On the face of it, this result may not look too
impressive. But when you start to add
some context, it soon becomes clear why this was one of the proudest and most
inspiring performances of the season.
Just being the first team to take points of the ‘wide boys’ of Stanford
town (Aveley SSC’s own groundskeeper Willy’s description) was reason to
celebrate. However, to do so by coming
back from 2-0 down with ten men when, in the grand scheme of things losing this
game meant nothing, just proved the great character and never-say-die attitude
that this current group of players have.
The game also showed that winning all your games might look good for the
league table, but does it really make it worth turning up every Sunday to hear
your team mates slagging each other off for 90 minutes? Personally I’d much rather be an Accie.
Although catching Stanford in the league was not
possible, Sharpy was treating this game as an important dress rehearsal for the
cup semi-final. We had pushed them close
in the first league game, only losing out to a late penalty (you can ask Scott
as he seems to have committed the incident to memory), but there had been talk
of missing players and hangovers being responsible for us not being on the end
of a thumping. This was therefore a
chance to show what we were really made of, and why we hadn’t lost in 12 games
since this narrow defeat (Sharpy doesn’t count the extra time cup loss to
Staines). With Foggy again playing
Cricket in the indoor nationals (and it turns out getting the Southern Final at
Lords – well done mate!), we were grateful to Andrew for stepping in to help us
out between the sticks. It took balls to
admit early in the season that doing this every week wasn’t want he wants, and
even bigger orbs to come back and answer the call for help. With Brian missing for family reasons, Sharpy
decided to start with Eye-Ball alongside Blakey in the centre which meant a
start at left back for Luke. The squad
was boosted by Ryan’s return, but having missed the last two games he had to
take his turn on a very strong looking bench.
Subs: Ryan, Rob, Alex
Aveley started brightly, and created the first clear cut
chance when Liam flicked on a header which came back to him on the right. His follow up cross then somehow bounced
through H’s legs, who found himself unmarked in the six yard box. After surviving this early scare, Stanford
started to enjoy more of the possession, but every time they tried to play the
killer ball forward the well organised and committed Aveley defence either
played the oppo offside, covered the danger or put in a crunching tackle to
nullify the threat. A couple of brave
and strong challenges from James stick in the memory, as our usually
adventurous right back made no complaints about having to concentrate more on
defensive duties. Andrew also showed no
signs for rust, as he covered his area well, and was quick off his line to collect
any over-hit through ball.
The speed of our counterattack is one of our biggest
strengths, and was how we posed our greatest threat in the first half. With Nick being at his industrious best,
breaking up play in front of the back four he could then leave it to H, Mo,
Liam and Craig to pick out Dale’s runs and subsequently provide support in
attack. On one such occasion where we
got men forward, the ball fell to Craig somewhere near the penalty spot, but
his firmly struck effort was parried by the keeper. Mo followed up, but couldn’t find a way
through the crowded area.
Chances were few a far between for both sides in the first
half, which explains why a snap shot from Eye-Ball as the ball fell in the area
from a long throw is worthy off a mention.
It was actually pretty well struck, and on target, but was straight at
the keeper who gratefully caught the ball.
The game really came to life for unfortunate reasons in the
40th minute. The pre-match
instructions were to get stuck in and show a bit of controlled aggression. Luke managed 66% of this, but it was just the
key element of control that was missing.
A warning for a rash challenge was followed by a harsh booking for a clumsy
one, where he tripped and fell into the player rather than really attempting a
tackle. Referees have notoriously good
short term memories, and therefore to fly in again within 5 minutes of being
booked was not the brightest move (what is it with left backs!), and a second
yellow and obligatory red was the end result.
Now Sharpy doesn’t usually need much of an excuse to flare up with the
man in black, but when that man is Graham Monk, who has enraged the Gaffa on a
number of occasions for no-shows (including the infamous Fence-Gate against
Trojans), the slightest wiff on an injustice was going to be all it took for
Sharpy to lose it. You don’t need me to
fill in the gaps, but needless to say Sharpy was sent-off and risked ending the
match if he didn’t leave the immediate area of the pitch. Rumours that he spent the rest of the half
near the fence with the Trojans manager cannot be verified.
So with no manager and 10 men, it was not looking good. We
made it to half time, and after Sharpy’s attempts to get words to the team were
met with threats of abandonment, Dale took it upon himself to restore some
sense of sanity, and we got our heads back on the now considerable task of
making Stanford work for any points whilst fighting to possibly get some
ourselves.
With an uphill struggle on our hands, the last thing we
needed was to gift Stanford the lead. So
when Stanford spotted Andrew standing on the 18 yard box, seemingly oblivious
to the warnings of his team mates, we could only stand in disbelief as the ball
was floated over his head straight from the kick-off and into the net: 0-1.
One nil became two nil when a soft free kick was conceded on
the edge of the area and the ball was drilled into the top keeper by the centre
half: 0-2.
Oh well, game over then.
Half an hour to play, and two nil down with ten men against the team who
have won 12 from 12. You’d think so
wouldn’t you, and with most of the teams I’ve played in whilst at this club
over the last ten years that would have been the case. However, this current group of players seem
to play with a sense of individual hunger and collective respect and desire for
the team which makes any result possible from any position.
Robin took charge of team changes, and made two substitutions
with Ryan replacing Craig and Alex coming on for H. Neither of these changes was reflective of
the performance of those being replaced, but Ryan’s aerial presence and ability
to hit teams on the break was what we needed in this situation. In fact, he came close to getting us back in
the game soon after coming on when H picked him out with a perfect through ball
on the right. However, it seems his legs
may have still been in ‘ski mode’ as the ball flew high and wide of the
target. This was one of H’s last
contributions, and having run himself into the ground Alex came on to allow
Liam to push into a more advanced role having done a great job covering for his
brother.
To be honest, we never looked like we were suffering from a
numerical disadvantage, which says everything about the effort the boys in the
middle were putting in. Mo especially
put in one hell of a shift, as he on numerous occasions dropped deep to pick up
the loose ball before turning the opposition players inside out to create space
and a sense of calm which spread through the team as we continued to talk, stay
organised and work for each other. Nick
also seemed to win every aerial ball, much to the astonishment of the
vertically superior opposition players.
It was therefore just reward that we were given a great
opportunity to get back into the game from the penalty spot. The ball was played into the box on the left
and Ryan played a neat little ball to his brother, who was felled from behind
as he looked to set himself to shoot.
Dale duly dispatched the perfect spot kick off the inside of the post,
and we were back in it: 1-2.
Aveley didn’t try and change anything as a result of this
goal, we just continued to defend bravely, and looked to break with pace and
directness when we got the ball, and if we could take any chance that was
presented we would get what we deserved from the game. We know that the odds of doing so would be
greatly increased if that chance fell to Dale, who had equalled his best ever
goal tally for the club of 29 with the penalty (and in 9 fewer games!). Our prayers were answered, when Nick’s awful
free kick (that’s what he thought when he took it) was flicked from the centre
of the area to the left by Ryan. Blakey
chested the ball on and Dale reacted quickest to jump and flick the ball with
the outside of his right boot past the keeper and into the net: 2-2.
The last ten minutes were negotiated without further
incident – apart from Stanford’s skipper knocking himself out against our post,
and when the final whistle went, it felt like we had just won the league rather
than only taken a point from a game that meant nothing to the league table. We definitely left with the psychological edge,
and surely wiped some of the smugness from the faces of our opposition. They’ll be the ones losing sleep ahead of the
semi-final, so let’s make sure their worst nightmares become a reality.
There were lots of candidates for MoTM, but it was the two
centre halves who took the lion’s share of the votes. The award should really have gone to the
partnership, as Blakely and Eye-Ball worked fantastically together at the back
as they communicated and took the roles that they were suited to. Blakey attacked the first ball, and Eye-Ball
dropped and stuck like glue to the main striker (to be honest he’s only scored
26 so a much easier ask than the opposition defence had). Perhaps the last ditch block from six yards
out was what swung the votes narrowly to Eye-Ball. DoTD went to Nick, who got stuck in two minds
between throwing long or shorter to Dale, and ended up throwing the ball
straight into the chest of the surprised opposition player standing 6 yards
away.
Well done boys – you’re all fantastic and let’s keep it up
right to the last kick of the season.
Eye-Ball
Goal scoring chart
