Youth Team Reports

Hallsy's View - Fourth Edition October 2009

After an excellent September the lads were full of confidence going into October. In terms of performances it was an average month, but at the end of it the lads have reached the top of the league. October was always going to be a difficult month and began with a local derby at rivals Steyning. I have come to the conclusion that this side are most definitely our bogey team as they always seem to out perform their lowly league position. Storrington took the lead in this game with Sam Lee scoring his first competitive goal of the season, however this was never going to be enough as Storrington struggled to get the attractive passing game going. The equaliser came in somewhat bizarre fashion when the Steyning striker smashed the ball home from a free kick on the corner of the penalty area when it looked as if the ball was going to be crossed. Thats how the score finished, 1-1 a definite drop of 2 points.

The next week saw the lads in County Cup action against Ryman League Eastbourne Town. The team travelled to the game with several players cup tied or unavailable, but the lads who played were a credit to the club and gave their illustrious opponents a real scare. With Kieron Gillard performing heroics in the Storrington goal the lads took a 3-1 lead into half time against a side who have only conceded 6 goals up to that point. Goals were scored by Josh Killner (2) and Paul Jackson, who both terrorised the Eastbourne Town defence for 60 minutes. Striker Tom Drew had a chance after the break to extend Storrington's lead, but that chance was saved and with it went Storrington's chances of winning the tie, eventually going down 6-3 in a very entertaining encounter.

Another highlight was Tom Pepper finally making his debut for the club wide on the right, who had his work cut out, but performed admirably.
After this Cup exit heads could certainly have been held high and with the unavailable players returning the boys put in their best performance of the month against Pagham, who will be in the mix for the title this year. The scoreline of 2-1 possibly represents a close affair, however Storrington were in command throughout and looking very comfortable in establishing a 2-0 lead. Sam Mannings and Josh Killner were the scorers on that day. One of the many highlights from this performance must be how the lads equitted themselves against a very physical side, who were not scared to dive in two footed. Again credit goes to the lads as they never reacted to this and they continued to play some free flowing football, which seem to annoy Pagham further. An awesome performance.

The final game of the month saw Chichester City United visit The Rec. Up to this point Chichester stood 2nd in the league with our lads in 4th so this was a top of the table clash. Again another healthy crowd were looking forward to another efficient Storrington performance, however the first half showed a lot to be desired. Storrington found themselves 2-0 down inside 15 minutes, and it took this for Storrington to show a glimpse of what they can do. This was mostly down to striker Paul Jackson, who after notching 4 goals for Worthing College the Wednesday before continued his goalscoring form with a hat trick before half time to somehow put Storrington into the lead at 3-2. The pick of the goals was surely his third when after outpacing the right back, he cut inside to nonchalantly curl the ball into the far top corner. After a couple of choice words at half time the lads found some form and ended up being 6-2 victors. Paul Jackson with his 4th, the returning James Adebayo and a first goal for Tom Pepper completed the scoring.

All in all in my eyes an average month as the lads have now set high standards for themselves. Its nice to be where we are, however the league is never won in October, so if we are still up there in February then we may be able to begin to dream. The squad will be stretched over the next couple of months with Matty Rance, Presley Geal, John Tolson and Paul Jackson all on the treatment table and Jack Boxall and Sam Mannings being called up for Sussex Under 18's, which makes them unavailable for some matches. However I know that all players who put on the Storrington shirt will do their best to ensure that Storrington continue to perform how I know they can, which is more than good enough for me.

Again if you have a free Sunday, check the fixtures up at the club and get down to a game. I suggest that November 22nd is in your diary as Worthing United visit The Rec, who in my opinion are one of the sides to look out for this season, so potentially a great advert for youth football.

Cheers,

Hallsy

p.s. I would like to thank Lewis Reeves for his services to the Youth Team as he has decided to leave the club to concentrate on his Horsham career. Lewis was my captain last year, but unfortunately things have not worked out for him this year. I respect his decision and I wish him good luck for the future.

Hallsy's View - Third Edition September 2009

Well here it is again another season and a brand new Hallsy's View. Pre season began for the Under 18's at the same time as the senior sides and the boys showed excellent commitment and a desire to learn and increase their fitness levels. After last season's performances word certainly got around and the quality of players that we have attracted has been of a high standard, which shows that our playing and training philosophy is heading in the right direction. New members to add to last years squad include John Tolson, Dan Hollishead, Guy Strudwick (All Ashington), Presley Geal (East Preston), Tom Drew, Iain Haggart, Jack Carey, Jack Boxall, Sam Mannings, Paul Jackson, Ash Beaken (All Worthing Based), James Cooperwaite (Steyning) and Tom Pepper (Pulborough). This has given me a very competitive squad of 23 players, who will push each other for starting places throughout the season.

From the outside pre season results did not look too good, however for those of you who know your football results in pre season are not as important as gaining match fitness and looking at different playing combinations. We had a tough pre season programme with regular intense training sessions and three friendlies against Mile Oak (1-2), Horsham (0-4) and Ferring (2-3), who all gave us thorough workouts, which would hopefully ensure we hit the ground running.

Now to the first month of the season, which saw the team with a potentially difficult month. The first game of the season was against the now folded Rustington, who before the season started I would have had down as title contenders. The boys showed that team spirit from last year to come back from behind twice to win 3-2 with Josh Killner scoring the pick of the goals with a 25 yard Ronaldo style free kick. James Adebayo and Tom Drew on his debut were also on target. The first floodlit game came away at East Preston, who fielded a bare 11, but right from the start put Storrington under pressure and forced many errors, which led to the lads being 3-1 down with 15 minutes to go. However their fitness levels and determination shone through and after changing to a 3-4-3 formation came away with a 6-3 win. Scorers on that night were Tom Drew, James Adebayo, Matty Rance, Paul Jackson and Josh Killner (2), who again scored from 25 yards with another Ronaldo style free kick!!

The players were now flowing with confidence and their next opponents were an ever improving Wick side. This game was a fantastic advert for youth football as both sides looked to play football on a decent Wick surface. Storrington were first to strike with Sam Mannings cooly slotting the ball past the Wick keeper for his first goal for the club. However in the second half Wick equalised and the game could have gone either way. All in all a good point away from home.

Games were now coming thick and fast and having a luxury of a big squad has allowed me to rotate the players without altering the quality of the football, which is credit to all the lads in the squad. Lancing away was the next match, again under lights and this without doubt was the performance of the month. Storrington started slowly, but soon got into their passing rhythm and romped to a 4-0 half time lead. The second half in my view was even more impressive due to the fact that the boys played 35 minutes with 10 men after Zak Holdaway was sent off. Storrington took responsibility and still dominated the game with some awesome work rate and passing football and even added to their score to make the final score 5-0. Sam Mannings with a hat trick, Tom Drew and ANOTHER 25 yard Ronaldo style free kick from Josh Killner.

Storrington were now looking to finish off the month unbeaten, but a tricky Forest side were in their way. The first home match of the season saw a very healthy crowd and another decent game of football. Yet again Storrington's fitness and team spirit got them through 2-1 after being 1-0 down. Josh Killner got both goals, taking his tally to 6 for the season, but no 25 yarders this time.

All in all a great month for all concerned, however next month will be a real gauge of how far this team have come with a local derby against Steyning, Eastbourne Town in the County Cup, Pagham and Chichester, who are also unbeaten. I must say that all of these lads are a credit to themselves and the club and I hope that I see more of them in First and Reserve Team action very soon. However we must all realise that these players are still developing so we need to ensure that we all work together to prevent these young talented players from over playing, which can affect their future playing careers.

To finish please have a look out for the fixtures in the club and if you have a Sunday or Thursday free, please come down and have a watch of potential Storrington players of the future.

Cheers,

Hallsy

P.S The youth team are on the look out for sponsorship to ensure that they continue to train regularly, have the right preparation before games and proper food after games (carbohydrates/protein). This all costs money and even if its a small contribution or if you know anyone that would be interested it would be very much appreciated and I would look forward to having a chat with you!!

Hallsy's View - Second Edition February 2009

I know March is pretty much here but I wish you all a belated Happy New Year and I hope you all have an excellent 2009. Since my last edition of Hallsy's View the Youth Team have been somewhat frustrated with the weather and have therefore only played 3 games since early December. Following on from the 8-0 hammering of Lancing the boys carried this goalscoring form onto their next game against Forest, coming out 7-3 winners (I was not happy with the three against though!!). Harry Abraham, Jordan Johnson and Josh Killner all hitting braces with Sam Lee scoring his second goal in as many games.

That was our last game before Christmas, however the boys still continued to train hard and had a very hard fitness session on the first Sunday of the New Year. Like it or not, this is all part of developing the lads attitudes for the transition to Senior football, which with my experience I feel some of the older players should take note.

Anyway onto 2009. The boys had a tough Sussex County Youth Cup tie against Pagham as their first game of the year. In my opinion Pagham will win our league, so this was a test to see how far the boys have come. The boys again showed a great attitude and desire to play football the right way, but unfortunately two individual errors cost us, which led to Pagham going 2-0 up. This did not deter the lads and with 20 minutes left James Adebayo finished cooly to set up an exciting final part of the game. Even though the game was lost the lads put in a great shift and it was another learning curve in their footballing development.

After the game I received a phone call from Crowborough (in my opinion the best Under 18 side in the county), who wanted a friendly with us. This was arranged, however Crowborough pulled out on the day due to 10 players dropping out. Okay this was disappointing, but the lads, Mike and the club should take this as a massive positive as this shows that respected people around the county are starting to talk about us. The fact that their manager phoned me and said that he heard we "played attractive, passing football" only reinforces that fact. Even though we didn't get to play the players trained instead, which was received with no complaints, which again shows attitudes are changing.

Now onto our last outing. Worthing United at home. A massive game as I coach most of both teams due to my role at Worthing College's Football Academy. I knew that United would be a very good side and therefore another test. This was a test that the lads again passed and possibly deserved better. After going 1-0 up through Harry Abraham we defended well only to give away a penalty, which United converted. The score stayed at 1-1 with both teams having chances to win the game. To be honest the quality of football was not up to our usual standards, but 2 months ago we probably would have lost that game, so this is credit to their defending and concentration levels.

That draw has now extended the sides unbeaten run to 8 games and it is now where the players will hopefully start to be filtered into the reserves and first team. Both Harry Abraham and Jordan Johnson have made their debuts in the first team, with Josh Killner also making his debut for the reserves. This is a great achievement not just for the individuals, but the team as a whole. Well done lads.

As you can tell I do go on a bit so I will finish with some transfer news. Unfortunately we have lost two players to arch rivals Steyning. Ben Pringle and Jack Moss wanted more regular football, so fair play to those guys and good luck to them in the future. On the plus side I would like to welcome Jack Buchanan, a tough tackling defender from Wick and 3rd Team player Nick Leogue, who will increase our attacking options. So a warm welcome to you both and I'm sure you will strengthen the squad.

Please make sure you look out for the fixtures around the clubhouse and try and get down to a game!!

Cheers,

Dave

Hallsy's View - First Edition December 2008

For those of you who are not aware of me I'm Dave Hall the Storrington Youth team coach. I feel that it is important that a club such as Storrington look to develop players for the future Storrington Reserve and First teams, which will ensure the club can reach its ambitions of one day Division 1 football and beyond!!!!

After taking the role on in pre season I have seen a development in the players as a squad, which should be very pleasing not just to myself and Mike Walsh (my co-manager), but the Storrington faithful as well. To be honest the season starter slowly with players getting used to training methods, attitudes and ways of playing the game, but we are now currently on an unbeaten 5 match run and stand 3rd in the County Youth West League with the highlight being an 8-0 hammering of Lancing. Before the start of the season I set a target and we are currently ahead of this target, which all players should be proud of with the effort they have put in to reach this point. With this development taking place I hope that some of the squad get looked at after Christmas to see if they can move up in the next stage of their football development and with Nige, Rick and Jon I'm sure they are in the right place to do that.

Finally we have two games left before Christmas, so if you are at a loose end on a Sunday (with hangover or not!!!) come down and support the lads!!

Cheers,

Dave