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Old Meadonians IV’s vs Old Finchleains IV’s: W 4-3 Wolfe x2, Mayou x2
Eventually a game of football on a Saturday! And it did not disappoint in what was an epic game with it going in every which direction as the 90 minutes passed. We trekked up to North London by tube to face a strong Old Finchleians team from the SAL in the AFA Cup. They were top of their table but after our last victory over top of the league we were confident of progressing into the Quarter Finals. After a couple of late drop outs we had 12 players but every player was chomping at the bit given our lengthy wait for a game.
The pitch was in surprisingly good nick despite the weather troubles and we started the game well. They attempted to rough us up at the start with some pretty reckless challenges flying in. However, as Kev said, it is better to play 11 boxers than 11 footballers and we were dealing with their physical presence. We scored early on when a lovely ball through ball from Ash, who had a great game on the left, put George through and he took the shot early. Luckily his rather tame left footed shot was misjudged by their keeper and the ball rolled in to the corner, 1-0. We continued to play good football and when their keeper was forced off with an impact injury we knew we could score a few more.
We had said at the start of the game that we needed to make sure we played our football in the right areas on the pitch, i.e. not at the back. We are very lucky in that we have players that are all very comfortable on the ball all over the pitch, however sometimes it can be our undoing and today proved to be no different. A misplaced pass from the back was cut off by their impressive striker and after some attempted blocks, tackles his strength ensured he retained possession and he hit it near post to level the game. Within minutes we were 2-1 down when a long throw was flicked on and Dave found himself outnumbered at the back and unable to prevent a header sneaking in at the back post. Our dominance in possession had forced them to change their formation to match our 3 in the middle and the match became more even.
We equalised before half time when Sam’s incisive pass found Matt in space. One touch out in front and then a swing of the right boot saw the ball sail into the top corner from a full 30yards, this wasn’t even going to be the goal of the match though. Back in the hunt with an uphill second half to come. The second half began evenly but we were to be thankful to Jake’s large frame when he made an amazing block when their player looked certain to score from 4yards. Minutes later and we were back in front when a corner was flicked on by Joe and Matt prodded the ball back across goal and it found the bottom corner. The lead lasted about 10 minutes when another set piece saw the ball drop kindly but it was finished well on the turn. 3-3
Ash made a typically mazy run and fired a powerful shot near post from a tight angle but their stand in keeper made a good save. Then came the goal of the season so far, the ref harshly suggested George didn’t mean it, but knowing him he was trying it and it happened to come off better than he could have possibly imagined. I can’t explain the goal so here’s a goal like it; imagine this but the ball floating over the keeper into the far top corner from a slightly tighter angle, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioyYYqYrINw. 4-3
This time we held onto the lead but that owed a lot to Jake’s point blank save after another flick on from another long throw found someone at the back post but Jake got across well to stop his 3yd header going in. The defence had been great throughout especially given we once again had a new centre back pairing in Sam and Andy. With Neil and Dave on either side we had been great defensively and if we cut out our sometimes casual distribution from the back we are sure to give ourselves less headaches in the future. We saw the game out well, defending valiantly and also breaking when we had the chance. Neil made a great break down the middle and was unlucky that we had to go uphill in the 2nd half as he couldn’t quite get fully clear of the defender and his shot under pressure was too close to the keeper.
The final whistle blew minutes later and it was a great result from a good performance. Our football was very encouraging and the goals that we conceded can easily be eradicated with some better organisation and perhaps decision making. MOM was tight but went to Jake on a tie break from George after the Ref was given the deciding vote, “he kept you in the game” was his astute assessment…he also conceded 3!
Team: J Sierocinski, D Ryan, N Cooper, A Sellars, S Morson, D Hough, M Wolfe, K Hilne, J Willis, A Hamidi (L Reekie), G Mayou.
