Kiwi FC 3 - 1 Wadham College Old Boys London County Cup game ??
- The Jamie Pollock curse continues
It was a mild afternoon in South West London at the new home ground, Dundonald Recreational Ground, Wimbledon. The lads were eager to ensure the new patch became a fortress for all teams to fear - although our initial fear was the amount of ACL damage from the crater on our new home field.
With one of the strongest lineups to date, Kiwi FC came out with real intent and were dominant in the opening exchanges with some fluid passing across the pitch. After a number of corners the pressure finally paid off with Wade ferociously heading in debutant Ben Thomas’ corner. There are a few things in this world that are almost guaranteed - Death, Taxes and Wade scoring when his mrs comes to the game so let’s make sure she comes every time. 1-0 to the boys in black and white!
Over the next 20 minutes kiwi would search for another goal to assert their dominance on the game. The back 4 of Xavi, Mason, Wade and Goran were doing everything they could do holt any attacks from Wadham and it wasn’t until the 34th minute that Kiwis pressure would eventually pay off again. Goran showed poise down the left hand side and whipped in what can only be described as a David Beckham esque ball for the hardworking Sam Collier to head in at the far post. A well deserved 2-0 lead for kiwi going into the break.
After a strong team talk from the gaffer the boys were more determined than ever to see the job out and get the win to start our cup run. It was an uneventful start to the second half with neither team really creating too many opportunities. Wadham began to pour on the pressure with the goalkeeper coming up for every set piece with almost 20 minutes still to play in the second half. Kiwi would however have a few chances to make it 3-0 however Robbie and Ollie unfortunately couldn’t channel their inner Haaland and put both attempts wide and high.
The next 10 minutes saw an absolute peppering of the kiwi goal with shots, crosses and headers galore. Kiwi could count themselves lucky that Kieran was in fine form and the home crowd were treated to some of the best saves the ground has ever seen. Unfortunately the pressure finally paid off for the away team who capitalised on a header back across the goal and the game was 2-1.
The next goal was crucial and we knew that we had to be the ones to score it. Ben finally broke into the box and positioned his body perfectly in between the ball and the defender to milk a penalty late in the piece. Fionn stepped up to take the penalty and after a great save from the keeper the ball fortunately rolled back into his path to cooley slot home. 3-1 and now time to hold on!
The boys were able to see the game out in what was a historic day at the new ground. There were a few stand-out performances but ultimately the chug machine Mason walked away with the honour after a stellar performance at the back. As always, we indulged in a few pints at the aftermatch with the focus being on next weeks fixture against PSG.
Fin’s and Shane’s army marches onto the next one!!
Goals: Wade Randle 12’ Assist: BT Sam Collier 34’ Assist: Goran Fionn Cahill-Fleury 82’ Assist: BT
MoM: Mason
