Lisvane Panthers Under 14
2009/2010 season
Lisvane Panthers have 2 teams at Under 14 level - U14 Red and U14 Blue .
Annual Reports
Under 14 Red 2009/2010
If the strength of a side is measured in terms of character and “bouncebackability” (apologies to Bluebirds fans for the Ian Holloway-ism) rather than points and league position then this side would be highly–rated.
The lads supported the rest of the U14B division on their shoulders from September to May but never arrived at a match without a full side, and were usually able to place four or more substitutes at the disposal of their hard-working coach, Rhys Jones.
Training sessions were packed, with up to 24 lads honing their skills under the watchful eyes of Rhys and his junior coaching team.
Following many winter reverses, Rhys and his players were finally able, in March, to savour the sweet taste of a single point for a draw.
The warmer and drier Spring conditions clearly suited this side. The following week, as an Icelandic volcano left Rhys stranded for more than “One Night in Bangkok”, the boys celebrated another draw, and then another, before reaching the holy grail of their only win with the last kick of the penultimate match.
After a season on the back foot, credit must first go to the three ‘keepers, James Connelly, Jacob Smith and Josh Toby. Their bravery and athleticism kept most scorelines tight.
Many different combinations were tried in defence, but none really shone without Connor Smith at its heart.
Whether by design or through his own selflessness, captain Josh Anderson, could usually be found supplementing battleweary defensive colleagues including Lloyd Golding, Daniel Harris, hard-man Kwesi Mensah, Joe Pook and Joe Taylor.
Special mention should also be made of the vocal contribution and versatility of Luke Maharg.
Colossal midfield performances were common, with untiring and occasionally inspiring performances from Joe Baraz, Taylor Davies-Hinton, Callum Guy, Jake Pezzack and Paul Wheeler.
Towards the end of the season the introduction of Robert Mathews-Mullane and the returning and hugely influential Ghazi Ayoub provided much needed composure on the ball.
Up front again saw various strike partnerships employed. Perhaps the most effective were top-scorers Jacob Bloom and Nye Brown when supported by the pace offered by Jacob Davenport and Ben Jones.
Looking to the future, the boys have agreed that they will achieve greater success if their coach is able to field a more stable side from week to week. Prompt responses to invitations to play will be essential next year.
Occasional bouts of Saturday-morning-sickness-syndrome (Trelai Toofaricus) will be despatched to history.
With these minor adjustments in place, results in March and in April suggest that that there is much for this side to look forward to in 2010-2011.
The only way is up! Clive Brown
Rhys Jones, Kevin Maharg and Mark Anderson
Under 14 Blue 2009/2010
Absolutely fantastic season culminating with the team winning the Cardiff & District B League.
Preparation started in summer 2009 with a series of friendly games against opponents from across South Wales who we had not encountered previously to get a full understanding of our strengths and areas for improvement.
We were determined to target a top three league finish and a good cup run.
In previous seasons our defence had been the envy of many teams in the U14 circuit and we boast and exceptionally talented goalkeeper in Stephen Cox.
Our attack and the scoring of goals was a key priority and an area we worked very hard on in the pre- season sessions.
We got off to a good start on 5th of September with a 6:2 win over Heath Park Black with Ben Morgan scoring our first goal of the season and Rhys Wood knocking in 2.
Both Iwan Rowlands and Adam Nyhan – pivotal parts of our defence were out for a number of early matches whilst recovering from injury and that played a part in the goals we were conceding.
That said the lads who covered did a fantastic job especially Luke Harris who started to stamp his own imprint on the sweeping defender role we had pushed him into.
There was a tight second game against old rivals Rumney which ended in a draw and we experienced our first loss to Heath Park Black going down 3:2 on a day we had five players unavailable through injury or holiday.
By the time we reached half term we had played eight games with six wins, one draw and one loss. Importantly we had scored 43 Goals and conceded 14.
In this early period Harry Burge who had joined us from Urdd had settled into the team and was adding a few dimensions with his heading of the ball and his left foot.
We had also recruited Darren Ofoe who had only managed 30 minutes of football before picking up an injury but in that short period had shown some outstanding skills and awareness and hit a goal along the way.
The half term break did not do us any favours – a lacklustre performance on the 7th November witnessed our second loss away to Whitchurch Yellow.
We certainly bounced back with a 7:1 win over Whitchurch Blue and a 3:1 Cup win over Whitchurch Yellow on 12th December – pay back time for 7th November defeat.
Over these three games Darren Ofoe started to fire for us in attack with seven goals from three games and we even had the defenders showing the attack how to score with good goals from both Luke Pescott and Adam Nyhan.
We then entered a period heavily disrupted by weather and between 12th December and 27th February we only managed three games but won them all convincingly scoring 19 goals and conceding two.
At this stage Rhys Wood had equalled his personal best in junior football of 13 goals in a season and both Connor Probert and Joe Hill had smashed their personal bests with 14 and 10 respectively.
As importantly the defence was doing an outstanding job with only 21 goals conceded and most of those in the early games when we had injuries.
The nucleus of Kyle Jenkins, Luke Pescott, Luke Harris, Adam Nyhan with cover from Chris Cogdon, Nathan Mclaughlin and Iwan Rowlands was working brilliantly.
We went into March getting knocked out of the Cup by Grangetown who went onto the final where they were narrowly beaten but the game showed us how far we had progressed as a footballing team.
It was down-hill from there with us winning the last seven games of the season. We scored a further 32 goals and conceded five.
The statistics read very well indeed. In the league we played 20 – Won 17, drew one and lost two. We scored 103 goals and conceded 25 leaving a goal difference of 78.
Top goal scorer in his first season with the club has been Darren Ofoe with 36.
That said Rhys Wood has hit a personal best with 17, Connor Probert 15, Joe Hill 11, Nathan McLaughlin 10 and Ben Morgan 5 out of our main attack force.
This would not have been possible without some tireless work by the mid field regulars of Harry Burge, Ben Abbandonato, Cullan Wing, Ben Morgan, Iwan Rowlands, Nathan McLaughlin, Jacob Sullivan and Rhys Wood.
During the Season we have had six lads who have gone passed 60 appearances for Lisvane Panthers at junior football level: Stephen Cox, Kyle Jenkins, Luke Pescott, Rhys Wood, Nathan McLaughlin and Ben Morgan.
We have another four players who will hit those heights early next season demonstrating the commitment we have from the players to the Panthers.
Both Greg and Graham have been undertaking the Football Association of Wales ‘C’ Coaching Licence this season and that has helped with some of the training activity.
Thanks to Greg and Nick Hill for undertaking refereeing duties as called upon.
Josie has continued as our medical lady and thanks goes to all.
We played our last game of the
season against Heath Park Green
in a new kit which has been
kindly sponsored by:
Direct Source (UK) Ltd
www.directsourceuk.com
South Wales Chamber of Commerce –
graham.morgan@southwaleschamber.co.uk
Giovanni’s Restaurant
The Hayes Cardiff
www.giovanniscardiff.com
Pressure position of having not lost in our new kit so we have a huge reputation to protect for next season.
Finally we want to extend our thanks and appreciation for the brilliant support of the parents who have been there through rain or shine cheering the lads on but also witnessing some exceptional football!!!!!!!!!!
Regards and thank you to all. Graham, Joe and Greg
Joe McLaughlin and Graham Morgan