The Gillette Cup squad played their first game on Thursday, away to Yardley Kings FC:

Yardley started strongly and put Birmingham Fed under pressure in the first 10 minutes, forcing an outstanding save from James Hill, diving at full stretch to his right to palm the ball away. Birmingham Fed then settled into a rhythm and began to play good possession football. A great passing move down the left between Matt Eades and Warren Brooks led to a shot from Warren, blocked by the Yardley defence. Glen was a threat down the right, making clever runs into space to be found by good passes from James Draper and Warren. Constant pressure from Birmingham led to a series of corners. A clever ball into the box found Odane Barnes, whose shot was fumbled by the Yardley keeper. Quickest to react was Jamie Barley, who pounced on the loose ball to give Birmingham Fed the lead. Birmingham continued to dominate the game and control possession, eventually leading to a turn and powerful shot from Odane, leaving the keeper rooted to the spot to give the team a 2-0 half-time lead, which was no less than they deserved.

A multitude of changes at half-time meant that it took a few minutes for the team settle in the second half, but once they did, they took full control of the game. A pass from Daniel set Dean away down the right and his cross was met by Michael Chambers who slotted home to make it 3-0. With Birmingham seemingly cruising, the team took their foot off the pedal and let Yardley get on the ball a little. A dangerous ball into the box was parried by Jamie Humphrey in goal, who then bravely came off his line to clear the resulting danger. A combination of a mis-kick in midfield and a mis-judgement at the back then led to a goal for Yardley with 15 minutes left to play to make it 3-1. This seemed to kick-start Birmingham back into action, and Masimba played in Michael on the edge of the box, who turned and played a perfectly judged lay-off to Warren on the edge of the box. The ball was screaming out to be hit and Warren did just that, firing an unstoppable shot into the top corner from 25 yards to give Birmingham a 4-1 lead. Late on in the game, a ball forward was flicked on by Michael to Dean, who had found space in the box and headed into the back of the net to round off a comfortable 5-1 win.

All the lads played well but special praise should go to Anthony, who was composed in defence, Warren, for a virtuoso midfield performance and Michael, who was a constant threat in the second half. There were also 4 lads trying out for the squad for the first time and the pick of those were Anton (Lift) who put in a strong performance at centre-back, and Masimba (Fordies), who showed some good touches in midfield.

Congratulations to all the lads for a strong first performance. The next game will be on Sunday 20th against Warley (Saltley Leisure Centre) and then Thursday 24th vs Phoenix (also Saltley LC).

To find out more about the Gillette Cup click on the link below:

http://www.birminghamfed.co.uk/birmingham-fed/gillette-cup-football.html