I'm not sure I can recall the last time the Oaks were top of the league, and I don't think I made enough of this fact last week. Fortunately the win kept us top for a second week running, so I have the opportunity to capture the moment now:
It's funny to recall where Belhus's one point came from...
The victory is made more impressive given the disruptions caused by the weather, the time keeping of the referee and the limited Billet facilities. We turned up at the ground to be met be dense fog, with the pessimists amongst us being adamant that the game would not be played. However, the "glass half full" types were confident that once you got into the fog and stood on the half way line, you could clearly see both goals. However, there was no point getting changed until the referee had confirmed that he was happy for the game to go ahead, which he did when he finally turned up at 10.05. Further disruption was then caused as we had to wait for a room to become free for us to change. This meant limited warm up time and an unnecessarily late kick-off.
The one problem caused by the continued good form of the Oaks is that it is obviously hard for Milesy to change a winning side, and despite the countless options available the manager made just one change from the previous week with Sharpy getting his first start on the right hand side of midfield:
ppppppppppppppppTy
LukeppppppRobppppDeano (c)ppppEye-Ball
SharpyppppppMikey BpppppTapsellppppppRyan
ppppppppppNickppppHarry
subs: Parker, Steve, Gollum, Whiley, Nathan, Niki, Jordan, Joe, Gavin
The disruptions seemed to have affected Thameside more than The Oaks, as the away side started brightly. The home side were not allowed any time on the ball, and the Thameside goal was soon under siege.
It wasn't long until the deadlock was broken as Sharpy collected the ball on the right hand side and played a delightful ball down the line with his left foot for the eager Harry to run on to. He glided into the box, and unselfishly crossed low for Ryan - who had timed his run perfectly - to calmly slot the ball home with the outside of his right foot back across the scampering and wrong footed keeper:: 0 - 1.
There is rarely a dull moment when Sharpy is on the pitch, but it was good to see him continue to warrant mention thanks to his involvement in goal scoring opportunities for the Oaks. He had two chances to bury headers from excellent Luke corners that would usually be bread and butter, but obviously match fitness is still causing an issue as he failed to make proper contact with either.
We didn't have to wait long for the lead to be doubled as Eye-Ball overlapped on the left to receive a pass from Ryan. A late call from Tapsell caused him to change his original plan to send Ryan down the line, and although the pass to Tapsell was a poor one, Taps' determination lead to the ball being won back. Although Tapsell's low shot was well saved by the keeper, Nick (aka the BFJ) showed the greatest desire to get to the loose ball and held of the defender to slot home into an empty net: 0 - 2.
I would argue that the BFJ had his best game of the season, and is starting to develop a really good relationship with his striking partner Harry. I don't know what the two of them talk about while they are watching the rest of us defend, but whatever plans they are concocting seem to be working. The plan appears to be to get close to one another, with Harry sitting on the last man and Nick coming deeper to win the ball and flick on first time for his mate to run on to. This proved very effective in the first half of this game, and showed what a valuable asset the BFJ is for the Oaks when he keeps things simple and looks to use his ability to create space for others, which gives the Oaks a cutting edge in attack.
The Oaks settled back five looked totally at ease in the first half, with their lives being made easier by the way in which Mikey and Tapsell were once again dominating the midfield battle. Thameside showed no signs of being able to threaten Ty's recent run of clean sheets and the half finished at 0-2.
Milesy made just the one change at half time, with Nathan replacing Sharpy who would have done his fitness no harm with a busy 45 minute outing.
The Oaks continued in the second half where they had left off in the first, as they went in search of the third goal that would confirm the points. The best chances fell to Nick, whose header from 6 yards drew a remarkable reaction save from the keeper, and Mikey who drilled the ball sweetly towards goal as it fell to him following a set piece, only for the Thameside defender to block the shot on the line.
Anyone who thinks we can maintain the high standards we have set for 90 minutes in every game obviously hasn't heard of some of The Oaks most impressive under achievements: Rec Rover 2010, Linford Wanderers 2009 and FC Deportivo Thurrock 2008 are just a few that spring to mind. One thing all these disappointing performances had in common is that they all followed good results from the previous week.
We've already shown that we can string commanding performances together this season, and the fact that we held out to win this game despite being well below par for the last 25 minutes should be taken as a big positive. We completely lost our shape and composure, and seemed to have forgotten who was on our team and therefore who to pass the ball to. To give credit to our opposition, they finally started to put us under the kind of sustained pressure that we expected, and started to make better use of their possession.
Despite this, it was still unexpected to see Thameside pull a goal back to set up a tense final 5 minutes. Interestingly we have now conceded 6 goals in the 7 games we have played, with half of them being scored by Thameside. Add to this the fact that all three goals have been handed on a plate following individual errors, and you can really see why most forwards wish they had stayed in bed when they come up against the Oaks defence. If the Oaks had kept their third clean sheet in a row, it would have been roughly 315 minutes since Ty had last picked the ball out of the net. Unfortunately it turned out to only be 310 minutes as Ty - whose great recent form has been key to keeping the door to the Oaks goal shut - had a moment to forget when he kicked more ground than ball in attempting to clear a back pass from Deano, and presented the Thameside midfielder with an easy finish into an empty net from 9 yards: 1-2.
I must admit to contemplating what a travesty it would have been for us to gain any less than three points from a game that we had dominated for such large periods. I shouldn't have worried as all eleven players dug deep, with Joe and Steve working as hard as anyone following their introduction for Nick and an injured Luke, and the final whistle that confirmed another three points came as something of a relief.
Well done everyone, and lets make sure we don't slip up in the next two weeks as we take on two more teams who we have already beaten this season. Beauchamps and Wilburn are matching us win for win, and we want to ensure that they can't win the league without getting past us first.
Eye-Ball
Next game: At Home v Pegasus Coryton @ Blackshots - Be there early to put the goals up!
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