Oaks Athletic 4 - 4 Beauchamps Rovers

In a game that was much like the North London derby and Carling Cup final that fell on the same day (in that it was definitely one for the neutral fan), the Oaks once again showed true grit and a never say die attitude to come from behind no less than 3 times, and in doing so went a point closer to their goal of acheiving the illusive league and cup double. Their opponnents, Beauchamps Rovers have obviously regained some of the form that saw them as one of the favourites for the league at the start of the campaign, and despite a mid season blip they still have as good a chance as any of the following pack of catching the Oaks, which makes a point to avoid the gap closing even more precious.

The Oaks have now been top of the league for approximately 3 months, despite only playing 4 league games in that time and playing fixture catch up (currently 3 games less played than second place). Results and scheduling have meant that none of our rivals have taken advantage of their opportunities to try out the view from the top, and this week with none of the teams closest to us playing, a point actually opened up a point gap. Anything less than a win next week could see us slip off top, which should give an extra incentive to give our all.



With band duty once again keeping me from the action (I promise that is it now), I'm grateful to my deputy reporter for providing the following comprehensive account of events.

Line up:

ppppppppppppppppTy

Deano (c)ppppppRobppppNikippppBrowne

NathanppppppMikey BpppppTapsellppppppRyan

ppppppppppNickppppHarry

subs: Joe, Sharpy, Bunny, Luke, Al

A rare occasion with no wind and a mild climate made for excellent conditions for a game of football.

The game got underway and right from the off it was apparent that Beauchamps had a bit of quality about them. They had lined up 4-5-1 and the extra man in midfield was allowing them to control possesion with the Oaks on the back foot.

The first goal came about 10 minutes in when a Beauchamps player burst past Mikey, who couldn't risk a tackle in the box, and fired low into the far corner: 0-1

It didn't take long for the Oaks to respond, all be it a little fortuitously. A free kick on the right was crossed into the box by Nathan, the Beauchamps Keeper flapped and the ball bounced off Taps and into the net, certainly his goal but he knew little about it: 1-1.

Then just a few minutes later the Oaks were at it again when good work from Mikey to win a throw close to the corner flag allowed Nathan the opportunity to launch another Rory Delap special. The ball played a game of pinball in the box, finally hitting the BFJ, rebounding onto the post and back into his path where he finished from a mere matter of milimetres: 2-1.

While we had turned the score around, we were all aware that this one was a long way from being won. However, the Oaks began to create some excellent chances catching Beauchamps on the break on numerous occasions, where an aging defence were finding it hard to cope with the pace of Ryan and Harry. Both would be presented with good opportunities, Ryan was put in on goal by Taps but dragged his shot wide and Harry had a great chance with a 1 on 1 where he decided to use his head rather than letting the ball come down which seemed the easier option. The header flew agonisingly over the bar.

The Oaks were left to rue a host of missed chances when Beauchamps won a corner and a delivery was met at the near post by a Blue shirt powering a header past Ty who stood no chance: 2-2.

The half time whistle blew with the scores tied at 2-2.

The Oaks, who were definitely below par in the first half, came out looking to improve. However, things only got worse when shortly into the 2nd half poor defending (something that is not associated with the Oaks, certainly in my time at the club) was to gift Beauchamps the lead. A long kick from the Beauchamps goalkeeper was allowed to bounce (something that happened far too often in this game), the ball ran through and the very handy centre forward had a fairly simple task of touching the ball past Ty: 2-3.

Beauchamps continued to dominate possesion but as has become the norm with the Oaks this season, we didnt lie down and a good attack resulted in the ball being rebounded across the box. Ryan ran in and always looked favourite to get there first against 2 Beauchamp defenders, he duly arrived on cue and was taken down for a clear cut penalty. The BFJ stepped up and smashed home another unstoppable pen into the top right corner: 3-3.

The next incident of note would come just minutes later when Beauchamps themselves were given a Penalty. Taps so often the Hero on many an occasion this season turned the villain when his mistimed lunge gifted Beauchamps the chance to once again take the lead. There were few complaints from the Oaks players, and even if the Ref hadn't given it, our own Lino Al seemed eager to take his linesman duties seriously for what he also deemed a stone wall pen! Cheers AL!

However unlike the BFJ the Beauchamps player stepped up and blazed his penalty high and wide, missing in a manner only matched by Charlie Adam in this weeks Carling cup final.

Milesy seemed to take this as a cue to change the system; off came the BFJ and on came Ash with the Oaks changing to a 4-5-1 formation matching that of the opposition. This certainly evened things up in the midfield (not that i'm biased after chasing the ball around for much of the game!)

Despite this Beauchamps didn't take long to make up for the penalty miss when an excellent run from the Beauchamps winger - who had caused numerous problems throughout the game - saw him beat 2 defenders and whilst Mikey got back to cover, the shot lashed through his legs rising high into the roof of the net: 3-4.

Despite going behind for the 3rd time in the game, the Oaks again responded well, beginning to push the opposition onto the back foot in search of an equaliser. They thought they had it when excellent work from Ryan down the left resulted in him putting across an excellent ball for Nathan to rise totally unmarked and head the ball past the Keeper. Unfortunately it rebounded off the post and into the keeper's hands!

The Oaks continued in search of the equaliser and another long throw from Nathan saw Robbie head the ball against the bar, Beauchamps cleared and we were beginning to wonder if it would be our day.

This prompted our final change with Sharpy coming on to replace Mikey and the Oaks moving back to their usual 4-4-2.

With around 10 minutes to go the Oaks finally got the equaliser: they had won countless corners throughout the game and Ryan's delivery had been good, on this occasion it was a great ball in and Robbie rose to head home: 4-4.

The final 10 minutes could of seen the game go either way; Beauchamps were certainly pushing for the win, at times leaving Harry totally unmarked on the half way line with a clear run on goal, unfortuantely he was caught offside a good 3 times with excellent chances to get him in on goal. From my position now as a spectator on one of these occasions he seemed to have timed his run well, the Beauchamp Lino seemed to disagree ( who knew! ) If only H would realise that he can give himself a couple of yards on these olds boys as their chances of catching him don't improve much!

As the game edged towards a draw, The Oaks would get one more good chance to find the winner. H not for the first time found himself in on goal, however the defender did well to get back and his shot was blocked, the ball though rebounded at his feet, he laid if off to Sharpy on the left who went for placement rather than power, his shot just a bit too close to the uninspiring Beauchamps keeper was saved and the chance to win the game was gone. There was still time for Beauchamps to mount one last attack which resulted in a good header that from where I was stood looked bound for Ty's bottom right corner, however he got across to make an excellent save and the game finished 4-4.

A game we could just as easily won as lost, ultimately viewed as a decent point.

Mikey B

Next game: Sunday 4 March Away @ Blackshots v Beauchamps Rovers - 1030 KO

Goal Scoring Chart:

Oaks Athletic 4 - 3 Tilbury United (Div 2 Cup Semi-Final)

As sporting comebacks go, this Oaks win after being 3-0 down inside the first 20 minutes has got to be up there with England's victory over Australia at Headingly in 1981, Liverpool's Champions League win in 2005 and Nigel Bond coming from 9-2 down to beat Cliff Thorburn 10-9 in the first round of the World Championships in 1994.

Unfortunately much like the Liverpool fans who left the Atatürk Stadium at half time (and the one fan who killed himself at the same point in the match) I wasn't there to witness this great moment in the Oaks illustrious history. However, the key points have been relayed to me (although I wont name my source he did make it clear that Mikey B was both the star man, and the best looking bloke on the pitch), and I hope I can do the performance justice.

With the weather finally taking a turn for the worse in February the Oaks would have been itching to get back on the pitch, and Milesy put the following eleven out of their misery:

ppppppppppppppppTy

Deano (c)ppppppRobppppNikippppLuke

NathanppppppMikey BpppppTapsellppppppRyan

ppppppppppSharpyppppHarry

subs: Joe, Nick, Bunny, Browne

It's not often you think about home advantage in the Thurrock Sunday League, but a visit to the Daisyfields is one of the most unpleasant experiences there is. Tilbury actually beat premiership opposition there in a recent cup match, with many attributing this victory to the fact that the supporters were so unfriendly that the visiting keeper even refused to retrieve the ball from behind the goal. Perhaps some of this information filtered up to those running the league, as this cup semi final match was switched from Tilbury's home ground to the Oaks pitch at Blackshots.

Although this would have given the Oaks more confidence, perhaps it relaxed them a bit too much whilst giving Tilbury another reason to feel they had something to prove. With the wind behind them, Tilbury came out of the traps flying, and before the Oaks had really broken into a sweat they were three nil down.

The first goal was a good finish from the Tilbury player after he had eluded two Oaks men, whilst the second came from one of the many dangerous throw-ins that were launched into the box in the early exchanges. The third followed soon after when an unfortunate slip from Nathan left his man free to power home a header from a corner: 0-3.

The Oaks unbeaten run (it's now 4 months since we've lost any game, and almost a year since we've lost a league game!) has been well publicised, but I keep saying that we'll only really know what this squad is made of when that first significant defeat occurs. With the odds well and truly stacked against the Oaks surely defeat was all but inevitable: sure, we had come back from behind more than once this season, but only from two goals down at most. We'd also only managed to score two goals against Tilbury in 180 minutes of football. However, winning builds pride and a hunger for victory, and the lads in purple proved beyond any doubt that if they are going to lose, it's not going to be without putting up a fight.

What you need when you've got a mountain to climb is a quick goal to raise the spirits and put some doubt in the opposition's mind, and this is exactly what we got. Mikey B robbed the ball in the middle of the park, and was surprised to see only a single defender between him and the goal (protecting their lead obviously wasn't a priority for Tilbury). Mikey took off towards the man, and when he had his full attention he slide the ball in for H to run on to and slide past the keeper into the net: 1-3.

The Oaks were visibly lifted by this and began to get on top of their opponents, and the deficit was soon reduced to one goal when a long free kick from Luke into the box bounced off a couple of defenders before falling invitingly for Nathan to tap home from 4 yards: 2-3.

With five goals already, it's amazing that there was still time for more drama in the first half as the Oaks were forced into a premature reshuffle when a clash of heads resulted in a cut above the eye for Rob that forced him out of the game (Rob's head had to open up sooner or later!). Bunny came into the fold on the right hand side of midfield whilst Nathan moved to centre half.

Obviously I don't know what happened at half time, but to pull the score back to 2-3 whilst knowing the wind would be assiting them in the second half must have filled the Oaks with confidence, whilst leaving the opposition nervously looking over their shoulder.

It wasn't long into the second half that the deficit was wiped out completely, and it was fitting that the scorer should be the most faithful and dedicated of all the Oaks players. Another free kick from the half way line was lifted into the box by Nathan, and without Rob there to challenge him for the ball Sharpy rose majestically to flick the ball goalwards and beyond the Tilbury keeper for his first goal of the season: 3-3.

The grins of the Tilbury players and their partisan support were now well a truly wiped off their faces, but the Oaks weren't ready to accept their pleas for surrender just yet as they continued to pepper the goal. Ryan game closer than most to grabbing the fourth as he hit both the bar and the post from range after cutting in on the left. Through all this the Oaks defence soaked up any pressure Tilbury were able to exert, and Ty's goal remained relatively untroubled.

The Oaks were even able to bring on fresh legs to pound the opposition even further as Nick replaced Sharpy and Browne came on for Luke.

Then the final nail in the Tilbury coffin was banged home with just 4 minutes remaining. The ball broke to Tapsell about 30 yards from goal; he had time to set himself before unleashing a thunderous low drive that flew into the bottom corner of the net. 4-3!

I can only imagine the scenes: Tapsell rips his shirt off before diving head first into the crazed fans behind the goal, only to be pulled back by his team mates who leap on top of him; burying him under a mass of steaming bodies. He finally gets up, covers up his pale ginger body before turning to the crowd, kissing the Oaks badge and running back to the centre circle.

Despite there being a few minutes left, Tilbury had already admitted defeat in the gracious manner that they are reknowned for. A prime example being to throw the ball at Nick whilst he was on the floor which resulted in the BFOJ (I'll let you work it out) chasing the guilty Tilb whilst himself being chased by more Tilbs and his own team mates who were trying to calm him down (cue comedy speeded up chase music).

Still, the Oaks weren't going to let their moment be spoilt and the final whistle soon blew to signal the end of an epic match and the Oaks first cup final for a number of years. The final (ironically) will be held at Tilbury FC at the end of March, and I'm sure there will be a lot of people there to root for the boys in purple.

Well done lads: I'm very proud of you all.

Eye-Ball

Next game: Sunday 26th February @ Home v Beauchamps

Scoring-chart