Clements Athletic 3 – 0 Staines United

I would tend to worry that talk of a game being a ‘must win’ and the ‘biggest of season’ would add pressure that would have a negative effect on the team’s performance.  However, it seems that the current Clements Athletic squad thrives and performs to their best when this additional pressure is applied.  The proof is the fact that for the second time this season we were the first team to put a mark in the L column of top-of-the-league opponents.  This might also explain why we couldn’t beat the worst team in the league! Both the wins against Lakeside and Staines have been particularly convincing, and we were on top from the start in this game against a team who were obviously technically proficient and good at keeping the ball.  These attributes may make for good viewing, but what I am realising is that few teams (if any) in this league are as effective as Clements at the direct approach, whereby we are always looking to move the ball up the field and put defences on the back foot as quickly as possible.

Sharpy picked a side that, despite missing two first choice midfielders (although one of them was in goal), was set up to attack with Joe making his first start of the season on his Winter return from university and Ryan being given the job of filling H’s boots in midfield.

Subs: lil’ Ryan, Rob, Alex

Prior to this game Staines had the best defensive record in the league, having conceded just 6 goals in 7 matches.  It was therefore surprising to see how easy Dale was finding it cut through their defence, and our top scorer should have added two or three to his impressive tally in the opening 15 minutes.  Staines seemed to be in shock to come up against a team with so much pace and excellent movement up top.

Dale’s performance in the opening quarter would have made him a front runner for MoTM in any other game, but on this occasion he was outdone by the younger Kenyon, whose performance in a less familiar central midfield role was the best by any Clements player this season.  Ryan just seemed to have the ball stuck to his feet, and made the opposition players look silly on countless occasions as he turned them inside out.  His distribution was also superb, and his assist for the opening goal was a key element in making it a contender for goal of the season.  Ryan made himself available to receive the ball from Eye-Ball on the left.  He then ran with the ball diagonally to the right side of the pitch, but instead of playing the obvious ball to Chris, who was running down the flank and dragging out the fullback, Ryan played a perfectly weighted reverse ball into the gap that had now been created. Dale pounced on this early Christmas present and drove the ball past the keeper into the far corner: 1-0.

This goal gave us a massive confidence boost, whilst rash challenges and petulant behaviour off the ball by Staines were obvious signs that Clements’ defence was as dominate as our attack.  It wasn’t long before our excellent play was rewarded with another superb goal.  This time Chris was the provider, as he did really well to keep the ball in play on the right before driving to the bye line and delivering a low cross into the danger area between penalty spot and six yard box.  Liam had timed his run superbly, and bravely stooped to head the ball under pressure into the far corner: 2-0.

The only way Staines looked like they might score was from dead balls, and in general we defended corners well, with Foggy attacking the ball aggressively.  However on one occasion he got it completely wrong and threw himself forward whilst the ball sailed well above his head.  It says something about how well we played, and the high standards we set, that a stand-in keeper should receive DoTD for this misjudgement. To be fair, if Foggy hadn’t received the award for this he would have been nominated for slipping over every time he took a goal kick, and subsequently shouting at himself for doing so.

We didn’t manage to add to our tally or goals in the first half despite creating some excellent chances, including one for Joe (who is yet another hard working quality winger in the Clements squad) who fluffed his lines in front of goal and could only shoot tamely at the keeper from 10 yards.

We continued to threaten in the second half, and whilst the third goal was the obvious way to put the result beyond doubt, we were actually helped to do this by the opposition midfielder, who reacted to a reducing tackle from Jake by throwing a headbutt.  Sharpy might not know the laws of the game inside out, but he knows from plenty of personal experience that you can’t react like that, especially when the referee is the Chair of the Thurrock Sunday League.  Staines were reduced to ten men, and although Jake was punished for his tackle he should get credit (as indeed should the rest of the team) for not reacting and letting the referee do his job.

The game lost a little of its intensity as a result of this sending off, and despite creating plenty of chances, including a good header from Joe that hit the bar, Staines keeper was in fine form and denied us on a number of occasion.  However, he could do nothing to stop Jake’s first goal for Clements as Chris laid the ball back to him following a corner and the big man curled the ball into the top corner from 20 yards.  His corner flag celebration received a DoTD nomination (probably from Foggy): 3-0.

Such is the strength of the Clements squad that a completely new centre back partnership of Alex and Rob was able to slot in with Eye-Ball and Luke seamlessly to preserve the clean sheet, that the defence and Foggy richly deserved for throwing themselves in the way of everything Staines threw at them.  Rob also popped up at the far post from a corner, but was unable to keep his header down.

 Lil’Ryan was the other substitution made by Sharpy, and he nearly made an immediate impact when he broke into the area with the ball.  Unfortunately it bounced kindly for the defender who was able to clear before Ryan could unleash a shot on goal.

You really couldn’t ask for a better Christmas present than 3 goals, a clean sheet and 3 points against the unbeaten league leaders.  Everyone can now enjoyed a well-earned Christmas break, before we return well rested and eager for our first round match in the league two cup – one we are definitely capable of winning.

Eye-Ball

Next game: Sunday 4^th January @ home v Lakeside (Div 2 cup round 1)

Goal Scoring Chart

Clements Athletic 1 - 2 Sparks (Ted Fairchild Cup Round 1)

I'm going to use Sharpy's DoTD winning pre-match speech as motivation for writing this match report, which went something like this: "OK boys, we don't really want to win this game as we'd just have to play AFC Blackshots in the next round and don't have any chance of winning this cup.  So, I'm going to give some of the weaker players a run out."

So in-keeping with this spirit, this is going to be one of my weaker match reports as I don't really want to write it.

Fortunately there was no hard feelings from Sharpy's ill chosen words and the following line up still looked pretty strong to me.

subs: Luke, Chris, Alex, Joe

The opposition were top of Div 2, and had enjoyed an unbeaten season the previous year, so were obviously not a bad side.  However, it soon became apparent that this was going to be a hard game not to win, as we had more than enough to win the game.  Having the pressure of winning removed did have some positive effects, with the Clements players wearing permanent smiles and playing with a freedom that comes with knowing any errors will not result in receiving an ear-full.  We definitely still played to win, and this attitude was epitomised by Eye-Ball who raced back to make a last ditch tackle and put the ball out for a corner when the striker was clear through on goal.  The tackle had to be perfectly timed, as anything else would have surely resulted in a red card.

H was also playing out of his skin following his return to the starting eleven, and it was a real blow to see him have to be helped off following a nasty looking impact on the knee. Hopefully the time off whilst H has a minor op will give ample time for recovery so that he is raring to go in January.

The game was fairly evenly balanced (Robin even balanced the injury count by forcing Sparks's striker off following a fair but firm challenge), and it just so happened that Sparks made the first breakthrough when Clements failed to clear the ball from a corner and it was squeezed home through a crowded area: 0-1.

The response to going behind was spot on, and almost instantaneous.  Sharpy and little brother Ryan had already been linking up really well on the left, and a little exchange of passes was finished with Sharpy lifting the ball into Dale, who was deadly from 8 yards out: 1-1.

We arguably created the better chances to take the lead both at the end of the first half, and the start of the second half.  Sharpy in particular was making a nuisance of himself, and may have opened his account for the season if he had been a bit quicker to pull the trigger on a couple of occasions.  Liam also had the beating of the left full back, and made some excellent advances into the opposition penalty area.  At the other end Webby was excellent in goal, and deservedly earned a number of MoTM nominations.

Webby could do nothing about the goal that gave Sparks the lead when the replacement striker turned inside onto his right foot and hit the ball with minimum power, but perfect accuracy into the far corner: 1-2.

You would have thought this was the ideal situation: we lose the game 2-1 so Sharpy gets the result we want whilst we've still played well, enjoyed the game and made the opposition work hard for their victory.  However, it was a nervy ending as we created a number of good opportunities to equalise with Dale being denied on more than one occasion by the dimensions of the goal and the acrobatics of the goal keeper.  Extra time would have proven a little embarrassing for Sharpy, as it would have meant finishing with ten men as he had already used all three substitutes and Dale needed to leave at 90 minutes to get to work.  Fortunately we managed to hold out for the defeat, and were able to warmly congratulate our opponents on their progress to the next round.

The MoTM vote was dominated by defenders, with Eye-Ball just coming out on top.  It is difficult for me to self-assess why this was, but I imagine it was for volume of tackles, generally being a pain in the backside any time the opposition tried to mount an attack, and even getting a shot (albeit a tame one) on target from inside the box in the first half.  It could also be because we lost, as the only other time I have received this accolade is the only other time we have lost this season.  Oh well, at least the dark cloud of defeat has a silver lining for me.

Eye-Ball

Next game: Sunday 14th December @ home v Staines United.

Goal scoring chart:

Clements Athletic 2 - 1 Thameside F.C.

Johnny and Eye-Ball learned a valuable lesson prior to this game: lower the posts in gently or you may end up covered in muddy water, and smelling like a skunk whose had far too much vindaloo.  Still we had a good laugh about it (except Johnny and Foggy who were busy gagging), and we had no problems with space in the changing room.

The good humour continued right up to kick-off, and the good team spirit was reflected in one of the best footballing performances of the season, to which the score line did not do justice.

Sharpy demonstrated that everyone will be treated the same in this team, and so despite being one of the stand out players this season, H was started on the bench following a couple of weeks away.  Once again players were missing, but Sharpy was still able to name a strong starting eleven.

Subs: Sharpy, Harry

We were determined to get off to a good start in this game, and created a number of chances which should have helped calm those early nerves.  Unfortunately Liam in particular had left his shooting boots at home, and missed a couple of (what were by his standards) sitters. 

Thameside were a far improved side from the outfit we comfortably brushed aside earlier in the season, and were competitive and hard to break down.  When we did get in behind their keeper was on fine form to keep us out.

A frustrating first half nearly ended in us going behind, when a ricochet from a shot landed kindly for the right winger.  However, Webby was quick off his line and smothered the effort to keep the scores level going into the break.

The discussion at half time was positive, and we knew that it was a matter of when, rather than if we would break down the opposition.

Seeing as we were struggling to find the net via conventional methods, Jake thought he would try something a little more flamboyant, and his acrobatic (yes, Jake and acrobatic in the same sentence) not quite over-head kick in a crowded area was hit so sweetly that it would surely have been front runner for goal of the season had it not been for a fine save from Thameside’s keeper.  I think this is the first time I have witnessed a collective round of applause in the Thurrock Sunday League.  It just goes to show that we all appreciate good techers.

By this point we were getting a little worried about where the goal was going to come from, but when you’ve got the Kenyons on the pitch you know something can always happen.  Ryan picked the ball up on the left, and ignored the cries of his brother who had run outside him and instead slalomed his way to the right side of the pitch before slipping a slide rule pass through to Liam, whose cross found Dale unmarked at the back post 12 yards out.  He still had a lot to do but hit the ball into the ground, and right into the corner of the goal to leave the keeper no chance – a fine finish to cap a great move: 1-0.

We really should have pushed on from this point, scored a couple more goals and put the result beyond doubt.  Unfortunately, we instead conceded a sloppy equaliser, when Thameside’s nippy winger was allowed to play keepy-uppy with his back to the goal on the edge of the six yard box, before guiding the ball into the net: 1-1.

With about 10 minutes to go there wasn’t long to find the winner we deserved, and despite the introduction of H and Sharpy in the second half providing extra attacking impotence, we just couldn’t find the net.  In the end we relied on an unorthodox helping hand, as Thameside’s best player (possibly suffering the effect of too much weed) attempted a suicidal backpass, which Dale was alert to and raced clear.  He touched the ball passed the keeper and would certainly have scored had the keeper not brought him down.  The ref had no choice but to send the keeper off, who was commiserated by players from both sides.  Dale dusted himself off, and after a lengthy delay showed nerves of steel to guide the ball into the corner of the net: 2-1.

We had to survive an anxious final five minutes, and Eye-Ball didn’t help the frayed nerves when he read the danger from a diagonal ball into the box and decided he would simply nod the ball into the arms of Webby.  However Webby had other ideas, but his call of “Webby’s ball” was misinterpreted by Eye-Ball as “that’s right Eye-Ball, just nod it back and I’ll do the rest”.  So as Webby rushed out the ball rushed passed him, with the fortunate consequence just being a wasted corner.  Liam was pretty happy about this, as he had been prime candidate for DoTD before Eye-Ball took that honour unanimously.

So we survived to make it successive wins in the league, and 5 out of 6.  Things really are looking good, and it feels like we are growing as a team with every game.  Let’s keep it up, and make sure we are in the mix for the league title come the end of the season.

Robin claimed his second MoTM award of the season for a typically dominate display in defence, with Webby a close second for an overall solid display and a couple of vital saves in either half.

Next game: Sunday 7^th December @ home v Sparks – Ted Fairchild Cup Round 1.

Goal scoring chart