News

Beds Mini Soccer League U10 Division 4
Eastcotts 0 BPR 3 - CHAMPIONS!

A win guaranteed us winning the league putting us 4 points ahead of Dunstable Colts who still have one game remaining. We started well with no signs of the nervousness that affected us in the previous game and some neat play lead to us going one up when Jay slotted past the keeper from inside the area. Our defence was solid and Eastcotts could only muster a few half chances before Jay found the back of the net again after good work from Hudson.

2-0 at half time and a few changes were made and Eastcotts had to try to get back in the game. This left them open to counter attack and Jennings went close twice before Green skipped through their defence and powered in a third. That's how it stayed and the final whistle was greeted by celebrations from players, parents and coaches. Man of the Match was Johnson. A fantastic achievement from the boys who haven't lost since November but haven't been turning teams over by 20 odd goals likewise. They have been competitive and in some games the edge we had was teamwork. Here's to more of the same next year when we step up to 11 a side.

Report by Marcus Jennings
Manager BPR U10s

Club Officers & Managers Stepping Down

A number of Club Officers and Managers will be stepping down at the end of the 2009/10 season. I am stepping down as the U12 Bobcats Manager, as well as Club Registration Secretary and Web Site Co-ordinator. Originally I had decided to step down completely, however since the Bobcats will be continuing under new parent/manager Bryan Kvilums, I have agreed to stay on as Treasurer and Tournament Secretary.
My wife, Helen, will be handing over the Club Welfare officer duties during the 2010/11 season, as it's a bit of an involved process. The candidate for the position is current Charter Standard Officer, Nikki Sangster. Her husband, Steve, will hopefully be taking over the Web Site Co-ordination. U11 Manager Craig Phillips has put himself forward as Registration Secretary.
U15 Tomcats Manager, Ray McAuley, is stepping down, as is U16s Manager Simon Lowe and U17s Manager Trevor Bennett. In each case there are potential candidates to take the teams on into season 2010/11.

Kevan Clark
Club Treasurer, Registration Secretary, Tournament Secretary & Web Site Co-ordinator

2009/10 Season Round-Up (to 30th April)

With the harsh winter having had such a major impact on fixtures earlier in the year, several BPR teams still have fixtures well into May. In a challenging first season for the U9s, having been put into Division 2 of the Bedfordshire Mini Soccer League of a 3 Division structure, it turned to probably a division too high. With 2 wins and 2 draws from their 18 matches, they find themselves in last place in the table. Having said that, one of the victories came against Sandy Colts who finished fourth in the table, so lots of positive signs for next season.

The U10s have been covered on the News page, so moving onto the U11s, playing their first 11-a-side season in the Chiltern Youth Football League, in Division 4. BPR have finished the season in 6th place, having picked up 4pts from their last two matches to finish with a record of 8 wins, 1 draw and 9 defeats. They will be looking to build on this next season.

In U12 Division 3 of the Chiltern Youth Football League, the Alleycats have now secured at least runners-up spot, having completed all of their fixtures. They currently sit level with Markyate Youth at the top of the division on 52pts, however, Markyate still have two games remaining. Well done to all the Alleycat players on an excellent season, having lost only 4 out of 22 matches, and to manager Raymond Jeffers. Staying in the same league, BPR U12 Sabres, in their first 11-a-side season, finished in a very creditable 4th place in Division 5 following the victory over Langford Youth A in their final game, giving them a season's record of 7 wins, 2 draws and 7 defeats.

In the Milton Keynes & Border Counties Youth Football League, BPR U12 Bobcats are currently third in Division 2, with two games remaining. Whilst the title is now mathematically impossible, due to recent results, the runners-up spot is still up for grabs. The Bobcats and 2pts behind Preston Gawcott who only have one game remaining. Both the Bobcats & Preston have to play league winners Newport Pagnell, so providing BPR match Gawcotts result in those fixtures and win their final game of the season at Willen, they will secure 2nd place.

Back to the Chiltern Youth Football League, and this time it's BPR U13 Lions, who have had their most successful season to date. With 8 wins, 1 draw and 9 defeats, the Lions finished in sixth place in Division 5. In Milton Keynes & Border Counties Youth Football League U13 Division 2, BPR have had a tough season, but finished with a 3-0 home victory over Brackley Athletic. This left them with a record of 3 wins and 15 defeats, and they found themselves at the foot of the table. Again in the MK League, the U15 Tomcats have one game remaining in Division 2. A victory at home to Woodside on Sunday 16th May is unlikely to see them improve on their current 8th place in the 11 team division. One division below them sees the BPR U15 Tigers who, following defeat in their last game of the season at Leighton Corinthian, have finished in 6th position. Their final league record being 8 wins, 3 draws and 7 defeats.

BPR U16 Leopards have completed all their fixtures in Chiltern Youth Football League Division 2. With a record of 11 wins and 11 defeats they are currently in fourth place in the table, but the five teams below still have matches to play and can still catch the Leopards. The U17s we covered on the Home page, so we turn our attention to the first ever season of the BPR Senior side in the Bedfordshire County Football League. With a large majority of the players having just stepped up from youth football, the first half of the season proved very difficult against well established senior sides. With only one victory from their first fourteen matches, we saw the arrival of some older more experienced players into the squad. This had a major impact with 3 wins coming from the last 6 matches. Unfortunately an expected victory by Kempston Athletic in their last match saw BPR finish bottom of the table.

Kevan Clark
Web Site Co-ordinator

Match Reports

Sunday 9th May
Chiltern Youth Football League U10 Division 4 Wilstead Harriers 2 BPR 2

Going into this game with the winner taking the 4th place, Champions League! We had a full strength team with everyone fit and ready to go! We were encouraged when Wilstead turned up with only 10 players!

The game started well for both teams and we played some lovely football. Our persistence paid off and we scored through Langford with a simple cross across goal and unmarked it was passed into the back of the net. 1-0 up and looking comfortable! We then stopped playing our football and were forced into making a change when our goalkeeper picked up a knee injury and our goal scorer turned into our emergency goalkeeper! 1-0 at half-time!

The second half began with us again not making the simple pass and this went against us when they scored with a thumping strike across the keeper, not many would have saved it. This woke us up and we started to play some beautiful football, passing and moving across the pitch, it was a delight to watch. This hard work paid off and we made another break through with Newell coolly finishing after a long goal kick from Langford managed to find its way through the Wilstead players.

We pressed for another and couldn't find the goal which would surely kill the game off. There was another goal but unfortunately it went against us. A great mazey run from one of their players who managed to poke the ball past our keeper. 2-2 and all to play for with 15 minutes left. This is where we dominated, we were throwing everything we had at them, even the kitchen sink, but just couldn't find the back of the net. So, this is how it ended, 2-2. Our boys exhausted, theirs thrilled. Fantastic game with great football all round.

Report by Craig Phillips
Manager BPR U11s

Milton Keynes & Border Counties League U12 Division 2
BPR Bobcats 7 Southside United 1

We kept our chances of finishing runners-up alive with what turned out to be a comprehensive 7-1 home victory over Southside United this morning. In an indifferent first half, the Bobcats looked half asleep. Alfieri gave us the lead after 14 minutes but we were shocked when Southside equalized after 20 minutes. Leading scorer, A Dembicki, who started as a sub, was brought on before we re-started and put us back in front in the 26th minute.

An early penalty in the second half saw Alfieri bag his second after 34 minutes and seemed to break the visitor's spirit a bit. Still Southside battled gamely but it was becoming one-way traffic. Gordon, taken off after 20 minutes of the first came back on in central midfield after 41 minutes and took control of the game. He was rewarded with a goal in the 46th minute and bagged another 5 minutes later. Hanlon took one off of Kvilums' foot close in on 58 minutes to make it 6-1 and an own goal in the last minute rounded off the scoring.

Whilst we had the scare in the first half when they equalized, we thought the score-line was never really in doubt when you take into account we hit the frame of the goal 7 times in the match, 5 in the first half and twice in the second.

Kevan Clark
Manager U12 Bobcats