Laird Athletic 1 - 4 Oaks Athletic

The Oaks are renowned for their meticulous preparation, which on this occasion was hindered by the fact that this game was not confirmed until late on Friday. While this is an important factor for what was at times a comical performance, we could also site the scorching weather (although Nick possibly got a bit carried away to compare it to Jamaica), hard pitch, two week break and lack of urgency against a very poor (although determined) Laird side. So although the win looks more convincing on paper than in reality, at least we won and have next week to show Laird what we are really capable of on our home pitch.

Given that Laird were an unknown quantity Milesy wanted to start cautiously, and with Milly missing decided to start with Nathan at the back rather than in a more attacking position:

pppppppppppppppppppTyrone (GK)

ppDeano(RB) Nathan (c) (CB) Rob (CB) Eye-Ball (LB)

pParker (RM) Gollum (CM) Mikey (CM) Scott (LM)

pppppppppppppSharpy (CF) Nick (CF)

Subs: Jimmy, Aaron

It soon became evident that Laird’s league position was a true reflection of their ability, with the only threat they posed being a goal keeper with a thunderous kick, and a speedy forward. However, we appeared to be finding it hard to drag ourselves above their level, as first touches turned the second ones into tackles, and the final balls went flying long, high and wide of their target. Despite this we were creating the better chances to score – mainly from corners and throw-ins – and looked relatively untroubled at the back.

Regular followers of the Oaks will be only too aware that the words “comfortable” and “untroubled”, when associated with our side, are usually followed by me describing how the opposition fortuitously took the lead against the run of play. I’m not one for breaking with tradition, and it was a rare error from Deano that lead to Laird being first to register on the score sheet. Having tracked his man well, he was first to the through-ball, and perhaps not wanting to replicate Eye-Ball’s over hit back pass from earlier that saw Tyrone “don’t make me run” Owen breaking into a sweat to try and keep the ball in, Deano’s attempted back pass was horribly under hit and the striker gratefully ran on to the ball and finished well passed a bewildered Tyrone: 1-0.

There really was no need to panic; there was plenty of time left in the half to get back on level terms, and surely we would take one of our chances sooner or later – we definitely created enough of them. Both Scott and Rob came close with headers, with one of Rob’s seeming to strike the player on the arm as he stood on the line. Scott also had a good shot well saved by the keeper. On another day we would have even been awarded a penalty as Mikey was felled in the area. However the referee seemed reluctant to give any such decisions at either end – at least he was consistent. Nathan – who had moved to the wing to continue Parker’s good work of exploiting Laird’s weak defence – was also finding a lot of joy down the right, with one good ball in to the box being turned just wide by Nick, and on another occasion the keeper saved well from Nathan with his legs.

The equaliser finally came with virtually the last touch of the half. It’s not often we see Gollum’s silky skills, but it was his elegant turn in the middle that led to the ball going out for an Oaks throw on the right. Nathan “Bulgarian shot putter Ivanka Hristova’s number one fan” Kerin launched the ball into the penalty area and Sharpy rose highest to re-direct the ball into the net: 1-1.

If our performance in the first half had been below par, the way we started the second half can only be described as woeful. Ty was called into action more or less directly from the kick-off when a bouncing ball wasn’t dealt with by the Oaks defence despite a number of attempts. Fortunately Ty was on hand to save well with his legs when the Laird player got his shot away.

It wasn’t until we took the lead that things started to improve. By this point Nick had gone off having unfortunately hurt his ankle after an attempted shot which saw him hit more turf than ball. Nathan went up front to partner Sharpy and Aaron took his place on the right. This was to prove the turning point, as Nathan took up a position on the left side from which he was afforded time and space to run in behind the defence on a regular basis. On the first such occasion it was Scott, collecting the ball after good link up play between Deano and Parker on the right, who played a perfect cross field ball that was collected by Nathan and calmly slotted home past the helpless Laird goal keeper: 1-2.

For the next goal it was the turn of the left sided players to get in on the act. Ty threw the ball out to Eye-Ball on the left who carried the ball up the line before passing it on to Scott. He was tackled by the Laird defender, but Eye-Ball was on hand to pick up the lose ball and run into the area. Eye-Ball then played the ball back to Nathan, who drew the man and returned the ball to Eye-Ball. Rather than shoot, he then played the ball across the six-yard box where Sharpy was on hand to “shin” the ball into the net: 1-3.

This goal seemed to relax the Oaks and we began to find our stride. We were also helped by the fact that Laird were now down to ten men due to injury, but we were able to bring on fresh legs in the shape of Jimmy, replacing Gollum the middle. The chances now started to come thick and fast. Nathan got in behind the left full back three more times but on two attempts couldn’t lift the ball over the keeper, and on the third put the ball just wide. Mikey also had a good effort saved by the keeper when he beat his man on the edge of the area before working the ball back onto his right and shooting low to the keeper’s right.

Given that Sharpy had pulled a goal further away from him in the chase for the golden boot, Nathan would have been rueing his missed chances, but was finally rewarded with his second of the game and the 4^th for the Oaks. Our very own Lucio went on a mazy run from the back before playing a perfect ball over the defence for Nathan to run onto. This time his lob was expertly executed and the ball bounced into the roof of the net: 1-4.

It is worth noting that this game saw a rare 90 minutes for Michael “At least I’m not ginger” Parker. Perhaps this contributed to a couple of unfamiliar footballing errors from a man who is blessed with a good footballing brain and technique, but was back of the queue when they were handing out agility and athleticism. I’m sure it is because we expect so much that Milesy felt it necessary to give Parker a colourful summary of his performance, when despite having approximately 4.2 hours to compose himself and control the ball it somehow eluded him and went off for a throw-in. Never mind Parker.

Despite a couple of late scares, the score in this enjoyable, but at times frustrating game ended in a comprehensive victory 4-1 for the Oaks. We’ve got just the one game left in the season, against the same opposition, and I’d like to set the challenge for us not to only win but to get the goal difference (currently at -1) into the positive. I’m not going to challenge Nathan to score 4 more than Sharpy (although I’m sure he is going to try).

Eye-Ball

Next game: Sunday 10^th April v Laird @ Blackshots – 1030 k.o.