We aren't alone in being thumped by Brema as Orsett lost by 8-3. Our victory by the same margin moves us into positive goal difference and above Orsett to 6th.
With Milesy most probably nursing a hangover following the celebration of his birthday (happy birthday gaffer), Nathan was left with the task of handing out the team orders. The 4-5-1 formation that had proved so effective over the last two weeks was again deployed, with Dale once again leading the line. You'll be amazed to hear that Connor actually turned up more than 30 minutes before kick-off - hopefully his Dad will bring him every week.
ppppppppppppppppConnorDeanoppppppRobppppNikippppEye-Ball
ppppppppppppppppNathan (c)
RyanppppppMikeypppppTapsellppppppScott
pppppppppppppppppDale
subs: Harry, Browne, Bunny, Gollum, Parker
The pattern of the game was established right from the start, with Springhouse having the lion’s share of possession while the Oaks remained well organised and waited patiently for them to either make a mistake or attempt in vain to breach our defence. We would then look to hit them on the break, by exchanging a few quick passes before Tapsell, Ryan and co. would look to release the lively Dale with a defence splitting pass. It took a while for these passes to find their range, but once they did we looked like creating something every time we had possession. Springhouse are an experienced side, but their ageing legs seemed to sink into the mud like quicksand whilst, in comparison, Dale was walking on water. With the ball holding up in the soft ground Dale was favourite to get to the ball first every time. Despite the threat of the through ball, it was from a much more familiar route that the Oaks took the lead. Ryan swung in a dangerous corner from the left, which fell to Scott. His shot was blocked, and Rob showed he has much quicker reactions than most of the young pretenders by poking the loose ball into the net: 0-1. The Oaks created some great chances to extend their lead in the first half. First, Mikey was cruelly denied his first goal of the season when he put the ball into the net following a corner only for Rob to be penalised for one of those challenges that always seem to result in a free kick to the keeper. Then Scott - another player yet to open his account for this season - could only pick out one of the bodies on the line when the ball fell invitingly to him in the penalty area. Scott did redeem himself by diving in to make a block in our area that helped in no small part to protect our slender lead. The key moment in the match then came in the dying seconds of the first half and resulted in one of the goals of the season so far. The ball went off for a throw-in half way into our own half on the left, and having heard the bleep of the ref's watch Sharpy (running the line complete with garish pink boots that were purchased following Doctor's orders to get back to getting angry on a Sunday morning - at least that's how the orders were interpreted) pointed out that we just needed to see out the last few seconds. Perhaps Springhouse heard this as well, and switched off as Nathan made space to receive the ball from Eye-Ball. He then played the ball forward to Dale who, running away from goal, played an exquisite back heal into the path of Mikey. Tapsell was now the furthest player forward, and Mikey picked out a superb arcing ball for Tapsell to chase with a defender in close proximity. (Not bad considering Mikey had woken up more or less blind in one eye.) As the keeper rushed out (as much as you could through the sludge that was the penalty areas) Tapsell got to the ball first and poked it past him into the empty net: 0-2. The timing of this goal couldn't have been better as the referee blew up for half time immediately after Springhouse had restarted. The second half started with two changes: Bunny replaced Scott, meaning Ryan moved to the left and Nathan to the right. Also Browne replaced Deano at right back. The two nil lead had a dramatic effect on the Oaks, as they now played with the confidence and swagger that had been evident throughout the previous season. We hassled when the opposition had the ball, and looked like scoring every time we had it. The only disappointing aspect was the number of free kicks conceded around the area, but even through this route Springhouse could not breach our defence. Even though we were dominating the game, two nil is always a worrying score line, and getting the third goal was key to killing off the game and securing the three points. It was apt that this goal should come from our Skipper for this game; a man who has in the past been one of the Oaks few attacking options but this year had failed to find the net in 13 previous attempts. H - now on for Mikey - collected the ball in a crowded penalty area and made room before moving the ball across to Nathan who was about 16 yards out from goal. He lashed the ball through the crowded area and it rifled into the bottom corner despite the keeper getting a hand to it. Nathan's squeals of "I've scored, I've scored" signified how much it meant to finally get off the mark, and I'm sure we can allow this slight feminine incursion into our most manly of sports: 0-3. With the new 4-5-1 formation working so well, H is going to have to work hard for his place, but he proved his worth to the side right from his first touch. This saw him bring down a goal kick and swivel in one movement before chipping the ball through for Dale to race clear. Unfortunately Dale's finishing let him down on this occasion, and it seemed that for once the rest of the team may fill their boots without him getting in on the action. Despite not yet getting on the score sheet, Dale could claim the assist for the 4th goal when he was fouled on the left hand edge of the area. Eye-Ball decided to take up an interesting position, facing the goal behind the assembled wall. It turn out to be the perfect position to watch Ryan's low side footed shot creep inside the post. Incredibly Springhouse tried to argue that the ball had gone through the side netting (but I can assure you it didn't). I think this was probably through disbelief at how badly positioned the wall was to leave such a gaping hole for Ryan to slide the ball into: 0-4. Dale's team mates had done all they could to get him a goal, and whilst he hadn't provided any of them with an assist he went and let Springhouse put a goal on a plate for him. Dale isn't the first person you'd want to lose possession to straight from your kick off, and when he gratefully collected the ball all that was left was to race clear and score past the helpless keeper: 0-5. I haven't mentioned Connor much in this report, which is a big commendation to the defensive unit that did such a good job of protecting him. Having said that, Eye-Ball did force Connor into his first save of note when he stooped to intercept a ball across the box, and almost headed it past the Oaks keeper who had to dive back across the goal to collect the ball. We were all desperate to keep a clean sheet, and at the back we continued defend like we were defending a one goal lead rather than five. Connor pulled off a great diving save to deny Springhouse's attempt from distance, and Niki sprinted back to put himself between the striker and out goal when he seemed destined to score. Officially the clean sheet was earned, but this didn't mean Connor didn't have to pick the ball out of his own net thanks to one or our own players putting it there. Great own goals are ones where a neutral may not realise that the player has scored at the wrong end, such is the quality and conviction of the finish. Gareth Barry gave a great example of this at the weekend, and our very own Ryan Kenyon looked like he had trumped this. A free kick for Springhouse on the edge of the area was chipped across the box, and was tracked by Ryan. I assume he was attempting to get his right foot around the ball to clear it from danger, but instead it spooned off the outside of his boot, swerved towards the far side of the goal and went in off the post. Fortunately for him, the free kick had been taken too quickly and the ref's whistle blew at the exact moment that Ryan made contact with the ball. It must have put him off... This was a great result, which shows the rich vein of form the Oaks have found over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully this will continue next week when we play Thameside, and we can collect another three points to move us up the league. The top three teams may already be out of reach, but there is still plenty to play for and I believe we should set our sights on finishing fourth, which would be a fantastic achievement in our first year at this level. Eye-Ball Next Match : Sunday 17th February @ Home v Thameside - 1030 KO Goal scoring chart
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