Deano (c)ppppppMillyppppNikippppBrowne
ppppppppppppppppGollum
ParkerppppppTapsellpppppMikeyppppppEye-Ball
pppppppppppppppppHarry
subs: Nathan, Rob, Bunny, Dale, Ryan
It was an honour to once again be playing in a team that included Oaks legends Gollum and Parker. If you've never seen these boys in action before then ask your grandparents. It was just like the good old days, with Gollum stretching those long legs to tackle people from 20 yards away, and Parker falling over in comical fashion on the right wing. In truth the Oaks were struggling a little to adapt to the new formation, and it says a lot that the best chance of the half fell to Eye-Ball, who was moonlighting as a tricky number 9 on the left wing. He broke free of the defence to latch onto a through ball from Tapsell, but as the keeper came out his standing foot sank in the mud and his effort skewed wide (there is absolutely no doubt this chance would have been buried if conditions had been better). You could also argue that the pressure of wearing the number 9 shirt with a legendary Oaks number 9 on the pitch proved a little too much. As it was the Oaks went into half time a goal down when one of the handful of quality players Basildon possessed broke free and lobbed the ball over Connor and into the net: 1-0. With the hard work of defrosting the pitch complete, Milesy brought on the big guns for the second half. Ryan, Dale, Bunny, Rob and Nathan replaced Browne, Harry, Deano, Parker and Gollum. Basildon had some good players, but there was not doubt that we were the better side in the second half. However it took another goal from Basildon - a long range effort that would have been too good for any keeper - to finally fire us into life: 2-0. The Oaks got back into the game thanks to a familiar routine that had a new beneficiary. Ryan delivered a quality corner from the left, and Rob, rather than Tapsell, arrived late at the back post to nod the ball into the net: 2-1. The Oaks were now in control and pushing for the equaliser as Basildon put every man behind the ball. Mikey went off for Harry (roll on subs remember) and the Oaks pushed more men forward with Rob advancing to leave just three at the back. It took a while, but the equaliser finally came with two minutes of normal time remaining. Connor punted the ball up field and Dale laid it off to Tapsell on the edge of the area. His low drive was perfectly placed in the bottom corner and the Oaks had once again overcome the odds to keep themselves in a cup match: 2-2. The momentum was with the Oaks as we moved into extra time, and when Dale slid the ball into the net following the keeper's parry from H's well struck shot, it looked like an unlikely turn around (and the possibility of a trip to Bishops Stortford) was on the cards. It was almost put beyond doubt when Dale broke free of the defence, but the keeper saved well: 2-3. Unfortunately the Oaks couldn't hold on to the end of extra time, when with a few minutes to go the ball was played over the top for Basildon's striker to latch onto. Despite Eye-Ball getting back to make the sliding block, the ball went through both him and Connor and into the net: 3-3. Even then there was time for one last moment of drama as a Basildon player played the ball across the face of the goal with a team mate waiting at the back post to slide it into an empty net. However, Eye-Ball was on hand to clear the ball over the cross bar from six yards (believe it or not I actually backed myself to miss the target from that range). So it was that the game would be decided by the dreaded penalty shootout. The Oaks were not short of volunteers, as when Milesy asked for 5 to step forward, about 8 did. The order that was decided was Dale, Tapsell, Nathan, Harry and Ryan. Basildon went first, and the first 7 penalties were expertly dispatched. Harry then stepped up and struck his kick down the middle only for the diving keeper's trailing leg to block the ball. Basildon’s final kick was dispatched and that was it, the Oaks were out and Dynamo Basildon progressed to the 4th round. Harry was comforted by his team mates; someone has to miss and at least he stood up and volunteered to take one. It's especially cruel when a game finishes like this, as it is always the final act that is remembered. However, if you think about it so many other things could have stopped this ending on another day. If the keeper hadn't save Dale's earlier effort, or even if Eye-Ball had blazed the ball into the roof of his own net rather than over the bar, the game would have ended differently. On the plus side, all the division two league games were cancelled so we're no further behind, and we can now concentrate on league and cup games in Thurrock. I think it has been a really good experience for us to play a few teams outside of Thurrock, and we showed we are up to the test. At least one home game would have been nice, but it's been fun nonetheless. On a sadder note, Al Blake (who was at the game to watch) has decided to leave the Oaks to join Ventura. Blake is a really good young footballer, and a popular member of the Oaks double winning squad. We'll therefore all be sorry to see him go, but understand his desire to get a regular starting position. Our loss is definitely Ventura's gain, and hopefully we'll still see him down at the Ship. I'm sure everyone would agree that it would be great to see him back in purple again at some point in the future if he decides he'd like to come back. Eye-Ball Next game: Sunday 9th December - Away v Thameside @ Blackshots - 11:00 K.O. Goal Scoring Chart:
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