After months of preparation the Yorkshire XL 11s league season was finally about to get underway! It was a hot summers day at Middlesbrough College, with the onlooking Transporter Bridge being able to enjoy a comfortable home victory for the Erimus boys!

A decent turnout from fans and family made it a special opening game of the season for Teesside Erimus.

The Leeds XL AFC had recently renamed themselves Leeds Heavyweights FC and travelled north in the hope of securing a victory under that name to get the season underway, while Teesside felt confidence, despite a difficult test against Sunday league New Marske the week before.

It was TEFC who got the game underway and early on striker Jay Pepper 'dashed' forward to test the Leeds keeper who parried his shot. Teesside looked cautious but positive until the 5th minute when Pepper picked up the ball at the centre circle, rolling it to Cai Dawson who sent the ball out wide to winger, Callum Watson. Watson picked out Connor Burnett who had made a run towards the edge of the box and he made history as TEFC's first goalscorer in the XL 11s League! 1-0 to TEFC

Minutes later Pepper was fed through on goal by Burnett, hitting the ball off the post, the ball was cleared by Leeds defenders but Pepper was given another chance which the keeper got his body behind. After just nine minutes, Leeds looked under pressure and hadn't really gotten going. Leeds did test the TEFC keeper Chris Stephens early in the game with a number of chances. The solid TEFC defence, including Dan "Ponytail" Wright deputising at Right Back were difficult to breach and hounded Leeds attacks. Ponytail recovered the ball on the 17th minute
as two Leeds attackers broke in what was one of their best chances of the game.

It wasn't until the 19th minute that Teesside enforced their dominance to extend the scoreline. In the 18th minute Jay Pepper had broken through with the keeper saving to send the ball out for a TEFC corner. The resulting corner ended up with Burnett at the edge of the box who knocked into Pepper who was pushed by the Leeds defender. Referee Stephen Leonard had no choice but to call for a penalty. Pepper stepped up and swiftly dispatched the kick to make it 2-0 to Teesside!

Following the penalty, Teesside could smell blood and pressed high, with a number of attacks leading to corner kicks (Teesside had 7 in total in the match), the Leeds defence was under pressure. There were glimpses of what Leeds could offer, and winger Eric Ongeri made a nuisance of himself against the Teesside left-back Jamie Platt, though with support from Captain Tony Foreman and Lewis Young at the back, Teesside dealt with the majority of Leeds attacks.

Jay Pepper had been clinical in pre-season, finishing top scorer across the club with 6 goals from 4 matches, while Callum Watson had been a close second with 4 goals and 3 assists. It was inevitable with the two on the pitch that they would link up and the first instance of this occurred on the 30th minute when keeper Stephens rolled the ball out left to Platt, in to the feet of Watson who put the ball on a plate for Pepper, in space on the left. He rounded the keeper, and put it home to make it 3-0 to TEFC. Though his goal had been convincing, the following celebration was somewhat questionable, though Teesside were flying at this point (see the video and you'll know what I mean)!

Leeds had no plans to travel up to Middlesbrough and walk away with nothing, and the next fifteen minutes or so saw them grow back into the game. Teesside still maintained attacking dominance on the pitch, but Leeds stepped up their efforts and began to play the ball forward more confidently, though on occasion, some shots from distance left the Teesside goalie with little work for the afternoon. They began to look more positive and it's easy to tell that they'll trouble other teams in the league.

As the game headed for half time, Teesside attacked again from the back, Cai Dawson with an exceptional pass, pinging the ball from inside the Teesside half towards the edge of the box for Jay Pepper to complete a first half hat-trick! Of course, the clubs first ever league hat trick! 4-0 TEFC, and Half Time.

Being 4-0 up at half time, Teesside will have had all the confidence in the world of seeing out the victory, Leeds however came out in the second half and raised their game again. TEFC still created chances with Jonno Poole and Dan Wright being particularly effective on the right hand side, the game fell slightly flat for a time as the second half ticked by and Leeds strung together a number of movements that failed to test the TEFC goalkeeper. Leeds got into a fantastic position on 51st minute down the right wing, but Jamie Platt ended the attack calmly with a tackle that gives flashbacks of Bobby Moore on Pele!

Many of the Leeds attacks were covered by the TEFC defence, the pre-season fitness programme was clearly showing it's success in this opening match of the season, and as the game moved on a few frustrations began to rise, with referee Ste Leonard blowing his whistle 22 times in the match for free kicks! (4 to TEFC, 18 to Leeds Heavyweights). TEFC began to press back more with Pepper having some shots blocked, and substitute Colin Pearson making sure he got his 'shot over the bar' in for the match, after he'd spent about three hours getting ready to enter the pitch!

Leeds best chance up to that point came on 64th minute, with an error at the back putting their striker in on goal, the TEFC keeper was alert and rushed out to block the ball. If anything, this woke up TEFC, who immediately went on the attack, Jay Pepper put the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the box, but was denied his 4th goal of the match by the offside flag.

Jonny "Grass" Ing then entered the pitch and made a nuisance of himself in the box for the Teesside lads, while Pepper had another chance with the keeper off his line but unfortunately sent the ball over the bar. Ponytail enjoyed a battle with the Leeds wingers for much of the game, though was moved into CDM when Mark Richards was subbed on at Right Back, though Ponytail put in a stellar performance that would earn him MOTM/POTM from Coach Curtis Collantine, with Cai Dawson another solid performance, worthy of it!

That Watson-Pepper link up wasn't finished for the game however and on 68th minute Jay found himself one-on-one with the keeper after a Colin Pearson clearance, and kindly squared it for Watson to score his first league goal of the season and make it 5-0 to Teesside!

Goalkeeper Chris Stephens had a decent afternoon, though wasn't tested as much due to a solid back line, he was alert when Leeds attacked and for the shots they did have, however was denied a clean sheet when Leeds Heavyweights' Eric Ongeri pounced onto the end of a Daniel Siddle free kick to slot it home for a consolation, 5-1 to Teesside.

Leeds continued to push over the remainder of the game but were unable to make any of their chances count, while sub Danny John got himself involved in the centre of the pitch, alongside Keith Pugh who would be playing his final league game for the club, before his move to Redcar Newmarket. We wish Keith all the best for his future and thank him for his time with TEFC, including a period as club captain!

As the game drew to a close it was time for the OG's to shine, Danny John sent a ball out wide to Jonno Poole who played it back in to DJ at the edge of the box, he sent a curling shot into the back of the net to round off the game at 6-1 and cap a fantastic opener for Teesside Erimus! Full Time 6-1!

Teesside Erimus would like to thank Leeds Heavyweights FC for travelling up to play us and wish them all the best for the rest of the season (except on 10th November!)

Coach Curtis Collantine named Dan Wright as his Erimus Player of the Match and he struggled to accept the two-pint honour later that night!

Coach Curt Comments:
Incredible start to the season, the squad have worked incredibly hard over pre season physically, mentally and tactically and that has brought success straight away with a very good performance and win.

The togetherness and positivity in the squad is fantastic and as a group we need to build on the first game to strive for even better. I’m very proud of them all and can’t wait for the next game!

Leeds will host York for their next game of the season while for TEFC it's another home game at Middlesbrough College against Harrogate XL AFC on 18th August! Make sure to get yourself down for the 2pm KO as TEFC look to stay at the top! This will follow a friendly against Middlesbrough MvF on 11th August.

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Pictures by the talented Robyn Pollard! (@robynleigh.photography on Instagram)