I’m not sure if anyone actually dreams about slaying the biggest Premier Division sides on their way to lifting the Ted Fairchild cup, but if they do the dream for the Oaks was still very much alive until the last 10 minutes with the score at 3-2. A fluke and an individual error may have soured the final score line, but the performance left a sweet taste in the Oaks ranks where all involved worked their socks off and refused to hand Legends an easy passage to the next round.
Milesy had 13 players to choose his starting eleven from for this match, and went for the following line up:
ppppppppppppppTyrone (GK)
pParker (RB) Stu (CB) (c) Rob (CB) Eye-Ball (LB)
pNathan (RM) Jimmy (CM) Jordan (CM) Scott (LM)
pppppppppJamie (CF) Sharpy (CF)
Subs: Aaron, Bill (complete with tights)
The game started in competitive fashion, and although no one was going to argue who the stronger side were The Oaks showed they weren’t prepared to sit back and let Legends play their own game. The two assistants were as busy as the twenty-two players in the open exchanges with both defences successfully deploying the off-side trap. This limited Legends to a few speculative long range efforts, and when they did finally break free of The Oaks defence Ty was on hand to make a fine one-on-one save with his legs.
Sharpy and Jamie were linking up well upfront, and Jamie especially seemed to be inspired by the opportunity to show he is in the same class as the strikers our premier league opposition face week in week out. The Legends assistant’s arm seemed on automatic pilot, and both Jamie and Sharpy were harshly denied goal scoring opportunities.
The Legends took the lead 15 minutes into the match when their striker made himself an inch of room in the box and slotted the ball past a helpless Ty: 0-1.
The Oaks continued to battle hard and soak up the pressure, and when Eye-ball intercepted a pass mid way in his own half few would have envisage what was to happen next. If you were to rank the Oaks players purely on footballing skillsEye-ball's name would appear next to 'Not Applicable'. Unfortunately he has watched quite a lot of Match of the Day, and as a result you will quite often hear him say "it looked good in my head" as he swings at thin air or uses his nose to clear the ball. This often ends in disaster, with the Legends' 5th goal being a prime example, as aperfectly weighted cross field ball to Bill turned into a defence splitting pass for the opposition to latch on to and score. On the very odd occasion it pays off; when Eye-ball set off on a mazy dribble that actually resulted in bulldozing through three opposition players and fortuitously emerging with the ball the task was the simple: Pass the ball to Jamie who set off towards goal before laying it off to Nathan to continue the run, he then played the ball across the goal for Sharpy to finish from 6yards (notice we don't describe 6 yard finishing as an easy task for Sharpy): 1-1.
This was a really well worked goal, and the Oaks fully deserved to still be in the game at this point. Unfortunately a sloppy goal was conceded just before half time when we were slow to get organised following the award of a free kick on the edge of the area, but all in all we were delighted with the first half performance: 1-2.
With Al on the long term injury list, and Milly and Deano also missing Stu had dropped back to partner Rob at the heart of the defence and Jordan joined Jimmy in the centre of midfield. The versatility and commitment of Oaks faithful is second to none and the performance from all in the first half demonstrated why we are able to compete with any opposition irrespective of player availability. The first half had unsurprisingly taken it toll, and the Oaks struggled to get into the game in the second half. Fortunately the Legends had left their shooting boots at home (or had they swapped them with Eye-Ball?) and despite their best efforts it wasn't until about 25 minutes into the second half that they managed to put the ball into the net when a break away down the right led to an easy finish for the Legends' attacker: 1-3.
A lot of teams would have thrown in the towel at this point, seeing as we were two goals down against premier league opposition with 20 minutes to go. The Oaks are made of sterner stuff though, and good work from Nathan on the right earned a corner which he then prepared to take. Rumours had been spreading throughout the game that, far from being dead, the King of Pop was alive and well and marshalling the Oaks defence. In an attempt to dispel the conspiracy theories I should point out that the man in question has never been excuse of sexual relations with Billie Jean, and although he is pretty smooth I’m sure he has a clean record. Also, far from Healing the World he’s more likely to put the opposition (or himself) in hospital. However, it’s easy to understand the confusion as Rob glided (not to be confused with “moonwalked”) into the area wearing one glove and powered an unstoppable header from Nathan’s pin-point cross past the helpless goalkeeper: 2-3.
I should clear up any confusion at this point, and inform you that Rob was told that simply taping up his wedding ring wasn’t sufficient, and wearing the glove was the only alternative to removing the ring – which wasn’t going to happen. Rob was rightly annoyed by this ridiculous new ruling. I understand to a certain extent that football league rules should apply across the professional and amateur games, but a bit of common sense should be applied in some cases. If the job you get paid to do requires you not to wear rings then it’s obvious that you wouldn’t wear one. When you’re only a footballer for 90 minutes on a Sunday morning it’s unreasonable to be asked to remove your wedding ring (and a lot of people physically can’t) if it has never been off your finger. If the decision for Rob becomes a choice between cutting off his ring or not playing Sunday League football any more the Oaks are going to loose a key player.
Now that rant is over I can tell you that the Oaks believed now that they could possibly force extra time, but when Ty attempted to clear a corner at the near post, but only succeeded in whacking the ball onto the back of his brother’s head (maybe a subconscious reaction stemming from their childhood) the opposition were left with a simple finish: 2-4.
I’ve already talked enough about the shambolic goal in the last minute that gave the final score line a more unfavourable tint: 2-5.
Well done everyone, and hopefully we can take the confidence and experience gained from this game into our next league matches.
Eye-Ball
Next Match – Sun 3rd January League Game v Belhus Park Athletic @ Belhus Park (Away) – 10:30 K.O.
Scoring Chart will return once I've checked all the figures. I still have Sharpy top with 8 goals, and Nathan second with 6.
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