Sunday 8th Sept – Sandgate FC - Weekend Report
We were delighted to see the season kick off again for 2024-25. The grounds looked tip-top thanks to club chairman Lee, the kitchen was ready to keep everyone fed and watered thanks to Amie and the kitchen team, and all the playing teams, coaches and managers were raring to go out on the pitch.
The boys were treated to a start of season celebrity visit from Raheem Sterling, who was visiting with his son’s team. He kindly took time to shake hands and have photos with the children and we are extremely grateful for his time and generosity.
Some great performances from the Sandgate teams this weekend, read on…..
(note – U11 and below are non-competitive, so no result is published)
Match round up
U8’s played away in a friendly against Brookhouse. We had a fantastic start to the game going up in the first period. It was a joy to see the team really gel together and play some excellent football, pocketing some great goals.
They also demonstrated their ability to listen when I set them the challenge to try and keep their shape this week, they delivered. There was a marked improvement in their passing this week and it’s been great to see they have adapted so well to new leadership.
They kept their focus throughout the game which lead them to go on and win comfortably.
Goal scorers were: Ivy , Theo ,Kenny , Izzy , Omar , Leo
I am extremely proud to be their coach today, they have really impressed me in the few short weeks I have worked with them and I look forward to our season starting. Player of the Match was awarded to the whole team for an excellent performance and great team work.
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U9 Colts played at home to Esher youth FC U9 greens.
Excellent start from all the boys. From the whistle we dominated the game the whole game was played in the oppositions half. Its a shame it got called off early as they boys were having such fun playing some great football.
Goals from: Kulraj , Gabriel , Yaseen , David , Rehaan , Isaac
Parents player of the match - The whole team. The whole team performed amazing.
Managers player of the match- Isaac. Isaac scored 4 goals, defended and went forward, Isaac captained the team speaking to the players to be on their toes and being in the right places at the right time. Come on you colts!!! 🔴⚪ Up the sand gate!!! 🔴⚪
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Under 10s won away to a very strong Epsom & Ewell side. With 5 different goal scorers including 2 debutants and an incredible performance in goal from another debutant. It was really impressive to see how the boys have bonded over purely just training playing some incredible football
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U10 Colts won against Taplow FC
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U12 lost 7-4 to Rayners Park Vale
The scoreline doesn’t reflect the game at all, it was very competitive and end to end the whole game. Some good football played. Really looking forward to this season, what a great team we have.
5-4 with 6 mins to go they got 2 quick goals at the end when we were pushing for the equaliser which left us a bit exposed at the back
Goals from: Dylanx1 , Nelson x2, Wayne x1
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U12 Colts started positively in their first game in the Surrey league, they were full of excitement and energy (mainly due to the Raheem Stirling visit, but also start of season!!) Some great short quick passing moves created a couple of good chances, but the Mitchum Park GK made some good saves.
Against the run of play, Mitchum caught us on a break, to take the lead. Before the break, JT played a through ball for Lightening Louie to run onto and he converted into the bottom left corner. 1-1 half time.
We continued to create chances, Jas, Riley, Mason, Louie and Khalid all coming close. JT hit the post after a skillful solo run from the halfway line. Mitchum caught the defence out again, to take the lead. As legs tired, we just couldn’t quite get back into in.
The boys were very frustrated not to have got something from the game, but plenty of positives to take forward to next week, as we continue to integrate the newer boys and rebuild as a team. âš½â¤
Also- Shout out to our referee Amy, who was excellent today, really managed the game well. Oppo told us they had 4 neurodiverse boys and he really complimented her afterwards on a perfectly well managed game. Nice Job Amy – thank you
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U12 Reds won 7 - 1 against Alesandra Utd Rebels.
Was a great first league for the new team who all worked and played really well for their first ever league game.
Goals -Tarila, Mylo, Daniel, Archie, Enock, Matt x 2
Man of match - Ethan and Mylo - Both were outstanding today and worked very hard for the team.
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U13 played Carshalton youth at home, was nice to have my full squad for the first time since the holidays.
We started slowly conceding in the 1st minute as we weren’t paying attention to their quick attack.
We pulled our socks up and within 5 minutes got an equaliser. It was then fairly even until we managed to get another goal from some quality team play. We went in 2-1 up at half time.
Second half we started brightly scoring a fantastic goal from well outside the box and growing in confidence. Then we scored direct from the corner putting us 4-2 up. We then went from strength to strength and scored 2 more fantastic goals.
We then became a little complacent and let in a goal before we changed formation and held on to our 6-2 win. Great to see the boys back out doing what they love on a Sunday morning
Goals: Casey ⚽⚽⚽ Walter ⚽ Tommy G ⚽ Harvey ⚽
MOM: Dayan for some great saves and distribution today and Casey for his hatrick and goal directly from the corner.
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U13 Reds first game in the Surrey League was a good one. We played at home to Corinthian Casuals. A fairly even first half but then a great passing move ended with Harry putting the ball in the net, 1-0 half time.
Second half we were a lot better but missed a few chances before Frankie’s header from a corner sealed the game and the win. Defence were solid and good all round performance.
Suraj was a constant thorn in their side all game and was awarded Man of the Match.
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U14s played away to A strong Ashstead team who got relegated from the league above this league last year , so they would have been two leagues above us
Was a very good end to end game. Wasn’t much to separate the two teams. Half time was 0-0
We then pushed for an opener to break the duct. We got just that from our new striker Jordan who’s speed got him in front of their defence to put it past the keeper, 0-1 Sandagate
We were then under pressure in the last 5 mins and gave away a sloppy free kick which was played to the back post and some poor defending and goalkeeping let them make it 1-1. Final score 1-1
Good game to watch - End to end - A lot to work on
Goals - Jordan âš½
MOM - Jordan - for energetic display and a goal on his debut.
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U14 Colts played Caterham Pumas in our first game following promotion.
We started the game brightly and the first 10 minutes saw a lot of action at both ends. It was clear this was going to be a close one with both teams creating opportunities as well as making similar mistakes.
Caterham took the lead but luckily the momentum did not sway in their favour and Adam soon had an equaliser. With the score at 1-1, Caterham pounced on an individual error in defence which saw the momentum swing in their favour. They exploited our midfield becoming stretched and extended their lead to 1-3 at half time.
A change in formation at half time saw us clutch one back within 30 seconds of the restart. This gave us a load of confidence, combined with Caterham hitting the crossbar several times. We took this momentum and Adam soon got his hat trick and the equaliser. 3-3.
In our best patch of play, we dominated possession with lots of two-touch passing and Rohan converted a wonderful strike in the top corner giving us the lead for the first time in the game, 4-3.
We then experienced some of the challenges of last season with becoming complacent on the ball, giving away possession far too easily with players not tracking back to help defend our lead. This gave Caterham the incentive to come at us strongly and deservedly get what was a last minute equaliser. The game finished 4-4 with lots of positives and areas for development for the squad. Goals - Adam (3), Rohan.
Man of the match - a tough one with great performances from several individuals (Kaiden, Cody, Adam), but went to Adam for showing fantastic composure to earn his hat trick.
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U15s beat Badshot Lea 3-1, could have been a lot more!
