ECHO LEAGUE A DIVISION DAGENHAM UTD BLUES 4 SANTOS 0

Santos FC have today suffered their third defeat on the trot including the last two league games and have continued the worst run of form ever suffered by the club and which has seen them concede 26 goals in four league and cup outings.
There has to be sympathy for Manager Steve Shefford as yet again he was unable to pick his strongest side due to long term injuries and player absences.
Although starting brightly Santos were soon again on the back foot and their overworked defence was yet again under increasing pressure as Dagenham took hold of central midfield passing their way through with ease and pressure duly told with a three goal salvo which saw the home team go in at the break three gosls to the good.

Manager Steve Shefford made changes at half time and although the second half was a lot better in terms of effort there was still no end product with the home keeper not having one shot to save all afternoon,fifteen minutes from the end a breakaway down the Santos left flank saw a cross field pass easily tapped into the Santos net with no defenders in site,more evidence of the continuing sloppy play by Santos this season.

Again this season the man of the match award went to another defender,this time the recipient was Jamie Wilkinson for his battling performance,the whole defence including the ever more impressive goal keeper worked hard with little or no support from midfield.A mention also for Louis Burton whos tireless contribution did not go unnoticed as he was forced to drop deaper to find the ball as the match progressed.All in all another below par performance from an out of form Santos FC side who will find their first ever season in this division a tough one if they do not show a marked improvement soon.

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ECHO LEAGUE A DIVISION..SANTOS 1 ROMFORD FLYERS 7

Another heavy defeat,this time at home in the league mean that Santos have now conceded over twenty goals in four league and cup games.Although we have a couple of players out injured or away this is our worst ever start in over three seasons.
This was a game when the boys were simply overun by a Flyers side that were right up for this match.They were better in all departments and although phisically they were a big side we offer no excuses for this second defeat in a row which has seen a normally water tight defence concede eighteen goals in its last two games,this is simply not good enough and shows that having stepped up a division the teams will be that much fitter and better and that we have to compete in every match,something that has been lacking this season.

I will not dwell on the game except to name two players who stood out,firstly midfielder James Kelly who put in a man of the match performance and whos workrate could not be faulted,he has vision beyond his years,a great contribution to the cause and a deserved man of the match.
Secondly once again another mention for our keeper Matthew McCarthy who again almost single handedly kept the score down to seven with a series of fine stops,a brave performance from Matt.
Thats it for this match report,we are away to Dagenham United this coming weekend,more news on this match to follow

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ESSEX COUNTY CUP 1st ROUND..STANWAY ROVERS YOUTH 11 SANTOS FC 0

Santos have crashed out of the Essex County Cup last Sunday losing 11 nil to a very impressive Eastern Junior Alliance side Stanway Rovers.This was the heaviest defeat in the clubs history since it was formed four years ago.Although missing three players in key positions last Sunday Santos fc can offer no excuses for this inept performance.They were second best in every position from front to back and this was proven with them conceding 3 goals in the first 10 minutes.
Stanway Rovers were an excellent side who were organised in every position,they attacked as a unit and defended as a unit,something that was completely missing in the Santos team,the only shining light was a one man midfield battling performance from Aaron Hepworth which indeed won him the Santos man of the match award,the only other player worth a mention was goalkeeper Matthew McCarthy who again for the second week running was in superb form with a series of fine saves,well done Matthew!.
This coming Sunday sees Santos return to league action,more news on that to follow...

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ESSEX COUNTY CUP 1ST ROUND..STANWAY ROVERS YOUTH V SANTOS FC SUNDAY 25/09/11

Santos make the long trip to Colchester to face Essex Junior Alliance club Stanway Rovers in the first round of the Essex County Cup.
This will be a tough encounter for the boys with the squad suffering a few injuries over the last week and likely to be without key players for this important 1st round tie.
We mostly wish a speedy recovery to Gregory Wade who has sustained a broken arm in the past week and will be missing for a couple of months at least,also out is midfielder James Kelly(groin),also Doubtfull is centre half Kelvin Malweni(shin)...Full match report in the next couple of days.

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ECHO LEAGUE A DIVISION 18/09/11..ROYAL FALCONS 1 SANTOS FC 2

Santos FC have recorded their second consecutive victory with a tough away fixture against an impressive Royal Falcons side at their home ground at John Bramton School in East London.
Santos started strongly and were in front on ten minutes with a great strike from forward Joshua Henry,however Falcons then came strongly into the game with repeated attacks down both flanks putting the Santos defence under increasing pressure,they were duly awarded on the stroke of half time when a looping shot caught out the impressive Santos Goalkeeper to drop over him into the net so the score ended 1-1 at half time.
Into the second half and the Santos defence were increasingly being tested with the back four making repeated last ditch tackles as Falcons launched repeated raids down both flanks,Goal keeper Matthew McCarthy deservedly earned his man of the match award with a series of great saves and brave stops to keep the scores level.
Falcons then proceeded to hit the woodwork three times in the last twenty minutes with no luck,with ten minutes to go a great through ball again reached in form striker Joshua Henry who turned his marker just inside the box and unleashed a great strike to the right of the Falcons keeper which put the boys back in front.All credit to Falcons who continued to press but Santos held on to make it six points from their opening two games.
We wish Royal Falcons every success for the rest of the season

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ECHO LEAGUE A DIVISION 11/09/11 COLEBROOK ROYALS BLUES 3 SANTOS 4

Santos FC have started their first ever season in the A division with a hard fought win against Colebrook Royals Blues at Chigwell Police club grounds.Sloppy defending saw Santos go behind 1 nill after only a few minutes only to grab a quick equaliser through Joshua Henry.However that recovery was soon wiped out as again defensive errors saw Santos go in at the break 3-1 down and with a mountain to climb.
During the break a stern team talk from Manager Steve Shefford resulted in the boys getting a goal back almost immediately after the re start, a great through ball from midfield to Lewis Burton saw him race through to the edge of the box ,and from what seemed from an impossible angle he whipped in a fierce drive across the Colebrook keeper which flew in to the bottom right hand corner of the net.
This then saw Santos playing the type of football which saw them to successful promotion last season and it was not long before they eqhalised with a great 25 yardrer from midfielder James Kelly which flew past the keeper into the net to make it 3-3 with about 15 minutes left on the clock.
Then with about 5 minutes left and with the Colebrook keeper pulling off a series of fine saves the winner duly arrived with James Kelly getting on the end of another defence splitting past to unleash another low drive which the keeper got his hands to but could only watch as the ball rolled into the back of the net.The last 5 minutes were a bit scary with Colebrook going all out for the equaliser but with the whistle going for the end of the game it was Santos who grabbed all three points.It was a great game with Colebrook playing some great stuff and we wish them well for the rest of the season.
Our thanks once again to the fantastic support from parents and friends who as usual come along in large numbers to cheer on the lads,it is much appreciated by all here at Santos FC

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