Second in Division 1 lost out to second in the Premiership,
but to lose by such a narrow margin over 120 gruelling minutes on a heavy pitch
shows that we were much closer to our opposition than the 8 league positions
would suggest. Aveley twice took the
lead inside 90 minutes and were able to walk off at the end of the match with
heads held high, knowing that we had given our all and done ourselves proud.
Subs: Luke, Sharpy, Scott
It was important that we came out of the blocks firing on
all cylinders, and that’s exactly what we did as, within five minutes, Staines
were left with no doubts that they had a game on their hands. Ryan whipped the ball in from the right and
Liam found himself unmarked but couldn’t direct his header on target.
If we let Staines off the hook this time, we weren’t about
to do it again. With the ball in the opposition
area on the left, Harry played a simple ball across to Liam who spotted the gap
at the near post and left the keeper rooted to the spot as the ball was fired
into the corner: 0-1.
You tend to find that Premiership sides like Staines are
full of seasoned campaigners, who are used to having time to control play in
the midfield. However, H, Mo and Nick
were not prepared to play by their rules and harassed their opposite numbers
constantly. When we got the ball, we
looked to quickly get the ball up to Ryan, who held the ball up superbly,
giving time for Liam, Craig and others to get up in support. Staines were really caught on the back foot,
and looked like their defence could crumble at any moment. However, we weren’t able to extend our lead
during this period of dominance, and Staines pegged us back before half time.
The Aveley back four of Eye-Ball, Robin, Blakey and James
had been playing a superb line which kept Scott very busy with his linesman
duties. However, Staines showed that
they would take any chance we handed them, and on the one occasion their
striker beat the offside trap he lifted the ball over Foggy and into the goal,
despite a duel effort from James and Eye-Ball.
Unfortunately the two full backs were both so determined to get to the
ball that neither put a name on it, which resulted in Eye-Ball getting more of
James than the ball, and James only being able to kick the ball further into
our net. We’ll never know if leaving the
clearance to one of the two would have ended in the danger being cleared, but
it would have increased the probability of this outcome: 1-1.
We weren’t about to let this setback get us down, and Sharpy
was happy enough with how things were going to start the second half with the
same eleven. We started the second half
brightly again, and Liam once again looked most likely to score when he timed
his run perfectly to the front post to meet a low cross from the right. On this occasion the keeper read the danger,
but paid a price for the save as he had to leave the field with damaged
fingers.
Much like in the first half, Liam followed up on a warning
with a great goal as he collected the ball from Ryan in the box, and curled a rising
shot into the far corner: 1-2.
It isn’t usually worth mentioning half chances, but when
this chance is created by Eye-Ball even the most speculative effort is worth a
sentence or two. Following a corner, the
ball came out and Eye-Ball met it high on the bounce. He actually succeeded in keeping the ball
under the bar, but it curled inches (OK, more like feet) wide of the left hand
upright. The opposition probably thought
the reaction from our players was a little over the top, but then they haven’t
been waiting five years (which is longer than everyone apart from Sharpy and
Robin have been at the club) to see Eye-Ball find the back of the net.
There were periods when Staines were on top, but with ten
minutes to go it was starting to look like we might hold out for a famous
victory. However, a rare lapse at the
back saw the striker break free and was clinical in slotting the ball past
Foggy: 2-2.
We didn’t give up hope of finding a winner, and Nick tried
time and again to provide the break-through with his huge throws into the wind,
but no one could provide the required end product and we had to prepare
ourselves to battle on for another 30 minutes.
Throughout the game, it was so pleasing to see how we grew more
and more determined, and were willing to stand toe-to-toe with an opposition
who, at times, were committing cynical fouls and trying to bully us into
submission. However, we gave as good as
we got and right up to the final whistle the game could have gone either
way. As it was, it was Staines who made
the break-through as they broke down the left and the cross into the middle
found Eye-Ball two on one. The winger
showed his experience in blocking Eye-Ball’s attempt to get to the man with the
ball, who had time to settle himself before sidestepping the left back’s
eventually advance and smashing a sweet drive into the top corner: 3-2.
Aveley continued to dig deep for the last twenty minutes,
but just couldn’t find a way to force the game to penalties. Nick pointed out how gutting it is to work so
hard and come away with nothing, but despite the disappointment of the result, there
are so many positives to take away from the performance – especially given how
we have been playing lately. Hopefully
we are now in no doubt about what we are capable on, and are ready to push on for
many happier results in the league and league cup.
MoTM was a tight affair, but Nick just edged out Liam. Nick really led by example as he threw
himself at everything, and showed an infectious level of hunger and
determination which definitely rubbed off on the rest of his team mates. DoTD was awarded later on in the pub (and
without the recipient realising) when Scott showed a degree of passion which
Nick would be proud of, in trying to convince the rest of us that Manchester
United were still in the title race, and would prove this with a win over
Chelsea. We were vindicated in awarding
Scott the DoTD prize when Man United were held to a 1-1 draw. Oh well Scott, there is always next year.
Eye-Ball
Next game – Sunday 14th February @ home v
Chadwell
Goal scoring chart
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