But this is a new season; a clean slate. Although the memories of last year will always be sweet, Division One is going to be a completely different challenge. We're the new boys here, and much like the team that started last season with so much uncertainty about what the new look side could achieve, we really don't know what we are going to come up against, or ultimately what our rightful position in the league should be. One thing is clear, that if we can all walk off the pitch at the end of each game and say that we couldn't do any more, there is now reason why this year can't be just as enjoyable and satisfying as last.
Oaks Athletic 2012/13 - Proudly sponsored by The Ship Inn, London Road
The biggest positive going into the new season is that the bulk of the squad that gelled so well last season remains. And whilst Sharpy is going to have to do most of his arguing with referees from the sideline this season, the two top goal scoring strikers are going to have to continue to fight for their places thanks to the recruitment of another Kenyon (Dale), whose impressive pre-season displays of pace, skill and vision earned him a starting place today. The squad has also been strengthened by Scott's return, who continued to support the club last year despite horrendous back problems. The full team for today's clash with Greyhound was:
ppppppppppppppppTy
Deano (c)ppppppRobppppNikippppEye-Ball
NathanppppppTapsellpppppMikeyppppppRyan
ppppppppppppDaleppppNick
subs: Bunny, Scott, Harry, Luke, Browne
The Oaks started brightly, and Dale quickly showed what a headache he is going to cause for defences this season, as he used his pace and movement to make runs in behind the opposition back line that were providing opportunities for the likes of Taps, Ryan and Nathan to show they haven't lost their eye for a pass over the summer. Last ditch defending, awkward bounce on a hard pitch, a troublesome cross wind and some good goalkeeping meant that none of these chances resulted in the deadline being broken.
It didn't take long for the Oaks to take the lead from another source as a deflected shot from Ryan resulted in a corner. I must admit that I'm in the "Totally pointless" camp when it comes to pre-match handshakes, but one thing it did make apparent on this occasion was that the Oaks may have an aerial advantage over a significant number of the Greyhound players. This was proved as Tapsell rose highest at the back post to power home Nathan's out swinging corner: 0-1.
The Oaks continued to have the better of the early exchanges, and really should have extended their lead. One particular chance fell to Nick, but rather than smash the ball in the direction of the goal, he unselfishly tried to play it across to Dale who he thought was in a better position to score. We'll never know if option 1 would have resulted in a better outcome, but when we know have hard Nick can leather a football this is what we all really wanted to see.
As the rain started to fall more persistently, Greyhound started to get on top as they looked to punish the Oaks for not making more of their early dominance. Our play became a bit more ragged, and we were indebted to Ty for maintaining our slender advantage as he made a fine save diving low to his left from a free kick on the edge of the box.
A succession of free kicks for the opposition is usually a good sign that the Oaks are getting frustrated with their own performance, and the sound of the referee’s whistle was being heard more and more frequently through the middle of the first half. However, the events leading to the Greyhound equaliser were noticeable for lack of a whistle at key moments. Firstly the referee chose to play advantage as the ball broke to the winger down the right after brushing Eye-Ball's arm, but then quickly decided to come back for the free kick before anything further had happened to suggest no advantage was going to be gained from playing on. Then as Ty jumped at the back post to collect the ball under sufficient pressure to cause the ball to spill from his hands, the sound of air vibrating through ball and plastic was again no where to be heard, and in the ensuing scramble the ball was poked home by a Greyhound player: 1-1.
Although not playing an active role on the pitch, it seems referees are still not safe from Sharpy's wrath, as he told the man in black (repeatedly) what a ridiculous decision it was to award the free kick that led to the goal.
Losing the lead seemed to spark the Oaks back into life, and we actually relaxed a bit and started to play some of the neat football that had been our bread and butter during the previous season. We started to enjoy more of the possession, and started to find our shape in defence. Ty was relatively untroubled for the rest of the half as fine defending in front of him (including a great covering tackle from Niki) saw any signs of danger being quickly extinguished. We created enough chances to go into half time ahead, but it wasn't to be and we had to settle for parity at the break.
Holly can't convince Deano that it was a horse that had crapped all over the pitch
The second half saw Harry replace Nick, which was a shrewd move from Milesy as the fact that we were now attacking down hill would mean we would want as much pace and directness as possible to make the through balls work. No offence to Nick but I'm sure he'll admit that young H is better suited to this particular task.
The game really started to open up in the second half as first match tiredness became apparent. Chances for the Oaks fell to Dale and Harry, but Greyhound's excellent young keeper was equal to the task.
Whilst the attackers were searching for a winner, the defensive players were doing their bit to ensure that one goal would win the game for the Oaks. Mikey proved his worth to the team in a covering capacity as he made up ground to make a superbly timed sliding tackle as the Greyhound attacker advanced into the box. Also, when the speedy striker broke into the box, Eye-Ball read the danger and sprinted across the six yard box to snuff out the danger.
We weren't able to protect Ty's goal every time, but on the one occasion that the offside trap was breach high up the pitch Ty came out of his goal to make not one, but two superb saves with his legs as he denied both Greyhound strikers in one attack (and all this with a broken finger!).
The winner for the Oaks came with 15 minutes to go, and was thanks in some small part to a former Oaks player. Gav - now playing at the back for Greyhound - scythed Dale down just outside the box on the left corner of the penalty area. Harry and Ryan stood over the ball, but rather than have a speculative pop at goal Ryan deceived the wall by side-footing the ball under it to pick out the late run of Bunny (who had recently replaced Mikey). Bunny's shot may have been scuffed, but it had enough to beat the keeper and sneak inside the post: 1-2.
Milesy made his final change, as Scott replaced Dale (who had been injured in winning the free-kick for the goal), and the priority for the Oaks turned to defending. Many may not have noticed Tapsell injury himself going for a long range shot earlier in the half, but this didn't stop him forming a one man wall in front of the defence for the final stages of the game. He was immense, and more than justified the decision of his fellow team mates to name him their player of the year.
The defending was sometimes a bit "seat of the pants", as attempts to clear the ball from danger were not always successful. Even Rob, who usually has a no nonsense approach to clearing the lines struggled to keep his balance long enough to make the telling punt up field. He even managed to head but the ground on one occasion, leading to speculation that his new hairstyle was making him a bit top heavy.
A few crunching tackles also started flying in, and on one occasion Niki even passed the ball to the opposition when running it out of defence just so he had an excuse to then leave him in a heap. What can you say - the boy loves defending.
Greyhound's replacement winger then decided to take out his frustration on Eye-Ball as he first ironically caught the left back in the eye with a leading elbow, and then attempted to break both his ankles when going for a ball he was never going to get to first. Fortunately Eye-Ball was able to jump over the challenge, and all the winger received for his trouble was a yellow card.
When the referee finally blew the whistle to signal the end of the match, there was a sense of relief that we had managed to hold out for our first 3 points of the season (which trumps the start we made last year). The win was well deserved, with every man playing their part, and it felt good to get the taste of victory sandwiches again.
Eye-Ball
It's early days but good to see some points on the board already
Next game: Sunday 7th October v Vichouse Sports -Meet at Oaks 9:15
Goal Scoring Chart
