Wenesday 29th April. Away match against Wickham Wanderers
Last match of the season, nothing to play for so we didn't
Saturday 25th April. Home match against Wooton Bassett. Lost 0-5
Last home match of the season and with nothing to really play for we went with an open and attcking formation as opposed to our normal 4-5-1.
For the first 20 mins we looked the better side and had Bassett on the back foot but just couldn't take our chances. Bassett slowly came back into the game and scored two fortunate and one really good gaol to take a 3-0 lead at the break.
We changed a few things around in the 2nd half and brought back Tom who'd missed most of the season through injury. Bassett were the stronger side in the second half but once again we held out for 15-20 minutes but conceded another two goals to make the final score 0-5
Sunday 5th April. Away match against Highworth J. Won 1-5
A great result against a team that had previously beaten us 9-0. Right from the start the boys went on the attack with Mick, Brad, Joel & Arnas all pushing forward. We had total possession for most of the first half and were winning corner after corner and were putting the Highworth goal under constant pressure.
It wasn’t long before the goals started to come and we were 3 – 0 up at half time thanks to Mick, Brad and Nathan.
The second half saw Highworth come back strongly but we rode out the storm and a goal from Joel settled our nerves. Once back on top we played some excellent football but finally gave away a free kick on the edge of our box and Highworth scored from a well taken free kick.
However we weren’t finished and we topped the game off with a great effort from Leo and were denied a 6th goal with a dubious off side decision.
Saturday 4th April. Home match against Ferndale. Lost 3-6
Despite the result this was a great performance from Shaw. With only 11 available players and a reshuffled back four we found ourselves 3-1 up with 10 mins to go in the first half. Fantastic corners from Nathan led to Joel getting 2 goals and then Nathan pitched in with a goal of his own.
Ferndale came back into the game and the first half ended 3-3. The second half started well and Shaw began to think they could hold on for the draw but as the half wore on the lack of any substitutes began to tell as the boys were flagging and a number of them were carrying minor injuries.
Ferndale’s strength shone through and the final score was 3-6 but this in no way reflected badly on the boys
Sunday 28 March. Home to Stratton Youth. 1-1 draw
Congratulations to the magnificent 10. With our ongoing injury list and a few late withdrawals we were only able to field 10 players for this match. However we didn’t let our reduced numbers affect us and the boys put in one of their best performances of the season.
We battled from the start and everyone played as a team. We even looked the stronger side for large portions of the game. Midway through the 1st half Matty controlled a loose ball with his head, looked up and sent a great 30 yard shot into the top of the net. Arnas, Joel and Brad went close but Stratton pulled one back with a well taken header.
The second half saw our defence soak up more pressure from Stratton but once again Joel, Brad and Arnas came very close to giving us another goal.
1-1 was a great score against a team that is 3 places higher than us in the league
Saturday 28th March. Home to Stratton Jnrs A. Lost 0-9
A very poor performance. Obviously Saturday mornings don’t suit us
Sunday 22nd March. Away match Vs Ferndale, lost 8-1
This was always going to be a tough match especially with 3 players withdrawing at the last minute and losing another midway through the 2nd half and others carrying injuries.
The boys started well but as soon as Ferndale scored their first our heads dropped again and before we knew it we were 5-0 down at half time.
The second half saw the Shaw boys fight back and we started to take the game to Ferndale. Chad picked up a lose ball and wriggled his way through two players and ended up on the floor. Lucky for us the ref pointed to the spot and Chris converted the penalty.
Unfortunately Ferndale came back and managed another 3 goals to make the final score 8-1 to them
Sunday 15th March. Home to Wroughton, lost 0-3
Despite the score line the Shaw boys played really well, they chased, harried and generally put Wroughton off their normal game.
We conceded two goals in the first half from deep crosses from Wroughton but Peter Huggins kept us in the game on many, many occasions with some brilliant goalkeeping.
The boys did have a couple of chances in the first half but we unable to make any of them count.
The second half saw another battling performance from the Shaw team and we had a number of opportunities to get back in the game but today we just couldn’t take our chances. By pushing for a goal we left ourselves open at the back and Wroughton managed to exploit this to get their 3rd goal
Saturday 14th March. Home to Abbeymeads, won 3-2
The early start obviously didn’t suit us as the boys started the match as if they were still asleep.
Abbeymeads started by far the better side and it wasn’t long before some sloppy defending let them in to go 0-1 up. The boys finally seemed to wake up and a long ball from Pete found Brad unmarked and somehow we were back in the game. However we fell asleep again at the back and let an Abbeymeads player go through 4 of our defenders to put them 1-2 up at the break.
There were a few harsh words at half time and we saw a much better Shaw team in the second half. We finally started to play some decent football and found our will to win. We quickly pulled a goal back, another one from Brad, and from then on we took the game to Abbeymeads. With 10 minutes to go Brad completed his hat trick and the boys went on to win the game
Sunday 8th March. Away to Stratton Jnrs B. Won 8-0
Although this was an away match it was played at Chestnut Springs and long last the boys put a performance together that reflected what they do week in and week out at Training.
The first half was tough with Shaw applying most of the pressure and Stratton relying on the long ball up to their sole striker. Despite all their pressure the Shaw boys couldn’t find the final ball and seemed shot shy.
This all changed when Joel cut in from the right side and sent in a powerful shot that went bottom left corner to give us a 1-0 lead at half time.
The second half started in much the same vain but the boys suck to their task and started to play some great football. Once we got the ball down and played to our strengths the goals just started to fly in with Joel getting 2 more to make it his second hat trick of the season, Mick slotted two away and Peter, Brad and Chris got one each to give us our largest win of the season
Sunday 1st March. Home to Pewsham. Lost 2-7
No report
Sunday 22nd Feb. Home to Liden, Lost 5-3
A difficult match against a good team was not helped by Joel & Whitey pulling out of the squad on Sunday morning due to illness.
The boys battled well throughout the first half and came close a couple of times but Liden twice caught us on the break and went into half time 2-0 up.
The second half saw the boys fight back and Brad scored a well deserved goal which was set up by some hard graft from Mick. Unfortunately Liden came back strongly and soon scored their third. For the first time in weeks the boy’s heads dropped and they let Liden score two easy goals to go 5-1 up.
It was looking like we were going to tally collapse but the midfield continued to battle and Brad broke away to get his second. With five minutes to go and a little of their confidence restored the boys broke again and Mick finished off a good move to make it 5-3. The boys were really pumped up now and they went on an all out attack and put the Liden goal under pressure, Nath came particularly close but we just ran out of time and the final score remained 5-3 to Liden
Sunday 15th Feb Away to Highworth H. 1-1 draw
Well we rode our luck in the second half of the match but considering what happen last time we met it was about time we had luck on our side
The first half saw us start slowly, our lack of training and matches really did show. However with Chris man marking Fraser we managed to contain Highworth and came close to taking the lead through Mick and Brad. Towards the end of the first half Highworth took the upper hand but we saw out the last 10 minutes to make the half time score 0-0.
We started the second half well but Highworth began to up their game and it wasn’t long before they scored from a corner to make it 1-0. The boys didn’t let their heads drop and continued to battle well. We won a throw midway into the Highworth half and Mick launched the ball into the middle of the pitch where Peter picked it up, beat two defenders and brilliantly lobbed the keeper. 1-1
With the boys tiring Highworth began to put us under more and more pressure but with the defence holding strong and Pete in magnificent form we held them out. We had goal line scrambles, goal line clearances, last ditch defending and some great saves from Pete in goal.
Overall it was another battling performance, we could have nicked it on the break a couple of times but to hold on for a 1-1 draw was a great result against a team 4th in the League
Sunday 18.01.09 Away match against Linden, 3-3 draw
A good hard fought match, and one which we could have won.
We had been warned that Linden had a “lightening fast goal machine” for a centre forward and this proved to be the case. In the early part of the first half when, after some good attacking pressure from Shaw, Linden managed a break away and went one up.
We quickly reshuffled the team and brought on Whitey to try and stop the threat. The boys didn’t let their heads drop and soon Joel hit a cheeky high lob which went completely over the keeper and into the back of the net, 1-1 at half time.
The second half saw Shaw push on yet again and Joel scored another great goal from a very tight angle to put us 1-2 up. This was followed by some muscular work from Chris who shrugged off two defenders and hit a great left foot shot into the bottom corner. 1-3 up and cruising.
However Linden came back strongly and the all the effort the boys had put in so far began to show. We were was really unlucky for Linden's second goal, Pete made a great point blank save only to see the ball go straight to an unmarked Linden player who calmly slotted the ball away. With time running out Linden stepped up the pressure and a long range shot went in over Pete’s head, 3-3 the final score.
Sunday 7th December, away match to Pewsham Youth. Won 1-2
A much better performance than last week and one where all of the boys pulled together and played as a team. Apart from a 10 minute “wobble” towards the end of the 1st half we played really well and returned to closing down and putting pressure on our opponents.
We started the match well and the rejigged back four held up well with Nathan doing an excellent job as captain. Mick put us one up with a well taken goal and it was good to see him back on the score sheet. After going one up we continued to push forward but slowly Pewsham came back into the game and finally pulled back a goal.
The second half stated at much the same pace and we could have gone further ahead with both Chris & Mick hitting the wood work. We were defending well and our counter attacking was working in our favour with Mick and Chris often breaking through. Finally Mick found himself free and surged into the box only to be taken out by a Pewsham defender. Mick picked himself up and calmly put the penalty away and with 10 minutes to go we were two up.
The last ten minutes were a bit “backs to the wall” but the defence and midfield held up well and we notched up our second win of the season
Sunday 30th November. Home to Highworth Juniors J. Lost 0-9
Little or nothing to say on this result, lets just hope it was a “bad day at the office”
Sunday 16th November away to Stratton Youth. Won 2-3
Well we finally did it eight games in and we get our first win, not any old win but a great win considering we only had 11 fit players and were without our keeper and 1st choice centre half and central midfield player.
The patched up team saw Matty replace Pete in goal, Leo make his full match debut at centre half and Joel move onto the right wing. The first half was all Shaw with the whole team closing down and moving the ball around well.
The first goal came from some great link up play and saw Joel move into space to slot home his first league goal of the season this was soon followed by Joel’s second which involved some lovely flicks and final shot into the net. We didn’t have it all our own way and JP was called upon to make a vital clearance when it looked certain that Stratton would pull a goal back.
We had to start the second half with only 10 men as our injury jinx struck again with Tom sidelined with badly bruised ankle. However it was Pete to the rescue, despite having a badly injured knee Pete came on for the last 25 minutes and proved to be vital part of the team.
We started the second half well and it wasn’t long before Mick put Joel through again and Joel calmly slotted home his 3rd of the match. After this it was “backs to the wall” time with Stratton on a mission to get something out of the match. With 10 minutes to go Stratton got their reward with a well taken goal and the Shaw nerves were showing.
With Chris now charged with man marking Stratton’s No. 5 (their best player by far) the boys were holding on, unfortunately Chris took his duties a little too far and Stratton won a penalty which they converted with 2 minutes to go. After that we reverted to a 7-2-1 formation and saw out time to claim our well deserved victory
Sunday 2nd November away to Wroughton. Lost 8-1
Hard luck to all the players who took part in this weekends match, once again we battled away but weren’t able to get anything out of the match.
The first half performance was encouraging especially the goal which came from a great flick on from Brad to set up Mick and we were very unlucky to go into the break 3-1 down. Once again we let ourselves down in the second half, although the score line didn’t reflect our efforts and even the Wroughton Manager said the final score flattered them.
Special mentions must go to Pete, who despite the score line, had a fantastic match and pulled off some brilliant saves. JP excelled at the back when he cam on and a times was our only defender, Nath had another solid match and it was good to see Leo make his debut
Sunday 26th October. Home to Stratton Juniors B 1-1
Well we may not be able to buy a win but we’re certainly improving in our attitude and are delivering battling performances. It would have been so easy for the boys to give up when they went 0-1 down today but they fought back and got the goal they so deserved.
Throughout the match we had chance after chance to score but it looked like it was going to be another “one of those days”.
Special mentions go to Mick for constantly being in the right place at the right time and I’m sure the goals will start flowing soon, Chris for his goal that gave us the draw but especially to Nath who put in another key performance and has been doing so all season
Sunday 12th October League Cup match at home Vs Croft. Lost 3-4 (AET)
Another battling performance from the boys who came back well from an early Croft goal and took the game into extra time.
Extra time proved to be very exciting for the neutral spectator but once again we were unable to finish the game off and finally went down 4-3. I hold my hands up for not “parking the bus” in front of our goal in the dying seconds of the first period of extra time.
We had a number of players carrying injuries, including Chris, Mick, Arnas, Tom and Jack and that’s why it may have looked like we had a “revolving door” of substitutes throughout the match.
Special mentions must go to Peter for some great saves, Mick for two well taken goals, Joel for his goal and playing in a variety of positions, Chad for his constant hard work and Matt for his contribution in Joel’s goal
Sunday 5th October Away to Wootton Bassett. Drew 1-1
At long last a score line that reflects all of the boy’s efforts over the past few weeks. This great result was achieved even though we were missing 3 key players.
Right from the start we showed Bassett how we intended to play by not giving them an inch. The midfield of Brad, Arnas and Whitey combined with the solid defence stood up to everything that Bassett could throw at us. Pete had a great game and his fantastic 1st half save kept us in the first half. To go into the break at 0-0 was a very good feeling.
Bassett were always going to push on in the second half but the team responded well and we were a little unlucky to concede a goal. However unlike in previous weeks the boys kept their heads high and continued to play some great football. A high ball into the Bassett box saw their center half climb all over Chris and concede a penalty. Chris very calmly scored from the spot to level the score.
The last 5 minutes were a bit “hairy” but some last ditch tackling from Tom and Nath saved the day.
Special mentions must go to Tom, who played his best game of the season so far, Nath who played really well, Jack who kept Bassett at bay down the right hand side and Joel who played most of the game, out of position, at left back.
Sunday 28th September. Home to Wickham Wanderers. Lost 4-6
Once again a disappointing score line but another great battling performance and this time four cracking goals.
Having gone 2-0 down early in the match the boys re grouped and began to pressure Wickham, Brad found himself in space looked up and sent a fantastic shot high over the keepers head and into the net.
A few minutes later Whitey played an exquisite cross field ball for Chris to meet with his head and at half time with the score at 2-2 we were definitely in with a chance.
Unfortunately Wickham started the second half the stronger and once a again we found ourselves behind. Wickham then extended their lead to 5-2 with long balls over the top of our defence. But once again the boys came back and goals from Mick and Al meant that we were back in the game at 5-4 with 15 minutes to go.
We then had a disputed penalty appeal when Mick was through on goal and a goal mouth scramble which Wickham managed to clear. All of our efforts in pushing forward meant gaps at the back which Wickham exploited to get their 6th goal.
Wednesday 17th September. League match, away to Highworth. Lost 2-0
Another disappointing score line but once again a much improved performance from the boys. I can’t believe our luck at the moment, we are working hard as a team and playing some good attacking football but don’t seem to be able to “buy a goal”
Last night we had some great chances and Chris’s free kick was a certain goal until it was hand balled and punched away by a Highworth defender! Unfortunately the referee didn’t see the incident but he did apologise for mistake.
Had the goal gone in or had the Highworth player had been sent off for a deliberate hand ball we could have seen a different game, instead we went down to two goals both of which could have been avoided.
Special mentions must go to Chad for a great performance at left back, Whitey for another solid match and Mick, who kept on battling.
Saturday 13th September. League match, away to Abbeymeads. Lost 0-1
Despite the disappointing result this was a much better team performance from Shaw. The boys seemed to find their composure and for most of the match we played good football, in the second half we applied all of the pressure but the goals just wouldn’t come.
Abbeymeads certainly play a physical game and one or two of our players are carrying the scars to prove it. We had chances to at least get a draw from this match but one moment of poor concentration led to their winner.
However we can’t be too disappointed as there were plenty of positives to take from the game. Jack continues to excel at right back, Nathan put in another good performance and Whitey, Matt & Arnas came off the bench to perform very well.
Sunday 7th September. League match, home to Stratton Juniors A. Lost 1-8
The first match of the 2008/9 season saw the boys take on Shaw U14b's on a cold, windy and rainny Summers evening!
We used the opportunity to try out new formations, pairings and to introduce Matt & Whitey into full time action. The team started extremely well with Chris & Brad combining well in the centre of midfield and feeding Al & Mick upfront. So much so we found ourselves 2-0 up after 15 minutes. However the U 14’s came back strongly and the first period ended 2-2.
For the following 3 periods the game ebbed and flowed with physical superiority of the U14’s working in their favour at times and our passing and ability to play the “through ball” working in our favour.
The end result was the U14’s won 6-5 but our boys had a good solid work out which should set us up well for the forthcoming season