from a great strike from Bertie, the keeper had no chance with that one.  They were rocking and we pressed home our advantage with another right-footed drive from Bertie, just before half-time.  We knew they'd come back strong after that and sure enough the tackles started flying in.  Ned was clattered about 5 times and left in a heap on the floor.  AP were matching their aggression and they became more frustrated as we continued to surge forward and peg them back.  The defending today was outstanding, with Alex and Zach and later Joe playing absolute blinders.  They just couldn't break us down and we got the result we deserved.  Very well done everyone! MOTM Alex, Zach, Joe.

Sunday's game is away to Edmonton Rangers (again) 10:30am kick off.  We have a chance to finish the job off this week, let's start off sharp and strong this time.  Most of us have been there before : http://www.edmontonrangers.co.uk/page6.html.  White shirts this week please.

Squad(9): Dylan (GK), Finlay, Bertie, Tom B, Joe, Ned, Zach, Alex, Sam.
Rotated: Ben, Tommy

The top of the table clash turned out to be our most stressful time yet on the touchline.  Once again, AP were slow to start and let Edmonton make the early plays.  Edmonton scored their first after we failed to make any attempt to tackle their players on the edge of our area.  Their striker hit a fine shot and Joe had no chance.  It was soon 2-0 to Edmonton after we once again failed to respond to their strength and determination.  Once 2-0 down we started to match their aggression and started winning the ball.  By the end of the first half our superior football was causing them problems and we were unlucky not to have got a goal back by half time.  Ned made a number of fine tackles on their key player Quba, and was the force behing many of our attacking plays.  We continued with the same attitude in the second half and the goal had to come.  After some good interplay between Dylan and Ben, Ben curled a tricky shot low to the goalies left.  He fumbled it out to Tom, who neatly found the net from a tight angle.  Dylan got off the mark shortly after with another fumbled shot which crept over the line.  We had the upper hand at this point and there were a good 10 minutes to find the winner.  We had our chances but were running out of stream at the end and Edmonton came close towards the end when they hit the post from a long range effort.  Joe had a good game in goal, showing great hands on a number of occasions, as well as consistent kicking from goal kicks.  A good comeback after an awful start, but this once again feels like 2 points lost.  MOTM Ned, strong and purposeful.

Sunday's match is at home 11:00 am kick off against our old chums Edmonton Rangers.  I'm sure we'll have a good contest, as both teams will be looking to make amends after defeats last week.  Yellow shirts please.

Squad(9): Joe(GK), Bertie, Ned, Alex, Dylan, Tom, Tommy, Zach, Ben.
On holiday: Sam, Finlay

Our first competitive defeat.  We started brightly and played some nice footbal on a very difficult surface.  Tom linked well with down the left and Finlay was dominant in central midfield.  The goal was a while coming but was well deserved and beautifully tucked home by Finlay.  Ben was unlucky with their first shot on goal shortly afterwards, with the low February sun shining in his eyes.  We came back quickly when Tom showed some great skills before setting up Joe to smash in our second.  I felt we were looking so good at this point and would go onto win the game.  However, we let in two soft goals from some poor defensive play and found ourselves 3-2 down at half-time.  Given our first-half display I thought we were easily capable of scoring more in the second half.  We battered them continually in the second half but that goal just would not come.  Northwood packed players behind the ball and the surface sapped our energy towards the end.  A painful lesson, we now have no room for error in the league and have to rely on Maccabi Lions slipping up.  MOTM Finlay - a well taken goal and controlled the midfield.

I've managed to accomodate all your requests in this schedule, which are shown in bold italic. If I've missed anything please let me know asap.

Feb 10: Ned, Zach
Feb 17: Sam, Finlay (half term 1)
Feb 24: Tommy McD, Ben (half term 2)
Mar 02: Tom B, Joe
Mar 09: Bertie, Zach
Mar 16: Ned, Finlay
Mar 23: No fixture (Easter Sunday)
Mar 30: Tom B, Tommy McD
Apr 06: Bertie, Finlay (Easter 1)
Apr 13: Sam, Alex, Dylan (Easter 2, League Cup Semi-Final Day)
Apr 20: Ned, Ben (Easter 3, Challenge Cup Semi-Final Day)
Apr 27: No fixture
May 04: Zach, Joe

Please note the semi-final dates.  Should we qualify for any of these I'd like to take all available players.  This goes for any cup finals we might reach too.

In the first five minutes of this game the play was all around our box. Then we had numerous breaks down the right wing and the only thing that stopped us from scoring was their number 7. Time and time again he fouled me which we got 2 free kicks out of, and at one point he fouled Ned in their half and he hit the bar with a great shot from the resulting free kick . In the second half our defence held well and I missed a one on one chance with the keeper which I put inches wide.  All and all our whole team played well and we deserved to win.
(By Finlay no.10)

Following last weekend's confusion, Bob has confirmed the dates of the remaining coaching sessions:

9th Feb
1st March
22nd March
12th April (last one of the season)

Sunday's match is in the league, away to Northwood Red, 11am kick off.  The address is Northwood Park, Chestnut Avenue, Northwood, HA6 1HR (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=510750&y=190750&z=2&sv=510750,190750&st=4&ar=N&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=509623&ay=190532).  I think this will be a fairly long journey so I'm leaving an hour to get there.  The most straightforward way looks like on the A410 through Stanmore, Hatch End and Pinner Green.  You can pick the A410 up on the Edgware Road or by taking the A41 from Apex corner.
I know we beat Northwood at home but this is on their turf so we will need to be at our best.  We need to build on last week's result and keep the pressure on Edmonton and Maccabi, who are playing each other this weekend.  White shirts again please.

Squad (9): Ben(GK), Dylan, Sam, Bertie, Finlay, Tom B, Tommy, Joe, Alex.
Rotated: Ned, Zach

So back to Rowley Lane, the same pitch as last time with the same big slope, but this time with an added sticky, muddy surface a strong cold February wind blowing accross it.  We expected another tough battle against a strong Lions side and that's what we got.  Their left-sided number 7 was clattering in from all angles, arms and legs flying.  But Finlay was refusing to be intimidated by this and would not be forced off the ball.  Once we raised our committment levels in midfield to match theirs, we started to control the game.  Ned was scythed down after knocking the ball past their number 7.  He promptly got up and crashed the free-kick against the crossbar from 20 yards.  We were definitely on top in the first half and were a little unlucky not to be ahead at the break.  Up hill in the second half we expected a bit of an Maccabi onslaught.  But it never came, beacuse we were matching them in midfield and our defence was too strong.  Alex, Zach and Tommy were rock solid in defence.  Zach and Alex did not lose a single tackle.  Maccabi never came close to our goal, I counted one weak shot that was easily saved by Dylan.  We always looked the more likely team to score and I thought we were going to get the goal we deserved with 3 minutes to go.  Ned did some neat dribbling on the left before finding Sam, who slid in Finlay to put him clean through on goal.  Finlay hit the shot low and hard but just wide and so it as not to be.  A well deserved point keeps us right in the hunt at the top.  Some great battling in midfield and defence today.  MOTM (joint) Finlay, Zach, Alex.

Following the loss of Sam from our goalkeeping ranks, Kirk and I have agreed to provide some extra incentives to our 4 remaining goalies.  The 40min/20min split was causing difficulties (especially with the poor weather) and was working against our valiant goalkeepers.  
From this Sunday onwards only goalkeepers will play the full 40 mins; all other outfield players will play 30 mins.  This adds up fine when we have 9 players available.  When we have only 8 available (eg 17th Feb), our nominated goalkeepers will get to play outfield for 40 mins.  This should result in goalies having slightly more playing time over a season, which will hopefully provide the extra incentive to being a keeper.
Rotation will continue as planned.  I'll be issuing a new schedule shortly that will address the imbalances caused by the bad weather.  This should cover us to around mid April, so please make your requests asap.

Sunday's match is a 2pm kick off away to Maccabi Lions.  I'm sure we all remember what happened last time, we lost a 3-1 lead in the last 10 minutes at home.  We expect another tough game.  You may be interested in their team web pages http://www.londonlions.com/show_far.php?Team_id=46&Type=2 - the match reports from our games make particularly interesting reading!  I'm sure they are going to be really fired up for this one, this is a big match and no mistake.  Directions are as before, see the following link for a map: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=521280&y=196294&z=2&sv=521280,196294&st=4&ar=Y&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=521280&ay=196294  I remember the Sunday lunch-time traffic caught some of us out last time, so let's leave plently of time to get there.  Let's give our white shirts an outing this week please.

Squad(9): Ben (GK), Alex, Zach, Bertie, Ned, Finlay, Sam, Dylan, Tommy.
Rotated: Joe, Tom B

APYFC win 3-1 on penalties

A real cup tie today, with the underdogs of the Blue Division fighting back in the second half to force extra time.  We opened confidently, by dominating possession and passing well, especially down the left with Dylan, Ned and Tom combining to great effect.  The first goal was definitely coming, a penalty box scramble falling to Tommy who did well to force the ball over the line from 8 yards.  A little lucky with the second, when Ned looped a right foot cross in from the left, over the goalie's head for 2-0.  In the second half we lost control of the game a little, Nascot started to win the midfield battles.  Our midfield were pushing up too far, leaving the defence exposed.  Their goal came from our corner.  The corner was cleared immediately and broke to their striker who did very well to hold off Finlay and finish.  A goal they probably deserved.  AP were profligate in front of goal in the second half too, with Ned, Tom and Joe who all should have scored.  Some great shooting too from Bertie and Dylan.  Their equaliser was a really harsh penalty decision, with the ball bouncing away from goal hitting Tommy on the upper arm.  The Nascot parents and players made a big shout and the ref caved in for them.  They should have gone on to win the game, with their striker missing an open goal after Sam's short goal kick failed to reach Dylan.  But we should have wrapped it up in extra time too, with numerous chances and shots on goal.  Notably, a great passing move that cut them wide open in the second period and left Ned one-on-one with their keeper, who once again came out and smothered the ball well.  So to the dreaded penalty shoot out.  Great credit goes to those boys who came forward to take a penalty.  But the real hero today was Sam, who kept his nerve in goal and saved 3 out of their 4 penalties!  Great penalties from Finlay, Ben and Ned, the keeper had no chance.  A really exciting game to watch today. MOTM Sam 'Safe-Hands' Jones.

This Sunday's match is a Challenge Cup 3rd round tie at Perth Road.  We are kicking off this week at 10am, so we need to set our alarms.  Nascot Wood are in the blue dvision, follow this link to their results so far http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/TeamHistAll.cfm?CI=39952&TblName=Matches&LeagueCode=WFL2007&DivisionID=1751. We need to be on our guard and start strongly after our long lay off.  Yellow shirts please.

Update 22/01
In consideration of our long lay-off I've decided to use all 11 players this weekend.  This unfortunately means that if you were down to play 40 mins then you'll probably only get 30 (with the exception of Sam).  Please be patient with this, I'll make sure that we all get equal playing time in the long run.

Squad(11): Sam (GK40), Finlay(20), Tommy(30), Tom(30), Alex(30), Ned(20), Dylan(20), Zach(20), Joe(20), Ben(30), Bertie(20)

Sunday's match is in the league, 11:00 am at Perth Road.  Due to the present condition of our pitches and this week's weather forecast, there is a strong possibility that this match will be played away at London Colney or even postponed altogether.  I will be doing a Perth Road pitch inspection as late as possible on Saturday and I'll make the decision then.  I'll send the result of this by text, whether home, away or postponement.  If away, then please scroll down this page to the article dated 30 October for directions.  If you have received nothing by 6pm then you'll need to give me a call to find out what's happening. 
Also, please note, while we are postponing matches, I am keeping the rotation schedule as originally planned.  I know this works out tough on some boys but I'll even this out later; it's more important that we don't upset any plans parents have made around this schedule.  I'll still make sure that if a boy played 20 mins last match, or was rotated, then he gets 40 mins the next match and vice versa.

Squad(9): Sam (GK40), Bertie(20), Ned(20), Alex(40), Dylan(40), Tom(40), Zach(20), Ben(40), Joe(20)
Rotated: Finlay, Tommy

APY started the game really well with some good attacks from Bertie down the right hand side.  Then Bertie got his goal he well and truly deserved.  But it wasn’t much longer before Bertie did another amazing left foot goal giving APY a 2 nil lead.  Also some great defensive work from Dylan and Zach.  Alex did well in his new position with some nice passes.  Ned slotted into Ben’s central role very well for the first half.  Joe also had a couple of good chances with some of Bertie’s crosses.  We were in the lead the first half because we were wanting the ball and fighting for it.  In the second half Ben came on.  We started the second half well with some good dribbling from Ned and Ben.  Then that’s when Bertie got his third.  After that we had to defend pretty well to stop Omonia from scoring that’s when Finlay did a life saving save.  Then Ben had a shot curling over the defenders that smashed against the bar.  A good result away from home.  MOTM Hat trick hero Bertie!!

Sunday's match is 11:00am kick off away at Oxhey Jets.  Their website has directions and a link to a map: http://www.oxheyjets.com/directions.html.  The route described is from the M1 J5 and may be a bit of a roundabout way for us to get there, I'll leave it for you to decide.  I intend to go via the A41, then through Stanmore and approach from the south (I'll send out an e-mail containing the AA route). I'd leave approx 40 mins to get there.  Oxhey Jets play in sky blue, so we'll need our Yellow shirts again.

Squad(9): Sam (GK40), Ben(40), Alex(40), Tom (40), Tommy(40), Dylan(20), Bertie(20), Finlay(20), Joe (20)
Rotated: Zach, Ned

Back at the top where we belong! A great start to the new year and a very good result.  I want to leave the fine details of the play to you boys this week.  What I would like to say is how impressed I was with everyone.  We perfomed well in every position, we won nearly every loose ball.  Zach and Dylan were so solid in defence, Alex had a great first half.  Ned and Ben played great games in midfield and Bertie was tearing them apart down the right, 3 wonderfully taken goals B, well done.  Joe was doing some great running and fighting and was again unlucky not to get a goal. Joint MOTM this week Zach and Bertie.

Bob has given me the dates for our Goalkeeping Coaching sessions, Saturdays 10am Durnsford Park:

19th Jan, 2nd Feb, 23 Feb, 15th March and 5th April.

Sam, Dylan, Ben, Joe and Finlay please attend.

Happy New Year!  This Sunday's game is away to Omonia White, 10:00 am Kick off.  Their ground is Riverside (Pitch No. 1), Turkey Street Enfield EN1 4RJ, see http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=534314&y=199108&z=2&sv=534314,199108&st=4&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=534314&ay=199108 for map.  It's basically straight up the A10, nearly as far as the M25 junction, then a left turn onto Turkey Street.  I'd leave 30 mins to get there, we need to be there by 9:30am.  Omonia play in white shirst so we need our Yellow shirts.  I'm thinking about arranging a gentle Saturday Morning training session on Durnsford Park, please check your e-mails tomorrow for details.

Squad(9): Dylan, Finlay(GK), Bertie, Ben, Zach, Alex, Tommy, Ned, Joe.
Rotated: Tom B, Sam.

We knew this was going to be a tough one.  It turned out to be our hardest challenge yet. A depleted but very strong Maccabi side were winning the tackles early on. However, we once again played the better football and went ahead through a fine strike from Ned after some great skill to take it past their defence.  Maccabi came back straight away to 1-1 and we were guilty of letting them get 3 on 1 at the back, Dylan had no chance.  We may have gone in 1 down at half time if Dylan had not saved a high power drive from their big number 9.  The talk on the touchline was of our sternest challenge yet, the best team we have played so far.  We were delighted then, when we started the second half with bright attacking play and went 3-1 up.  Some good running down the wing from Bertie and a fine cross was met first time by Ben's right foot.  A great finish for 2-1.  Our third came from Bertie on the right too.  After an obvious foul on Bertie (ref are you blind?), Ned clattered in to dispossess their big left back, Bertie swung in another great cross for Tom.  Tom coolly jinked and swerved, beat 2 defenders before slotting past the goalie.  3-1 and looking like staying top for the Christmas recess?  It was looking good as Maccabi heads dropped for a few minutes.  However they came back strong in the last ten minutes and we were probably guilty of not picking up their players on the third goal.  Dylan had to make some fine saves at the end to keep them out and they probably deserved the draw in the end.  They were happier than us with the result, I think we are going to have to work on holding onto leads better in the new year.  Still, this is a great start for our squad:  12 competitive matches unbeaten, 8 wins, 4 draws.  Joint top of the league at Christmas, last 8 of the League Cup and last 16 of the Challenge Cup.  Sounds good doesn't it?  Well done to everyone and have a great Christmas and New Year.  MOTM Dylan, great goalkeeping, welcome back.

Sunday's match is a 2:00pm kick off at Perth Road against Maccabi Lions.  Dylan is (hopefully) back and will play in goal for the whole match.  Let's hope for a dry week.  Yellow shirts please.

Squad(9): Ben, Bertie, Dylan(GK), Tom, Tommy, Ned, Alex, Finlay, Sam.

We discussed our new goalkeeping policy for the new year at training last night.  We will move away from swapping the goalie at half time and will play a goalie for the whole match.  As a result we now have 5 nominated goalkeepers in our squad: Ben, Sam, Dylan, Joe and Finlay (I hope I remembered correctly, please correct me if not).  Could these 5 please attend the coaching session with Bob Packham at 10:00am this Saturday 8th Dec in Durnsford Park.  Since Alex is playing in goal on Sunday, it would be good to come along too.  Also, if anyone else would like to come then Bob is ok with that.

Sunday's game is a Perth Road.  Provisionally the kick off time is 11:00am, although I've still not had confirmation of this from our Pitches And Refs secretary.  We are one of three games to be played at Perth Road on Sunday and as a result our KO time is subject to change. Please check your phones for text messages as we get closer to the weekend.  We're up against Edmonton Rangers, who sit just 2 points behind us in the league.  Finlay has received his brief, lets hope for a good game!  Yellow shirts please.

Squad (9): Ben(GK), Alex(GK), Tommy, Sam, Finlay, Bertie, Joe, Zach and Ned.

A good performance in very windy conditions resulted in a comfortable win.  APYFC controlled the game from the start and created numerous chances with one great passing move resulting in Sam laying the ball off to Finlay who hit the post.  Zach and Tommy prevented any chances at the back ensuring the game was played in BYFC's half.  Eventually, the pressure paid off with Tom taking a chance well to put APYFC one up at half time.  The second followed shortly after half time when, following a  great run, Ben was brought down for a penalty which Tom converted to make it 2-0.  The third came following a cross from Finlay which Tommy controlled quickly and turned into the net with a great finish.  MOM Tommy who won every ball at the back, passed it well and scored a great goal.

Sunday's match is away against Bushey Youth FC in the 2nd round of the Challenge Cup, 12:00 pm Kick off.  We received a bye in the first round.  Kirk is in charge on Sunday, myself and Ned are rotated.  See http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=513750&y=197250&z=2&sv=513750,197250&st=4&ar=N&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=512601&ay=196451 for for a map to their ground.  You can either take the A41 or the M1 to J5.  It looks pretty straightforward in any case, the ground is on the B462 Aldenham Road.  I'd leave 30 mins to get there.  They are playing in blue, I think it would be good to get some use out of our white shirts for this game.  BYFC are in the Blue Division, see http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/TeamHistAll.cfm?CI=39948&TblName=Matches&LeagueCode=WFL2007&DivisionID=1751 for their results so far.

Squad (9): Ben, Sam, Finlay, Joe, Tom, Tommy, Zach, Alex, Bertie.

A convincing win in the League Cup to put us in the quarter finals.  We started the first half with the wind and while we were dominant, we struggled with the ball running away from us a little.  Some very solid defensive work from Zach and Alex meant we were never really troubled at the back.  It's really good to see you boys applying the work we do in training to matches on a Sunday.  We looked more menacing in the second half and the first goal duly came, with Tom skinning their defender on the left then hitting a good shot that was goalbound before a deflection put it beyond the goalie.  It was one-way traffic after that.  The second goal came towards the end, with Ned winning the ball from their throw in the right-back position.  He duly made a diagonal run across the pitch towards their goal, beating 5 of their players before rifling a low shot from the edge of the area, what a goal!  Some great football from AP after that, with Tom B and Ben combining brilliantly on the right.  Ned and Finlay were very solid too on the left and Bertie was looking dangerous up front.  In the last minute Ned and Ben comibined on the edge of their area to release Bertie, who hammered it into the roof of the net from 10 yards.  3-0 and fully deserved.  MOTM Zach, first to every ball, great defending.

Sunday's match is a 2nd round league cup tie KO 11am at Perth Road.  This is the last 16 of this competition; we qualified for this one by virtue of our qualifying league position.  Bushey Rangers also won their qualifying group so we should expect a good side again.  See http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/TeamHistAll.cfm?CI=39947&TblName=Matches&LeagueCode=WFL2007&DivisionID=1751 for their results so far. Yellow shirts please.

Squad (9): Ben, Ned, Bertie, Tom B, Tommy, Zach, Finlay, Joe, Alex.

What a cold morning in Hemel!  So happy we were when Clive turned up with our fantastic new winter jackets.  We got no warm welcome from Hemel Athletic however, with their referee turning away a stonewall penalty on Tom B in the first minute.  We had a shaky start to the game and Hemel were threatening our goal too regularly. Bertie had to make a couple of good saves before we got on top again towards the end of the first half.  I was fairly happy to get to half-time at 0-0 as we would have the slope and wind in our favour in the second half.  We had a bad start to the 2nd half when we conceded an early goal.  The goal was unlucky, with a good clearance from Finlay breaking fortuitously to their striker, who ran through and took his chance with aplomb.  It was great to see how we responded after that.  This was the first time we've gone behind this season and I was so pleased to see that our heads didn't drop.  We peppered their goal with shots, we hit the bar, hit the post twice and come agonisingly close without scoring.   From the touchline it started to look like it was not meant to be.  When their ref gave a harsh penalty against us I really thought that it was over for us.  But when Ben came to our rescue with a great save to his right, we were back in the fight and the goal had to come.  Finlay and Ned did some great running and tackilng down the right, we refused to lie down.  Then Ned broke through on the right and hit a great cross to Joe who tucked home the equaliser with 2 minutes left.  That brought the biggest roar so far from the APY parents on the touchline.  I thought we could even go on and win the game after that.  Thoroughly deserved, we completely dominated them in the second half and would have won by miles on any other day.  Well done Joe for getting off the mark.  MOTM Finlay for his passion and fight, typified our spirit today.

Sunday's match is thankfully an 11:00am kick off, at Cupid Green Playing Fields, Hemel Hempstead:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=508250&y=208250&z=2&sv=508250,208250&st=4&ar=N&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=507420&ay=209470
We'll need to be there at 10:30am at the latest, I'll be leaving an hour to get there.  I've spoken to their manager and he suggests coming off the M1 at J8, heading towards Hemel.  At the first big roundabout take the 3rd exit (right).  This will take you up along Green Lane past the Buncefield oil terminal blast zone.  At the second roundabout turn left along Cherry Tree Lane, proceeding to the T junction.  Turn right, then proceed through the width restriction to the next roundabout.  Turn left at this roundabout onto Redbourn Road, the Playing Fields entrance is on the right.

Squad(9): Ben(GK), Bertie(GK), Ned, Tom B, Tommy, Zach, Finlay, Sam, Joe.

Bertie, Ben, Tom B and Joe, see you on Saturday 10:00am at Durnsford Park for goalie training.

With our captain sidelined with an ankle injury, we faced a tough challenge today against a Northwood Red side who last week despatched an embattled AC Finchley.  We needn't have worried though.  Ned slotted comfortably into Ben's central midfield berth, opening the scoring with a fine individual effort after 5 minutes.  The prolific Tom Beggerow added our second after 15 minutes after a period of sustained AP pressure.  Joe played an excellent ten minutes at left back.  Northwood were looking likely scorers in the first half though, using a strong wind to their advantage.  After a number of long punts upfield, the ball finally broke to their striker just before the half-time whistle.  He kept his nerve and scored a fine goal.  2-1 at half-time was satisfactory, with AP looking forward to using the wind in the second half.  We stutterred, however in the early part of the second half.  Northwood were first to every ball in midfield and it took some good defending from Zach and Alex to keep them at bay.  We started to get to grips with them later in the second half and after some more good pressure Tom secured his second to put us in the comfort zone.  I was happy to see the 3-1 lead stay intact this week and we even added a last minute own goal from Ned's corner.  Joe played a great game at left mid and was again unlucky not to get a goal.  A great result, especially with Edmonton Rangers and Maccabi Lions both losing today, we increase our lead at the top to 4 points.  Also, ladies and gentlemen please welcome Tom Beggerow, U9 White Division top scorer: http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/LeagueLeadingGoalscorers.cfm?DivisionID=1750&LeagueCode=WFL2007.  MOTM Joe.

Oh the joy and the pain!  Three-nil up with 5 minutes to go and we will rightly feel we should have come home with all 3 points.  London Colney were a good team and looked dangerous in the first half.  We had to defend well early on and it was towards the end of the half before we started to assert ourselves.  Ned was unlucky not to score after a handful of good efforts.  The second half started better with a great throw down the line from Tommy to find Sam, who raced to the touchline and cut back neatly for Tom.  A very well taken goal for 1-0 Tom.  Sam went close twice before scoring our second - the goal of the match.  Ben won the ball in the middle, beat one and set Tom off with a great pass.  A first time cross found Sam who chipped it over the goalie with his left foot.  We were cruising when Tom scored the third with a great left foot swivel shot.  And then the nightmare began.  We all pushed too far up looking for more goals and left Alex pretty much alone at the back.  It was tough on us to lose 3 goals in such a short space of time but we need to learn from this.  The postive thing today is that the point we get for the draw puts us top of the league tonight, with Edmonton palying in the Challenge Cup today.  MOTM TOM B - 2 well taken goals and an assist.

Sunday's match is at home, Perth Road 11:00am against Northwood Red.  They beat AC Finchley last week so we'll need to be at our best.  Yellow shirts please.

Squad(9): Ben, Bertie, Alex, Zach, Tom, Tommy, Finlay(GK), Sam(GK), Joe.

Sunday's game is a 10:00am kick off at Shenley Lane Playing Fields, London Colney.  See http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=517750&y=203250&z=2&sv=517750,203250&st=4&ar=N&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=516946&ay=204443 for the map. 

Directions as folows:
Take the A1 out of London all the way to the M25 junction.  Turn left (west) onto the M25.  Exit the M25 at the next junction (22).  At the roundadbout take the 2nd exit straight ahead (Bell Lane). You should go past the Arsenal Traning Ground on your left.  At the next roundabout turn right onto Shenley Lane, proceed for about a mile, go over the next roundabout, the Playing Fields are on the right.

We need to get there at 9:30 am at the latest, I'll be leaving 45 mins to get there.  We'll be playing in Yellow shirts.

Squad (9): Zach, Tom, Tommy, Alex, Ben, Joe, Bertie, Ned, Sam.

Another game another clean sheet, we have the meanest defence in the league.  Well done to Ned, Alex, Ben, Sam and Finlay for some excellent defensive work today.  My voice was spared today.  We always looked comfortable against Enfield Green.  We did very well to hold out against a strong wind in the first half, but were a little lucky to be awarded a controversial penalty.  All the same it was well taken by Bertie and our half-time lead was probably deserved on balance of play.  Tom was, frankly, bored in the second half in goal.  We always looked in control and it was a just a matter of time before we scored again.  Sure enough Bertie made sure the game was over with a solid strike.  We were a little unlucky not to get more goals, we probably need to find our players in space more often in their area.  Three games - maximum points, I'm happy.  MOTM Two goal Bertie.

This Sunday's match is at home, Perth Road 11:00am against Enfield Rangers Green.  We know all about Enfield Rangers Green having played them twice over the summer.  It will be another tough match.

Squad (8 provisionally): Sam, Ned, Finlay, Ben, Bertie, Joe, Tom, Alex. 

Two games, two wins!  And these two games looked like a very tough start to the season a couple of weeks ago.  A really great result today and well deserved too.  I thought from the beginning that we looked the more likely to score, with Tommy and Ned at the back looking comfortable.  AP had the best of the first half and were unlucky not to find the ball breaking in front of goal.  Once Ben came out of goal for the second half we looked a little more positive and sure enough, Ben found the opening with some exemplary close control in their area.  Backs to the wall then for the lat 10 minutes.  We really fought hard to hold on to our lead and Finchley will feel they deserved a point in the end.  Some great last ditch defending in our area from Ned and Tommy, I always felt if we could keep them out then we could come away with the points.  Brilliant effort, brilliant result.  MOTM (Joint) Ned and Tommy.

Sunday's game is a 10:00 am Kick off.  We are away at Burnt Oak Leisure Centre, Watling Avenue, Edgware, HA8 0NP. See the following link for the map: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=520750&y=190250&z=2&sv=520750,190250&st=4&ar=N&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=520918&ay=191009.  I'd say the easist way to get there is along the N Circ, then up the A5 Edgware Road, turning right into Montrose Avenue.  We need to be there for 9:30 am at the latest! So please leave plenty of time to make the journey/get lost/make a call for directions....

Squad(8): Sam, Bertie, Ned, Tom, Tommy, Zachary, Ben, Joe

A great result to start our White Division campaign, well done boys!  This was never going to be easy but we got off to a great start, pretty much from the kick off. Ben picked up the ball on the half way line and using his speed and great close control, he danced through the Omonia defence all the way to goalie and then cooly slotted home.  We never really looked in trouble after that, even when their Ref played an extra 5 minutes for the first half.  Another early goal after the restart put us in control of the tie.  A good pass from Ben found Tom just inside the area on the right. He drove a fine shot into the roof of the net.  After that Omonia rarely threatened our goal with Tommy and Alex as solid as ever in defence.  Great stuff!   MOTM Ben.

The WFL have confirmed our first White Division league fixture is at home next weekend the 14th October against Omonia White.  We are up against last years White Division champions so we expect a tough game.

Squad: Ned, Sam, Tommy, Alex, Ben, Bertie, Tom, Finlay, Zach

Congratulations are due today to U9 North in their first WFL season!  We have topped our qualifying group after London Maccabi Lions failed to beat Whetsone Wanderers Lynx.  The Group K hot favourites floundered today at home, drawing 1-1 with Whetstone, leaving AP top of the group with 7 points - http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/LeagueTab.cfm?TblName=Matches&DivisionID=3076&LeagueCode=WFL2007.  This means we qualify for the league cup as Group K winners, but maybe more interesting is the question the WFL committee are no doubt asking themselves this evening - "Could APYFC U9 North even be Red Division calibre?".  Stay tuned for news on this - we will be assigned our division for the rest of the season early this week.

A great performance from APYFC.  From very early on it was clear that AP were going to dominate. Ned's stunning free kick from just inside their half opened the scoring. Ned quickly added the second with a near post effort.  AP were in the ascendancy when Sam opened his league account with a great header from Bertie's corner.  3-0 up at half-time and coasting.  Whetstone were unlucky with a couple of own goals after the restart, but it was down to good pressure from AP.  Finlay scored a really good breakthrough goal for our sixth.  Finally, Ben's great work from central midfield was rewarded with a very well taken goal for 7-0.  Joe played a great second half up front and was unlucky not to get his head to the ball after fine work from Finlay on the wing.  Also very pleasing was our first clean sheet in a full match.  Great defending from Zach in the second half and Dylan and Alex in the first.  Also, well done Alex for the second half in goal.  MOTM Alex.

Please be aware that Tuesday night training will now be at Power League until further notice.  It's on the North Circular slip road, just off Colney Hatch Lane, see http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=528074&y=191264&z=0&sv=n10+1st&st=2&pc=n10+1st&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf.

A really good effort today against a strong and organised Maccabi Lions side.  You can be really proud of the way you played today, keeping going right until the end.  It was real end-to end stuff in the second half, very tense and exciting to watch. I can fault no-one today, everyone did what I asked of them.  A great start to the season and a good result.  MOTM Ned, ran himself into the ground.

Thought you'd all be interested in this.  This is for all games we played, the two friendlies against Edmonton Rangers and the two mini-tournaments at Enfield Rangers.

Ned 5
Dylan, Tom, Ben 4
Bertie 2
Alex, Sam 1

We'll wipe the slate clean now; the club will give a prize at the end of the season for top scorer from now on.
 

A valuable lesson today, I think we expected to win this week after last week.  Edmonton Rangers, on the other hand, were determined to avenge last week and were stronger than us in the tackle.  They had more desire than us today. 

Still, some good play from our team, we looked like getting back into it in the 2nd half after some great play and goal from Sam.  Tackling was better in the 2nd half too, we weren't letting them overrun our midfield so easily.  Let's remember too that on aggregate, over the two games with Edmonton, the score is 9-7 to us! MOTM Sam.

The League Cup qualifying round fixtures have been published by the WFL and are on our Fixtures page.  Our first match is away against London Maccabi Lions at 2pm on Sunday 23rd.  The 2pm kick off is due to a religious dispensation - The Maccabi Lions are a Jewish club.  Their home ground is out on the A1 heading towards the M25, so we need to leave plenty of time to get there.  We will need to be there (in full) 30 mins before KO to avoid being fined.  See the following for directions: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=521280&y=196294&z=1&sv=521280,196294&st=OSGrid&lu=N&tl=%7E&ar=y&bi=%7E&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf.

The 12 Winners of the the League Cup qualifying groups will automatically qualify for the knockout phase, together with the best 4 runners up.  The WFL also uses the qualifying group results to work out the divisions for the rest of the season.

A great performance in the heat from U9 North.  Early goals from a dominant AP put us at ease.  A blinding strike from Bertie to go 2-0 up after 5 minutes followed by a stunner from Dylan.  Consolidated to 4-0 in the second quarter to complete Dylan's hat-trick.  We struggled in the 3rd quarter, with some poor midfield positional play and allowed them back to 4-2.  But recovered in style in the last quarter, with a fine breakthrough goal from Ned after good work from Bertie.  Ben capped off the goals with a fine strike, after good wing play from Ned.  Brilliant defensive play from Tommy and Alex and also Finlay in the last quarter.  An excellent start, well done everyone.  MOTM Hat Trick Hero Dylan

Now I've received my login details, I'll be using the website as the main means of communication, so watch this space.  Some news for this week:

I've got a big box of kit under my kitchen table.  We only have white away shirts at the moment.  The yellow shirts will arrive before our first competitive match on the 23rd September.  Still, we have shorts, socks and rain jackets and the away shirts are all numbered correctly.  We'll be looking good for the friendlies against Edmonton Rangers.

We know who we are up against in the League Cup qualifying groups.  We're in a 4-way mini-league containing ourselves, London Maccabi Lions, Oxhey United Eagles and Whetstone Wanderers Lynx.  All of these teams played in the WFL U8 competitions last year, with London Maccabi Lions being the most successful (see http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/LeagueTab.cfm?TblName=Matches&DivisionID=1553&LeagueCode=WFL2006).  They came 3rd in the White Division (2nd), above Enfield Rangers Green.  We'll play each team once, the fixtures will be published this coming week.  The winners of this mini-league will qualify for the knockout stages of the League Cup competition.  Also, our position in this league will determine, in part, which division we will play in for the rest of the season.  Once the qualifying phase is complete teams are sorted into 6 divisions each containing 8 or 9 teams.  The divisions are called Red (1st), White (2nd), Blue (3rd), Green, Yellow and Purple.  Take a look at the WFL website: http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/News.cfm?LeagueCode=WFL2007.  We are in qualifying group K