Division 7 boo-boys Burnt Stump made Olympique LMB work for their league title in the opening 20 minutes of this rain-soaked match, before succumbing to fatigue, consistent finishing and inspired goalkeeping to lose 12-3 and put the mighty LMB 11 points clear at the top of Division 7 with only 2 games remaining.
Crozier opened the scoring when Chibbert played him in off the back wall, before Swithers added a speculative second, his shot bouncing off the post and in off the back of the sprawling keeper! The Stumpies hit straight back with two quick goals beyond Griffin, before LMB began turning the screw; Sam sent in a screamer from a beautifully-weighted Crozier pass, Chibs spun on a sixpence and rifled a shot in off the bar with his left foot (after Crozier had produced a very special step-over in the build up), and Spence was unmarked to crash in a low shot from a pulled-back free kick. 5-2 at half-time.
As the tension eased, Olympique began to enjoy their football and produced some lovely passing to tire their struggling opponents. Barnesy won the ball of a beleaguered defender and finished calmly, before Burnt Stump momentarily struck back from a penalty (that Swithers kindly gifted to them after taking an afternoon stroll in our own area). After that, however, Man of the Match Griffin put in a stirring performance in goal to see off any other threat, while at the other end Crozier scored his second from a tap-in, Chibbert put away a Crozier deflection off the back wall, Taylor “samba-ed” (Scothern, 2009) his way to 2 goals after some neat team passing, Barnesy struck again with his ‘cultured’ left foot and Swithers scored a legitimate goal in the dying minutes with a ‘deft’ finish.
Ultimately it was a good team performance, and there were several candidates for MOM; Swithers and Adam both defending (with Adam keeping a clean sheet in goal for the opening 5 minutes) and scoring with consummate ease, Chibs, Crozier and Sam all putting in an energetic shift, Spencer keeping it simple at the back and Taylor proving his critics wrong by hitting the target (twice!), but in the end Griff fashioned some miraculous saves, made his own luck, and even produced time for a quick lie-down while the ball dribbled along his goal-line after crashing off the post - “All under control boys. I pushed that onto the post with my breath.”
