Too good for Lye Town

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Today’s Bank Holiday kick off saw Star host newly promoted side, Lye Town who have had a very strong start to the Midland Football League premier division.  Star started the game very strongly moving the ball from right to left trying to find gaps in the Lye defence; Ibrahim Benjamin playing a key role in every single attack.  The strong start showed when Ibrahim Benjamin linked up with Star’s striker Daniel Elwell on the edge of the box, Elwell then played a dangerous ball across for Darren Green who showed great determination to get to the ball, to tap home on 4 minutes, 1 v 0.

Star kept the ball very well and had another opportunity shortly after the goal when Modou Jara played a pass right into Daniel Elwell’s feet, he twisted and turned to get his low driven shot away.  After 10 minutes wide man Garfield Robinson picked up the ball and ran at his opposite number before hitting a left footed shot which the keeper was unable to prevent from going in. 2 v 0.  Star continued to play some nice flowing football, keeping Lye on the back foot and forcing them to defend.  Good link up play between Ibrahim Benjamin and Garfield Robinson saw Daniel Elwell go one on one with the keeper, only for the keeper to pull off a great save to stop the Star’s front man making it 3 v 0.  Lye attacked Star when their wide man floated in a cross which was knocked into the path of their centre midfielder who made it 2 v 1 after 26 minutes.

However, just before half time Star’a right-back, Ruben Wilson, made a good run down the line for Modou Jara to float a great pass to his feet, he hit the by line and pulled the ball back into the path of oncoming Darren Green who hit a first time shot that was saved by the Lye keeper.  Not long after Ruben Wilson once again picked up the ball pulling it back to Darren Green for the 2nd time whose shot was blocked this time by the opposition’s defender.

 

HT: CSFC 2  v LYE TOWN 1

 

The second half Star came out and played the same way as they had played for most of the first half; maintaining possession and trying to find gaps in the Lye defence.  Again Star created a good opportunity when wide man Darren Green picked up the ball on the half way line, beating 3 players to go one on one with the keeper, who was rooted to his spot, when Green’s left footed shot went pass him but unluckily for Star, it hit the post and rebounded into the keeper’s hands.  Star kept the ball really well but did not really test the keeper in the 2nd half, but we held onto the lead and got the 3 points which were well deserved.

 

FT: CSFC 2 v LYE TOWN 1

 

Report by: Hameedh 25/08/14

FA cup woe

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Smudger FA.jpgToday’s game saw CSFC travel to Shropshire to face Shawbury United FC in a FA Cup extra preliminary round game.  Once again Star started off very slow, failing to string together any passes; we didn’t manage to attack the opposition in our normal fluid way.

It wasn’t long before our poor start was punished.  In the 9th minute the Shawbury Utd right-back swung in a cross that landed at the feet of their number 8, who calmly hit the ball into the bottom right hand corner of Jordan Ellis’ goal mouth.  Despite conceding we still didn’t pick our game up and the frustration was shown just before the half hour mark when CSFC central midfielder, Aaron Evans failed to control the ball and jumped into an unnecessary challenge on the edge of the opposition’s box; the challenge was so bad that the referee had no other option than to show him a straight red.

Star finally picked up their game after the sending off (and the subsequent delay for the treatment to the injured player).  We managed to begin to attack the Shawbury defence, as we kept pressing and pressing.  This pressure finally paid off; good wide play from left-back, Anton Caines-Powell, ended with a low driven cross that was met by centre forward, Danico Johnson, whose first time shot rebounded off the keeper and into the path of Ricardo Swaby, who slid in and equalised on the stroke of Half Time.

HT: Shawbury United 1 v CSFC 1

We started the 2nd half positively dominating the game playing from right to left and creating good opportunities to grab the lead.  However, Shawbury, with a full complement of players were satisfied to sit back and try and hit us on the counter.

Star had a very good chance half way through the 2nd half when left back Anton Caines-Powell played a one two on the edge of the box with wide man Garfield Robinson and again Caines-Powell drove a low cross right through the six yard box that nobody in a Star’s shirt gambled on.  Star would regret their missed chances as they were punished 5 minutes from time, when Star’s defenders Tom Hurdman and Ruben Wilson were left 2 on 2 at the back and a low cross was latched onto by their number 10 (who looked yards offside); he calmly scored with a clinical finish.

FT: Shawbury United 2 v CSFC 1

Report by: Hameed 16/08/14

Walsall Wood set piece beats Star

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Bouncing_ball Tonight’s late kick off saw Star host neighbours Walsall Wood, a team that in recent times we have struggled to beat.  Star started very quickly, scoring within the opening 5 minutes when in-form wide man, Garfield Robinson, skipped pass three defenders and in doing so he slipped on the edge of the D; hitting a curling shot into the top right hand corner.  Star were buoyed by this and slowly began to dominate the game.

HT: CSFC 1 v WALSALL WOOD 0 

The 2nd half Star took their foot of the pedal, conceding from a set-piece in the 51st minute.  There wasn’t very much action in the 2nd half from Star and 15 minutes after conceding the equaliser to Walsall Wood they conceded again on 66 minutes; an identical goal from a set-piece again.

Star’s luck had totally deserted them as they spurned three good chances to equalise and when attacking player, Carlos Thompson, won a penalty with 10 minutes left the referee overturned his original decision once he noticed the linesman’s off-side flag.  In the closing stages of such a close encounter wide man Ricardo Swaby hit the by-line pulling back a very good ball to substitute Danico Johnson who came close but could not get the equaliser for Star.

FT: CSFC 1 v WALSALL WOOD 2

Report by: Hameedh 13/08/14

A well earned point at Dunkirk

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Today Continental Star first team played out a well deserved 2-2 draw away to Midland Football League Premier Division opposition, Dunkirk.

First Half: Star started off slowly conceding within the opening 15 minutes due to an error of judgement from goalkeeper, Jordan Ellis, who made a mistake on a Dunkirk cross into the box and was promptly punished. Shortly after, Dunkirk added a second after great link up play from their two front men. However, Dunkirk didn’t have things all their way and Star created enough chances in the first half to have gone in on level terms.

HT: DUNKIRK 2 v CSFC 0

Unlike the first half, Star came out and started really well, playing some good attacking football; their efforts were rewarded in the 46th minute after a miss hit shot by midfielder Aaron Evans dropped to Darren Green who calmly controlled the ball on his chest before slotting the ball into the bottom right corner pass the hapless keeper. Dunkirk were visibly rocked by this and Star sensing this and began to apply the pressure. The majority of the second half was dominated by Star, with Dunkirk satisfied with trying to hit them on the counter attack. Star, aware of this threat continued to play some really good football, constantly pushing for that equaliser.

With 15 minutes to play, all that attacking football finally led to a well deserved equalising goal when left sided midfielder, Garfield Robinson, cut inside and hit a low driven shot that the Dunkirk keeper only managed to parry into the path of right sided midfielder, Darren Green, who put away his 2nd goal of the match and Star’s equaliser. In the dying embers of the game, Star’s keeper, Jason Ellis, redeemed his earlier mistake with a point blank save from a rare Dunkirk counter attack. Star kept pushing for the winner which unfortunately didn’t come.

A well earned point, given the poor start to the game.

Report by: Hameed 08/08/14

u11s beat Sutton

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Sutton united 1
Continental star 2

Today stars entertained 4th placed sutton united fc and was by far our toughest game this season.

The game started like a basketball match and was end to end with both teams missing chances.we took the lead when micheal was brought down just outside the box.and javone stepped up and curled it into the top corner.1-0 stars.

With our tails up we quickly scored the second after hassan jinked past 2 players and the chipped the ball over the keeper.2-0 half time.

Second half sutton dominated the early possesion and were rewarded when there number 7 took a long range shot and our keeper fumbled it and ended up in the goal.

Credit to sutton they didnt give up and constantly attacked us.but our defence stood strong.

Well done to the boys.

Report by: Michael Anthony

U9s 1st game

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U9’s in Walsall League, first match was against Beacon Lions who they lost 3-2 in the final of a tournament a few weeks ago. The boys played exceptional today and final score was 3-0 with goals from Adriano, a beautiful free kick from Jedale and first goal of the season for Rui, which was so well deserved.

Second match was against Lane Head Tigers, the lads started off well although after several substitutions a goal was conceded and unfortunately they could not come back from this, final score 1-0 loss.

Well done to Christian who took a few hard knocks at the back today but got up, shook himself off and got straight back in there.

Well done lads, keep up the hard work.

Report by: Lisa Hutchinson

U15s beat Knowle

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Our U15s played away to Knowle FC. From the start stars put the pressure on and displayed an excellent exhibition of pass and move football.

Abidan Elijah Edwards played out from goal finding the number four pocket, Rivaldo Miguel, who ran the midfield, and full backs Realist Leviand Joshua.

Rivaldo linked up well with the midfield diamond consisting of Akeem, holding, and Ty who played in the number 10 pocket. Ty’s performance is going from strength to strength since been away all of last season. Akeem is settling down nice in the midfield and continues to improve each week.

The forward line of Jamal, Amrit Sidhu and Reecey Boii was too strong for Knowles defensive line. The movement and link up play was a joy to watch.

A great team performance saw our lads have most of the possession, play out from the back, pass through the thirds, attack in numbers, and hunt in packs to win back the ball within 5 seconds.

The first half saw goals from Jamal, Ammo, and Ty.

Second half saw the debut of Keanu, who played up front. His hard work and physical presence was gifted with two goals.

It was a joy to sit back, say very little, and watch the boys organising themselves, working hard for each other, and putting on one of the best display of playing football the right way this season.

Well done to all !!!

Report by: Jason Sylvester 10/11/13

Thanks Delton!

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Delton 240713

“To everything there is a season…a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance…” Ecclesiastes 3

Winning the Midland Football Combination’s Premier division title in 2011/12 was the climax of a long journey and marked the beginning of a new era at Continental Star FC.

Continental has been a vanguard for nearly forty years providing a unique service for those living in the inner city areas of Birmingham.  Sure, I hear you asking what’s so unique about what Continental do, after all, there are several organisations working within the inner city that provide a similar experience?  Some would argue that some of these organisations have even gone on to be more successful; opening an independent ‘Free’ school for example.  But whilst this is a magnanimous achievement for an organisation that primarily started out as a sporting venture (led by Continental Star alumni) it doesn’t diminish the achievements that Continental Star has achieved year in, year out on a shoe string budget.

Over the years Continental Star has prided itself on being able to provide a sustainable service for young people that has been primarily free of charge.  In order to maintain this it was important that, as an organisation they built their capacity; simply put, the more qualified coaches that they produced the more young people they would be able to engage.

Ex-Birmingham City trainee, Delton Francis, had just completed his latest FA coaching award when a chance meeting with Continental Star’s General Manager: Lincoln Moses resulted in him being offered the vacant 1st team manager’s post.  Delton was enthralled by what he had heard during their brief encounter and was eager to take up his first managerial post.  The next few months (and dare I say years) were to prove to be a sharp learning curve for the new manager as he came to terms with the Continental Star philosophy whilst attempting to stamp his mark on the club.  Delton recalls “…Lincoln and myself had lots of conversations regarding the issues at the club and we decided to have a massive restructure…”  Delton worked tirelessly as he set out to standardise the club’s coaching practices: this meant that the training sessions for the junior teams mirrored the training sessions of the 1st and the reserve teams.  Consequently, this saw a positive change in the attitude of the coaches as they began to develop a more professional approach to their work. Lincoln and Delton

Delton’s relationship at a Continental Star could be best summed up as being a symbiotic relationship; he was mentored by Lincoln Moses throughout his tenure as he was entrusted with shaping and developing the club.  For some of us at the club it comes as no surprise that Delton has reluctantly relinquished his role at the club.  At the heart of Continental Star FC’s philosophy is a desire to make a positive difference in the lives of the people that it comes in contact with; be it helping a young person to refocus and therefore begin to engage better at school; be it providing opportunities to develop life skills for young people, or be it providing a platform for its coaches to excel.  Therefore it wasn’t going to be long before professional clubs began taking note of what was happening at Continental Star.  Not only were the young people being scouted but the coaches too.  The beginning of the 13/14 season saw five of Star’s coaches take up roles at professional clubs.

Continental Star is a family club and like any family it is never easy when one of the family members leaves.  Delton and his assistant, Darren Wright, have found it increasingly difficult to manage the demands of both of their roles at Continental Star and West Bromwich Albion and Walsall respectively; it was with deep regret and after much soul searching that they have offered their resignation.   The organisation will, as always look ahead beyond this period of uncertainty with a positive attitude that says: ‘The king is dead, long live the king!’  And in doing so, all those involved with Continental Star would like to publicly acknowledge and thank both Delton Francis and Darren Wright for all their hard work and endeavours, and we wish them all the very best in the future.