GWP kicked off their Berks and Bucks Junior Trophy campaign against Atletico Thatcham, with 11 players and no manager… despite the lack of players GWP named a strong starting XI, with a first choice back four behind a make shift centre midfield pairing of Paul ‘Goz’ Philips and Dan Soul.
The first quarter of an hour was a tight affair with neither team able to get a foothold on the game. Thatcham were wasteful in possession and GWP were resolute in their defending. The midfield quartet of Nathan ‘E-Lie’ Pavely, Dan Soul, Paul ‘Goz’ Philips and Daryl Redding, who was returning from a self-imposed exile from football, were congesting the middle of the pitch and making it difficult for the Thatcham midfield to apply any meaningful pressure or create any clear-cut chances.
In the 20th minute the game sparked into life when Deano Pavely contested a low bouncing 50/50 challenge with his face and proceeded to take 3 studs down his forehead. While he was down clutching his head something happened and then something else happened and some people shouted and then Thatcham scored, much to the bemusement of Sven Habenicht and a number of other GWP players.
After a drink of water and an entry into the “Elephant Man lookalike contest” Pavely was ok to carry on. Thatcham started to impose themselves on the game and were creating more and more opportunities, which were continuously repelled by the GWP defence and the excellent Lee Jones in the GWP goal.
A rare GWP attack broke down and Thatcham quickly counter attacked, dishing the ball out to the right wing. Deano Pavely delayed the winger and allowed the GWP defence to reorganise in the middle before the Thatcham winger fired in a cross. The danger seemed to be well covered with Sven Habenicht coming across to cover the retreating centre backs. What followed has now been deemed the greatest own goal scored by a GWP/Chatsworth player, surpassing the effort of James ‘Beanie’ Blackler 2 years ago.
Habenicht flew across the Thatcham striker and met the cross with a perfect header, which left his head at about 100 miles per hour before smashing against the underside of the bar before nestling in the back of the net.
Thatcham’s dominance continued with a succession of attacks, which lead to a flurry of corners, which the GWP defence, marshalled by James ‘Beanie’ Blackler and Deano Pavely dealt with superbly. Lee Jones was confidently coming off of his line to claim the crosses. It was from one of these corners that lead to the ball falling to the Thatcham striker on the edge of the box who rifled in a vicious strike that seemed destined for the bottom corner, only for Nathan ‘E-Lie’ Pavely to be stationed at this post to clear the ball off of the line.
Most of GWP’s attacks were coming down the left flank where Nathan ‘E-Lie’ Pavely was using his blistering pace to take advantage of the Thatcham right back (not in a gay way though) and Dan Soul and Paul ‘Goz’ Philips were beginning to get a foothold in the game. It was a build-up started by these two in midfield, in the 35th minute, that lead to a rare attack down to right flank, where, after working the ball to the flank, “Sam Davis” took over, cutting inside the fullback before rifling a bullet shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
This strike shook Thatcham and gave GWP confidence to play football and build up their attacks slowly and more concisely, so it was no surprise that GWP drew level just before half time. Once again good work in midfield lead to George McDonald laying the ball off for “Sam Davis” to cut inside and unleash a thunderbastard of a shot into the top corner of the net.
The rest of the first half was played out with very little incident, other than the bruise on Deano Pavely’s head becoming more unsightly and comical.
The second half started with Thatcham making 2 changes to their line-up. This introduction of fresh legs had an immediate impact on the game, as the newly introduced right winger flashed a cross into the box, but with James ‘Beanie’ Blackler seemingly covering the cross, the Thatcham striker pulled of a neat and concise finish to divert the ball beyond the reach of the diving Lee Jones.
Straight from the kick off, Sven Habenicht played James ‘Beanie’ Blackler into trouble. In his attempts to recover Blackler slipped and gave the advancing Thatcham striker a free run on goal and he duly slotted the ball into the bottom corner.
GWP then looked to get back into the game straight away, with the Daryl Redding improving on his first half performance linking well with “Sam Davis” down the right. Nathan ‘E-Lie’ Pavely was tormenting the Thatcham right back (but not in a rapey way) down the left and Dan Soul and Paul ‘Goz’ Philips were making their presence felt in midfield (possibly in a gay way).
The GWP defence was looking more and more solid and composed, with a dramatically improved performance compared to the disaster that was last week.
A sustained spell of pressure lead to GWP creating a several good chances. Firstly, “Sam Davis” fired another drive from the edge of the box, only this time it was straight at the keeper. This was followed by James ‘Beanie’ Blackler meeting a Sven Habenicht corner, only to flash his header wide. Then a frantic goal mouth scramble lead to the ball falling to Daryl Redding in the 6 yard box, unfortunately he was more interested in bumming the Thatcham goalkeeper than putting the ball in the net.
Nathan ‘E-Lie’ Pavely then lived up to his title as the most injury prone player by picking up a calf/groin/ankle/hamstring (delete as necessary) injury and then limped his way, at a million miles per hour, through the last half an hour of the game. Deano Pavely, who seemed desperate to end the game with half a face, picked up another hefty kick to the head, this time on the right hand side, but he actually got a free kick for this one, but not as much sympathy.
Thatcham Atletico rapped up the game just after the hour mark when a cross from the right lead to a goalmouth scramble, and the ball fell to the Thatcham striker at the far post, who showed Daryl Redding how to score a goal and not score with the keeper, by despatching the ball into the roof of the net.
The last 20 minutes was played out a half pace, as Thatcham looked to keep possession and GWP seemingly ran out of energy as the lack of subs started to tell, but that didn’t stop Paul ‘Goz’ Philips forcing a great save from Lee Jones. The ball fell to Goz in the GWP box and his mis-directed clearance was expertly diverted onto the bar by Jones.
Daryl Redding tried his hardest to get in on the (own) goal scoring/assisting act when his sliced clearance near the half way line finally landed in the GWP penalty area, luckily there was enough defenders to clear the danger before Thatcham could pounce (again not in a rapey way)
Something, something, something else, or something... PAUL HASKINS!!
All in all, despite the difference in quality of the two teams, the fact that Thatcham had 6 subs to call on and GWP were playing with a makeshift midfield the performance of every player on the pitch was commendable and everyone put in a shift. And left the pitch smiling!!
“Sam Davis” picked up the man of the match award, but special mentions go to George McDonald who had his best and most confidence performance to date, Lee Jones for some commanding catches and saves and also Dan Soul and Paul ‘Goz’ Philips for a brilliant performance in midfield.
Other notes:
Fines-
Sven Habenicht OG (£1) paid
Dan Soul, Nathan Pavely, Dean Pavely LATE (£1 each) paid
Quotes:
Ref to Deano “This is not your day for injuries is it?”
Deano’s reply “It’s never my day for injuries!”
If you have anything to add or feel I’ve missed anything, please comment below…
