Author: afcunity

The underdogs of AFC Unity finally gained a win over rivals Rotherham United Development, with a 3-1 victory that puts them second in Division 3.

After a 1-1 draw, and then a 3-0 loss to Rotherham previously in the campaign, AFC Unity battled against their top quality rivals to gain only their second home win this season.

“I’m very proud,” said AFC Unity manager Jay Baker. “We played our game well, and even when they equalised to send us into half time at 1-1, we never stopped believing, and stuck to the plan.”

“It showed just how good this team is and it was definitely the best performance to date,” said coach Olivia Murray. “We played some beautiful passing football, and focused on maintaining possession, and it really paid off – everyone gave one hundred percent and it was awesome to watch.”

“It’s very satisfying,” Baker added, “because teams don’t come much tougher than Rotherham; they’ve played some strong football themselves this season, especially for such a youthful team wiser than their years, and it makes the win so much more rewarding to beat a side of their calibre.”

All three AFC Unity goals came from Nathalie Silver: “We thought she’d have to leave the club due to moving away,” Baker pointed out, “but somehow she’s made a couple of more games, and that’s fine – she jokingly calls it the longest goodbye!”

 

AFC Unity continued their season with another win to start off the new year, again beating Greasbrough, this time 2-4, but with more difficulty than their last meeting.

“I warned about underestimating them, but I don’t think that was the case at all,” said AFC Unity manager Jay Baker. “Their lot had improved, as expected, but the conditions made everything much harder for us,” he added, referring to AFC Unity’s penchant for passing football that this time was hindered by a playing surface barely surviving recent snow, rain, and frost.

However, Baker gave credit to Greasbrough and the referee for keeping the game on.

“We just wanted to get on with our season, and Greasbrough certainly did too, since they’re stuck with a big backlog of games to get through, so major thanks to them and the referee for putting so much effort in to keeping the fixture on a day when games across the leagues were being postponed all over the place.”

Shifting up the street from Roughwood Road to Barkers Park, the official was able to utilise a pitch that he deemed playable, after some considerable inspection. Baker was determined to make the most of it.

“We knew drawing 1-1 at half-time we weren’t getting as far as we might normally because of the pitch, but for me passing football has to remain, even in tough conditions,” Baker explained, “so aside from the goalkeeper, we only made one switch, which we felt would create a better dynamic on the flanks and provide more fire-power up front.”

Three more goals would follow, while Greasbrough broke through and scored another goal themselves, following an unstoppable free kick in the first half.

But after four excellent AFC Unity goals following fantastic build-ups, and an impressive defensive display, the “red stars” came out on top.

Co-founder and regular captain Jane Watkinson watched the performance from the touchline due to an ankle injury: “While it was difficult being sidelined for the game, I also enjoyed seeing the team play from a new perspective,” she explained. “It sometimes can be difficult to take in the whole game when you’re on the pitch, and being able to watch from the side I was able to take in more fully how much effort, care, and passion every player puts in and has for the club.”

“It was a fantastic team performance in difficult conditions, and all worked really hard but also stepped up and helped each other out when needed,” Watkinson added.

Baker agrees, and feels his own players are now starting to present him with the kinds of challenges that he relishes.

“While some players certainly seemed to solidify their positions, others stepped up,” he pointed out. “And although the team really, really impressed me, it makes my role much harder because we’re developing to the stage where – especially with quality signings still being made – there are two or three options for each playing position.”

However, the manager claims that, in turn, this presents a challenge for the players themselves:

“For me, I throw that back out to the players to train harder than ever, be positive, and impress the coaches and myself to make me unable to leave them off a field for long; that’s how you get yourself game time as we play these remaining crucial games.”

AFC Unity’s goals were provided by Lucy Strutt (2), Charlotte Marshall and Shanie Griffith.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFC Unity manager Jay Baker saw his players deliver on his vow that the “red stars” would be better than ever, as they defeated Greasbrough in their long-awaited home win, one they provided in style with a staggering 8-0 result.

“I think everyone will agree that was worth the wait,” said Baker. “As I said last time, the best was yet to come, and I have thanked my players personally for making sure that claim was realised, because they stuck to this attacking plan, kept their positions, and did me proud.”

Coach Jonny Hodgson said: “AFC Unity have gone from being a team with a variety of abilities and achievements, to a united squad with one aim, and it’s such a major transformation across only a few months – this game really proved this, as they played with complete confidence and didn’t once drop their guard.”

Baker agreed. With AFC Unity 3-0 up at half time, it was important the team didn’t become complacent.

“The formation was workmanlike, and so were the players,” he said. “Everything was clinical, deliberate, but with a solid tempo, and we’re starting to see the effects of the training from coaches Jonny Hodgson and Olivia Murray as players put it all into action.”

“It was an amazing day and a fantastic team performance,” said Murray, before joking “At times it was like watching Brazil; I’m really proud of everyone.”

“‘Proud’ is an understatement,” said Hodgson.

Baker had special praise for Greasbrough, though.

“It just so happened that they played us on a day I’d decided it was time to throw everything but the kitchen sink at our opponents,” he said. “But they’re a great team, with a good ethos, and played some good football with a smile on their faces, and are only going to keep improving with that approach, so next time it could all be completely different.”

Greasbrough had no substitutes, and due to injuries, at times played with only ten.

“It was a similar story when we beat New Bohemians 7-2,” Baker pointed out, “and look at what they went and did after that: took us to the limit, and left us lucky to escape with a 3-3 draw the next time, so you never know.”

AFC Unity’s Nathalie Silver played her last game for the club, as she prepares to move to the Midlands, and coach Jonny Hodgson made special mention: “What a star,” he exclaimed. “She will be greatly missed by the whole team – she brought outstanding energy and enthusiasm.”

“Best wishes to her,” he added.

She enjoyed scoring in her last game, as AFC Unity’s goals came from Jane Watkinson (4), Lucy Strutt (2), Shanie Griffith, and Nathalie Silver.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With their first Sunday without a game since they started the season, the “red stars” of AFC Unity have been focusing on training with coach Jonny Hodgson – additional coach Olivia Murray recovering from a knee operation after a re-aggravated injury as a player, sustained in pre-season.

Manager Jay Baker has seen this as an opportune time to regroup. Several social activities have provided bonding experiences for the team, too, and the manager, who is heavy on community management experience but light on sporting competitiveness, admits that helps.

“When Jane Watkinson and I founded this club, we promised it would be different – that players would encourage and support each other and stick together; that the ethics of the club are reflected by beautiful football, the passing style of play, and in the players’ attitudes and selflessness,” Baker said. “But that is enhanced by this opportunity to focus on training as well as socialise, have a laugh, and become friends, not just team-mates.”

But ultimately, after going four league games without a win, the manager again took responsibility for some recent results not going their way, and began making changes, the start of which were already apparent in AFC Unity’s 5-2 cup loss to the Division Two development side of Sheffield Wednesday just over a week ago.

“Those two draws and two defeats were part of an experiment where we focused on individual development and morale, rather than collective morale, and the Sheffield Wednesday game proved that if we all pull together for the greater good, we can get goals even against good opponents,” the manager added.

And he vows to keep his promise of continued improvement with the upcoming league games.

“Oh, the best is yet to come, I’ve no doubt about that,” he said.

“I’ve never really cared much for what players other teams have, or how other teams play; it’s up to us to set the pace, set the standard, and stick to our principles, and that means that the players are going to be played in the right positions, in the right formation, with the right passing football, that will, without a doubt, show that we are deserving of our current position that we aim to hold on to and build on.”

After surprisingly knocking the New Bohemians from the Krukowski Cup, AFC Unity’s next league opponents, Greasbrough, are also seeking to end a run of four winless league games.

“As I said before, you can’t underestimate anyone,” said Baker. “There are so many different circumstances at this level that affect games – training turn-out, unavailable players, key plays, conditions on the day, officials, determination and team morale – so anything can happen in most of the matches.”

The league has seen several surprise results, and AFC Unity won at New Bohemians 7-2, only to be held to a 3-3 draw at home in a game that the New Bohemians could very much have won. Yet Greasbrough then eliminated the New Bohemians from the cup last week.

“This will be an exciting game to watch because both they (Greasbrough) and us are underdogs, hungry for the victory, with good sporting attitudes, and whoever wins will have definitely earned it,” said Baker.

AFC Unity play their last game of 2014 at home, Hillsborough College, on Sunday, December 14th, against Greasbrough. Kick-off is 2pm.

Photo credit: Kellie See

AFC Unity were eliminated from the Krukowski Cup by Sheffield Wednesday’s Division Two development side at the beautiful Hallam Sports Park, losing 5-2 in what provided positive signs for manager Jay Baker.

“We already made a statement early in the season, so six subsequent league and cup games without a win is fine, and we know the reasons why it happened, and this game began the process of fixing it,” said Baker. “It’s nice to see goals going in again after a three-game drought.”

This isn’t a coincidence, since Baker promised to change the team to its earlier attacking style, unafraid to risk conceding goals in order to score them.

“If you look at the games in the past, we’ve let a lot of goals in, but scored a heck of a lot as well, and that’s how we won. It’s exciting to watch, and it also gets results. But we tightened things up, so teams were getting one, two, or maybe three goals against us rather than seven, and it came at a price.”

Sheffield Wednesday Development are joint top of Division Two, and scored four goals within twenty minutes to go into half time 4-0 up. But AFC Unity essentially won the second half, better marginalising their opponents, who scored only one goal to Unity’s two, with a third controversially disallowed. So what went wrong, and why were these positive signs?

“I found out literally five minutes before kick-off that a key player wasn’t available for the diamond midfield I’d prepped the team for,” explained Baker. “These things happen, and we still saw a much better performance by playing people out of their comfort zones a bit more, into a formation that is much more attacking, and this was the right game to experiment in, at the cost of letting their strong defence push out into a midfield where we were weak in shape.”

With next weekend off, AFC Unity now focus on training before returning home to Hillsborough College on December 14th, where they play Greasborough, who knocked New Bohemians out of the Krukowski Cup, 2-1.

“You can’t underestimate anyone in this division,” added Baker. “Including us.”

AFC Unity’s goals were both scored by Lucy Strutt.

 

 

 

 

 

AFC Unity’s whirlwind first ever season continued in a home struggle against Brampton Rovers.

After beating them 3-4 at Brampton, the Rovers had their revenge at Hillsborough College, going into half-time ahead by just one goal, before snatching a second in the 70th minute.

“I thought we played much better in the second half,” said manager Jay Baker. “But then against the run of play, Brampton put the ball in the net again, and that’s what it’s all about, so credit to them.”

Coach Olivia Murray agreed: “It’s disappointing because we were the better team and played the better football, but unfortunately we couldn’t find the back of the net.”

“Our football is fluid, and the goals will come with time,” said vice-captain Rosie Oates.

This sentiment was reinforced by captain Jane Watkinson: “It was a frustrating game, but we’ve got lots to take from it, with some really good football played.”

Defensive veteran Sarah Richards shared the feeling: “We just didn’t seem to get into our groove, which was really frustrating.”

“It was very frustrating,” admitted Murray, “but that just shows how much everyone wants to win.”

After last week’s vow to add fire-power, Baker admitted what he felt are his own challenges as a manager.

“You’ll often play certain personalities in specific positions for a particular kind of dynamic within the team,” he said. “That hasn’t afforded me the ability to create more chances up front, but now it’s definitely time to be bold, and we have the kind of players who enjoy being challenged and taken out of their comfort zone – because they’re team players, and the struggle against the odds goes on.”

The positivity in the AFC Unity camp remains despite the disappointing result.

“No game is a loss because we learn and improve and bond as a team every time we play,” added Oates. “We know as a team we can out-pass, out-pace and out-play most teams in the league, and sometimes we let that get the better of us, and that’s what we did today – but we had fun.”

“We’re a strong side with a great team spirit, and one of the things we do best is taking positives out of all experiences,” added Watkinson.

“This is a fantastic team to work with, and a wonderful bunch of ladies,” said Murray. “It was just one of those days. Onwards and upwards!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFC Unity put on an incredible performance against a side from three leagues above them, losing to Dearne & District 0-7 at home in the FA County Cup.

“I didn’t think it was possible to feel so positive after such a defeat,” AFC Unity manager Jay Baker admitted. “But I was overjoyed with the way our players performed, against a classy side from the lofty heights of the North East Regional leagues; they stuck to the game plan, played some great football, kept battling, and always believed.”

With that passion and “never give up” attitude, the “red stars” of AFC Unity gave an inspirational performance.

“I’m really proud of how well every single one of my team mates played today,” said captain Jane Watkinson. “There was so much energy, skill, and tenacity, producing some quality football against a very developed and skilful team from three divisions above us.”

“High levels of effort and team morale was shown by both teams,” said coach Jonny Hodgson. “We put up a tremendous battle, and deserved to get more from the match.”

He wasn’t alone in feeling the result was harsh for the amount of effort put in.

Fellow coach Olivia Murray said: “The scoreline definitely didn’t reflect the performance. It was outstanding team play today by everybody, and it was a fantastic game all round; absolute credit to everyone as the team gets better every week.”

“The result certainly didn’t reflect how well we played,” agreed Watkinson. “We have everything to hold our heads up about and take into next Sunday’s league match.”

Baker again agreed to take some responsibility for team weaknesses.

“I’ve been playing certain formations lately, and it’s taken away some opportunities to finish, so I’m going to address that, and make sure we have some more fire-power up front,” he said. “But the style of play and the spirit shown is reason for contentment – again, beyond ability, we run on the power of belief.”

“Unity is definitely shown within this team,” added Hodgson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFC Unity’s unbelievable underdog run of five games undefeated finally came to an end on Remembrance Sunday against Rotherham United’s development side, who won 3-0.

“In a weird way, it’s almost a relief,” said AFC Unity manager Jay Baker. “For a team nobody expected to win a single game, there came a lot of pressure, the longer the run continued – I’m glad we’ve now got that loss out of the way, in a way.”

Rotherham played some excellent passing football, but for AFC Unity, the final third became bereft of productivity.

“The pitch seemed smaller to what we’re used to so we found ourselves suddenly running out of track,” said Baker. “But our opponents played really well, and I again experimented, and I have to take much of the responsibility for the result.”

“We showed absolute determination throughout a tough and gruelling match, and were unfortunate to lose our epic unbeaten run,” admitted coach Jonny Hodgson. “It was top work, but credit to Rotherham.”

He wasn’t the only one quick to praise AFC Unity’s opponents.

“We were very creative on the ball and made a lot of opportunities, but lost out to some fantastic finishing from Rotherham,” said captain Jane Watkinson.

“I’m gutted we didn’t get the result, but Rotherham had some quality finishing,” agreed coach Olivia Murray. “It was a great match to watch from the sidelines, with some excellent goalkeeping from both of our team’s ‘keepers today,” she added, referring to AFC Unity goalkeepers Chessy Hollingdale and debutant Lauren Williams.

The club’s personnel are content with only their second loss of the season so far, from seven games.

“You win some, you lose some, but it was a great display of teamwork again, with lots of positives to take away,” said Murray. “We should keep the faith.”

Watkinson agreed: “Despite the result, I think we have a lot of positives to take from the game as a team,” she said. “It’s definitely onwards and upwards for us, having already achieved so much this season against the odds.”

“We’ve gone from being a brand-new club with a unique ethos aiming to avoid the bottom of the table, to getting right up there in the mix of it at the top,” added Baker. “We’re all about believing in something better, and we ourselves are only going to get better.”

Photo credit: Rotherham United Ladies Development

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The AFC Unity underdogs extended their incredible unbeaten run to five games in a row, with a nail-biting 1-1 draw at home to second-place Rotherham United’s development team.

The “red stars” conceded first from a goalmouth scramble after a corner kick, but – as is often the case – responded twenty minutes later to grab an equaliser and hold on for the draw.

“I was already telling the players at half time, but was able to reiterate it again at full time: that was the best we have played all season,” said manager Jay Baker.

“Everyone performed their best,” agreed coach Jonny Hodgson. “They were unwilling to let each other down.”

Baker credits the coaching of both Jonny Hodgson and Olivia Murray for much of the excellence of execution in AFC Unity play.

“Everything is starting to click; the players are gelling, the training is showing, and we’re finding our shape and fulfilling our potential,” said Baker. “Credit must go to the coaches I have to help implement it all.”

“It was an excellent match and both teams put in a big shift,” said Hodgson. “We were unlucky not to win, but Rotherham United had an outstanding defender.”

“The team played brilliantly, with some quality football,” added Murray. “It’s so pleasing to see every week just how much we keep improving and building together.”

Apparently, rotation of substitutes would have been more effective, had it not been for a comedic moment in which the manager’s stopwatch malfunctioned.

“It’s true, my stopwatch messed up at half time, and what with a few injuries again, I found myself making decisions at times that I felt were more rash than usual,” admitted Baker.

“But with the substitutes who don’t play much sometimes, what really shows is their character: they cheer on their teammates, then go back and train with them, bide their time, and stay hungry to play – which is exactly what you want as a manager.”

The “red stars” play United again next week, this time at Rotherham.

AFC Unity’s goal was scored by Lucy Strutt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFC Unity held New Bohemians to a 3-3 draw at home to extend their undefeated run to four games.

Despite the red stars taking the lead – at 1-0, and again at 2-1 – the New Bohemians players responded, piled on the pressure and went 2-3 ahead in the 75th minute. However, AFC Unity fought back and grabbed an equaliser with three minutes to go.

Manager Jay Baker claimed these comebacks are becoming a signature trait of the underdog spirit that is both a blessing and a curse:

“It was no secret that almost everyone around the league didn’t even expect us to win a game all season, let alone win three in a row,” said Baker. “But we’ve battled back from behind in almost every single game we’ve had because of that underdog mentality, apart from when we beat New Bohemians at theirs – and that may have actually hurt us in the return fixture.”

Baker believes AFC Unity’s underdog culture was missing in this game as a result of their recent track record.

“Richard (Slattery, New Bohemians manager) has developed his team really well, and my coaches and I warned our players not to underestimate them, but I actually think the fact we weren’t considered underdogs for once threw them off a bit – and there were things I could have done differently – but ultimately, New Bohemians were really impressive and made it very difficult for us.”

Still, it was an achievement for AFC Unity to secure a draw and remain unbeaten in four consecutive games.

“We played some fantastic football and it was a great match to watch,” said coach Olivia Murray. “We dominated the first half and had plenty of opportunities – we have definitely grown as a team, everyone played really well and there was some great wing play.”

The impressive showing from the day’s “underdogs,” New Bohemians, was duly noted by all at AFC Unity.

“It was an excellent turn out from both teams,” added coach Jonny Hodgson. “It was some of the most exciting football played this season and our team played their hearts out; I’m proud of them all.”

Olivia Murray said: “We win as a team, we lose as a team, and we draw as a team. We were so unlucky not to win in the last minute – I felt we deserved it. If we keep the faith, we’ll be back to winning ways in no time.”

Jay Baker felt the result was healthy.

“We got a point, and it’s a good reality check,” he said. “We exceeded expectations recently, but must stay grounded. We’re back to being the bona fide underdogs next week (against second place Rotherham United Development), and we have to remain realistic, focus on fundamentals, and believe in the battle of it all – because nothing comes easy here.”

AFC Unity goals came from Lucy Strutt, Sophie Mills and Shanie Griffith.