27.04.08. SYNGENTA SPORTS GROUNDS, LEEDS ROAD, HUDDERSFIELDYORKSHIRE LIONS 3( CARL 3) Howden Clough 1WHAT A DAY! Our day of glory had arrived, for the 2nd time in 2 years we were here, in the cup final.Last year it was so depressing to see my players in tears at the end of the game having lost 2-3 to Dalton.But this time the tears were replaced with huge smiles as we celebrated in style as we brought the cup back to Bradley(the 1st cup to enter Warrenside).We trained on Saturday morning and disaster struck as Marcus twisted his foot and was forced to miss out on this victorious day. Been his Dad I was as upset as he was that he could not take part, but I told him his goals in previous rounds helped to get us there as did Jaspal's efforts up to & including the 3rd round tie when he broke his arm.But today was all about playing as a team, something we have not done in our last 2 games, but we stuck to our task and delivered 12 outstanding performances to make today a day to remember. We got off to the perfect start as Carl was put through & as he strode away from the trailing defenders he cooly picked his spot to give us a 1-0 lead. Howden Clough are a good attacking side and drew level within 5 mins;. We kept our shape well after this though and kept playing to our strenghts. Takunda was having a very good game up front with Carl and Joe was awesome on the right wing. We created some excellent chances in the first half and at the other end defended stoutly with the back four & Callum in outstanding form. The game was not for the faint hearted as the tackles were sharp at times as both teams were keen to make their mark in this final, but as half time approached Carl found himself in oceans of space in the 18 yard box & hit an unstoppable volley into the far corner. An extraordinary strike. 2-1 @ half time & looking good, just like last season. But we knew this game was far from over and would have to put in the same effort in the 2nd half to win the cup, & we did just that. Right from the start we just had one thing on our minds & that was to increase our lead. We came close on several occasions through Joe who saw his shot turned onto the bur after great play between Luke & Jack(back to his best), Harvey had a brilliant effort ruled out for a close offside call & Carl had several attempts that just missed the target. Then a moment of madness saw 2 players(1 from each side sent off) a real shame for both players on such a big day. We grew in strength after this and the game was decided as "The Silencer" Carl completed his hat-trick in fantastic style to send the LIONS supporters crazy on the touchline as we could feel the trophy coming towards our players at long last.As the final whistle sounded my players jumped for joy & punched the air with delight. My dream had come true, to win the cup as a player and now as acoach is something I will never forget. We deserved it today for the way we played and fought when the going got tough. Callum,Matty,Harvey,Jake,Luke,Joe,Fabregas,Rochey,Terrell,Carl,Takunda,Josh,Marcus & Jaspal. You have all helped to win this cup today and I hope you enjoy this and try your best to make it 3 finals in a row next season. Well done. Man of the match; CARL DAVID,Who else!!!!!Thanks to all parents, club members,brothers & sisters,relatives & friends who gave their support today to Yorkshire Lions U13's. It was much appreciated.Davis Dyer/ Head Coach

25.11.07. Barugh 1 LIONS 2PHEW! What a cup tie & I was glad to hear the sound of the full time whistle. Barugh maybe the basement team in division 1 at present but you wouldn't have thought so if you had witnessed this game today. We beat them 7-0 at our pitch earlier in the season but I was under no illusions we would repeat that scoreline today, & I was right. We had to work extremely hard to win this game & stay totally focused right to the end and that's what we did & did it well.The first half was played mostly in their half with our boys having the lions share of the possession but finding the killer touch at the end of some exciting attacks was lacking at times & it was very frustrating for me as coach. I find it hard to relax when a game is at 0-0 for a long time.After 20mins;though we managed to break down their defence & Joe(George Best)found himself in acres of space in front of goal & he made no mistake beating the keeper to give us a well deserved lead. That gave us an extra lift & within 3 mins; Carl hit a contender for goal of the season from nearly 30 yards that flew into the top corner & gave their keeper no chance(not even Manuel Almunia would have stopped it). A 2-0 lead & we were looking good. 5 mins; before half time though we got caught on the counter attack & Barugh pulled it back to 2-1 & this cup tie was alive again. We nearly scored again before half time as we looked to regain the 2 goal margin.In the second half we made chance after chance as we looked to kill the game but could not manage it as hard as we tried. Joshua, Joe,Carl,Terrell & Marcus all came close to scoring but it wouldn't go in again. At the other end Barugh were creating chances too & in the final stages of the game hit our cross bar. We managed to hold out for a hard fought victory & take our place in the 2nd round where we will go to Bradford Pk; Ave; but todays game was an excellent advert for football in division 1 & I'm sure everyone present enjoyed this spectacle. Don't forget lads we have to go to Barugh again in the league. Hold on to yor hats! Man of the match today, Captain fantastic;Harvey Morris(Excellent leadership from a natural born leader). Have a good week everybody.  DAVIS DYER/HEAD COACH

21.10.07 Battyeford 0 LIONS 3 Another 3 points from this very impressive start to the season against stiff opposition from Mirfield. First time in div;1 Battyeford were determined to give us an arm wrestle and to be fair they give us a very good game and I can see why they were promoted. But my boys this season so far have welcomed a challenge & rolled their sleeves up & got on with things & today was no different. We had the better of the opening half and were attacking with real pace & aggression as the opposition struggled to contain us on the break. We deservedly got the breakthrough when Terrell(Dynamite T) turned in the box & smashed home from 8 yards to the delight of the travelling supporters from Huddersfield. We continued to pile on the pressure & went close on several occassions before Marcus floated a beautiful corner on to the head of the unmarked Carl to give us a 2-0 half time lead. The 2nd half was tighter and we showed some tremendous defensive qualities to keep the big boys of Battyeford out whilst at the same time kept pushing forward in search of the killer third goal. Eventually that goal came with 5 mins; to when Joshua fresh from Benidorm volleyed home 6 yards to settle the match in the LIONS favour. So,6 out of 6 so far. Not bad eh! Let's just keep our fingers crossed & hope for the best this season Well played boys. Man of the match; Captain "Harvey Morris", gr8 display.Well played boys & enjoy your week off school. See you all on friday @6pm.Davis Dyer/ Head Coach

30.9.07. LIONS 8 WESTEND 1Another fantastic performance today from the young Lions, who really seem to be enjoying their football more than ever this season so far(long may it last). We played some very good attacking football all over the pitch and if the score had gone in to double figures nobody would have been surprised.Westend put up a really good fight & are a team that play good football so it made for an entertaining game but once Carl put us 1-0 up we got more into our stride and not long after he made it 2-0. But we gave away a cheap goal which never pleased me but at the other end birthday boy "Dynamite T" made it 3-1 @ half time. In the 2nd half we carried on where we left off & Takunda was having the game of his life twisting & turning defenders inside out like an Arsenal player & deserved his goal. Carl completed an impressive hat-trick and birthday boy himself the morning after his big birthday party helped himself to a very fine hat-trick too.Josh completed the scoring 3 mins; from time to make the scoreline very rich for us today. All we can do is take it 1 game at a time & keep our feet firmly on the ground. Next week Collegians away. See you all @ training friday,5.30.Man Of The Match: Takunda Simbi(Little Adebayor). Well done boys!

18.11.07 Dalton Dynamos 1 THE LIONS 6!Well what can I say about this performance. This was as good as it gets really and probably the best we have played so far this season as a team.It was not hard to motivate the players for this match, I simply told them to think back to the league cup final in May when todays opponents beat us 3-2 & then Errol(Assistant Coach) held up a picture of Dalton with the cup & it was like a red rag to a bull. As the whistle sounded for kick off you could see the passion & desire was there to succeed today & it was not long before we had the ball in the back of the net - 2 mins;to be precise as Carl rifled home past former Lions player Luke to give us the dream start we wanted. We were playing good controlled football at a high pace & it was not long before we hit no;2, this time Marcus with a long awaited goal turned neatly in the box to place his shot into the corner. To be honest Dalton were playing well themselves and created chances too but we were really on form today & determined to win. Carl & Robert(Rochey) were awesome with there pace & power & it was Rochey who from a well worked short corner delicately chipped in goal no;3 from almost the dead ball line. A very entertaining 1st half which also saw the hosts miss a penalty.At the start of the 2nd half Dalton pulled a goal back with a shot from out on the wing & this gave them a huge lift and we had to dig in & stay composed and try to build some more attacks which we did very well to create a 2nd goal for Marcus. At this point we stepped up another level with Rochey(man of the match) bagging another one to his credit. The scoring was completed by Jake to round off a very impressive performance by the Lions. Every single player was superb today on a bitterly cold sunday morning. Keep it up boys. Next sunday we travel to Barugh in Barnsley for the 1st round of the league cup. Let's hope for much of the same. Enjoy the week & see you on Friday @6pm. EVERYONE!Davis Dyer /Head Coach.

4.11.05 Warley 1 Lions 0Oh dear! The 100% record is over.How does the saying go, all good things come to an end sometime. But it was not without a good fight & I wont make any excuses. Warley had a plan to get players behind the ball when they lost it & they did it well, but as good as they defended we made enough breaks and created enough chances to win this game by a large margin.Last week and in the previous weeks this season those chances were hitting the back of the net in abundance, that's why we have 39 goals to our tally & i told the boys after this game even great sides like ARSENAL have off days in front of goal.In the first 10 mins we made quite a few good openings and forced corners and played most of the game in Warley's half of the field but could not find a way through a good goalkeeper and dogged defending at times. Also the final ball today let us down at times. One good thing though is that we are still top of the pile and wont lose that position without a real good fight. This is a very good division,full of very good teams who are all capable of turning up on a sunday morning and giving their opponents a really good game of football. That is the beauty of division 1 Although we went down today I am very proud of my players because every week they give me total commitment. Thank you boys.Man of the match for a very passionate display; JASPAL VIRDEE. Get your head up son, you were magnificent.Davis Dyer / Head Coach.............Have a good week lads. C u friday @ 6.00pm

28.10.07. LIONS 7 BARUGH 0As the headline says 7th heaven;how true as we made it 7 wins from 7 games today against the boys from south yorkshire. The players didn't need much motivation today & for once my pre-match team talk was simple. I know kids have very good memories so I just said to them remember 2 years ago Barugh beat us 2-1 in the semi final of the league cup & how much it hurt. All of a sudden there was a loud "YES". That's all I needed to say and right from the kick off it was all guns blazing. We played with a real passion today as we were eager to increase the lead at the top of the table to 6 points and also put a few more goals in the goals scored column.Some of the football was breathtaking at times & it is always nice when after a game when the opposition management also tell you this too. A few coaches have told me this season & I really appreciate it as it is rewarding. Carl was in menacing form today tormenting his opponents every time he recieved the ball & he hit a real beauty to high into the net from 15 yards to get the wheels in motion. He also hit another screamer before Jake chipped in with a special of his own to make it 3-0 & put the game beyond our opponents. Carl had the final say in the 1st half as he completed a well deserved hat-trick. 4-0 at the break was an excellent display & we started the 2nd period from scratch but in the same attacking style that we are used to playing now.To be fair to Barugh they never threw the towel in & kept trying to play football which was good to see but we were not in the mood to sit back & relax & Carl decided to score another 1 to make it 5-0. Late arrival Takunda capped a fine individual performance & superb start to the season with a neat finish & the scoring was completed with a clinical volleyed finish from 18 yards by Captain fantastic Mr Morris(He's been watching the coach in training).The whole team once again battled & scrapped for each other as if their lifes depended on this game which shows the wonderful hunger & team spirit that flows right through this team.Man of the match;Robert Roche who ran his socks off today. Well done Jack, back to your old self today,must have been that word in your ear before kick off. A tough game next week away at Warley(Halifax) so prepare well boys & let's give it our best again. Enjoy your week.Davis Dyer/ Head Coach

14.10.07 LIONS 5 Rastrick 2 Well, they don't come much better than this. 5 - 2 against last season's champions. We thoroughly deserved our victory too but we had to be at our best for the entire game because this Rastrick team never know when they they're beaten. We got off to a bright start dominating the possession and mounting several attacks but with their 1st attack on 10 mins; Rastrick scored. But in tough games my boys always seem to find something special & within 5 mins; we were level thanks to Jake(who is having a gr8 season so far). Then not long after this Carl broke away & put us 2 - 1 in front. It was a real battle now as both sides played some lovely football on the ground into feet which must have pleased everyone who was watching who understood football. But thankfully the next goal came from the Lions courtesy of Joe to give us a 3 - 1 half time lead.At the break I told the boys to try & score the next goal & kill the game & that is what happened as Carl again (with his 10th of the season) put daylight between the 2 teams. We never sat back & kept going forward in search of more goals & were rewarded when Mr Roche cooly slotted home no;5 after lovely approach work down the right wing involving Marcus & Joe. Rastrick pulled 1 back to make the score 5 - 2 in a very entertaining Div; 1 match. The whole team were OUTSTANDING today & deserved the victory. But as I keep telling the boys every week let's take it one game at a time & keep our feet on the ground because titles are won in April / May & not October. Man Of The Match: Carl David.Have a nice week everyone.See you all @ Fartown on Friday - 6pm - 7pm.Davis Dyer / Head Coach