The 4s made their way up to Tufnell Park for a game that was supposed to be a 1 west fixture, when Tufnell park became west im not sure, but it was a trek. Matters were made worse when our stand in keeper for Jake cried off the night before the game at 10:30, together with another player, leaving us with 11 fit players and Matt, who ended up going in goal as no one else appeared to be particularly keen.
Meads were slow to get going and Magdelanians, who seemed to have a lot of the same players as their 1s last year, started brightly, keeping the ball and moving Meads around with some good passing. However, Matt had hardly been tested at all apart from the odd catch with the play taking place mostly in a congested central third of the pitch. The opening goal was to come about in the most surprising of circumstances; kev attempted to turn in the area and got dispossessed, allowing Mags to cross and tap into the near enough empty net. Dave, although undoubtedly disappointed to have conceded a goal, would have allowed himself a chuckle as he is normally on the end of a berating from Kev for not clearing the ball when under pressure.
Mags second goal came soon after when their striker was set free down the channel and his early shot did enough to beat Matt as it rolled agonisingly into the far corner. Meads rallied though and started to play with a bit more incision and composure. Rory, who had a great game at centre back, managed to somehow miss a volley from 5 yards when the goal was at his mercy. Other attacks lacked that final pass or the ball would bobble over the recipient’s foot. Either way, Meads went into the break 2-0 down but fully aware that the game could change with a goal.
The second half began with much of the same from the first half, two teams, fairly evenly matched, playing generally in the central third of the pitch. With half an hour to go Rasheed came on for George, who walked off disconsolately, with others bemused by the decision to take off our goal scorer when 2-0 down. Rasheed provided a presence and pace that started to unsettle the Mags defence and about 10 minutes later Meads got their just rewards when a nice move resulted in Dave laying the ball to Jose just inside the left hand corner of the box and Jose finished nicely into the far corner off the post.
The game continued to ebb and flow with Meads looking dangerous when the wingers were released down the wings. Mags, however, seemed to seal the deal when a long throw was nodded on and somehow their striker was by himself on the penalty spot and he swivelled and fired past Matt to make it 3-1.
There was still time for Meads to make it into a tense finale when a shot by Jose was spilled by their keeper and Jon finished nicely past the keeper into the far corner from the angle. Unfortunately, Meads could not find the elusive equaliser and the game finished 3-2.
A lot more battle from Meads this week in comparison to last week, but the post-Christmas blues continues for the side, who can’t seem to maintain possession for long periods, something that was central to their good form pre-Christmas. MOM went to Rich for filling in at right back admirably. He was strong in the tackle and composed on the ball, equipping himself well in an unusual berth.
