After a 5-3 loss with 10/9 men and a weekend off, Casuals and Pelham bounced back with a 4-1 win over newly promoted premier division side Queens Park Rangers! A more consistent Pelham with more bodies this week took to the field and with the home side hopefully looking a bit more like how they will line up next season, this would give us a better picture of how next season will fare. Four new players for this coming season started the game and even though it will take some time getting used to each other, the early signs were pleasing. Pelham started the game on the front foot and created a couple of early chances with both strikers Tim Shaw and George Wappett coming close. However after those early climates of goal, Pelham then put themselves under a bit of pressure with them not being able to get their foot on the ball and play it on the floor. That panic play lasted for the next ten or fifteen minutes and although QPR didn't really create any chances in that time to test Dan Monk in goal, the home side still won't be pleased with how they played in that period. The deadlock was very nearly broken as some good work down the right hand side from Sam Carter and George Wappett saw the ball cut across the box to Liam Perry at the back post who from 5 yards out rattled the bar. The first goal came not long after that with the home side showing flashes of brilliance and some great passing up the pitch. The ball eventually found its way to Liam Perry who squared it to Dan Boyce on the edge of the box, who took one touch before drilling the ball into the bottom corner. With the first goal out of the way that seemed to calm the home side down and they slowly got a foothold on the game. Some more great passing work saw the second goal produced with this time the passing and keep ball being at the back. This brought the QPR players further up the pitch to pressure the ball, and when the time was right Haks picked a great pass forward for Tim Shaw to get on the end of as he managed to finish it off at the second time of asking. Pelhams lead could have extended with Tim Shaw, Dan Boyce and George Wappett all coming close again, piling the pressure on the away side. Once again no real saves for Dan Monk to make and the first half ended with the home side going in with a 2-0 lead. Four changes were made at the half in order for the whole squad to get a run out and build up some fitness before the league campaign kicks off. The second half started similar to the first with Pelham dictating the play but again as well as glimpses of good play, some panic play in there. More chances created for the home side and some more good passages going forwards with chances again for Dan Arran, Liam Perry and George Wappett. The next goal however came from the away side who had yet to create a real clear cut chance and there was suspicion that their goal again wasn't that. A cross-come-shot came in from the edge of the box and looped over the Monk and into the back of the net to halve the deficit making it 2-1. However the game didn't change in terms of momentum and again a lot of the good play came from the home side. Pelhams 2 goal lead was restored about five minutes before the end as some good solo work from George Wappett saw him take on and beat two or three defenders before slotting past the goalkeeper who probably should have done better. The win was confirmed not long after as a ball from Paul Knight at right back set Tim Shaw on his way, taking one touch and then beating the keeper with what ended up being the last kick of the game. A 4-1 win for the home side capped off a good performance. A bit more consistency this week showed our depth of the squad and at every point in the match the five players on the sideline could easily have got into the starting line up showing just how strong we can be next year. However it's only one game and we need to keep this consistency of players up each week to give us a chance of repeating what we did last year. The new boys slotted in well and the next couple of weeks before the season kicks off we'll keep looking at getting used to each other and build up those fitness levels. Micks man of the match could have gone to anyone this week as no one had a poor game at all. However Mick has given it this week to Mark Hainsby who had a solid performance at left back and did everything simple but effective.
