After beating Rusthall in the last round we were rewarded with a glamour tie against more county opposition in the form of Hawkenbury first XI. Memories of the 2009 Presidents cup final were still fresh in the minds of many of the match day squad and there was the feeling that we owed them some pay back. As we were due to not be playing this week and with some injuries to key players the team took on a different look with a 4-5-1 formation and a debut was handed to the young Alex D’Albertancen. Fat Head Jefferies shifted to a Nigel De Jong midfield crunching role, Zac Effron moved to the right flank and with the absence of Hobbit the captaincy was handed to the Bijon Frese from Romford. The Big Friendly Giant was also recalled to the side to steady things at the back.
The game started at a frantic pace with the B&A creating a couple of half chances but it was the away side that open the scoring. A mistake at the back let in the young Hawks striker who made no mistake with his finish. Moments later they were 2 up when the same man sprung the offside trap and ran clear to score his 2nd. So there they were 2-0 down against the run of play, things weren’t looking good but no one’s head went down and the possession began to pay off. Adam Jefferies Ghosted in at the front post to poke home a clever Zac Morris pop corn fed chicken corner and we were back in it. It wasn’t long before we were back on terms. Again from a corner. This time the ball came out to the edge of the Hawkenbury area where the BFG cleverly flicked the ball over his shoulder straight in to the path of the Romford Pele who finished with ease. B&A were in the ascendancy now and looked like they could push on and find a winner. Again against the run of play Hawkenbury got their noses in front, this time a wonder strike from 25 yards left Fuzzy Harrison with no chance in the sticks. Again though not one Blackham head dropped and no one bitched and moaned they let the football do the talking and within minutes were back level again. A long free kick from Stan Bowles was headed home by the BFG. 3-3. But again a defence lapse let the Hawks back in. A well worked team move led to their 4th goal. Then came the slice of luck. Gandhi fed his Ghost with a lovely threaded pass up the left wing, Ads controlled the ball and looked to chip a cross into the box but it looped up and curved in over the keepers head. The mood was confident at half time; we had been playing some of the best attacking football we had played for years. Alex was feeding the ball through to Zac who was running rings around the Hawkenbury back 4 and Latts was running the show up top on his own. The Hawkenbury midfield and back four couldn’t deal with the way the B&A midfield 5 moved the ball around and there were fouls plenty.
Blackham had the perfect start to the second half. A long through from Grant Jefferies found Zac who ran clear and crossed for Skipper Latts to put us in front for the first time. Grant himself doubled the advantage chasing down the Hawkenbury goal keeper who obviously got scared seeing the massive cranium coming towards him and dropped the ball, all Fat head had to do was walk it in to an empty net to make it 6-4. Hawkenbury got a goal back to keep things interesting but the cushion was restored straight away. Another Grant Fat Head throw in found Bish who twisted and turned in the box and fired low to score his 2nd of the day.
The scoring was rounded off by the eldest of the Jefferies brothers. Gandhi got a well deserved slice of pie after a tireless display when he latched on to a Romford Pele cross. With the 3 goal cushion and less than 15 minutes left on the clock the game was won although Fuzzy the Abbo did have to make a couple of smart saves late on.
It was a funny old game and certainly one for the neutrals rather than the purists but poor defensive mistakes aside we played some of the best football seen at Goldsmiths for some time. Woodlands await us in the next round.
Message from the Club Captain – Stay Clean, Shower hard.
