The 4s came back in emphatic fashion on a rain soaked Riverside Lands on Saturday when they turned around a 2-0 half time deficit to score 6 goals in 30 second half minutes. A hattrick from 4s debutant Jeff O'Sullivan put paid to any hopes Old Uffingtonians had from taking any points back to Greenford. Languishing at the bottom of the league Old Uffingtonians could consider themselves lucky to go into half time 2-0 up but must have sensed their first points of the season. It seems ridiculous to think they had not amassed a single point this season as they were not so bad as to merit such a horrendous statistic. This may have explained Meads' rather shaky and casual opening half.
With every game in London apart from ours seemingly called off I was getting calls from all over the place with players offering their services for the day. As it turned out, it was very lucky as 2 ringers had not turned up on the Saturday morning leaving us with 9. George made a return having been called up to 2s duty only for their game to be called off and Moose and Andrew made useful additions to a seriously makeshift side. This undoubtedly contributed to the lacklustre opening exchanges with the balance of the team foward heavy. Old Uffs took a 2 goal lead fairly early on; firstly Rory's untimely slip allowed their striker through on goal and he rounded Jake to make it 1-0 and then a corner from the right was headed in to make it 2-0 5 minutes later. The early goals rocked Meads but there were still signs that goals were there to be had.
Jeff hit the bar and then had a header well saved by the keeper low to his left. Despite the chances the game still wasn't quite flowing for Meads with everyone a little bit flat. The half ended with Old Uffs fortunate to be 2-0 up despite hitting the post and with Meads not even close to top gear. With everyone aware of the need to wake up at half time the 2nd half began with far more intensity and organisation. We knew the next goal would turn the game if we got it, maybe not to the extent it did though.
The huge turnaround began 5 minutes into 2nd half when George, on the edge of the box, spotted Matt's run in behind with a deft flick over the defenders. Matt swivelled with the ball coming over his left shoulder and volleyed it first time past the keeper. The equaliser was to arrive soon after when a nicely floated ball from the right by Mikey was headed low and hard by Jeff past the keeper.
Meads now had total control of the ball and the game and were camped out in the oppos half. With only 10 minutes gone in the half the signs were ominous for Old Uffs. The third goal and the lead came from another nice ball from Mikey. This time it was a corner and his great ball in was headed in by Andrew, mkaing it 3-2. Andrew had come on for the injured Eric at halftime, moving into centreback alongside Sam. He instantly commanded the back 4 and his communication was a great bonus in the 2nd half.
The 4th game was the best team move of the lot the move started back in Meads' half; the ball was won and played simply before the ball was played to Mikey down the right who set Jeff free of the offside trap. Jeff centred the ball and, with the ball slightly behind him, George finished very nicely off the post as he tussled with the defender.
Sam had been playing well in the 2nd half, often bringing the ball out of defence with confidence and on one occassion this got him an assist. As he continued his run forward he crossed the ball in and the ball fell kindly for Jeff whose touch got the ball out of his feet nicely before firing low past the keeper, 5-2. Minutes later Jeff bagged his hat trick when a cross dropped and rolled slowly out of the box. His curled finish was the perfect way to round of his debut and made the game 6-2 with still 15 minutes to play.
More chances came and went, there is no way I could possibly note them all but our total domination was broken one last time when in stoppage time Old Uffs scored from a set piece to make it 6-3.
MOM went to Jeff for his hattrick but as a team Meads were unrecognisable in the 2nd half compared to the 1st. The ball was moved about a lot easier and the increasing space afforded to the players allowed confidence to flow back very quickly. A resounding victory, not without a scare but its good to see that we can come back from that position and win so convincingly.
