With three games left there are still nine points up for grabs
With Connor making a Wembley appearance (as a spectator), we were grateful to Scott for taking the gloves. In every other position Milesy once again had a wealth of options, and a lot of fire power in reserve with three strikers on the bench (or that's what they call themselves anyway).
subs: Sharpy, Nick, Harry, Browne, Gollum
With the sun shining, the grass freshly cut and the lines painted (with only four games left it's about time) conditions were perfect for an enjoyable game of football, and this was a competitive but good natured encounter. Both sides were playing to their strengths, with the Oaks dominating in the air and creating good chances from the superb set piece deliveries from Ryan and Nathan. It was from one of these that the Oaks took the lead, when Nathan's long throw hit Tapsell from an attempted clearance and fell to Mikey at the back post. He took full advantage of the lack of marking and clear goal to slot the ball into the net: 1-0.
Lakeside's main strength was the pace and energy of their midfield, who would play it up to the big target man before racing forward to support him in attack. With a lot of the attention in the middle, their speedy attacking midfielder/centre forward latched onto a ball over the top down our right, and supplied an excellent finish to lift the ball over Scott and into the empty net: 1-1.
There were not many clear cut chances to talk of in this game, which meant it was all going to come down to who capitalised on them when they arrived. The Oaks had the two best chances to firstly take a 2-0 lead, and then a chance to go 2-1 in the second half. Midfielders naturally get fewer chances to score, and the fact that Tapsell and Bunny have 18 goals between them this season shows how reliable they are in front of the posts. It just didn't work for them today as first Tapsell shot wide with the goal at his mercy when Eye-Ball's ball into the box eluded the Lakeside defence, and then Bunny found himself free at the back post but got a little over-excited and completely missed the ball.
Lakeside then provided the proverbial kick in the teeth when their right winger picked the ball up some 35 yards from goal and decided to try his luck. The contact he made with the outside of his foot wasn't that good, but resulted in a ridiculous amount of swerve. As a result for every inch Scott dived, the ball moved two inches away from him and the ball crept just inside the post: 1-2.
The Oaks deserved at least a point from the game, and threw everything they had at Lakeside. Milesy made three attacking substitutions in the second half, and we finished the game with four strikers on the pitch. Still, every header or shot at goal was met by a defender or the goal keeper. The best of the late chances fell to Niki, who is still waiting for his first Oaks goal. He made a good contact with his header from a corner, but there were just too many bodies between him and the goal.
As the Oaks committed more men forward it was inevitable that Lakeside would catch us on the break, and should have scored again had it not been for some woeful finishing, firstly when their winger kicked wide from one yard, and then the same player blasted over from a similar distance.
The referee's whistle finally put pay to any hope of the Oaks getting any points. Still it wasn't all bad: I got to the pub this time before the sausages were all eaten.
Three games left now, and all against teams that we have already beaten this season. Let's try our best to finish in style.
Eye-Ball
Next game: Sunday 14th April @ Home v Mossops - 1030 KO.
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