George & Dragon 3 - 0 Oaks Athletic

"Sometimes you have to learn how to lose before you are ready to win"
Arnold J. Rimmer

All good things must come to an end, and after one year and one month, 29 games, one league title, one league cup and an unmeasurable number of ham sandwiches, the Oaks players finally experienced the feeling of losing a game. It isn't a nice feeling, especially when you've not felt it in so long, but much like the flu vaccine a small dose of a bad thing can only make us stronger. Ideally our run would have ended with a great performance, where we fought valiantly until the end only to lose out in a game that could have gone either way. That wasn't to be, and although George & Dragon showed themselves to be a fine young side who are worthy of their position at the top of the table, our performance was disappointing. We allowed the opposition to play their slick passing football, and were inaffective in possesion.

ppppppppppppppppTyrone

Deano (c)ppppppRobppppNikippppEye-Ball

NathanppppppTapsellpppppMikeyppppppScott

ppppppppppppppppRyanppppDale

subs: Browne, Milly, Bunny, Luke



Still a lot of fixtures behind everyone else

I'm not going to go into much detail about the game. We were beaten by three goals from set pieces; two in the first half and one in the second. Two came from crosses and the other was scored directly. Apart from that, and having the lion's share of possession, G & D never really got behind us. We created very few chances, with the closest we came to scoring being a shot hit into the ground by Tapsell that looked destined to go in but hit a dodgy patch of grass that diverted the ball onto the post. This would have made the score 2-1, and who knows what might have happened then. The referee was awful, and at times we were rash as frustrations got the better of us.

It's important not to dwell on this defeat, and I know individuals (your match reporter included) will be wishing they could turn back the clock and not concede that free kick, or make a better job of marking their man, or have another go at making that pass or shooting at goal. Instead we've got to be as much of a team in defeat as we have in every victory over the last glorious year. Forget this game, and take some time to think back to what we have achieved. Read through some of the old match reports of your favourite games and memorable moments: the 5-1 win against Pegasus that convinced us we would be a force to be reckoned with in Division 2; coming back from 3 nil down against Tilbury in the cup semi final; Tapsell's goals in extra time to win us the cup; H fouling himself two yards from goal. The list goes on and on, and I think it would be great to hear some more when we meet next week. Everyone should feel immensely proud to have played a part in what has been the most succesful period in the Oaks history, and I'm sure we'll have many more reasons to celebrate in the future.

Eye-Ball

Next game: Sunday 25th November - Away v Dynamo Basildon - Meet Orsett Cock - 0930

Goal Scoring chart

Oaks Athletic 6 - 0 Mustang (Ted Fairchild Cup Round 2)

The Oaks cruised into the 3rd round of the Ted Fairchild cup thanks to a commanding display against Division 4 side Mustang. This game had some extra spice given that a number of the Mustang players are known to some of us, and also as they were sponsored by The Ship Inn last season. We did our sponsors proud, and maintained bragging rights for the foreseeable future.

Such is the strength of the Oaks squad, and the confidence that Milesy has in the resources available, that he was able to tell a number of players - including the club captain and player of the season - to leave their boots at home. This was a chance to mix up the team a bit, and reward the players who have had fewer opportunities for their loyalty and support. One unexpected change to the starting eleven was Milly replacing Niki, who pulled up lame during the warm up. Milly and Rob have played countless games together over the years for both the Oaks, and previously Berma, but incredibly this was the first time they had formed a partnership in over a year! Still, the fact they kept a clean sheet and rarely looked troubled proves that they haven't forgotten how to play together.

ppppppppppppppppConnor

pppLukeppppppppRobppppMillyppppBrowne

Nathan (c)ppppppBunnypppppMikeyppppppRyan

ppppppppppppppppHarryppppDale

subs: Niki, Al, Scott, Ty, Eye-Ball
Watchers: Tapsell, Parker, Deano

Mustang started brightly, but it soon became clear that they lacked the quality to capitalise on the pace they had upfront. They were also heavily reliant on the one quality defender they had, and although he got them out of trouble on a number of occasions it wasn't long before the Oaks started finding routes to goal.

The best of the early chances fell to Mikey, Nathan, Ryan and Rob. Firstly Mikey was denied a shooting chance when bursting into the box by a last ditch challenge, then smart saves from the keeper prevented Ryan, on the left, and Nathan, on the right, from opening the scoring. Rob was also denied by two goal line clearances as he twice won the ball in the box in the same attacking move.

The lead was eventually taken when Nathan took a throw in on the right into Dale's feet. Dale showed great skill to bring the ball down before crossing low into the centre, where the other Kenyon was waiting. Ryan calmly slotted the ball into the corner of the goal to take his tally to three for the season: 1-0.

Bunny then had a great chance to double the lead, but maybe had too much time when the ball broke to him 15 yards out with the whole of the goal to aim at. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I'm sure if the chance came again he'd side foot it into the corner rather than trying to put the keeper in the net with the ball. In the end the windows in the flats behind the goal were in more danger of being broken than the net.

This miss didn't prove to be costly as the Oaks got a second goal before the break. Much like the steeple chase at the Olympics, the Kenyons were stealing the show. Provider turned finisher, as Dale collected the ball in the box from Nathan's pass and nonchalantly skipped past the covering defenders before slotting the ball into the net: 2-0.

Ty and Al replaced Connor and Mikey for the second half. I wrote a few weeks ago about Niki's feat of travelling back from Scotland on the morning of a game. Due to the postponement of last week's match, the trumping of this achievement nearly went unnoticed, as Tyrone turned up for the match having flown in from Turkey at 0700 that morning. Although I'm sure this isn't supportive evidence, we do know that Ty has a competitive streak, and the fact that clean sheets had been kept in the last 5 halves of football wouldn't have gone unnoticed.

Ty did more than his fair share to extend the clean sheet record to three games, as he pulled off two great saves in the opening minutes of the second half. The first saw him get down well to his left to tip a well hit shot round the post, and then he came off his line quickly to palm the ball over the bar as the striker chipped it goal ward.

The slight anxiousness caused by the dreaded 2 nil score line soon evaporated when H was on hand in the box to volley Ryan's cross goal ward. Both keeper and defender got something on it, but could not prevent it crossing the line: 3-0.

The Oaks were in full swing now, and the rest of the half was a joy to watch. The only disappointment was to see Luke limping off again, especially as he had only just returned from injury. This led to a major reshuffle, with Scott coming on to take up a familiar position on the left hand side of midfield. Ryan moved to the right, Rob to full back, and Nathan to the heart of the defence.

Scott nearly made an instant impact when he won possession on the left before hitting the ball against the underside of the crossbar from all of 25 yards. Later in the half, H also learnt to think twice about requesting the ball from Scott, who duly obliged by leathering it at him from about 10 feet. In Scott's defence I think it might have been another attempt on goal, but this didn't make it any less amusing for the spectators (or painful for H).

Once Harry gets his confidence up, he is almost unplayable and after scoring his first in this one he then scored another and set up one. The assist came first as he flicked on Nathan's clearance with the outside of his boot for Dale to run on to. He held off the defenders who tried to dispossess him before beating the keeper for his second goal of the match: 4-0.

Bunny then got the fifth when the ball bounced back to him in the box, as the keeper could only parry Ryan's fiercely struck shot. This time Bunny made no mistake as he side footed the ball into the corner: 5-0.

H finished the scoring, with Dale once again providing the assist with a cross into the box that fell perfectly for H to strike first time into the roof of the net: 6-0.

Six goals and a clean sheet proved to be more than just reward for yet another good day at the office, as the Oaks march on to the next round of the Ted Fairchild Cup. I hope it also gives all the players the belief that they have what it takes to knock the league leaders off their perch next week.

Eye-Ball

Next Game: Away v George and Dragon (venue to be confirmed):Sunday 18th November.

Goal Scoring Chart