The fun fair was in town at station approach this week, so Jubilee FCs home game against bottom of the table Bridge House was moved to a neutral venue. It was one of the hottest days of the year and Jubilee FC was down to the bare bones for this match with 6 key players missing. However, the players were optimistic of getting a result.
Manager Elton Marks started with a 4-4-2 formation with Dean Powell starting in goal. Max Charalambos and Piers ‘livewire’ Short at left and right back with Andy Ioannou and Nicky Alvarez creating a new centre back pairing. Johnny ‘leftpeg’ Heather and Josh Rogers started on left and right wings respectively with Sam Brown and Dean Freedman in central midfield. Michael Richardson and Joe Lloyd lead the line for Jubilee. The bench was empty today.
Bridge house kicked off and immediately put the jubilee defence under pressure. The defence held strong with any long balls that were put over the top and Dean Powell was dealing well with the long distance shots. After the 10 minute mark Jubilee FC saw possession fall in their favour and started playing the ball down the right and left channels. Josh Rogers played a lovely ball down the right wing to Michael Richardson who beat his man and crossed in a low drive to Joe Lloyd. Joe dummied with his right foot, flicked the ball up with his left and headed into the corner of the goal. The goalkeeper had no chance as he had already committed himself by diving the other way. 1-0 to Jubilee FC.
The goal woke Bridge house up and they immediately tried to hit back. They bombarded the Jubilee defence with various long balls and eventually won a corner. The corner was whipped in and headed towards the far post only for the ball to be cleared off the line by Max Charalambos. Jubilee FC broke down the left with Johnny Heather but he lost the ball on the half way line. Bridge House then switched the play down the right but Piers Short was able to make a decisive tackle for Jubilee. However, a mix up in defence allowed a Bridge House player to score from close range and shortly after a long range strike put Bridge House 2-1 ahead. Jubilee was in a state of shock and couldn’t believe what had just happened. But Bridge House smelt blood and went on the attack again. A long ball into the box not dealt with was slotted home and Bridge House was now 3-1 up. Andy Ioannou had landed awkwardly leading up to the goal and had to be taken off.
Samuel Brown was moved to the back line to shore things up until half time. Jubilee regained some composure with Nicky Alvarez playing some good passes out of the defence. Unfortunately a Bridge House attacker was allowed to shoot from range and scored again. Bridge house were now 4-1 up and Jubilee were playing with 10 men. Elton Marks made some attacking changes moving Dean Freedman to Left back while the energetic Max Charalambos was moved into central midfield. There was a bit more urgency in the Jubilee play. With Joe Lloyd going close with a long range effort and Johnny Heather putting in some dangerous crosses but no breakthrough was made. Samuel Brown also did well at the back making a last ditch challenge.
At half time Jubilee FC was 4-1 down and Elton Marks was close to reading the riot act to the team. Manager Elton Marks had to come out of retirement to go in goal as Andy Iouannou was injured, which enabled Dean Powell to play at centre back. The game was not lost yet but the next goal would be crucial.
Jubilee kicked off the second half and immediately went on the attack. Sam Brown played a through ball to Michael Richardson but was closed down by a defender. Bridge house then had a few long range efforts but Elton Marks made some world class saves to keep Jubilee in the game and even attracting applause from passers-by. Bridge House whipped in a corner that Elton punched out allowing Jubilee FC was able to break. Max Charalambos played a ball over the top to Michael Richardson down the right but was closed down quickly by the goalkeeper before he could shoot. Jubilee could sense a goal was coming.
A weighted ball from the back of defence from Nicky Alvarez was knocked over the goal keeper by Michael Richardson. An excellent strike and Jubilee were back in the game at 4-2!! The sun was taking its toll and Bridge House becoming sloppy in their passing. This enabled Jubilee to break down the left hand side with Dean Freedman and Johnny Heather linking up. Johnny beat his man and squared the ball to Michael Richardson who played a though ball Max Charalambos who ran from deep and was one on one with the goalkeeper but was deemed offside by the referee.
Dean Powell was excelling at the back with Nicky Alvarez with both of them making key interceptions and last ditch tackles. Dean played the ball to Samuel Brown in the middle of the pitch, who beat his man and played a through ball to Josh Rogers. Josh was dispossessed and the defender passed the ball back to his goalkeeper. Max Charalambos shut down the goalkeeper and he picked up the ball resulting in an in-direct free kick for Jubilee. Michael Richardson took a quick free kick but was not on the same wave length as Max Charalambos and the goalkeeper collected the ball. If that had gone in, the game might have swung Jubilees way…
Jubilee was starting to feel the effects of chasing the game in the midday heat and exhausting was starting to set in. Chances were becoming few and far between with Johnny Heather producing the best effort with a near post cross. Bridge House were able to introduce fresh legs and in the final 5 minutes of the game scored two goals in quick succession.
The final score was 6-2 to Bridge House and Jubilee FC lost their undefeated record for the season. The loss of key players and no substitutes on a hot summer’s day contributed but it was a poor team performance compared to the previous week’s victory against Cuffley FC. There was a spirited Jubilee FC performance in the second half but unfortunately not enough to claim any points. Jubilee FC will hope to regain some pride in their next match against Haileybury.
