Old Oak's poor run of results in 2014 is over following a narrow 1-0 win over a resilient H-Town outfit who could count themselves unlucky not to get a share of the points.
Following last weeks controversial 3-3 draw with F C Lions, management team Gunnell & Mcneill made 2 changes to the the starting eleven, with Carpenter(Work) & Wilkinson(rotation) the two men to miss out. Barlow & Burton returning the the starting eleven, seeing the team revert back to the favoured 4-4-2 system.
With several games falling foul to the poor weather, this was an opportunity to get some points on the board against a side we had previously beaten in the cup. A scrappy opening period of play saw both sides struggling to take control of the game, both side waste possession in the opening few minutes, rather surprisingly we took and early lead, a ball down the right wing found its way to Carter who had found some space, having control the ball he expertly picked out Rodriguez at the back post who finished from 10 yards out 1-0. The early goal failed to settle us and the general scrappy play from both sides continued, both sides winning several set pieces which came to nothing. As the half wore on H-Town were gaining the upper hand with a combination of good defending from Gunnell & Hawken and some good goalkeeping from summers thwarting the opposition. Late in the half H-Town won a free kick 30 yards from goal, there winger hit a clean strike which was heading for the top corner only for Summers to tip onto the crossbar, as the ball drop down for a tap in, the opposition striker used his arm to control and correctly had a free kick awarded against him. A First half of few chances drew to a close without any further incident.
In contrast too last weeks first half performance this was a poor showing, although in defence of both sides the 'boggy' pitch was doing nobody any favours. Captain Hawken & the management team re-iterated the need for an improved showing in the second half. The second half began in a similar fashion to the first half ended, neither side in control of the match with several miss placed passes hindering both sides. On 55 minutes Oak made the first tactical move replacing Ebberson who was suffering with shin-splints with Roberts and making a like for like swap seeing Shadbolt replaced with Wilkinson. H-Town forced another free kick shortly after, again there Winger struck a powerful shot goalwards which for the second time in the game rebounded back of the woodwork. With the game become more streached and excellent break down the left by Rodriguez who beat 2 players only to be caught by a stray elbow which resulted in a free kick on the edge of the area at an acute angle. Piercey stepped up and was unlucky to see a clever effort saved by the keeper who had initially left his near post unguarded. Roberts(on as a sub) was impressing in his holding midfield role and linked play well again with Rodgriguez who beat several challenges before slightly over hiting a final ball for the on rushing Carter. H-Town continued to attack although by this point it has too be said they were reduced to counter attacking, with the defence and midfield being difficult to break down. Coker was then booked for what appeared and accidental collision on the half way line, very harsh in my opinion as moments later he was sent clean through by the impressive Rodriguez only to be ball back as he ran in on goal. A red card would have been justified as this was a clear goal scoring opportunity however to everyone surprise the ref only choose to award the ref kick, Piercey continuing the theme of the game, seeing his freekick crash back of the crossbar. As the game moved into the final few minutes goalkeeper Summers was called into action to make one final save, before two final corners where successfully defended, on the break from the second one the ball was feed to Coker who was flagged offside despite collecting the ball in his own half. The final Oak chance fell to Wilkinson who wriggled past 4 players in the box but saw his shot deflected to safety, with the refereed blowing for full time a minute later we had collected our first win of 2014.
Well done lads, we played nowhere near the level we can, but we got a vital result to kick start our season. Chris Summers, Simon Hawken and Javi Rodgriguez all impressed me today, however I have choosen Matt Gunnell as man of the match for his part in a good defensive display