All,

Welcome to Ian and Jon's first footie newsletter. Happy reading!!

NEWS

Firstly we would like to update you on the coaching plans for the team this year and beyond.

As you are no doubt already aware Rob has decided to step down as the U12's Manager. Rob has put in a tremendous effort over the past 6 years with our boys and the progress they have made on the field during this time speaks volumes for his coaching ability and dedication. I'm sure I speak for all of you when I say a “BIG THANK YOU” to both Rob and Amanda (his glamorous assistant!) for all their sheer hard work, commitment and effort. Rob will continue to help to coach the boys on an ad-hoc basis and as parents I know both will continue to support the team from the touchline.

Whilst Rob was having a break from football both Ian and I were ‘volunteered' to pick-up joint management of the U12's. We have both really enjoyed coaching the boys and are “keen” to continue in this role. However we are conscious other Dads (and Mums!!) might also like to take this opportunity to become more involved in the coaching so if you fancy joining the team please let us know.

Finally, I'm afraid to admit that whilst we might dream of becoming the next Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho this is unlikely to happen. However we will give coaching our best shot and hopefully the boys will have some fun and success along the way!! Rest assured we will make plenty of honest mistakes so please let us know if there are things we could do better.

MID-SEASON REPORT

We are just past mid-way through the season and after our win over Malpas our record in the league reads played 10, won 7 and lost 3.

Before the monsoon season started we believe the team proved they could give the best teams in the League a very good match. We have only been beaten by 2 Teams this season, Eveswell and Gaer. If we are to beat these teams in the future we must improve the quality of our play, our passing and movement and our support play. We will be focusing on these areas during our coaching sessions for the remainder of the season.

With regard to the postponed matches please take note the plan will be to play these fixtures at the end of the season, possibly with matches arranged in mid-week as well as Sunday.

GET WELL SOON

I know all the boys will join us in sending best wishes to Alex for a speedy recovery back to full fitness – we miss you mate so get fit and healthy soon!!

WEBSITE

Please click on www.cjyfc.co.uk and checkout the Caerleon Junior Youth website. During the next few weeks our aim is to ensure our teams details are added to the website and we also intend to start filing match reports, pictures etc. It's also a great way to keep up with the latest Club news.

CLUB NEWS in BRIEF

•  The club disco has been arranged for Friday 2nd March from 7:30pm at the Rugby Club. Tickets are £3.00. Food will not be provided. This is an opportunity for the Club to raise much needed funds so please make every effort to attend.

•  As Rob is stepping down, the club are looking for a new Child Welfare Officer. The Club has suggested that we ask for a volunteer from the parents so please let us know if you would like more details of what this role entails.

•  For those parents with daughters the Club's Girls section is getting under way and looking for recruits at U12s and younger. Posters are going up in the Junior schools but please ask Ian for details.

THANK YOU

In particular,

Nicola, for arranging the parents Xmas party, the Selection Boxes, managing the Teams funds and well, for just being Nicola.

Sarah, for arranging the boys Xmas Swimming Party

Fiona, for continuing to supply the half-time munchies

But also to all parents, we really do appreciate all your support and efforts, e.g. getting the boys to training and matches, helping to take down the nets, giving positive support to the boys etc so please carry on the good work.

AND FINALLY…..

Please, please, please…

Let us know if your son cannot make training and/or match day.

Ensure your son attends as many training sessions as possible. We regularly average 12 or so boys at training – we need to improve on this number.

Ensure your son arrives at training on time – we only have 1 hour a week with the boys and every minute they are late is a wasted minute for us as coaches.

Ensure you have paid £15 to Nicola to cover the costs for the referee etc.

Finally, I would like to canvass opinion on purchasing new training tops for the boys for next season. I'll try to obtain further details regarding styles and cost but let us know your thoughts for this suggestion.

Cheers,

Back to the top

Match Report

25 th Mar Civil Service U12's 4 Caerleon U12's 3

Carlton 3

This turned out to be a thrilling encounter between 2 evenly matched teams.

Much of the first half passed without incident despite both sides enjoying good periods of possession. Much of our best play came down the right hand side, Joe Hindle and Dan Thomas combining well to create several half chances. Our build-up play was neat and tidy with good contributions from both Sam and Richard in midfield. However Civil's more direct style of play paid dividends and a ball over the top caught our defence napping which resulted in a foul just inside the box. The penalty was well taken, 1 – 0 to Civil at half time.

We started the second half poorly and gave away 2 soft goals in the opening few minutes as a result of poor defending by the whole Team. 3-0. However to the boy's credit their heads did not drop and as the second half progressed we started to take control of the game. Our efforts were rewarded by a fine individual goal by Carlton taking the ball down the right hand side before cutting back and unleashing a powerful shot into the bottom left hand corner. 3 -1.

With 10 minutes to go another great shot from Carlton reduced the deficit to 3-2. We piled on the pressure and missed a number of good chances. However, in the last minute Carlton managed to poke the ball home from close range for what seemed a great comeback. 3 -3.

As always though concentration is vital in football and we took our eye of the ball. A number of missed tackles enabled Civil to score the winning goal straight from the kick-off with virtually the last kick of the match.

In the end a disappointing result but well done to the boys for all their efforts. Congratulations to Carlton for scoring a hat-trick.

Match Report, 11 th Mar 2007

Pill U12's 1 Caerleon U12's 1

Simon 1

This was only the second match we've played in 2007 and it showed as we started the match lethargically. All too often we gave the ball away and created very few clear cut chances. At half time the score was 0-0, with neither goalkeeper having much in the way of action.

We started the second half much better, our passing and movement improved and we created several good opportunities. It came as no surprise that following good passing in midfield, Ruari Donkin made a strong run down the left hand side and crossed for Simon Garay to rifle in a right foot shot from 10 yards for his first goal of the season. 1-0 to Caerleon.

As the second half progressed Pill began to get more control of the ball and increased the pressure. Initially our defence coped well and reduced Pill to very few clear cut chances thanks to some resolute defending from James Wood and Tom Arthur. As Pill pushed forward we produced some good counter attacking football, aided in particular by some good work down the left hand side by Harry Symons. However, the pressure from Pill finally told when they capitalised on a mistake in defence which allowed their striker to stab the ball home from close range. The closing minutes were exciting with both sides having chances to win the game but in the end a 1-1 draw was a fair result.

In summary this was a frustrating team performance. We need to get more consistency into our play; at times we played some nice football but more often than not we gave the ball away far too easily. We are a better team than we displayed during this match.