Bagpacking at Sainsburys 24th May 2008

Many thanks to those who took the time to get involved with our bagpacking fundraiser at Sainsburys in Tadcaster on Saturday 24th May. Coverage from Players & Parents was a bit thin on the ground - hopefully we'll have a few more particpants next time.

'Our Liz' will have the totals very soon which will then be added in to our Club Secretary's Year End Report.

We only have a couple of tournaments to play involving the various agegroups (Garforth & Otley) at which point we say goodbye to the current Under 10's (who move out of Mini-Soccer) and hello to the current Under 9's who join the Under 10's down at The Ings, but remain under the auspices of 'Mini-Soccer'.

Keep an eye on the Blog for photo's of Tadcaster Albion JFC Tournament and photo's and video from the Under 10's triumph at Ulleskelf.

T.A.J.F.C. Tournament Press Coverage (1 of 2)

Please find a link to The Wetherby News displaying Sharon's article about the Tournament on 17th/18th of May. The grand total raised will be displayed on the Blog on Tuesday 27th May. This article can also be seen on page 9 of the current edition of the paper. We have been reliably informed that The York Press plan on printing a similar article next weekend (Part 2 of 2).

http://www.wetherbynews.co.uk/wetherby/Youngsters-enjoy-football-event.4112656.jp

U8s at Tadcaster Tournament (17th May)

Tadcaster Albion Under 8s lined up for the Tadcaster tournament hoping for a repeat of the previous week's great performance at Ulleskelf. In blue team this week were Saul, George, Joseph, Louis, Ethan, James K, James O and Edan (cleverly disguised as the invisible man in the team photo). The yellow team was made up of Alfie, Daniel, Emily, Megan, Adam, Justin, Lewis and Harry.

The yellow team were first under way and started off with a cracking win over Ulleskelf thanks to a wonderful individual goal from Harry. They followed that up with a gritty 0-0 draw against Garforth and then another battling performance, losing narrowly to Bishopthorpe's 'A' team. As a team they put so much effort into those first 3 games and were visibly tiring as they lost the last two games. Firstly against a very strong team from Moorend and finally against Poppleton's 'B' team.

The blue team were drawn in the tougher of the groups, but expectations were high. They started with a 1-1 draw against Rawcliffe - having taken an early lead through James K. Next up were Poppleton and Tad always looked second best, losing 2-0. As if that wasn't bad enough, along came our Nemesis in the form of Garforth. Let's just say it was a 'heavy' defeat. They then somehow contrived to lose against Kirk Deighton - the group's whipping boys up until then, before finally ending on a high note with a 3-0 win over Bishopthorpe thanks to goals from James O, james K and Louis.

So, overall a mixed day, but at least everyone seemed to enjoy the day and went home happy - full of sweets ... and crisps ... and pop ... and ice cream .. and burgers ...

U8s at Ulleskelf Tournament (10th May)

Saturday 10th May saw two teams from Tad Albion attend the Ulleskelf Tournament. The red team made up of Alfie, Harry, Justin, George, James K, Louis and Ethan; the blue team made up of Saul, Charlie, Joseph, Adam, Sam, James O and Edan.

Both teams did brilliantly to make it through to the knockout stage.

First up were the red team, having won 1, lost 1 and drawn 1, they went into the final match against a very good (unbeaten) team from Kippax knowing that only a win would do. A tense match saw Tad sneak it 1-0 to make it through to the quater finals.

The blue team made it through their group unbeaten, the highlight was probably holding much fancied Fulford to a draw. A 1-0 win in their final game saw them finish 2nd in their group and set up an all Taddy Quarter final.

A close Quarter Final match saw the red team establish a 2-0 lead through goals from Louis and James K. Great goalkeeping from Saul kept the blues in the game before James O kept his cool to make it 2-1. The blues had a good chance for the equaliser but in the end the scores remained the same and the red team advanced to the Semi Finals.

Tad's opponents in the Semi were the Garforth Blues team. Tad were well on top from the start and when Louis was brought down in the box following a great surging run, James K stepped up to slot the penalty home. Against the run of play though Garforth equalised which set up a final nervy couple of minutes during which neither team could find a way through to score. 4 minutes of extra time still couldn't separate the sides and in the end the match went to a penalty shoot out. No doubt about the hero here - Alfie saved 2 penalties and then stepped up to bang in the winning spot kick .. get in !

Onto the final then, and another team from Garforth (why is it always them ?). Tad gave a good account of themselves in the first half, keeping the scores at 0-0. But in the end strength of Garforth's squad told as they ran out 3-0 winners.

All in all though, a magnificent effort from both teams. Many thanks go to Ulleskelf for organising a great tournament and we'll look forward to an invite next year ... so watch out Garforth !

U8s Mitchell League Presentation Night

Congratulations to the Under 8 Yellow team who finished runners to Heworth in the 'B' division (separated only on goal difference). The team turned out in full for the league presentations which were held at Heworth CC on Friday 9th May. Unfortunately, Megan had a bit of an accident in the 'warm up' so whilst her mates were collecting their trophies and getting their pictures taken, she was on her way to the x-ray department at York District Hospital with her broken finger .. doh !

If anyone has any more photos, please feel free to email them to me and I'll upload them to the blog.