When it’s the biggest game of the year, and the season is
going to be either deemed a huge success or a massive disappointment depending
on the outcome of one kick, you need someone with balls of steel to step
up. Someone who bleeds Accies red, and
has a proven track record of delivering under pressure. A man who strikes fear into the heart of other
teams – some of whom have refused to take to the field because of his
presence. A man whose goal to shot ratio
is second to none, and has a 100% record from 12 yards. Cometh the hour, cometh the Eye-Ball. All the diversion tactics and attempts to
break his focus were in vain, as Eye-Ball stared the keeper straight between
the eyes. The silence from the sell-out
crowd was deafening, and time seemed to stand still as 80,000 people
momentarily held their breath in anticipation of what was to come. Finally, the referee’s whistle broke the
spell, and the brave warrior glided up to the ball before sweeping it low to
the right, and out of reach of the keeper’s despairing dive. He’s done it!
The game was safe and surely second place in the league was secured…
OK, so there may have been 8 other Accies goals, and one
bloke who looked like he’d just stepped off a boat might have got 5. Oh, and we might still need another team to
lose a couple of games to make sure we finish second, but really none of this
is worth wasting time or effort describing.
What, you want to hear about the rest of the game? Really? Go one then!
The Aveley Sporting Village closes its doors for the summer
in a couple of weeks, so this could well be the last game we play here this
season. With the sun beating down we
couldn’t ask for a more fitting setting.
All we needed to do now was atone for the dismal performance last time
out against Stifford Social, when it took a late goal from Sharpy to get us a
point. We definitely had a squad
available to put things right, and Sharpy chose to go with the team that would
have started last week if Chadwell hadn’t legged it.
Subs: Scott, Blakey, Nick
The game couldn’t have got off to a worst start as we found
ourselves one nil down within the first ten minutes. With the midfield and defence compacted, the
ball was lost in the centre and one pass set the striker clean through, and he
finished calmly at the near post: 0 – 1.
It definitely wasn’t time to panic, but the signs weren’t
good as we struggled throughout the team for shape, touch, communication,
energy and all round quality. However,
despite these issues there is always a chance that an individual piece of
brilliance will get us back on track and provide the catalyst to swing the game
in our favour. At the risk of inflating
his ego too much (it’s OK, there is plenty of room in Australia), Dale has pretty
much single-handedly turned games in our favour and put results beyond doubt
with his incredible goal scoring prowess, and if even when he isn’t scoring he
is setting them up. It was his 18th
assist of the season that help get us level, as a low cross from the right went
straight through the defender, leaving Sharpy with an open goal and a tap
in: 1-1.
Goal number 33 for the season soon followed for Dale, and
with it some belief was restored. Craig
slipped the ball into the right channel, and Dale glided past two defenders on
the by-line before knocking the ball into the net from close range: 2-1.
Dale’s persistent ensured we went into half time with a two
goal cushion, when he chased a long ball over the top from Luke. He stuck out a foot to prod the ball against
the out-rushing keeper, and the rebound fell kindly between goalkeeper and goal
to allow Dale to finish into an empty net: 3-1.
The half time team talk was constructive, and centred round
the need for us to try and play some football, be more vocal and shorten up the
play. Liam had assumed managerial duties
for the day, and made one change with Blakey replacing James. There was some confusion as to who would play
where, but eventually we worked out that Eye-Ball was moving to right back with
Blakey partnering Robin in the centre of defence.
Magically everything seemed to be so much better in the
second half. The pitch seemed to have doubled
in size, and the space Mo and Harry had been finding so hard to come by was
suddenly in abundance as they completely took control of the game. Suddenly people wanted the ball, and our
build up was a lot more patient as we gave players chance to advance up the
pitch before going on the attack. Stifford Social hardly had a sniff, and when
they did get close to our goal Foggy was on hand to sweep up and get us back on
the attack.
The second half goal fest started with Dale completing yet
another hat-trick, which I make his sixth of the season. H rolled the ball to him on the edge of the
box, and with one touch the defender was turned before a second smashed the
ball back across the goal and into the far corner: 4-1.
Dale’s fourth was a screamer as he let Nick’s (on for Craig)
throw over the defender bounce past him before leathering the volley over the
keeper and into the far corner: 5-1.
The sixth was a well-deserved first of the season for
Mo. With bodies in the box, Dale passed
the ball to Mo who stretched out a foot to beat the defender to the ball and
poke it past the goalkeeper: 6-1.
We already know all about Aveley’s seventh, which was a
first for Eye-Ball since 13th March 2011. On that occasion, Eye-Ball’s header earned The
Oaks a 1-1 draw against Springhouse, which cost the opposition the league title
(they lost out by one point). There
wasn’t quite so much riding on this spot kick, which was earned by Luke when he
was brought down by the tired defender who had been run ragged by our left
winger for most of the half. Given the
game was won, it was great that everyone (including some of the opposition)
were desperate for Eye-Ball to score, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time
given that the last time he had tried to kick the ball had left him on the floor
in agony following a hip injury sustained earlier in the half. Still, the target was hit and it wasn’t straight
at the third choice keeper, so it could have been worse! 7-1.
The eighth came from someone we would have expected to score
more than his tally of three for the season, and perhaps we just haven’t seen Harry
do enough of what he did on this occasion, as he raced past his midfield
partner before collecting the ball from Mo and powering towards goal before
finishing neatly at the near post: 8-1.
The ninth and final goal was a fifth for Dale (surely that
elusive double hat-trick can’t be far away).
Once again it was Nick who handed Dale a gift as his diagonal ball into the
box fell at the feet of the striker, who was never going to miss from six yards
out: 9-1.
When so many goals are scored, there is always going to be
minimal time devoted to the missed chances, but Luke deserves a mention as he
was denied a deserved goal by the referee’s whistle. Luke collected the ball from Blakey (who was
equally devastated to miss out on his assist) and speed into the area. The
covering defender fell on Luke, who instead of looking for a penalty got himself
up and finished into the far corner.
However, the referee (possibly feeling sorry for our opposition) awarded
a free kick against Luke, which was terribly unlucky.
MoTM could only really go to Dale, although he was given
some competition from H and Alex, who put in an assured performance at left
back as he displayed composure on the ball and strength and determination with
some covering interventions. If only
work didn’t so often get in the way of him being available for selection.
DoTD was closely contested between Sharpy and Scott, who
both missed from a combined distance of about three yards. Sharpy took a touch
from a cross before blazing high over the bar.
The goal was arguable more open for Scott as he arrived at the back post
to meet the ball, but could only drag it wide of the right upright with his
left foot. Given his reputation as a
prolific goal scorer you could argue that Sharpy’s miss was worst, and
therefore DoTD for our skipper feels like the correct call.
With only one game left in the league, there is only one
team – West Thurrock – who could spoil what has been a superb season, and stop
us obtaining the runner up medals we rightfully deserve. It is so hard to know what will happen as
they still have 9 games to play, but can currently afford to drop 6 points and
still finish above us. Our last game is
due to be against West Thurrock, and if we were to win that would swing the
balance back in our favour, as the challengers could then not afford to drop
any points in their remaining 8 games (given our superior goal
difference). The problem is that we
might not be able to play the game given the lack of a pitch. It would be so cruel to lose out on second in
this way, but the fact that West Thurrock still have to play the best teams in
the league (including Stanford and Trojans twice) will hopefully play in our
favour. Still whatever happens, there
have been so many great moments this season and we should be very proud of what
we have achieved.
Eye-Ball
Goal scoring chart
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