2nd January 2016, first game of the new year and we were looking to build on our strong end to 2015, albeit with the result in our favour! It was a wet and windy afternoon and we wanted to hit the ground running with the help of the Smith brothers and Owen “The Hardman” Howard.
We started the game well, defensively sound with Pearcey and Moaning Meddy organising the back 4 exceptionally. Our best chances came from down the left with Mike, Dom and Bramley causing havoc for their ageing defence. On the half hour mark, Bramley was through 1 on 1 with the keeper after a fantastic turn on the half way line, leaving their centre backs scratching their heads…could it be the breakthrough the Ressies desperately needed…. What happened next can usually be seen at Twickenham, the ball sailed over the bar and into the neighbouring gardens.
With the new ball in play, the pressure continued to mount on the Guilden Morden goal with some superb efforts from Josh Smith, Breamo, Bramley, Dom and Rob. The deadlock was broken in the 35th minute when Bramley did the unthinkable…. And squared the ball to Dom for a laboured tap in, 1-nil! Bramley then doubled the goal tally and our lead 5 minutes later finishing off a great team goal with Dom returning the favour. The opponents clearly couldn’t cope with the pace of our front 2 and wide men and we had a comfortable lead at half time.
The message from the Gaffer was to put it in for the first 15 minutes and try and finish the game off with the killer 3rd goal, which should be too much psychologically for the opponents to come back from. With these words fresh in mind, Dom – our most dangerous man in the first half, was begging to come off for a breather, great start! He did manage to continue in fairness.
The weather started to turn, the heavens were opening above us and the wind was tactically with us in the 2ndhalf. Very much like in the first half, the pressure was on the Guilden Morden goal. Shots coming in from left right and centre. What happened next can only be described as a scene from “Bend It Like Beckham”, I have only ever seen this done on Fifa. Josh smith, desperate not to be outshone by his younger brother, picked the ball up 35 yards from goal, looked up, reviewed his options, stared the keeper in the eye, turned to the old bloke who he had been kicking all game – told him to fuck off. The ball bounced on the uneven ground teeing him up perfectly. Leathering the ball towards goal, hitting the ball sweetly it travelled straight into the top corner. What a goal, Ressies 3-0 up and heading for not only the first win in a while, but also with that the prospect of a clean sheet.
In the final 15 minutes we started to tire and the opponents started playing a 2-4-4 formation, we found ourselves under pressure. Unfortunately a scrappy goal was conceded in the 85th and we didn’t manage to keep our clean sheet. Nonetheless a confident performance and well deserved victory. We can all be proud of our effort and performance as both a team and individuals. Moving into 7th position with the momentum behind us we can build on this and push ourselves higher up the table where we deserve to be!
