From Syria to Stars

by
No comments yet

helal-2Continental Star was founded 40 years ago to create opportunities for those marginalised by life’s circumstances who longed to exhibit their football skills at grassroots level and beyond, and the latest addition to the fold is no different.

Helal Albaarini arrived at Continental Star via his home land of Syria, with limited spoken English, but was able to communicate with the manager using Arabic.  Football is a universal language and it hasn’t taken Helal long to settle in at Star and he has quickly begun to pick up some of the football parlance, along with the local colloquial terms used by today’s youths.

Helal is a popular member of the squad and all those at CSFC wish him well for the future.

 

 

 

(Click image to see interview).

Thoughts from the dugout

by
No comments yet

We lost 2-1 after a very slow start. Despite finding ourselves deservedly 1 nil down and being under constant pressure and a string of good saved from Jordon we showed character and deservedly went in 1-1 at halftime with us in control and settled into a rhythm. We felt the game was there for the taking in the second half and frustrated the opposition and controlled the game. However a lapse in concentration where we gave their striker too much room on the edge of the area and were punished by a clinical finish. We then pressed higher up the pitch in search of an equaliser. However we panicked and anxiously snatched at the number of chances we fashioned for ourselves. All in all a disappointing result with plenty of positives to build on.

Report by: H. Collins

 

Bank holiday blues

by
No comments yet

image

Star’s search for their first league win of the season continues.  Two stunning free-kicks either side of the half, converted by Wulfrunians’ number 10 put the home side into the a comfortable lead that they never looked like losing, even after the aforementioned player was sent off for a deliberate stamp on Star’s keeper.

Star huffed and puffed but allowed the opposition to dictate the pace of the game, even when they went a man down.  Several changes to personnel were made by Star, and this didn’t help matters. But Star’s players have to become more clinical in front of goals, if they are going to begin to to turn things around.

Wulfrunians 2 v Star 1

Star run out of steam.

by
No comments yet

image

Star’s FA cup journey came to an abrupt end today as they visited Newcastle Town.
Star were without some of their key players, and in fact the entire back four were playing together for the first time, and it showed at times. Jordan, returned in goal and kept Star in the game with a series of fantastic saves. However, Star ran out of steam and began to give Newcastle far too much time and space; Newcastle duly took advantage of Star’s generosity and rapped up the game early in the second half when they scored from a counter attack.
Star have some talented youngsters who will need time to bed in, and the support of the senior players. But football can be a cruel game at times and these youngsters may need to grow up fast.
Newcastle Town 4 v Star 0

Former player shines

by
No comments yet

image

Star visited newly promoted side, Sporting Khalsa in Star’s 3rd league game of the season. Both teams started slowly, but it didn’t take long for the home side to take the lead from a set piece that Star should have easily dealt with.

Sporting continued to have the bulk of the play without really threatening Star’s goal whilst Star tried to play on the counter  attack, though most of the attacks petered out in the last third. Star managed to keep the game tight even though they lost their captain to injury, 10 minutes before the break.

Football is a game of two halves, is a football cliche, but this was truly one such occasion. Continental Star old boy, Stardom, who had been relatively quiet in the first half came to life, and for the first 20 minutes of the second half, Star could not cope with him; this resulted in Stardom setting up two goals, that effectively ended the game as a contest.

It is often during the challenging times that the men are sorted from the boys.

FA cup replay

by
No comments yet

image

Stars looked comfortable at half time as they went in two goals up, both scored by former u18s captain, Harvey.  Stars took their foot off the pedal in the second half and like on Sunday they allowed Bolehall back into the game. Bolehill pushed for the equaliser and squirmed some good chances until Reidy broke on the counter to score his fourth goal in four games.
The magic of the FA cup continues.