2016 started with a bang, as Aveley extended their unbeaten
run to 6 games with a comprehensive victory over a team we knew very little
about. Having said that, by the time we
got to kick-off Sharpy knew their life story, thanks to the opposition manager
chewing his ear off for half an hour about how many cup games they were
winning, and how little chance they’d had to show everyone what they were made
of since switching from the Essex Corinthian Premier Division. Which goes to prove a number of things: with
a kind draw you can easily win a few Essex Cup games; we could hold our own in
the Essex Corinthian Premier Division; and regardless of all the talking and
hype, football is eleven against eleven, and with Dale banging in goals for fun
we should be able to outscore most teams if their defence is not top drawer.
Sharpy is a man who never seems to be happy. He moans when he has to pull on his boots
because we have so few players, and he moans when he has nearly a full squad to
pick from. OK, so that’s a little
unfair, as the truth is that with 15 players he knows someone is going to be
left out, which no one – especially Sharpy – likes to see. On this occasion Craig was the unfortunate
man to not get a run out, but the impact he has made since joining the club
should be evidence enough that he won’t be in this position again anytime
soon.
Subs: Eye-Ball, Mo, Nick, Craig
We may not have known much about West Thurrock, but within
the opening minute (about 30 seconds actually) we learnt that their defence was
fallible. Dale raced down the right-hand
side and put in what appeared to be a wasteful cross, given that there were
three defenders in the box and no player in red. However, Liam never gives up, and pounced on
the loose touch of the defender before drilling an unstoppable shot past the
keeper from 12 yards, for what is definitely one of the quickest goals in the
club’s history: 0-1.
Thurrock started to find their feet, and it soon became
apparent that their strength was pace in attack which they looked to exploit by
feeding the ball through to their strikers at the earliest moment. However, Brian soon showed them that this
wouldn’t be a fool proof plan, as his speed and strength saw him snuff out the
danger when he looked second best on more than one occasion. When Brian wasn’t on hand, Foggy pulled of a
great save with his legs to deny the striker.
The low overall quality from both sides was pretty much what
you would expect given the long Christmas break and the fact that the pitch was
a lumpy bog. This didn’t mean Sharpy
expected any less from his team, and even though we went two nil up when Ryan’s
corner was cleared off the line by Rob (yes, really) and Jake leapt
unchallenged to head home from 6 yards, the gaffa was still not happy with what
he was seeing: 0-2.
The game changed for a shell shocked Thurrock when their
midfielder hobbled off and their stocky striker moved back into midfield. He started to pull the strings, and when he
shrugged off Harry before putting his winger through on goal – who calmly
slotted past Foggy – we knew we had a game on our hands: 1-2.
For the next 15 minutes we seemed to completely lose our heads,
and were incapable of keeping the ball or keeping with the opposition. Foggy was called into action again to save
one-on-one from Thurrock’s right winger, before everyone was beaten to the ball
from one of the numerous corners we conceded, and our lead had evaporated: 2-2.
Fortunately, Thurrock’s defence continued to leak. Dale got goal-side of the defender whilst
latching onto Jake’s ball, and although the push in the back may have been
minimal it was still a blatant foul which knocked Dale off balance and onto the
deck. Our talisman picked himself up,
and scored with ease from 12 yards: 2-3.
We created more good chances in the first half, including a
tight offside decision against Liam after he blasted the ball into the net, and
a ricochet off the underside of the bar.
However, Sharpy made it clear at half time that, despite leading, we
were in danger of throwing away three points if we didn’t get our heads on the
game, start opening our mouths, and begin to work hard to play like the team we
know we are. Two changes were made at
half time, with Eye-Ball coming on in a straight swap for Alex, and Nick
replacing Liam on the left wing.
Eye-Ball in particular made quite an impact as, within 10 seconds of the
restart his first two touches saw the ball being lifted into the air and then
over his own head and off for a throw-in, for what is definitely one of the
quickest DoTD winning moments in the club’s history…
The first 10 minutes of the second half saw the Accies on
the back foot, as Thurrock threw the kitchen sink at us. Still, there was no way through, and one of
the defining moments was when Foggy saved brilliantly from their striker, who
then had the goal at this mercy but was denied as Rob threw his head in the way
of the speeding bullet and flicked the ball over the bar. The striker threw his hands up in the air and
looked in astonishment at Rob, not because he thought there were hands
involved, but because he couldn’t quite believe how the ball had not ended up
in the net. Which I suppose is an
understandable reaction when you haven’t played against Robin Lawrence before.
With the defence under siege, Sharpy knew he had to put up a
barrier, and that barrier came in the shape of Nick. We changed to a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Ryan
moving to the left and Mo replacing Jake.
The change in formation meant that we had a chance of winning back possession
before the ball got through to the attackers, and could then exploit Thurrock’s
exposed and shaky defence. The effect was almost instantaneous, as Ryan –
now much more of an attacking threat – broke into the box and played the ball
over to the far post. Dale didn’t seem
favourite to score but, running away from goal he twisted and fired the ball
low back across the keeper and into the net: 2-4.
This goal triggered an incredible 15 minutes in which everything
Aveley – and in particular Dale – touched turned to goals. Nick’s two assists may have been a little
route one, but if it gets the job done then who cares! Firstly, his high clearance caught the
defence napping, and Dale completed an incredible third hat-trick of the season
with a simply brilliant volley which took the ball over the stranded keeper’s
head and into the back of the net: 2-5.
Nick and Dale weren’t finished yet, and this time Nick’s
through ball was more deliberate but still relied on Dale anticipating that the
defender would missed the ball. Dale
raced clear, and rounded the keeper to score into the empty net. He later claimed that he had planned to play
the ball back for his brother to score, but that the keeper more or less
stepped aside, leaving him no choice but to score himself. I’m not quite sure
Ryan was convinced: 2-6.
With the front players getting their fill of goals, it was
time for our very own version of the chuckle brothers to get in on the
act. “To me”: Ryan’s free kick is
parried by the keeper and Luke reacts quickest to head the ball in on the
rebound. “To you”: this time Ryan drags his free kick to the
left, where James is waiting on the post to redirect the ball into the net. It really wasn’t Ryan’s day when it came to
finding the back of the net, but I’m sure he is happy with the three assists:
2-8.
Overall the display may not have been vintage, but it’s hard
to complain when you score eight goals against a side who definitely aren’t
that bad. Dale’s day got better as he
collected his 4th MoTM for the season to go with his four goals, and
then to cap it off the turn out in the showers was superb, and Ryan asked me to
put it in writing that he finally stretched his wings and flew from the soap
dodging nest into the arms of his newly acquainted lathered lieutenants.
Next week we have a tough test against premiership side
Staines, but if we work hard and make it hard to break us down, we know we have
the fire power to maybe cause a shock.
Eye-Ball
Next game: Sunday 10th January – Away @ Pegasus
club v Staines United
Goal scoring chart
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