On a cold and muddy November morning, Boots were dumped out of the EMPAL Cup by a resurgent NWM Olympico. Apart from Rowan and Patto making rare appearances in defence and Pete slotting in on the wing, the team was largely unchanged from the previous week, but unfortunately from the start a lethargic Boots struggled to get a grip of the game and were forced to clear their lines on numerous occasions as NWM closed down and fought for every ball. NWM took the lead after 20 minutes when a long throw to the near post was headed home by their striker, who (unnoticed by the ref) appeared to be holding down his marker, Rowan. The header nestled in the top corner as Phil was unable to react at such close range. The second goal came just before half time as NWM worked the ball down their left wing through a series of throws, and eventually the ball was pulled back to their midfielder outside the area who unleashed an unstoppable shot from distance that gave Phil no chance. Boots had very few chances at the other end as they struggled to penetrate the wings or hold up the ball in attack, but the best chances came when Danny was released down the right and his lobbed shot was cleared off the line by a defender, while SuBo had a header blocked on the line from Pete’s corner.
Following injuries to Danny and Sicky at half-time, Simon and Ash replaced them in midfield and Boots began to see more possession as NWM sat back on their lead. Pete tried his luck with a number of speculative long range efforts, while Simon was unlucky to see a volleyed shot blocked on the line as a cleared corner fell to him. NWM added to their lead with two goals that really should have been stopped – the first saw Hawrylak (who had a great game covering with Brett and Patto) outmuscled (unfairly) on the edge of the area by their huge winger who produced an excellent finish to beat Phil, while their second saw a low, harmless-looking long range effort squeeze under Phil and nestle in the bottom right corner. Dean replaced Luke up front and began to work well with Ash to work several chances in the box, and Boots finally got a consolation when Patto’s headed clearance found Pete free on the right, and he flicked the ball through to Dave who beat the offside trap and lobbed the out-rushing goalkeeper for his second goal in consecutive games. Rowan picked up Man of the Match as he worked well with Pete on the left wing and kept his winger at bay for much of the game (once he’d settled into the position!), but overall the result flattered NWM Olympico as Boots had an off day overall, and maybe should have made the result closer than it was.
