vs St Margaret's, 7th November

The weather looked grey as the team took to the field of battle. There was an air of confidence that Alton would be the victors as St Margaret's were at the bottom of the league. Alton had their secret weapon, Harriet Edwards, playing up front, who had displayed consistently good practice in the football club. She did have a clear shoit in the early stages of the match, but this proved our only glimmer of hope, as St Margaret's routed Alton four goals to nil. St Margaret's played the better football and communicated throughout the match, whilst not a squeak was heard from Alton. Josh R deservedly was player of the match, as he had tried hard from start to finish. Hopefully with Ollie and Tom back on board, the team will show more heart against a strong Oakwood team.

vs Oakwood, 14th November

Alton travelled to Oakwood with a full strength team. The word 'communicate' was stressed more than once over the week to the team. After the initial unexpected exctiement prior to the match, everyone settled and started to play like a team. There was plenty of talk and encouragement from all the team. Crisp passing brought Matthew a clear chance, but he did not find the back of the net. A minute later, another clear chance was saved by their keeper who didn't have to move. By this time, Oakwood were defending desperately. Another chance went begging for Matt, which was half cleared, only for Tom to strike the ball away from the keeper to take Alton into the lead. These were the best ten minutes of football Alton had played all season.

The inevitable happened; Alton became complacent and found themselves 3-1 down within five minutes. The talking stopped, the heads went down, and sadly Alton, after showing what they could do, fell apart.

Tom played to his best ability and Francesca impressed the Oakwood coach, however there is a consistency that's still needed if these players are to become the team they could be. Maybe Dunhurst can help Alton next week?