Match Report: U8 Colts v Herne Bay Wanderers

Well done to the Under 8 Colts for a great all round team performance against Herne Bay Wanderers at The Whitstable School.

Harry earned the parents’ player of the match for a fine hat trick, with Teddy scoring a fine goal after a strong run through the middle.

Pictured are the two other recipients of match day awards. Logan (pictured right) received coach’s player of the match for his two assists and dependable goalkeeper Evan (pictured left) received the newly introduced award for the player who has had the most fun...his reward being a squeaky chicken!

- Mark

Match Report: U12G v Herne Bay Youth

Confidence is a funny intangible thing. It can be the difference between two evenly matched teams.

Togetherness and hard work has never been lacking from this Rising Stars team but over recent weeks they have endured “dents” to their confidence and self-belief.

To their credit, coaches Neil and Loz have worked tirelessly to divert the girls’ attention from the results and rather focus on the positives and fix the areas that have led to negative outcomes.

This Sunday saw all this hard work pay off with the visit of local rivals, Herne Bay Youth.

The game started briskly with the momentum very quickly in Risers’ favour and it become apparent to our opposition that they would need to reshape their team in order to deal with the pace of Lexi and Sydney up front.

In midfield Madison, Scarlett, Lorea, Lizzie, Ella M and Nancy all heeded the advice of Neil and took time to pick the right pass. “Calm, Calm” was the instruction from the technical area, and calm they were.

Patrolling the defence were Ella D and Izzy who had the measure of the opponent’s depleted attack - depleted due to the reshuffle to deal with our dominance in the attacking third.

The breakthrough came early in the first half when Lexi latched onto a through ball and slotted home comfortably from 10 yards. The “confidence switch” flipped from low to high and familiar smiles and passages of play returned instantly to our team’s play.

All the team played their hearts out for the entire game and Ella M and Sydney added to the score as the game progressed.

The most notable part of this performance was the game management. The team, even when faced with the onrushing claret opposition, maintained their composure and stuck to the task.

Bethan had another great game in goal helping to ensure we kept a clean sheet.

Both sets of supporters enjoyed the spectacle and this was another example of the progress all players have made over the past two years.

Final score Rising Stars 3-0 Herne Bay Youth

- Carl

Match Report: U11 Colts v Whitstable Town

Always a challenge with half term availability. With only 6 players available from our U11 Colts squad, we were very grateful to call in players from 3 other Riser teams to play a strong Whitstable Town side. Right from the first whistle the players were fully committed against a very physical Whitstable team and focussed on our challenges to keep possession and transition phases.

We went into the break a goal down at half time with Eloise being our main attacking threat. Josh did a fantastic job in breaking down Whitstable attacks sitting in front of our defence. Sully continued to press their defence, whilst Charlie, Liam and Jack worked tirelessly to keep a strong Whitstable forward line at bay, as too Max who had an excellent game in goal. Risers started the the better of the two teams in the 2nd half, applying more and more pressure in the final third. From a defensive clearance from Whitstable, Archie spotted the goal keeper off his line and lobbed him, only for Whitstable to score the winner in the final minute of the game. Player of the match was Eloise, with Challenges player of the match being Jack.

Today was a great example for our club of what strength we have in depth, with a mixture of boys and girls from both U10 and U11’s ensuring the club put a strong side out. Big thank you to Oliver, Louie, Eloise, James, Sully and Liam. As coach, I was very proud of the football they played and shear determination to work together.

- Angus

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Match Report: U12G v Anchorian Hearts

Rising Stars welcomed a familiar foe to their home ground this weekend and knew that this was going to be a tough morning.

Anchorians, still rocked by losing their own tournament to our team in the summer, arrived with a huge squad of players, staff and supporters and were visibly expecting a tight match.

The conditions were tough and with a couple of players out our team found it hard to keep our opponents out and were 3-0 down by half time.

The second half was a lot closer with Risers having multiple opportunities to claw the game back but the luck of the bounce simply wasn’t with us this weekend.

Coach Neil explained to the team after the match that he was very proud of their endeavour and resilience and that it was important to learn how to be defeated with grace and show good sportsmanship. Our team have these qualities in abundance and we have no doubt that they will continue to train hard and bounce back in their next game.

Final score Rising Stars 0 - 4 Anchorian Hearts

- Carl

Match Report: U8's v Kennington

Last week the Rising Stars under 8s were in action in a tough home game against a hard working Kennington side.

The Risers started brightly, flying out of the blocks and were soon rewarded with goals from Miles, Henry and Albert. Kennington battled hard and by half time found themselves back in contention having pulled 2 goals back.

A steady start to the second half saw some good Kennington play dealt with well, some excellent defensive work from Seb and top saves from the ever reliable Charlie keeping them at bay.

Risers extended their lead through Josh before Kennington pulled another back.

The Stars continues to battle and then started to turn on the style, Albert and Henry finding the net once again. Then... it was time for the Zak attack!

Risers second half domination was rounded off by a superb 5 minute hat-trick from Zak. This included a couple of very nice strikes from long range.

All in all a very solid performance all round from the Riser lads who all played a big role in the outcome.

- Tom

Match Report: U12 Girls v Thanet Colts

At this stage in the season it can be tempting to glance at the league table in order to make predictions about the outcome of the weekend fixture but this would have proven to be a massive injustice against our hosts, Thanet Colts, this Sunday.

With the Chairman looking on, our team set about their task with the usual incandescence and were ahead after a 20m strike from the right boot of Madison. Once again Risers pressed hard and should have added to their tally on several occasions but were met with resilient defending, particularly by our host’s captain who regularly found row ‘z’ with her ‘safety first’ clearances.

We were then stunned when Thanet drew level after Risers failed to clear their lines but this was short lived as a well worked goal from Izzy allowed us to regain the lead.

Ella M added a third early in the second half but the breathing space was halved when Thanet’s No. 2 scored an excellent diagonal individual effort from outside of the box.

Ten nervy minutes followed but Risers were able to hold on to the lead and register another 3 points for the season.

The whole team played well in tricky conditions and we were left feeling that this Thanet Colts team could well begin to register points if they continue in this ilk.

Final score Thanet Colts 2-3 Rising Stars

Carl

Match Report: U10's v East Kent Youth League Festival

Rising Stars U10s moved confidently into the knockout stages of the East Kent Youth League Festival Cup after finishing unbeaten in their three games to top their group at Baypoint Sports Club on Saturday.

Steve and Mark’s side started quickly on the front foot in their first game against St Margaret’s Colts, spreading the ball wide quickly at every opportunity. Lucas’s goal gave them a half time lead and he doubled his and Risers’ tally after the break smashing home a shot via the underside of the bar. Liam, who is always a threat at set pieces, poked home the third from close range following a corner.

The second match against Margate Youth was a tighter affair but Risers got a deserved winner thanks to Jake’s deflected shot. Knowing a point from their final game against Marsham Colts would be good enough to advance as group winners, Ethan and Roman ensured defensively Risers looked solid and compact in what was a very tight encounter. Kieran was called into action in the second half to make a great save and Lucas was unlucky not to grab a winner.

Sully prove a handful all afternoon for opposition defenders while Freddie impressed with some nice touches, passes and movement in central midfield.

- Mark

Match Report: U8 Colts v Herne Bay Wanderers

Rising Stars U8s Colts were involved in another tight encounter with Herne Bay Wanderers for the second consecutive Saturday but unfortunately yet again lost out by the one goal despite a great team effort.

In windy conditions, Risers went behind just before half time from a corner and then conceded again just after the break. But the team responded well and started to show glimpses of the hard work they have been displaying in training, working on their shape and positioning. Harry was involved in much of the good play Risers were now producing, with Spencer driving the team forward from midfield and Teddy and Fraser looking to get the ball forward down the wings.

Eventually they started putting some passes together and were rewarded for their determination when Logan scored a well deserved (and overdue!) goal from a corner, showing great strength to hold off defenders.

Bobby, as always, worked hard for the team chasing down every ball and Evan, after making some important saves in goal, was put up front to help in search of the equaliser and was unlucky not to grab a late goal when through on goal.

- Mark