Having already taken 3 points from an afternoon's work, there was a danger, as always is the case with double headers, that Meads were going to take the 2nd game lightly. Despite starting slowly the game was to fall into Meads hands through a combination of good luck, a piece of outstanding quality, and some injuries to the opposition.
With Damo having to catch a flight after the first game there was a slight reshuffle with Matt coming into the middle and Lister taking up the right wing position. Brent had changed their formation to combat the 3 in the middle that we had in the first game, switching to a 3-5-2. This gave us a lot of space to exploit in their backline. Having already lost one of the deadly twins to a suspected set of broken ribs, Brents backline looked a lot less solid and now with the 3 there was a chance to exploit it.
The game wasnt going to get any easier for George however, who was still followed relentlessly by the other hard hitting twin. His job on Saturday, although less satisfactory for him personally due to his lack of a goal was a true sign of team play. He was kicked to France and back but continued to try and hold the ball up and put their defence under pressure at every opportunity. His day was to end badly though, when he had to go off injured in the second half, having taken one kick too many.
The game itself began the better for Brent with one shot early on smashing the post after a deflection off a defender. This served to wake Meads up though and the space was to be exploited moments later. Lister was played in down the right and he hooked the ball back into the middle. The only covering defender came into cover Matt but Matt let the ball go with Ash rushing on behind him. His 'finish' went round the keeper and then chaos ensued...
With Ash shouting 'leave it' as a call to Matt there was one bone of contention and it was this that most players thought was the main issue. However, it transpired that the ball had perhaps not even gone in in the first place. From my point of view, I thought the ball was going wide but then saw the ball in the back of the net and concluded my original judgement must have been wrong. The Brent goalkeeper was adamant the ball had gone through a hole in the sidenetting, but trying to prove it was harder than he imagined. He threw the ball at the sidenetting 4 times and not once did the ball go through. There was however a hole and one that may have allowed the ball through. Having spoken to players after the game there was a similar reaction to that of my own, one of original doubt but similarly swayed by the sight of the ball in the back of the net.
Unsavoury scenes followed with it taking a full 5 minutes for the game to begin again. Ash was downbeat having being called everything under the sun by the oppo but we had to get on with the game and ensure 6 points were taken from the 2 games.
A 2nd goal came soon after when Eric found plenty of space from left back to make a cross and Lister swivelled on the ball and the attempted block by the keeper flew high into the air before dropping behind the line. Ash was then denied by a good save when when he got on the end of a cross from the right to poke the ball goal bound but the save was a good one.
Then Meads were to effectively be given the game when Brent went down to 10 men through injury. With confidence high and Brent deflated it was now a matter of seeing out the game accordingly. Meads failed to really control the game despite their numerical and score advantage with some players completely unaware the oppo were down to 10 men.
The second half was to see arguably the best goal of the season so far when Lister and Kev played a 1-2 before Lister cut inside on to his left foot. Players screaming around him, Lister looked up and hit an unstoppable drive into the top corner from 25 yards out. The purity of the strike was magnificent and it showed the technique and ability that Lister possesses.
With the game now won, there was a lot of back and forth and little real cohesion from either team. Brent got themselves a consolation when a free kick right on the edge of the box was curled up and over the wall, 3-1. There was little to worry about however as there was little further threat from the 10 men. Eric even had a chance to weave his way through plenty of challenges before cutting in onto his weaker right foot to curl a great effort at goal, only to see the keeper tip it over the bar.
With time dwindling away and Brent players asking the ref to cut the game short a free kick from Kev was dropped by their keeper and guess who was there to put it in?? Jonathan 'Meireles' Sellars was to continue his run of goals with a stooped header into the empty net. Despite the time and scoreline he still got up and showed us his Alan Shearer impression. There is absolutely no jealously on my part that a centre back has twice as many goals as me this season and is our 3rd top scorer, none at all.
4-1 and 6 points from 2 games, taking our new year tally to 5 wins and a draw from 6 games. It is a great turnaround in fortunes and it no doubt shows that there is plenty of ability in this team. We now have to keep this unbeaten run going as long as we can and I truly see no reason why we cannot keep this going for a while yet.
MOM went to Lister for his brace but most likely for his glorious strike after half time. He showed he can terrorise defenders if left one on one and with the ability to play with either foot, when in a confident mood, he is a real handful to any defender.
