Sunday 9th June
U14s Girls entered two teams in the York RI Gala. A fantastic performance from both sides saw them finish 1st and 2nd in the group stage, with the team playing in yellow shirts unbeaten. Both sides then won their play-off matches to make it an all KDR final.
Saturday 11th May
U14s Girls played league champions Bradford City in the League Cup Final. We played the same team two weeks ago and were well beaten 4-0. A much improved performance today, but we went down, losing by just a single goal.
Sunday 5th May
U11s played their first ever 9 a side game in a friendly against Knaresborough. The boys rose to the occasion, playing some wonderful pass and move football throughout, coming away with a 5-1 win.
Saturday 4th May
U11s Girls were behind at half time away at Boroughbridge but battled back with a goal early in the second half and a deserved equaliser in the final minute. U14s Girls played second to bottom Batteyford Belles at a windy Grange Park. It was a much changed team from Thursday's match and playing with the wind behind us we took a two goal lead. Batteyford belied their lowly position and hit back, poor defending on our part resulting in them being deservedly level at half time. Within a minute of the restart we were 3-2 down but the girls played the ball on the floor to negate the wind, getting a deserved equalizer and going on to score again for a 4-3 win. This was the seventh time this season we have come from behind to win, which says a lot for the girls' desire, resolve and fitness. The result means that we are assured of third place in Division One of the West Riding Girls Football League.
Thursday 2nd May
U14s Girls played away against a strong Wigton Moor team. We missed a few chances in the first half and then snoozed in the early evening dusk at a corner allowing them to nod one in. A blistering start to the second half saw us score one of our best goals of the season within the first thirty seconds of the restart. A few minutes later our other striker (who has just signed for next season with a tier one academy club) did a Ricky Villa and waltzed through the Wigton Moor defence to slot home. We had to defend resolutely and were indebted to our goalkeeper fingertipping a shot onto the post in the last few minutes, but we recorded a good 2-1 victory.
Sunday 28th April
U14s came into their last match of the season on the back of two defeats and needing a win to clinch promotion and keep their title hopes alive. The memory of the last two matches was quickly forgotten with a 13-1 home win over Guiseley, a result that guarantees we will play in a higher division next season, and takes us back (temporarily at least) to the top of the table.
Saturday 27th April
U8s and U9s were in action in the League Gala, played at a horribly wet Grange Park. U8s didn't get to grips with the short games and large pitches, finishing with a single win, seven draws and two defeats. U9s played some good football in horrendous conditions, but were knocked out at the league stage.
U14s Girls travelled with a depleted squad to face champions-elect Bradford City, who are essentially an academy team for the senior club. Kicking into the wind in the first half the girls worked extremely hard but were 2-0 down at half time. Tactical changes after the break saw us competing much better, hitting the post and forcing a number of good saves from the Bradford keeper. Bradford scored a breakaway third goal to kill off the match. then added a fourth to record a deserved 4-0 win.
Saturday 13th April
U15s Selby League team played their penultimate game of the season away at unbeaten league champions North Duffield, against whom we already lost twice this season, with an aggregate scoreline of 0-26. This time we performed much better. We failed to trouble their keeper in the first half and went in 3-0 down at the interval, but a change in formation during the second half saw us get a few chances and shots on goal. Neither team scored after the break, so it finished 3-0 to North Duffield, but all in all a much improved performance by our boys, and a great game for the spectator.
Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th April
A good weekend for the U11s Girls Kangaroos. A win in the league against Beckwithshaw Saints on Saturday was followed by a strong, fast paced and determined team performance in the League Gala on Sunday. Playing at Harrogate Town's CNG Stadium, the girls played magnificently to achieve third place in the competition.
U15s Saturday team played away at Altofts in the Selby League. It was a good, competitive game in which we managed to put away only one of our numerous chances. Altofts fared better in front of goal, scoring twice to win the game 2-1.
Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st March
U8s played a very closely contested friendly against Wetherby on the unusually long grass at the Ings (a legacy of the recent flooding), getting two wins and two defeats. After two players pulled out at short notice U11s Girls found themselves short on numbers and without a regular goalkeeper for the trip to Pannal Ash. However, this didn't appear to unduly affect the team, and we got a creditable draw after having led for much of the game. U16s game against Ilkley was a tight content until the end. We conceded early on but responded well to go into the break 2-1 up. With 10 minutes left to play we took a 3-2 lead, and at this point both teams appeared to forget how to defend. Ilkley equalised with four minutes left to play. We retook the lead two minutes later, only to concede a silly free kick in the last minute, which led to another Ilkley equaliser from a goalmouth scramble. Ten seconds later we scored the winner with a shot from 25 yards; final score 5-4 to KDR. U16s Girls drew 2-2 with Poppleton. U17s were away at Yorkshire Amateurs, both sides reduced to 10 men after 20 minutes following red cards. Our opponents lost another player to a red card before half time, and we went into the break 3-1 up. Despite us losing a player to injury in the second half to make it a 9 a side contest, we dominated and won 7-3.
U14s Girls played their League Cup semi final against Silsden Juniors. Having lost three consecutive semi finals (two on penalties) in the last two years we understandably started nervously. Nerves were settled with an early goal when a clever chip over the last defender found our central striker, who looped a header over the onrushing keeper. Ten minutes later Silsden failed to clear a corner and a crisp low shot from the edge of the area found the bottom corner. Two chances, two goals for KDR. Silsden have scored 87 goals this season but our defence was exceptional all afternoon. We got a third and then just before half time we broke quickly following good defending from a Silsden corner, passing the ball the length of the pitch and scoring a tap in from a low cross. A tremendous first half performance. Silsden came out strongly in the second half but we held firm working tirelessly as a team and keeping our shape. We scored a fifth early in the half before Silsden replied, but they never looked like getting close again and a rasping shot gave us a fine 6-1 win. All the girls were brilliant and it was such a great team performance. They did everything well. Unbeaten Bradford City await in the final.
Action from the U14s Girls match v Silsden
Action from the U16s Girls match v Poppleton
Action from the U16s match v Ilkley
Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th March
U11s Girls played quite well away against a strong Boroughbridge side, losing 3-0. U13s Girls played away at Ripon. We never got going in the first half and were fortunate to be only a goal down at half time. We played much better in the second half but were thwarted by excellent Ripon defending and undone by two mistakes, both of which resulted in goals conceded. Final score 3-0 to Ripon. U14s Girls played at home against Rothwell Juniors. It was 3rd v 4th in the league, and having drawn in the reverse fixture we were expecting a tough game. Despite playing with no composure, no communication, no control and little passing we still cut Rothwell apart time after time. We hit the woodwork twice and missed numerous one on ones, but we finally scored late in the first half and got a second soon after. A much better performance in the second half in terms of passing and playing actual football resulted in two more goals gave us a well deserved 4-0 win.
U7s played a league double header away against Pannal. Playing on a much bigger pitch than we are used to, it took a while and a Pannal goal before we got going, but eventually we mastered the conditions, drawing the first game and winning the second. U8s league season finished with two wins and two draws against Pannal Sports Lions. U14s unbeaten run came to an end with a 3-1 defeat against North East Leeds, made worse by one of players breaking his ankle in the 20th minute.
Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th March
A weekend of heavy rain wiped out all home matches at Grange Park, so only those teams with away fixtures managed to get their games played. U7s travelled to Beckwithshaw to face one of only two teams to have beaten us this season. The boys started well and proceeded to dominate the game, recording a well deserved win. U8s played at a breezy Knaresborough, getting one win and three narrow defeats. U9s final game of the season against Pannal Sports was played on the 4G pitch at St John Fisher's. Our boys were left to rue a hatful of missed chances, going down to three defeats and a draw.
U12s faced Killinghall in the League Cup on Saturday morning, the game played on Harrogate Town's pitch in pouring rain throughout. We took an early lead with a fantastic long range strike and went into the break a goal up. A few minutes after the restart we lost a player to injury, and having no substitute available played the rest of the game a player short. Though the boys worked hard all game long the extra man made a difference, and we conceded three goals to lose the tie 3-1.
Sunday 10th March
U7s and U8s both overcame very wet, cold and muddy conditions to win their games. U7s beat Killinghall at Grange Park, U8s came away from Clifford with 3 wins and a draw. U11s played Clifford in the semi final of the Cup. One team was thoroughly in control in their matches, while the other team struggled to score. Nevertheless we got 3 wins and a defeat to progress into the final, maintaining our record of reaching the final of every competition we played in since moving up to seven a side. The matches involving the U10s and U14s were both abandoned due to the horrendous weather conditions. U14s were 5-0 up away at Pannal Sports when the players were taken off after 60 minutes, but the score will stand.
U11s Girls match at Clifford was delayed until the hailstorm had passed but was played in very strong winds. Encounters with Clifford are always close, and this one was no exception, KDR prevailing by the odd goal in five. U14s Girls travelled to Halifax to play bottom of the table Crossley Belles. On a muddy, sloping pitch freshly fertilised with canine manure the girls dominated against a struggling team, the game starting in the freezing hail and ending in sunshine. KDR played up the mountain in the first half and raced to a 2-0 lead after 10 minutes. We changed the team around to keep the scores down, putting our regular keeper in attack. Sod's Law dictated that she proceeded to score a second half hat trick as we cruised to a 9-0 win.
The sideways rain stopped about 15 minutes before the U15s kicked off against Methley at a very windy Grange Park, After falling two goals behind in the first 10 minutes we then got going and stopped the flow of goals, only to see a completely unmarked Methley player hit a free shot from outside the box straight into the net. We started to compete more in the second half and got two back, only to concede twice more. A 5-2 defeat was the final score.
Sunday 3rd March
U7s played very well away at Ripon Panthers, winning both games by good margins. U9s recently lost a key player to the Bradford City Academy, and as a result one of our teams is not balanced correctly. This morning they lost both games. The other team fared better, losing their first game then winning the second convincingly. A good result in the Cup for the U11s against Pannal Sports on the 4G pitch at St John Fisher's. One team won both games convicingly, the other team struggled to score, drawing one and losing the other by a single goal. As a result we topped the group and progress to the Cup semi final next weekend. U13s were 2-1 down at half time away at Bedale. We pulled the game back to 3-3 and were then denied by the crossbar, the Bedale keeper, and some last gasp Bedale defending, only to see Bedale score twice to take the game 5-3. U15s finished their season with a 3-1 win against Pannal Sports Predators. We sit second in the table, but teams below us have games in hand, so we have to wait to find out our final position.
Action from the U15s match v Pannal. More pictures can be viewed here
Saturday 2nd March
U14s Girls played their County Cup semi final against Guiseley on a tiny pitch at West Riding HQ. One of the Guiseley players dislocated her shoulder in a fall and the game was delayed by 75 minutes waiting for an ambulance to arrive. On the field though we didn't play well we had the better chances but inevitably the match ended in a scoreless draw. And so to penalties, on a pitch where the penalty spot wasn't even marked out. We put two of our penalties over the bar, Guiseley did better, and so we are out of the cup.
Action from the semi final
Sunday 24th February
U8s comfortably beat Pannal Sports Tigers in all four games. U11s played our second cup game against Knaresborough at home. After last week's lacklustre display against Beckwithshaw last week where we limped through, we discussed where the complacency had crept in, and as a result the boys produced a fabulous display, winning all four games by a aggregate score of 19-3. And it could have been more. In contrast, U15s were heavily beaten at home in the League Cup by a very strong Guiseley side. Missing four key players due to illness and injury we got off to the worst possible start, conceding a goal in the first minute. Despite that we came into the game, being denied by a goal line clearance and a one on one with the keeper. Guiseley got two more before half time to go in 3-0 up at the break. We fell apart in the second half, and though we got a goal we let in nine more, to lose the game 12-1.
Saturday 23rd February
U14s Girls welcomed Bradford City to Grange Park. As you would expect Bradford City are a strong side and are unbeaten this season. KDR started strongly and took a deserved lead. A defensive mix up levelled the game but KDR hit back almost immediately. Bradford battled back to equalise and then took the lead directly from a corner. In what was an excellent advertisement for girls football the game ebbed and flowed with two strong passing teams going head to head. Rangers battled back twice more to make it 4-4 and the Bradford City goalkeeper was on excellent form to deny the hosts including an amazing one handed save. Bradford sneaked ahead once more and in the final minute scored a sixth. We finished on the losing side but the girls played brilliantly against what is effectively an academy team.
U15s played bottom placed Altofts at home. In the first half we created a number of chances, but failed to convert them. Altofts opened the scoring, but we equalised before the break. In the second half we again played with no sense of urgency, and conceded a second. In the last ten we applied some pressure on up front and got an equalizer. The game finished 2-2, but it felt like two points lost rather than a point won.
Sunday 17th February
The U7s played well in a convincing win against Beckwithshaw. U10s entered two teams in a tournament held at Harrogate Town's stadium. One team was told that they had made it out of the group stage and was on the point of kicking off in the quarter final when the organisers realised that there had been an error and we had in fact been eliminated. Our other team made it to the semi final by beating Wetherby in the quarters, only to lose to Colton in a penalty shoot out. All of the boys played their socks off and had a great afternoon. U11s played Beckwithshaw in the Cup. Both teams were weakened by half term and illness, and although our performance wasn't outstanding we got 2 wins and 2 draws to win the tie. At home against Bedale U13s couldn't repeat their excellent performance from last week. We missed our tackles and let Bedale play, going down to a 4-0 defeat. U15s played in an entertaining 2-2 draw against Pannal Sports on the Stray.
Saturday 16th February
U9s were away at Pannal Ash Reds on a pitch which perfectly suits our playing style, recording 3 wins and a defeat. There was no league fixture for the U14s Girls this weeekend so we stepped up an age group to play a friendly against Ripon City Panthers U15s, winning 2-1. Away at second placed Brayton U15s conceded early on, then responded well to take a 2-1 lead. We then let in three soft goals before half time and conceded two more in the second half to lose the game 6-2, though the scoreline definitely flattered the opposition.
Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th February
Storm Erik brought strong winds to the region on Saturday, resulting in the postponement of most of our matches. U13s Girls managed to beat the weather drawing 2-2 away at Clifford. Thankfully Sunday was a much calmer and brighter day. U9s struggled to play their usual fluent football on a muddy pitch against Pannal Ash Blues, drawing 2 and losing 2 games. U12s took the lead after just 45 seconds against Pannal Sports, extending the lead to 3-0 at half time. The second half continued in the same vein, good teamwork and plenty of possession helping us to a 5-0 win. Olly Kilby deservedly won the Man of the Match award, having scored all five goals. The result maintains our unbeaten position at the top of the league with just two games left to play. U13s were away at Ripon, and complemented a beautiful day with some beautiful football. Having lost their last game 8-1 the boys responded positively, playing nice passing football, getting in plenty of shots and not allowing Ripon to settle. The final score was a 2-0 win.
Despite missing a few key players U14s worked hard away at North East Leeds to come home with a 4-4 draw. U15s had never before lost against Lawnswood and went into the game on the back of a nine match unbeaten run, knowing that a win would take them back to the top of the table. On the day they produced their poorest performance of the season to date, going down 7-3. U17s played a friendly at home against Tadcaster. Starting with just 11 available players our striker limped off after 10 minutes, then after 35 minutes we lost a centre back. Fortunately we were 2-0 up at that point. Tadcaster took a man off to make it 9 v 10, then in the second half the injured centre back went in goal and our goalie went up front to make the teams 10 v 11. We conceded twice but held on for a creditable 2-2 draw.
Action from the U15s match v Lawnswood. More pictures can be viewed here
Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd February
Winter passed through Yorkshire this weekend, resulting in the postponement of all matches.
Sunday 27th January
U8s played at a perishingly cold Pannal Ash Reds. Overall the boys did really well, recording one convincing win, a second win with a last kick of the game penalty, a draw, and a single defeat. U10s were by far the better team away at Beckwithshaw, playing some great passing football but struggling to finish. Both teams won one game convincingly but then made hard work in getting a draw in the other game. U11s played away at Killinghall on a very muddy pitch. We fell to our biggest ever defeat in one game, then won two games and drew one.
U12s played away in the league at Wetherby Tigers. It took some time to get going as Wetherby were strong at the back and quick on the break. However, our superior possession eventually told and we broke the deadlock, followed by two more goals before half time. The second half followed a similar trend with lots of possession and many missed opportunities. We scored twice more before Wetherby pulled a couple back, one of which was a very contentious penalty. Final score 5-2 to KDR. U14s were drawing 0-0 at half time at Ilkley having played into a gale in the first half. The second half was a completely different affair; six different players got on the scoresheet as we scored 7 without reply. U15s lost at Burley earlier in the season but it was a completely different outcome this time. We ran out 5-1 winners, extending our unbeaten run to 9 games in league and cup. U16s played away at Ilkley and lost 6-1 . We had only 11 players available, and despite having the better of the first three quarters of the game our sloppy finishing let us down. The boys visibly tired in the strong wind but the most pleasing thing was that we kept going and scored the last goal.
Action from the U15s match v Burley. More pictures can be viewed here
Saturday 26th January
U14s Girls hosted last season's runaway champions Brighouse Juniors. They easily beat us in the reverse fixture earlier this season, as they are a very big, powerful & aggressive side. The girls rose to the challenge though. Our defence were magnificent keeping their shape really well. Midfield were tenacious and our attackers dropped back to hustle as we didn’t let Brighouse settle. We also broke quickly and took the game to our opponents. In a game of few (perhaps no) chances - certainly neither keeper had a difficult save to make - defences were on top so we emerged with a hard fought and very creditable 0-0 draw. The result keeps us in second place, two points behind Brighouse. U15s were in action against Oulton, a clash between the 4th and 5th placed teams in the division. From the whistle it was a competitive game. Oulton took the lead after 8 mins, we then missed a penalty, and Oulton doubled their lead 10 minutes before half time. The second half was much of the same, we got one back with 10 minutes to go, then in the last two minutes we missed another penalty. Final score 2-1 to Oulton.
Sunday 20th January
U7s suffered a rare off day, not playing with their usual zip, and conceding possession to give the opposition a couple of breakaway goals. Away at Knaresborough U9s made the most of the excellent pitches at Thistle Hill, playing some lovely passing football to come away with two good wins, a draw and a narrow defeat.
League Cup action for a number of our teams today. U12s faced Boroughbridge for the third game running. We started slowly and struggled to break them down early on. Boroughbridge's keeper was in fine form stopping three one-on-ones and tipping a couple of goalbound efforts round the post. We eventually broke the deadlock and scored a second soon after taking us in 2-0 up at half time. A sluggish start to the second half but we upped our work rate and scored two more, with Boroughbridge grabbing a late consolation goal. U14s also played against Boroughbridge and almost replicated the same scoreline, this game finishing 4-2 to us. U15s match with Leeds Maccabi was a classic cup tie. We took the lead early on, but conceded an equaliser during the second half. No further goals in extra time, so it went to penalties, with Jake Levine saving Maccabi's final penalty to give us a 3-2 win in the shootout.
Action from the U15s match v Leeds Maccabi. More pictures can be viewed here
Saturday 19th January
U13s Girls faced Ilkley in the League Cup. Previous encounters suggested a close contest but the girls had a great game and ran out 4-0 winners. U14s Girls were back in league action for the first time since November, hosting Farsley Celtic. Farsley started the game very strongly, taking an early lead. We quickly equalised but were on the back foot and it was no surprise when Farsley went 2-1 up. Slowly we began to get into the game but missed chance after chance. Then just before half time one of their defenders scored an own goal to take us into the break level at 2-2. The second half was one way traffic as we dominated and scored a couple of excellent goals, followed by a penalty and finally a poacher's goal to give us a 6-2 win. U16s twice came from behind to draw at home against Wetherby. From 2-0 down we pulled it back to 2-2, then conceded two more only to get back to 4-4.
Sunday 13th January
U7s played a friendly match away at Collingham. A strong start to the game saw us race into a healthy lead, despite being without our main striker. We changed our formation for the last quarter of the game, allowing Collingham back into the match, but we scored again to hold on for the win. U8s and U10s were both in action against teams from Pannal. U8s won two, drew one and lost one against Pannal Sports Lions. In contrast U10s were still suffering from post-festive lethargy, and lost all four games against Pannal Ash Blues.
U12s won 7-0 away at Boroughbridge to stay top of the league. No New Year rustiness for these boys, with great team work, some individual brilliance and a couple of players bagging hat-tricks. U15s Sunday team continued where the Saturday team left off. Despite going a goal down against Bedale at the Vale of Mowbray Stadium, they overcame the strong wind and played a good passing game on the best playing surface we have seen all season. We ran out 5-1 winners, Cameron McKay bagging all five. U17s played host to Pool, who came into the game on the back of an 18-month unbeaten run. Strong play from KDR, and a desire to win saw us deserved win 3-2.
Action from the U15s match at Bedale. More pictures can be viewed here
Saturday 12th January
U14s Girls travelled to Brayton Belles for a County Cup quarter final match. Brayton are a familiar opponent, having given us closely fought contests in the City of York League over the last few years. We took the lead after a strong solo run and then added two wonderful team goals at the end of the first half. The girls withstood an onslaught at the start of the second half, playing very sensibly to deny Brayton a single shot on target all game, and then grabbing a well worked fourth goal to put the tie beyond any doubt. U15s Saturday team played a very competitive game away at Aberford. We missed a number of chances early in the match, only for Aberford to take the lead against the run of play. We replied with two quick goals before half time, and in the second half we missed yet more chances. With 12 minutes left Aberford equalised. Cue a frantic last few minutes, during which we managed to score again to win the game 3-2.
Sunday 6th January
U11s played in the League Cup Final at Harrogate Town's CNG Stadium. Unfortunately the boys failed to perform at their best on the day - we won one game but lost the other three, albeit by a single goal each time.