AFC Stourvale

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So , I know it's been a while, massive apologies for the silence. Just needed to say........WOW!!!! What an absolutely brilliant season 2016/2017 was for the Vale. The boys done gooood. Couldn't be more proud of the boys.

BHFL DIVISION 3 CHAMPIONS 🏆🏆

The Vale,Management and Players, would like to wish Nathan Redwood, Ali Garard, Peter Richmond-Cole and Jack Roberts a very safe and wonderful time when they leave for their fantastic adventure "Down Under" .
You will all be missed , not just as team mates but as friends too.
Have a great time in Oz boys...........love you all # #

AFC STOURVALE RESULT & MATCH REPORT SERVICE......

AFC Stourvale 4 v 2 Bournemouth Electric Reserves.

Sincere apologies to our avid and loyal readers but due to unforseen circumstances there was no Match Report Service from last weeks In Excess cup victory over JS West Moors.
The Vale progressed to the quarter finals of the cup with a solid performance against a decent opponent.
It was back to league action at the weekend against a formidable opponent in the shape of Bournemouth Electric Reserves. With the Vale skipper Steven 'Mutley' Lane unfortunately an absentee, Scott 'Edinburgh Woolen Mill' Parsons was given the honour of skippering the Vale in this tough encounter.
Once again the Vale management set the tangerines up with a solid look, Dan 'what a great signing' Thomas and Al 'farmer boy' Plascott at the centre of the defence with Barney 'in the doghouse again' Greenway and Adam 'Jenksey' Jenkins at fullbacks.
The wide men of Nathan 'the marauder' Redwood and Ali 'finding his voice' Garard causing problems and with the boys up top , Pete 'poshest name in football' Richmond-Cole and Al 'choooooo chooooo' Melly always a threat.
The Vale started very well playing some excellent football those wideboys linking up well with the boys up top causing huge problems for the BAR defenders but the deadlock was broken by a stunning strike from Robbie 'midfield maestro' Johnston. As the ball found its way to the Vale midfielder just outside the BAR penalty box,an exquisite piece of chest control and a stunning strike saw the Vale take the lead in front of a bumper Sunday morning crowd (about 20 people).
Nothing more than the Vale deserved and the lead was doubled 10 minutes later,when, that man again , Robbie 'sweet strike' Johnston hit a speculative shot from outside the box,the BAR keeper seemingly having it covered found the ball squirm through his hands and trickle into the corner of the net,and ,as the saying goes 'if you dont buy a ticket you dont win a prize'.
With the Vale 2 goals to the good and playing the sort of football they have always been capable of had been threatening all season,BAR were under constant pressure , the Vale back four were rarely threatened.That was until,the Vale achilles heel, a set piece was the undoing of the Vale. A quick corner was taken by BAR, the ball crossed into the box and found an unmarked attacker,and completely against the run of play ,BAR were back in the game.
Did this dampen the Vale spirits,not on your nelly, the Vale dusted themselves down and got straight back to playing the best football they had played all season.
Some slick passing, involving Al 'you slaaaaaag' Melly,Pete 'the posh' Richmond-Cole and Scott ' wooly wearer' Parsons linked up to find Ali 'leading scorer' Garard with a clinical finish through the BAR keepers legs. 3-1 to the Vale at half time and no more than they deserved.
Into second half and the Vale started much the same as they finished the first,Nathan 'they cant handle him' Redwood running the opponents defence ragged.
Slowly though BAR started getting a foot hold in the game and were handed a golden opportunity when ,on a rare foray into the Vale box (ooohhh, Matron) the ball bobbled to an attacker bounced off him and hit the Vales skipper on the hand from point blank range.The MIB blew his whistle immediately and awarded a spot kick for BAR, a bit harsh on the Vale to say the least. Up stepped BAR's best player to smash the ball against the frame of the Vale goal and with Al 'like a whippet' Plascott first to react,nodded the ball to safety.A massive let off for the Vale, but , the tide was definitely turning,and soon the same BAR attacker would reduce the deficit with a decent finish from a tight angle, which the Vale keeper really should of done better with.
Now coming under the cosh more regularly,the Vale defence were creaking under the pressure, but some excellent defending from those boys in tangerine kept their goal in tact.
With 10 minutes to go the manager made a tactical switch and brought on Jack 'nice to have him back' Roberts to sure up the midfield,and,within a couple of minutes of the change, Vale put the game to bed and took the spoils. With the ball in the BAR left back area,pressure was put on the BAR defender who passed the ball across his own box, his team mate coming under intense pressure from the Vale frontman, PR-C,got in a mix up with his own keeper, and , just like pinching sweets from a kid, in stepped Peter 'now we are level Garard' Richmond-Cole to pop the ball into an unguarded net . 4-2,and the Vale held out with no real scares after the wind had been taken out of the BAR sails,job done.

AFCS LOWLIGHTS....................

The fact that, on turning up at Iford to put the nets up, with 2 matches taking place,only having the use of 3 changing rooms for 4 teams and 3 nets for 2 games another c**k up at Iford bridge.

AFCS HIGHLIGHTS...........................

The performance of the season so far, showing what the Vale are made of.

More of that and who knows what the Vale could achieve.
Well done to the Gaffer.
UTVIAD # #

AFC STOURVALE RESULT & MATCH REPORT SERVICE......

AFC Burton 3 v 0 AFC Stourvale

Well, after an excellent performance the previous week,would the Vale be able to keep the momentum going.
With the 'Guvnor',Chris 'Robocop' Lane, back in charge ,and , miraculously none of the normal 8-30 crisis calls befalling the Vale, with a full team and 2,yes 2 subs,could this be a turning point in the Vales fortunes.
With Steve 'The Skipper' Lane and Danny 'MOM' Thomas at the centre of the defence and with Adam 'Jenksey' Jenkins and Alan 'back this week' Plascott at full backs, and ably assisted by Scott 'Makele' ( whaaaaat no cardie this week) Parsons,the Vale looked quite solid.
Looks can be deceiving,and just minutes after kick off the first chance was created,catching the Vale cold. A break down the AFCB (thats Burton not Bournemouth),saw an attacking midfielder evade a couple of tackles,force his way into the Vale box and fire a rasping shot goalwards, the Vale keeper Andy 'the Hobbity-Platypus' Anderson pulling off a fine save,only to see the ball fall to an un-marked attacker who finished with ease.
A very early set back for the Vale but heads didnt drop,in fact the early goal seemed to settle the Vale and they played some very good football.With the wingers, Nathan 'prefers it on thre right' Redwood and Jake 'ooooppppsssss' Cuddy marauding forward and with Ali '1 for the Golden Boot' Garard , Al 'got lost on the way' Melly and Rob' fifty pence bonce' Johnston all coming close, surely the equaliser would come?
But,with the Vale on top, a sucker punch came from AFCB, one of the only times the Vale back line had been breached,with the ball on the Vale right,AFCB outnumbered the Vale defenders, an attacker found himself in space in the Vale penalty area, had time to pick out a team mate only 6 yards out who managed to
fire past the despairing effort of the Vale 'keeper.
2-0 really did flatter the home side, it should of been made worse when an attack down the Vale right saw Jake 'ooopppppssss ' Cuddy track an AFCB attacker into the Vale box ,a 'slightly' mistimed tackle felling said attacker giving the MIB no option but to point to the spot. Up stepped the AFCB attacker,with the Vale keeper starting to go to his left,said attacker putting boot to ball and passing the spheroid straight down the middle of the goal, Andy 'the platypus-hobbit' Anderson managing to stop his dive and the ball hitting him in a place that would smart a little, but , keeping the ball out of the Vale net. A let off for the Vale.
And so to the second half,and a very one sided half it was too. With Nathan 'the marauder' Redwood carving the AFCB defence open at will,Ali 'left his shooting boots at home' Garard and Rob ' heading practice for you' Johnston missing very good chances.
On came super subs Elliot 'not really' Quinn and Rhys 'still the 2nd poshest name in footy' Martin- Davies, could they change the game. Well, with virtually his first touch, Quinny was presented with a gilt edged chance to get the Vale back in the game, from 8 yards out,with the goal at his mercy, 'a nasty bobble' saw him shank his chance wide of the AFCB upright.
More good chances came and went for the Vale ,and , like the Vales luck has gone this season a rare AFCB attack yielded another goal to finish the scoring

AFCS LOWLIGHTS..........................

Unfortunately in football you dont get what you deserve,as Vale have found to their cost this season and when the referee says "Dont know how you boys lost that one " that fickle finger of fate once again sticking a big,fat middle finger up at the Vale.
A totally dominant performance yielding nowt for the Vale Management.

AFCS HIGHLIGHTS........................

No last minute dramas,almost a settled 11 and a dominant performance by the Vale, creating chance after chance, and being solid at the back even the Vales keeper getting lucky a couple of times.

KEEP THE FAITH VALE......

UTVIAD # # # # # #

AFC STOURVALE RESULT & MATCH REPORT SERVICE......

AFC Stourvale 7 v 0 Rentech Repairs.

What would this weekend have in store for the struggling Vale, with a referee 'all sorted' and a full team,all be it on paper and early on a Saturday evening , things looked promising for a trouble free Sunday morning.
With the Gaffer away on a much needed break from The Vales difficult and troubled start to the season and also getting some R & R after sustaining a horrible injury the week before. So, in charge of 'The Good Ship Vale' was Andy 'The Hobbit' Anderson and Stephen 'Ive got this for ya Bruv 'Lane.
The obligatory 'dropout' happened and with a little tinkering the stand in Guvnors sent out a team that looked solid but also that looked like they had a goal in them.With both teams at the bottom of the table, Rentech with no points to their name and the Vale only 3 points better off, ironically those 3 points came from the first game of the season against Rentech Repairs.
So the battle of the basement boys kicked off with the wind blowing a hooly straight down the pitch into the Vale goal. The Vale started like a whirlwind and after just a couple of minutes, Ali 'my turn up top' Garard hit a thunder bolt which the Vale striker saw smash against the bar.Constant early pressure saw another chance go begging when a pinpoint cross from the Vale right midfielder Nathan 'wheres my shin pads' Redwood picked out Rob 'MOM' Johnston only to see his header fly narrowly wide of the RR upright.With the RR keeper being kept busy and pulling off a couple of smart saves eventually the Vale got the breakthrough they deserved.
Some good movement from the tangerines (Vale playing in orange),saw the RR defence carved open and Ali 'slots another' Garard finishing with aplomb.
1-0 to the Vale,but with RR growing into the game and the wind a constant menace the Vale back four of Barney 'in the doghouse' Greenway and Adam 'another start' Jenkins at fullbacks and Stephen 'thou shall not pass' Lane and Danny 'not going in goal again ' Thomas,at the centre of the Vale defence ,ably assisted by Scott 'ooohhh those cardies' Parsons',keeping RR attackers quiet. The only real chance RR had was from distance, when an RR attacker picked the ball up halfway into the Vale half, with the wind at his back smashed a shot goalwards,arrowing for the far corner of the Vale net,only to see a full length dive from the Vale keeper and with an outstretched right hand turned the ball round the post.A top draw save from the old boy,who,it must be said hasnt been at his best.
A succession of corners for RR came to nothing and the Vale also having more than a few chances of their own but at the half came to an end with the Vale a goal to the good, a good solid performance and now with the wind surely the Vale wouldnt let this slip?
Into the second half and RR started the better a couple of chances went begging and a couple of routine saves for the out of form Vale keeper kept the visitors at bay.
With the opponents attacks fizzling out Vale took the game by the scruff of the neck with some good attacking football. First Ali 'bagged a brace' Garard smashed an unstoppable shot from the edge of the RR box past the rooted keeper. Then with some incisive attacking football Ali G bagged his hat trick.
With the Vales relentless pressure another goal wasnt long in coming when a cross from the right saw an unmarked Alan 'get in you slaaaaaaaaaag' Melly stoop to head home from close range.
4-0 to the Vale, that was soon to become 5 when Jake 'not the ginger one ' Cuddy supplied the cross for Rob ' the bullet' Johnstone to 'bullet' a header in off thge RR post and into the back of the net.
At 5-0 on came super sub Rhys '2nd poshest name in football' Martin-Davies who almost scored with his first touch. Nathan 'happy on the right ' Redwood picked the ball up inside the RR half and drove towards the penalty box, firing the ball goalwards,the Vale super sub ran in front of the RR keeper,who in-explicably pulled his hands away to see the ball end up in the back of his net.
The scoring was completed when a great move saw Ali 'thats 4 for me' Garard bag another and the Vales morning ,had , for once gone to plan.

AFCS LOWLIGHTS...................

Another last minute withdrawal almost put the Vale in trouble.

AFCS HIGHLIGHTS......................

With the Gaffer away it was a thoroughly proffesional performance by the Vale,against what could of been a potential banana skin in RR and the adverse weather.

Onwards and upwards for the Vale, lets hope the corner has been turned and now results start picking up.

KEEP THE FAITH BOYS
UTVIAD.

AFC STOURVALE RESULT & MATCH REPORT SERVICE......

AFC Stourvale 3 v 4 AFC Burton

For the second week in a row The Vale found themselves having their referee taken away at the last minute, a few phone calls later and the panic was averted.With,on paper at least, a full compliment of players the Management team had the luxury of 2 subs,but wait....................this was at 8pm on a Saturday night, who knows what disasters could happen in the 14 1/2 hours before kick off.
Sure enough,the Vale's plans went out the window when the stand in MIB was pronounced unfit to do the job.Into the breach stepped Andy 'not a happy hobbit' Anderson, to don the black kit and blow the whistle.
A complete re-jig of the team saw,nerw signing, Dan 'yes its THE Danny Thomas ' Thomas putting on the gloves ,a different back four AGAIN, Steve ' let me at 'em' Lane and Al 'farmer boy' Plascott at the heart of the defence with Barney 'another start' Greenway and Adam 'Jenksy 'Jenkins at full backs.
The game never really took much shape to begin with,with the ball spending too much time being hoofed into the air rather than on the floor,but any attack by AFCB (thats Burton not Bournemouth) being snuffed out by good defending and some very good goalkeeping.
It was the same story at the other end with Peter 'still the poshest name in football' Richmond-Cole and his strike partner of Chris 'Thierry Henry' Lane unable to unlock the AFCB defence. However, the deadlock was broken when the ball found its way to Vale's top marksman. Still with plenty to do,he went on a mazy run, beating 4 defenders in the process,finding himself in the opponets penalty box, from an almost impossible angle he fired the ball past the keeper to somehow find the back of the AFCB net. A goal to the good and no reeal scares, the Vale were coping with the Burton attacks, with Rob ' get stuck in ' Johnston and Scott ' Edinburgh Woolen Mill' Parsons getting to grips with the midfield and Jake 'not the ginger Cuddy' Cuddy and Nathan 'not happy on the left' Redwood supporting when they could.
Everything was to be thrown into turmoil when a ball over the AFCB defence saw Chris 'the whippet' Lane take off in hot pursuit of said ball to be met by the out rushing Burton keeper, a nasty looking collision saw the Vale player manager come off worse,(with a subsequent trip to A&E showing the full extent of the damage to knee ligaments,and now a lengthy spell on the sidlines). On came Rhys 'super sub' Martin- Davies and with yet another re-organisation of the team,the Vale lost their momentum, and such is the luck of the Vale this season,they lost the lead too. A corner from the Vale left was partially cleared only to find an AFCB attacker who smashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the Vale net.
1-1 at the half maybe a fair reflection on the half but just a shame the Vale couldnt hold out,undone by an unfortunate injury and another unSunday like finish.
Again the second half started much the same as the first,not much football being played, with the ball spending a lot of time in the air. All it took was a little class to see the Vale take the lead again. Peter 'leave it to me' Richmond-Cole pounced on a through ball to bamboozle the AFCB defence and fire coolly past the helpless keeper. 2-1 to the Vale should of then been 3,when the same Vale attacker was up ended in the box and the stand in MIB having no hesitation in pointing to the spot and with no remenstrations from AFCB had clearly,on this occasion, made the right decision.Up stepped P R-C but instead of the net bulging,it seemed he had attended the Barney Greenway school of shooting and blazed over the bar.
A golden opportunity gone begging and Vale were to pay the price when AFCB broke smartly,with some last ditch defending, the ball was put out for a corner. From the resulting corner, the danger wasnt cleared and an attacker headed home from close range.
The Vale pegged back again,only to find themselves back in front minutes later,when, after some good work by Nathan 'give me the ball' Redwood had beaten the offside trap,squared the ball from the left edge of the opponents 6 yard box for the on rushing Peter '3 for me ' Richmond -Cole to calmly fire home.
Surely the Vale wouldnt let the lead slip again...................uhhh, as sure as eggs is eggs , yup, they did.
With a long punt down the field some calamitous defending by Al 'its mine' Plascott and Barney 'no its mine' Greenway saw the 2 Vale defenders collide and as they both fell to the floor, in true comedic style, the ball fell between them just right for the AFCB attacker to tip toe between the stricken defenders and fire past the helpless new Vale keeper.
Minutes from the end the Vale's misery was completed when an AFCB attacker forced his way through a couple of Vale tackles, found his way into the Vale penalty area,picked out a team mate who fired the winner past the despairing dive of the Vale glove man.

AFCS LOWLIGHTS............

Again,the run of bad luck (the injury to the Gaffer), the taking away of the appointed official then the stand in being 'too ill' to take charge all conspiring against the Vale and all these factors out of the Managements hands,that fickle finger of fate really dealing the Vale bum hand after bum hand.
With just a sprinkling of proper Sunday morning defending the Vale did inflict rub salt into their own wounds.

AFCS HIGHLIGHTS...........

Peter Richmond-Cole's goals keeping the Vale in games and the fact that chances are being created.
An assured performance by the new keeper.

The Vale just need a break,for lady luck to smile on the boys for once rather than scowling at them. Keep pulling together boys and the results will come.
Its not for the lack of hard work going on behind the scenes and if only for that reason the now stricken Manager surely deserves a break (no pun intended), and for the Vales luck to turn.

KEEP THE FAITH VALE # # #

UTVIAD XxXx

AFC STOURVALE RESULT & MATCH REPORT SERVICE......

AFC Stourvale 0 v 5 AFC Burns Letting.

Another week and another set of problems for the Vale Management team.With the appointed referee being 'pulled' at the 11th hour a replacement was hard to find,but find one they did.
With the team all sorted (or so they thought ). Sunday morning arrived and so did not 1 but 2 unforseen absentees. 8am the management team pulled out all the stops just to get 11 players on the field.
With the mishy mash rag tag Vale set up with square pegs in round holes and being set up to be hard to beat.With Nathan 'I can play anywhere' Redwood and 'He who cant be named' at the heart of the defence and with Barney 'rolling back the years' Greenway and Adam 'first start and MOM' Jenkins the fullbacks the AFCBL attacks were being repelled by some decent defending.On the odd occasion the defence was breached, Andy 'getting a bit too old for this' Anderson thwarted the opponents with a smart double save.
With AFCBL having the majority of the possession the midfield of Scott 'oohhh those cardigans' Parsons and Jake 'another new boy' Cuddy digging in , the Vale grew into the game and a couple of good chances fell to the 'boys up top' with Al 'you slaaag' Melly shooting over and Ali 'finding his voice' Garard coming close.
0-0 at the half a minor miracle in its self the Vale holding firm.
Into the second half and it started much the same as the previous 45 with AFCBL having all the possession ,with so much pressure, and the wide men of Chris 'yep,the Guvnor' Lane and Rhys '2nd poshest name in football' Martin-Davies unable to provide any respite,the inevitable happened. With the opponents camped in the Vale half,a perfectly flighted ball over the back four picked out the well timed run of the AFCBL attacker ,who,with a deft header found the back of the Vale net.
1-0,soon became 2-0.The attacker with the deft header showed some excellent ball control on the edge of the Vale box ( oooohhh errr missus) but , with some excellent defending by Nathan 'Ive got this' Redwood the danger seemed to have passed until the attacker had half a yard and unleashed a bobbling,pea roller of a shot which somehow squeezed under the hapless Vale keeper.
At 1-0 the Vale were up against it but still in it,however after Andy 'about time he hung the gloves up' Anderson gifted the opponents their 2nd now the mountain was of Everest proportions.
Now the flood gates were opened and 2 soon became 3. A break down the Vale right saw the AFCBL attacker broke into the penalty area and fired a shot across the box, the Vale keeper this time keeping the initial shot out, only to see the rebound fall to one of three unmarked attackers inside the six yard box to tap home.
3 soon became 4 and under relentless pressure 4 soon became 5 nil to the visitors.With the stand in MIB blowing the final whistle the Vale's nightmare second half was over.

AFCS LOWLIGHTS............

The Management team's plans being, unfortunately,thrown into chaos at 8am Sunday morning.
The capitulation in the second half,not helped by a goalkeeping blunder .

AFCS HIGHLIGHTS.........

The performance of the 'newby' Adam 'MOM' Jenkins.

If the Vale boys keep pulling in the same direction the results will surely turn in their favour .
With the tireless and thankless hard work behind the scenes of the Management team to bring in new players the Vales fortunes WILL change.

KEEP THE FAITH BOYS.

UTVIAD

AFC STOURVALE RESULT & MATCH REPORT SERVICE......

Corfe Mullen Utd Juniors 7 v 2 AFC Stourvale.

So,after a week off, The Vale were back in action against Champions elect CMUJ.Would the Vale boys have learned anything from the first meeting of the season?? After a first half to forget it really didnt seem so.
With the words of the Management 'lets make ourselves harder to beat' ringing in their ears , Vale started off encouragingly ,(at least for a couple of minutes), with a couple of attacks coming to nothing.
With a strangely subdued atmosphere and the Home team being given far too much time and space on the ball it wasnt long before the Vale defence was breached. CMUJ were passing the ball confidently and said ball found its way through to the tricky no7 (the usual tricky no9 being rested), who then found his way into the Vale penalty area to fire past the Vale keeper with pinpoint accuracy.1-0
Lesson learned???? Nope. A break down the Vale right saw a cross put into the Vale box to find an unmarked attacker all alone on the edge of the six yard box,said attacker putting head to ball to nod past the Vale keeper's valiant attempt at keeping the ball out of the net,proper Sunday morning defending. 2-0.
It was soon to be 3-0, a quick break by CMUJ down the Vale left saw Ali ' I'm gonna get him ' Garard track an attacking midfielder all the way back to the edge of his own penalty box before putting in a clumsy tackle.The ultimate punishment dealt out by the tricky no7,as his curling shot rounded the 2 man wall (of which the Vale keeper asked for a 3 man wall), evading the dive of Andy 'chocolate wrist' Anderson to nestle in the corner of the Vale net.
4 nil soon became 5 nil and with still 10 minutes of the first half still to go a drubbing was on the cards, with a little tinkering of the formation , the Vale actually started playing some good stuff,and were finishing the half strongly. This 'good stuff' culminating in a good move being finished off clinically by Peter 'still the poshest name in football' Richmond-Cole.
A half to forget for the Vale and with only pride to play for they set their stall out to stop the CMUJ onslaught.
With a bit more tinkering Vale seemed more solid with the new centre back pairing of Stephen 'thou shall not pass' Lane and Nathan ' whats that smell ' Redwood and full backs Barney ' dont shooooot' Greenway and Chris Arsene ' Lane warding off any CMUJ raids. Up front Al ' hold it up' Melly and Peter 'scored again' Richmond-Cole creating problems for the opponents.
Unfortunately they couldnt hold out, and after 15 minutes of the second half, a CMUJ attacker wriggled free in the Vale box, hitting a rasping shot goalbound, only to see the Vale keeper pull off a worldy,( in fact the Vale keeper got a hand to every shot that passed him),but the ball fell kindly for a CMUJ attacker to tuck home.
With the half almost complete,there was still time for another goal for each side,with Ali 'bags again' Garard completing the scoring with his obligatory strike.
With a bad day at the office complete,the Vale's new boys of Jake 'Im not the ginger one' Cuddy and Adam 'put the flag down you're on ' Jenkins had a baptism of fire.

AFCS LOWLIGHTS............

A poor showing in the first half and goals given away far too cheaply saw the game put out of reach before halftime.A very subdued and uncharacteristicly out of sorts Vale performance.

AFCS HIGHLIGHTS.........

The Vale kept going in the face of adversity and a decent showing in the second half added some respectability to the score.

UTVIAD # #

AFC STOURVALE RESULT & MATCH REPORT SERVICE......

The weekend saw the Vale without a match due to a mix up in fixtures.With a week off to lick their wounds it gave the management team time to review the first few games of the season.
With a strong squad assembled during pre-season,the competition for starting places could only be good for the team ,Chris 'call me Arsene' Lane and Andy 'seen it all before' Anderson were quietly confident that the Vale were looking good and could 'achieve things' this season.Now,with the season only just into its 2nd month the men in charge find themselves looking to bring in new players due to a couple of desertions.
With the transfer window now shut and Rooney and Messi opting to stay with their respective clubs ,the management team are in the hunt to bring in some loanees to bolster the squad and fill the void left by 'THE DESERTERS'.
Obviously the fight for places wasnt eveybody's cup of tea and ,in his first season at the helm,the Manager is finding keeping everyone happy a hard and thankless task. The tireless work that goes on behind the scenes that goes on un-noticed, the search for those elusive new signings continues.

AFCS LOWLIGHTS

The Deserters.

AFCS HIGHLIGHTS

Although the results havent been forthcoming, some of the football played in those games has been excellent
The attitude and commitment of the majority of the Vale squad has been excellent , keep the faith boys and the results will come.

UTVIAD # #

AFC STOURVALE RESULT & MATCH REPORT SERVICE....

Gullivers Tavern 5 v 3 AFC Stourvale

Another week,another new,unknown ,opponent in the form of Gullivers Tavern. After the exit from the cup last weekend the management team were hoping for the same comittment from the boys and hope that lady luck might smile on the Vale for a change.
A great start for the Vale who came out of the blocks looking sharp with Peter 'Im back' Richmond-Cole putting pressue on the GT 'keeper saw him rob the gloveman on the edge of the GT box,still with ' a bit to do' he slotted home with aplomb.
So with an early lead the Vale settled well, no real scares for the back 4 until a GT midfielder ,picked the ball up just in side the Vale half danced around a couple of his opponents to unleash an unstoppable bullet from 25 yards past the Vale keeper. At 1-1 the Vale still looked solid, playing some good football and creating a few chances.
A few odd decisions from the MIB (Man in black) saw GT win a throw in ,which clearly should have gone to the men in orange, from the resulting throw in GT advanced down the field and flung a ball into the Vale box,a good defensive header from the Vale skipper saw then ball fall to a GT attacker on the edge of the box, no danger there one would think, only for this attacker to fire the ball through a crowd of players and find the corner of the Vale net.
A Paolo DiCanioesque strike you will be hard pressed to see a better finish on the T.V.
Still the Vale played some good football and unlucky to be behind they went in search of an equaliser before halftime. With Peter 'poshest name in football' Richmond -Cole and Ali 'twinkle toes' Garard coming close and with a couple of long range efforts (use that word loosely) from Barney 'mind that aeroplane' Greenway.
Vale were undone by a sucker punch, with a quick GT break down the Vale left,the ball crossed into the box,with Jack 'oooooppppssss missed it' Roberts getting caught out by the flight of the ball, the GT attacker scuffed a shot past the floundering Vale keeper into the far corner. 3-1 at halftime really did flatter the Vales opponents.
With the management team of Chris 'call me Arsene' Lane and Andy 'the platypus' Anderson trying to get the Vales heads up, the Vale started the second half very well. The guys up top creating chances and Nathan 'smiley this week' Redwood marauding down the left, all that was missing was the finishing touch.
With all the action in the GT half the Vale back 4 were rarely troubled and the Vale keeper a spectator .
A couple of decent saves from the GT keeper kept the Vale at bay until Peter 'thats 2 for me ' Richmond-Cole received the ball on the half way line, beat numerous opponents and fired past the keeper from what looked like an impossible angle. The Vale back in it with the hard work paying off at last.
But, on a rare attack, a clumsy tackle in the Vale box saw the GT attacker go down and the MIB having no hesitation in pointing to the spot. With the inevitable outcome the Vale were down by 2 again.
With the Vale pushing forward GT caught them on the break again to go up 5-2.
There was still time for the Vale to score the goal of the game,with a great team move involving several members of the Vale team seeing Nathan 'slots it home' Redwood finishing brilliantly to end the scoring at 5-3.

AFCS LOWLIGHTS.

Unfortunately another defeat.

AFCS HIGHLIGHTS.

If it wasnt for the Vale being undone by 2 phenomenal strikes from the GT attackers, the Vale may well have come out on top. Attitude was spot on again and the boys never gave up. Maybe the fickle finger of fate is conspiring against the Vale, but some of the football being played by the tangerines is excellent. Keep the faith Vale.

UTVIAD.