The significance of this win against a Socketts Heath side who, despite inconsistent results, posed a real threat to the Oaks unbeaten record can not be underestimated. If we had lost this game, with a return fixture against the same team in two weeks time, it could have had a severe affect on our moral as we enter the business end of the season. As it was we put in a great performance, with the first half being one of the best 45 minutes I have been involved in. One of the many great things about this Oaks side is that, despite the success we have had so far this season, every new team we come up against is treated with respect, and we don't expect to get anything out of any game without giving 100%. This was evident in this match, and any doubts Socketts Heath may have had about our credentials as favourites for the title were soon erased.
For this game Milesy reverted back to the familiar 4-4-2 formation which meant Harry coming in for Bunny, who was on holiday.
ppppppppppppppppTy
Deano (c)ppppppRobppppNikippppEye-Ball
NathanppppppMikey BpppppTapsellppppppRyan
ppppppppppNickppppHarry
subs: Sharpy, Luke, Al, Browne
The Oaks are often criticised for being slow starters, but on this warm early Spring day they came out of the blocks flying and the scene for the first half, and much of the match was soon set. Despite not being short of tall players, Nathan and Tapsell were completely dominant in the midfield aerial battles. Like most defences, the Heath rear guard were finding Nick to be a real handful and Ryan and Harry were giving them no respite with their tricky and constant movement. Mikey was doing the hard graft in front of the defense; breaking up any attacking move before it advanced to the final third and stopping them getting easy ball to the one threat they had in the lightning fast little forward. When they did get the ball forward or over the top the Oaks defence of Eye-Ball, Niki, Rob and Deano were quick to put the opposition under pressure, and kept a good line to nullify the pace of Heath's front man (good work from Browne with the flag helped as well). And finally if the flag wasn't enough to stop the opposition, Ty was quick off his line to collect the ball before distributing it expertly to get the Oaks on the attack again.
Heath's keeper was the busier of the two in the early exchanges, and made good saves to deny Tapsell and Nick; the former almost catching the keeper with a looping effort from outside the area, and the latter stinging the keeper's hands with a powerfully struck effort. He also was lucky not to give away a penalty when Harry went down under (minimal it must be said) contact. Another good chance feel to Ryan, who in hindsight may have done better to square the ball to Mikey rather than curling the ball unsuccessfully towards the far corner.
At the other end Ty was forced into a good save with his legs after one of the Heath midfielders broke into the box, and Eye-Ball read the danger when Heath's forward nodded a long ball over Ty's head and was able to redirect the ball back into the air for Ty to collect.
It had been a tight and competitive opening 15-20 minutes, and we knew how important the first goal would be. The sense of relief and release of tension when our early dominance was finally rewarded was therefore clear to see. Nick picked up the ball in the opposition half and played a defence splitting pass for the rapid Harry to run on to. He still had a lot to do, but showed composure and ability beyond his years to slot the ball low past the keeper into the far corner: 1-0.
The Oaks weren't going to sit on a one goal lead, and looked to hit Heath whilst their heads were down, with Nathan supplying the biggest punch of all. Heath's inability to win the ball from Nick by fair means lead to him being fouled about twenty five yards from goal, just right of centre. Nathan took charge of the kick, and whilst some may have expected him to float the ball into the box, with daughter Megan looking on Daddy had other ideas. He chose to shoot, with the ball arrowing towards goal in a trajectory not dissimilar to that found by Bunny last week. The keeper had the cheek to dive, when the reality was that he stood no chance in preventing the ball from flying just inside the post to earn Nathan a fantastic individual goal and a two nil lead for the Oaks: 2-0.
*INTERMISSION*
I believe this is the first goal we have had this season that has come direct from a free kick: which begs the question of who, if anyone, should be credited with the assist. A quick look at the reliable resource that is Wikipedia reveals that, when compiling statistics for the 1986 World Cup, the FIFA Technical Study Group, under criteria number four, state that: after goals scored on penalty or by a directly converted free-kick the fouled player receives a point. So there we have it, irrefutable evidence that the assist for Nathan's goal goes to the BFJ.
*END OF INTERMISSION*
A very successful first half finished with the Oaks holding a two nil lead that their efforts deserved. We knew that Heath would come out all guns blazing for the second half, and that getting a third goal that would kill off the game was a key priority.
When caught in seven minds about what to do with a ball that bounced across him whilst running back towards goal, Eye-Ball made the unwise decision to pass the ball back to Ty who was quickly going to be under pressure from the Heath forward. It didn't help that the pass wasn't clean, and as a result Ty only managed to kick the ball about two yards. Fortunately he then spread himself well to save the resulting shot, and the ball was cleared to safety. Needless to say Milesy made it clear where the ball should have gone (somewhere between Jupiter and Mars if I remember correctly).
Matters then got worse for the Oaks when Mikey was forced off with a hamstring injury. Much like the great midfield generals of our time - Makelele, Viera, Keane, Gollum - Mikey's influence on the Oaks performances is often overlooked. His tireless running, dogged determination and ability to read the game and get into the gaps that the opposition would look to exploit gives the likes of Tapsell, Ryan and Nathan the freedom to provide the creative banquet that our forwards have feasted on all season. As well as the injury being a blow for the team, it is also a worry for Mikey with the cup final being only 2 weeks away. We've all got our fingers crossed that he is able to make a speedy recovery.
Despite being able to replace Mikey with another young midfielder of obvious quality, Mikey's role is not one that comes naturally to Al (and that's without the difficulty of coming into a game cold), and it's no surprise that Heath (now playing three up front) started to find some space in front of the Oaks defence that they looked to exploit. A good ball over the top was collected by Heath's striker (who for once had beaten the offside trap). Deano's effort to catch him was in vain, and Ty wasn't quick enough to get to him from the other direction, and a good finish was applied with the ball rolling past Ty into the net. Milesy claims that the goal was bobble assisted as it's original path was on to the post, but they all count: 2-1.
What followed was a 10-15 minute period of "Squeaky Bum Time", as a rejuvenated Heath piled the pressure on an Oaks side who were suffering a momentary loss of composure. In this time numerous corners were won, the bar was shaken and the side netting was hit, but still the Oaks held on to their slender advantage.
The importance of getting that third goal when we had a two goal lead has already been mentioned, and a great chance had been squandered earlier in the half when Harry shot tamely at the keeper with Nick standing unmarked on the edge of the six yard box, with only an empty net for company. Nick was understandably peeved at his strike partner's choice, but with the impact Harry has had since joining the Oaks this season it is easy to forget just how young he is. The most important thing is that he realises he made a mistake and is encouraged by the more experienced members of the team to learn from it. Fortunately Harry is a fast learner, and when the ball landed at his feet in a similar position, following good work from Ryan down the left, he responded to the cry from Sharpy (who had come on for Nick), and played the ball across the six yard box for Sharpy to poke home past the despairing defender: 3-1.
With five minutes left Milesy took of Harry, and brought on Luke to sure up the defence and see off any last minute onslaughts, and when the final whistle blew the Oaks were left to celebrate a deserved and hard fought three points. One slight concern was a late injury to Niki, which hopefully will be OK for next week as he has really impressed since getting a run in the side.
Personally I can't wait until next week, and the opportunity to get another three points closer to getting our hands on the league trophy. It should be a really fascinating game, as not only have Stanford scored more goals than any other team in the league, they also have the worst defensive record. Compare that with the Oaks who have scored only one goal less, whilst having the tightest defence in the league (only 15 goals conceded in 13 games - and four of them were in one match!). I can imagine attackers licking their lips and the Oaks defenders looking to cement their position as the best defensive unit in the league. Oh, and for the old guard it's also an opportunity to get revenge for successive 7-2 thrashings at the hands of Stanford two seasons ago.
Eye-Ball
Next game: Sunday 18th March Away v Stanford Wanderers @ The Billet - 10:30 K.O.
Goals and Assists Chart:
2 comments:
Paul I think it was more like 35 yards out rather and the boring 25yrds lol
Said like a true fisherman
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