The Courier

U11 Football v Solihull

Crescent took an A, B and C team over to Solihull School to play football. Solihull proved to be tough opponents and Crescent spent a lot of time practising their defending. They lost each match but played with resilience and sportsmanship the whole way through. Goalkeeper Advay Pophali was voted man of the match in the C team with Sam Watson, on debut, standing out due to creative passing. In the B team, Kyle Kerfoot-Bale was dangerous due to his pace and Vignesh Sadasivan tackled well at the back. In the A team, there were heroics in defence with Matthew Browne, Daniel Pinks, Oliver Bell and Dylan Hopkins throwing themselves at the ball to protect the goal. Hopkins scored Crescent's only goal of the day after he finished off a great, flowing move.

Despite having beaten us comfortably, the Solihull teacher announced that we were the toughest opposition that they have faced this year. They just had a really strong year group!

U9 Football v Solihull

The day after the older children visited Solihull, it was the under 9s go. Again it was A, B and C. Again, Solihull were strong and won all of the matches. The B team were outclassed but battled hard, in particular Archie Dowling and James Wright. However, the A and C teams had close matches. The C team lost 3-1 with Euan Nelson scoring the goal for the visitors. Sienna Moran was a revelation on her first venture in goal and Phoebe Causer looked very comfortable. The A team played perfect counter-attack football. Marco Rodriguez Hernandez and Josh Gorbutt were excellent in defence and Isaac Nelson made some key saves. Goals from George Crowfoot and Tom Ferguson gave Crescent a 2-1 lead at half time. Solihull's purple patch harvested 4 goals before Crescent regrouped and pulled a goal back (Ferguson again). 5-3 the final score.

Crescent played in the ISA Midlands Hockey Tournament at Cannock Hockey Club on Wednesday. On Monday, they had a warm up match against Crackley Hall. The B team lost and the A team won comfortably 5-0 four goals from Fin Calder and one from George Bell.

At Cannock, 14 schools attended, split into two groups. Crescent had only one Year 6 with the rest of the team being Years 4 and 5. In the early group games, Rebecca Monteith and Marco Rodriguez Hernandez looked comfortable in defence, tackling well, and Kyle Kerfoot-Bale kept clean sheets, kicking away the odd ball sent his way. Calder and G. Bell were the main source of goals with Oliver Bell running the show in midfield. In the last group game, Crescent went behind and struggled to get goals. Eventually, Calder got an equaliser before G. Bell scored a last second winner to give Crescent a 100% record in the group stage. What was pleasing was the positive comments from opposition teachers who enjoyed the way Crescent played.

Crescent were confident going into the semis but found themselves 2-0 down in the opening minutes without having got out of their half! Eventually, Crescent got into the game and pulled one back. Short corners had proved fruitful for the green and whites throughout the tournament and it was this set piece that saw them equalise. However, Burton Hathow found themselves clear of the defence again and retook the lead. Half-time was welcome as Crescent could regroup, refocus and think about what had made them successful previously. A dominant second half and the pressure told on Burton. Crescent turned the game on its head and won 4-3.

In the final, Crescent played the best that they had played all tournament and had the better of the chances. Calder drew 'ooohs' from the swelling crowd as his reverse stick push was well saved. O.Bell was back to controlling the game but Crescent couldn't find a way through. It finished 0-0 and so onto penalty shuffles. Old Vicarage scored two and Crescent missed meaning the green and whites finished runners-up. It was a great experience for all the children but, in particular, the less experienced girls who learned off the more experienced boys. Mia Webb got into great attacking positions, Cara Ridd retained and passed the ball really confidently and Lucy Hardy was picked out by the organiser as a key player.

Well played everyone.

Mr Phillips 

The Under 9 Team continued their great start to their season in their match against Bilton Junior School on Thursday 9 November. All the girls displayed fantastic footwork and great communication skills. Fabulous sporting values were also shown when a Bilton Junior player was injured in the first quarter and Crescent students stepped in to the breaches to help them out.

It was a lovely game, which allowed all players to try out different positions and build their knowledge and understanding of the different roles on the court. The final score was 4-3 to Crescent.

Players player went to Amelie Frere and coaches player to Maryn Yates.

Well done to all involved.

On Thursday 3 November the U11 girls football team headed to St Marie's hoping to continue their successful start to the season. 

The girls started well, showing attacking spirit and dominated all of the play in the first half of the game. This resulted in some fabulous football with great passing and communication. The first goal came, after a bit of a scramble on the goal line, from Mia Webb. The second goal followed shortly after with a tremendous strike from Georgia Dowling who found the corner of the net.

The second half proved a little harder as our girl's legs grew more tired, following their games session, and St Marie's developed in confidence. However, the girls managed to fend off any attack well with Rebecca Monteith and Clara Woolf coming out to make strong tackles clearing the ball back in to our attacking half, but despite their best efforts St Marie's grit and determination to score paid off and they managed to convert their second half attack into a goal. Crescent stayed strong and continued to attack but unfortunately shots by Olivia Sarkies and Mia Webb went wide. Final Score 2-1 to Crescent.

A fantastic game girls, well done you should be very proud. Player of match went to Mia Webb and Coaches player of the match to Amelie Edge.