Fluffy Frolics The Launchpad For Success
Well what a difference a week makes. From the moment entry was made into the changing room at rain-sodden Fernhurst Drive for this Mike Smith Trophy 1st Round match against Worthing Albion you could smell it. No…not talking about Cheese’s fingers but the sweet smell of banter, happiness and willing to right the wrongs of the ineffectiveness and lack of passion of the previous week. Unfortunately for Worthing Albion they were on the sharp end of it.
Fluff’s lurid pre-match banter had everyone going. Without going into too much detail for a family audience (I’m informed kids read this) suffice to say it would probably be hard (and expensive) for him to keep up with that sort of ‘night before’ pre-match preparation…and maybe not advisable either!
Oh the game you say. Yes lets get onto that! After the shortcomings of the week that never was, manager Jeffery opted for a change in formation to a 4-5-1 with Hanks on the left-wing, introducing Stu Seager in a right-wing Forrest Gump-esque role (!) and welcoming back Hughesy and a very tanned Baumers to the fold. This gave the backline a much more familiar look to the tight unit it was last season, with Penfold and Bone forming the central defensive partnership. With the unavailability of Ripper, Fluff was asked to fill the role of lone man up front and Blow slipped into central midfield with Brisey and Marv.
Asked to start with pace and passion, GSK duly obliged and indeed opened the scoring after just 30 seconds! Fluff, not wasting any time enjoying his more advanced role, latched onto a defensive mistake to coolly slot past the keeper from just inside the box. 1-0 GSK and the baying crowd were still taking their seats! Albion immediately looked perplexed by this and this confusion remained as GSK returned to their more accustomed quick-passing game, which must’ve torn manager Jeffery’s ever-greying Schofield locks out even more as to why this urgency was missing last week. GSK were completely swamping Albion in the opening spell, whilst giving away little at the back. It came as no surprise when GSK grabbed a 2nd. After some nice interplay saw Fluff released on the right, he slipped his man and cut back to Marv just outside the box. He produced a lovely finish from 20 yards passing the ball into the net out of the keepers reach. 2-0 and only 14 mins on the clock!
With only a sixth of the match played, despite a couple of war cries, it was clear to GSK that Albion faces already feared the worst. GSK continued to play their stuff and sometimes overplay, leading to a couple of occasions where Albion mustered fruitless breaks on the counter, being snuffed out by a backline looking determined to keep a clean sheet. GSK’s midfield were utilising well the space being afforded to them and Stu Seager was looking eager (do you see what I did there?!) but couldn’t provide the final touch to the good build-up work of one move in particular, narrowly missing at the far post as GSK looked to add a 3rd to stamp home the supremacy their play had warranted. Nicholas duly obliged though on 30 mins. A ball played up front was about to be intercepted by an Albion defender, when Brisey sensed an opportunity putting the defender under pressure bursting from midfield. This paid off as the defender was un-nerved, didn’t deal with the clearance and the ball bounced off his body. As the keeper advanced, Nicholas kept his cool to produce a delightful volleyed lob over him from outside the box that just dipped under the bar. 3-0 GSK. Sports were now in cruise mode and guilty of overplaying, which saw another Albion counter-attack produce a feeble finish just before the break after possession was lost on the GSK right.
HT Worthing Albion 0 GSK 3.
Halftime mutterings were for more of the same and really putting Albion to the sword. Frustratingly, neither materialised. The cruising continued coupled with an increased desire from Albion not to get hammered in the 2nd half as well. Albion missed a gilt-edged chance on 50 mins, which slowly roused GSK once again, but to nowhere near the appetite of the 1st half.
Despite this, chances still went begging for GSK as Seager was again thwarted and Fluff literally fluffed when put through, dragging his shot wide from the angle when he had all the time in the world and only the keeper to beat. Shocking miss Fluff :o) LaRusso was introduced from the bench to replace Hanks as a 4-4-2 was adopted, tasked with putting himself about and adding extra guile up front…and this did give GSK more impetus. Indeed a few minutes later (67 mins), GSK’s 4th arrived. LaRusso won a flick on from a GSK clearance to send Blow (now reverted to left-mid) in the clear. He worked his way into the box, where it looked as if he was felled by the on-rushing Albion defender. Blow wasn’t so convinced of the foul though when he realised Boner would have been tasked with taking the resulting penalty! Regardless it didn’t matter as the ball ricocheted to Seager for a tap-in to reward him for all his previous runs. Stu’s reward was to be subbed a few minutes later (!) replaced by Cheese (Rhodes not Edam) who had rapidly recovered from injury to make the bench. Knowing the game was up, Albion were somewhat of a spent force in the remaining minutes, huffing and puffing but never looking like they were going to blow any houses down. GSK, having taking their foot off the gas, still had time to create a couple of chances near the end but a 5th never materialised. They were already safe in the knowledge that their place in the 2nd round had been duly booked.
FT Worthing Albion 0 GSK 4.
GSK showed that the previous week was just ‘one of them’ as regardless of the result, the effort and tempo displayed from the off was there for all to see. In a month that sees them face L&S and Worthing Leisure, they can ill afford to ‘not turn-up’ like last week.
