Its the end of the first week of the season in St John and following a brief quiet period after the "big news" the GW is a light again.
The two new FAs "Restart FA" and "Active FA" have seen the core stronghold of active members get together. There is an invigorated transfer market and a whole new load of community spirit and Rivalry.
Ben Talbott (england) and Kai Boshka (France) look like dominating the RFA early days whilst Chick/AKA Roni (Holland) has also made an incredible start!! In the AFA GW moderator and executive chef Jay Derriman is leading the prem and looking to hold off the growing challenge of the mighty Geordies United.
Expect more updates on league progression and awards as the season progresses including a short piece on the upcoming New Years Tournament.
So here we are for the main cup of the UFFA season for the winners of the Gold, Silver, Cup Winners', Grassroots and Gameworld Cups. Only the best teams of every competition get into to this competition. And what a final we have here today, the world famous team CFC FC vs. Another world famous team Tatran Stresovice. If I had to choose who I thought would win this match today I would have to put my money on CFC FC having the edge going into the match. Everyone knows that CFC FC have the ability to crush any team in the Gameworld and I doubt they would stop that "tradition" today.
So here come the 22 players out from the SI Towers Tunnel. Tatran seem to be in deep though , they know they can win this game, if they remain tight at the back and strong further up the pitch, but they can they handle the pressure that CFC will throw at them? We will see....
So the whistle is blown and Tatran Stresovice kicks off, setting a quick eager tempo on the game trying to grab that early goal. Looking at the first few minutes it's obvious that Tatran have been told to put pressure on the CFC midfield and try and grab an early goal as they decide not to make chances and just keep the ball around the centre of the field. If CFCs' midfield makes a mistake then Tatran can push up and get a goal scoring opportunity. It only takes just under 20 minutes to get the first goal of the game, after a mistake header from Cristian Zapata that goes into his own net, Tatran are giving the first goal of the game and undoubtedly the advantage. On the 33rd minute disaster strikes, World Class striker Benzema is injured and is forced to be substituted, disaster for Tatran as he is one of their main men. Without Benzema Tatran are becoming sloppy in midfield giving away chances in the midfield too easily and in the 2nd minute of injury time of the first half, CFC make them pay, after CFC's free kick hits the wall. Zapata crosses it into the box and World Class youth Nelson hits a deflected shot into the back of the net to bring the score to 1-1.
Second half with CFC on the attack. Clearly the Tatran manager wasn't happy with his team at half time as when they came back out they seemed angered which affected their performance, conceding many free kicks and gaining many yellow cards, they need to calm down if they want any chance of winning this match. The rest of the second half was a bore with rarely any chances for either side, but then on the 82nd minute, arguably one of CFCs' best players Alejandro Pelayo strikes from just inside the box into the bottom right corner which gives CFC FC the lead, 2-1, the goal is almost certainly the winning goal. And it is , the full time whistle is blown , CFC FC have won it so late in the game, Tatran put up a good fight but in the end their can only be one winner and that winner is CFC FC.
So up goes CFC to collect the Super Cup Trophy, fireworks and music everywhere with confetti flying all around the pitch, this is a true way to celebrate a cup win. So that's the Super Cup for this season, I wish CFC and Tatran all the best through the rest of the season. Can CFC FC retain their title next season? Who knows we'll have to find out!
So here we are this is it, the match you had all been waiting for, the St John Game World Cup Final. Both teams have been through a lot to get this far, beating team after team after team just to play this one match to show that they have the best team in St John. The two teams are Alan Hunters Dundee City and Emil Alexandersson Flanders Angels. If I had to choose who I thought would come out victorious. I put would my money on Flanders just taking it, being able to breeze through a world class team like CFC FC must mean something. They got the hardest games of the tournament but didn’t let themselves fail and now here they are, in the final.
So here come the teams at the Super Admin Stadium 10, both teams eyes fixated on the trophy half way up the stand, both captains knowing that they could be lifting that trophy today. After the usual national anthems and general service announcement the teams are ready with Dundee to kick off.
Dundee kick off and all ready it’s obvious they’ve been told to grab and early goal to make it much easier for them as they have most of their team up field trying to score, but Flanders are having none of it and foil any attempt on goal with perfect defending. 10th minute and Flanders have possession in the oppositions half with their first long range shot of the game is saved and it goes out for the corner. Claudinho smacks the corner to the near post with Leo trying to grab a sneaky shot but changed his mind and decides to play it outside of the box, and with a spectacular right foot shot from World Famous Attacking Midfielder, Miguel De las Cuevas, scores in the top corner and gives Flanders the lead. Once the goal was scored, the tactics seemed to swap around, Dundee had gone for a more defensive approach, presumably to stop more goals being scored and hoping for a sneaky counter attack to level the score, whereas Flanders were on a more attacking approach, hoping to increase their lead to guarantee them a win.
The rest of the match wasn’t very exciting, with the conflicting tactics the ball was very much around the centre circle for most the game with no action, which the fans were clearly noticing by the booing that was going on around the entire stadium, with the score at 1-0 on the 60th minute, it seems that Alan had told his team to get stuck in, as all of a sudden they were getting right into the Flanders players, but a little too much, with many yellow cards being given out for poor tackles, whatever Alan tried to save his team, it wasn’t good enough, the full time whistle, Dundee City 0- Flanders Angels – 1.
About 15 minutes after the match had ended, the ceremonial stand had been put up in the centre circle, and with the stand of ovation from the fans, they went out to collect their runners up medals, unlucky to them, they had played well during the whole game, but Flanders were always that little bit better, and performance on the day is what counts. But then the real cheering starting, out came Flanders Angels, the hero of the game Miguel De las Cuevas, will be claiming the cup for them, one by one they pick up their medals and then in a small moment silence, Miguel lifts the trophy well above his head and the noise that was coming from the fans was almost unbearable, they really were proud of their team and so they should be, they’ve played incredibly well over the competition and if they had let their guard down, CFC would have been in the final and it would of most likely ended in a 1 sided boring game.
Well done to Flanders Angels for winning, see if they can produce a second win next season.
So that’s all the reports for this season, thanks to everyone for all your support and messages, hope to see more people enjoying these next season.
On Tuesday night i caught up with possibly the most genuine managers in the St John GW, "Gary Dham 11 Williams" to have a chat with himself and also to ask him some questions about his exploits in St John,
Ok first thing Gary i would just like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy life to talk to me( I know the other half is away lol) "Np at all, but she's got alot of ironing to come back to so i may be on 24/7 yet another night yet, dog needs food too shes been away nearly a month"
At this Stage Gary was afraid the RSPCA where watching this post, he was very nervous, but that was not the least of his worries as he went on to tell me "since she has been away and this is no joke either, i smashed her best lamp, flooded the bathroom, killed most of her flowers, dog thinks a walk is up and down the stairs every few hours, the cat is nervous as the dog is hungry and ive got stale milk in the fridge and not to mention the take aways and cans in the bin" At this moment in time i would like to mention to our women readers DONT LEAVE MEN HOME ALONE LOL,
I had a little chat with gary about his recent Community manager of the season award, Gary was aprreciated all the votes he got for the award and that he was happy to be up there for the last four season but what Gary also told me we need to relly look after the new people who join St John, to help them join in in the community and to help them as much as possible, one thing Gary has been very helpful with and that is why i think he deserved the Community award.
At the moment Gary you are playinging in the AEFA Fa, How has the season been going so far? "At the moment it is Medioka as expected, however every season i have moved up and not down at the end of the season so i am hoping this season is no different, My team has never gone backwards yet so mid table above 13 is Garys projection, anywhere from 12th or above i will be happy" "But a few people tipped me for relagation so i aim to prove these people wrong"
I asked Gary what the main aim for the season was apart from finishing in 12th or above in the league. "We need to win another major cup, we have won one already so far, got two semi finals to play and a quarter, now if we manage one more cup and above 12th then that would be a very good achievement also before this season Durham Eleven hadnt won anything.
Gary during the season you had a major clearout of players and brought in plenty of new faces, how has this affected your team and moral? "Well it was needed, i had some problems in the prem with about four positions, The championship was ok but we all have to up our mark,so it was always going to happen that i would replace the week side, end of last season we managed to stay in the prem with the buy of two good quality players, this season was more or less the same untill kick off, more weekness due to age, so we brought in a couple of first teamers and placed the weeker ones on the bench and im happy so far"
I asked gary what the long term goals are for Durham Eleven" Gary told me he takes one season at a time and he aims to stay in the prem and keep moving up the league and that he was going nowhere from the AEFA and he was very happy where he is, "If its not broke dont fix it i say"
Gary would you like to one day try your hand at becoming an FA Org? " I have taught about it but my main focus is on my team and on my players at the moment and i could not commit to other duties with my responsibilites".
I wanted to know what Garys Favourite moment has been so far, "I have a few moments that i can pick but my main one at the moment is winning the AEFA Daily trophy" Gary had some memorable moments in this trophy especialy the 2.0 win over Ben Talbotts Last Minute Wanderers, also gary picked out his American Goalkeeper Brad Guzan as his star performer in the cup that "Old dont mean not good enough" 10 million might tempt him to sell though, oh Matt Case where are you now lol.
One last thing Gary told me before we wrapped up that the choice of name for his team is because he comes from a town in Durham between Newcastle and Sunderland that had no footie team so he wanted to create something that Durham never had, "awh Bless him" lol
That Concludes My interview with Gary Williams, "Gary i wishyou all the best with your league and cup games for the season mate and lets get your hands on that 2nd cup"
"Thank you very much Barry, I appreciate your time too mate, all the best".
Hello folks, Barry has got his hands on the blog, i will be writing about alot of things in the future, some of the happenings in St John and also catching up with managers in the GW, if there is anything anyone wants me to talk about give me a shout in game or you can mail me at barryokelly84@gmail .com, looking forward to writing and hope it can be fun for everyone,
Another season of heartache ,joy,tears and disapointment is upon is the season 8 of AEFA ST JOHN
PREMIERSHIP
Last season`s champions LAST MINUTE WANDERERS will again take some beating and will look to hold onto their newly won crown.They will as usual face very stiff competition from 5 times former champions FLANDERS ANGELS,who will do all they can to wrestle the title back to their trophy cabinet.The bookies favs are UPPSALA GUNNERS who with the star studed team they have slapped together may well take the titel this season
CHAMPIONSHIP
Always a tough division to get out of in fm live and this is no different. New side SAMA UNITED are clear favourites though and will takea lot of beating to keep them away from the premiership in season 9.PORTO WINE FC will also be a strong sode and look for top 3 finish as will the very strong THE NOIRS and STAYTON AFC
AEFA DIV 1
Always a cracking dividion and this season will be closer than possibly ever including last seasons last minute title win.ANOTHER WASTED CORNER AND JUMBO FC look very strong for top 3 placing come end of the season as do MCTEEZY CITY and RUFFHEATH RANGER
Again this will be a tough season for all teams and will no doubt go right down to the wire as in previous seasons
