Carlsberg don’t do team mates, but if they did they would
probably be the second best team mates in the world, after the fine specimens
playing for the Accies. Not only did all
the players who made it onto the pitch fight tooth and nail for each other, to
grind out our first league in of the season, but those on the side-line were
thoughtful enough to deploy the plastic bags as the heavens opened in the
second half, thus ensuring there were no soggy pants and socks being pulled on
in the changing rooms.
Subs: Scott, Luke A.
I could be accused of cutting and pasting from many previous
match reports by saying that we started slowly, but once again there isn’t
really any other way to put it. A young
Ockendon side looked to have more energy, and caught us a bit cold in the
opening 10 minutes with their running in and outside the channels. However, it was still under controversial
circumstances that our opposition took the lead, as Eye-Ball raced back just
inside the area to deal with one of these through balls, and was deemed by the
referee to have taken the man before the ball as he slid in to make the
challenge. Everyone (including the
striker involved in the tackle) thought it was a contender for tackle of the
season, but the referee had a different opinion, and at the end of the day his
is the only one that really matters. No
further action was taken against Eye-Ball, but the penalty was dispatched, and
we were facing an uphill battle before the game had even really started: 1-0.
In one way, to concede in such a way was just the boost that
was needed, as the injustice seemed to galvanise the Accies. We settled into a rhythm and took control of
the midfield and hence the game. We
seemed to be happy to be patient, with Lee, Foggy and Bobby keeping possession
and moving it along the line to bring Craig and Mike into the game, who always
had an option inside if they needed to change the direction of play. The dynamism of the midfield was also evident
when Lee found himself furthest forward to receive a pass from Foggy inside the
box. Lee’s initial effort was blocked by
the keeper, but it fell back at the feet of the new boy, who had an open goal
to aim for. The angle was a little
tight, and Lee’s aim was off as he could only glance the far post, where Mike was
agonisingly close to turning the ball in.
Lee’s blushes were spared by an unlikely ally: Craig picked
up the ball on the left and turned towards goal. Everything Craig does with a football is
unrushed, composed and an attempt at the sublime, and his deft touch with the
outside of his right boot around the defender, and into Bobby’s path was no
exception. Bobby was able to glide
forward with the ball, and his own great touch behind the defensive line was
poked past the keeper by the defender, who was obviously panicked by Tony’s
close attention. It was suggested in the
pub that Bobby could be credited with the goal, but the Dubious Goals Committee
has to take previous decisions into consideration, and for consistency and
fairness Bobby can only be awarded the assist, given the defender’s significant
contribution in putting the ball in the back of the net: 1-1.
The Accies had their tails up now, and came close to taking
the lead when James curled in a delightful cross which Tony attacked but could
only head over. Blakey also went on a
mazy run from centre half which got the crowd excited, but ultimately led to
nothing apart from a hasty retreat back to the defence.
At the other end, Lewis was fairly untroubled. Ockendon’s main threat was from set pieces,
with one cross into the box almost being converted, but fortunately the player
who met the ball could only turn it onto the top of the bar under pressure from
Lewis. Ockendon had one other break from
one of our corners, when they should of scored with Eye-Ball isolated
2-on-1. The man with the ball decided to
take it on himself, and in an attempt to lift it over Lewis, he could only
float it into the grateful hands of the keeper.
The one blow, to what was otherwise a good end to the half,
was Tony being forced off with a hamstring injury. With no strikers in reserve, Lee was asked to
lead the line, with Luke A. coming on in midfield.
The second half was a combative and hard fought affair, with
neither side giving away many chances and big challenges flying in. Ockendon continued to only look like scoring
from set pieces around our box, where we didn’t show enough discipline. There was also ‘Handball-Gate’ when Lewis was
accused of dragging the ball back into his area with his hand before picking it
up. Lewis says it was on the line, and
fortunately the referee agreed with him rather than the oppo linesman who was
perfectly placed all of 60 yards away.
The best of the chances came at the other end, where Lee was
working his socks off to hold up the ball and bring others into play. Mike was his main outlet on the right, as the
natural winger seemed to be endlessly running up and down the channels, and
always had a quality touch to lay off the ball to Foggy or Bobby before running
down the line to be an option. The
dynamic was a little different on the left were Luke A. and Craig were looking
to work some space to either move the ball across field or directly up to
Lee. Even Robin went on a marauding run
which matched Blakey’s effort in the first half, and perhaps could have had a
fairy tale ending if he had chosen to shoot from the edge of the box rather
than try a through ball.
Despite all our possession and sustained pressure, there was
only one really clear cut chance in the first 35 minutes of the second
half. Foggy had assumed the role of the
most advanced central midfielder (or perhaps he was just the one with the most
left in the tank), and found himself engaged in a neat interchange with Lee on
the edge of the box. After a few passes
Foggy played the final ball through, and Lee had only the keeper to beat. Unfortunately he could only fire straight and
the big man between the sticks, and the chance was gone.
Lee should have had the chance to redeem himself soon after
when he was upended in the box, but the referee didn’t feel he was in a good
enough position to give it. When he then
had to wave away a similar appeal up the near the other box, the man in black
threw in the white flag and said he “could no longer fulfil his duties.” We thought he’d had too much haranguing for
one day, when in fact his back was giving him so much jip that he just couldn’t
keep up with play. That could have been
it, but with both sides feeling that they were in with a chance of snatching a
win in the last 8 minutes, nobody wanted it to end. Thankfully a dad of one of Ockendon’s players
stepped up and said he would see us through to the end.
It was the Accies who struck the decisive blow when Eye-Ball
won back the ball deep in the left back position and played it into the vacant
space up the line. Luke A. was first to
the ball, and turned before lifting a peach of a pass over the top which was
only matched by the quality of Lee’s run.
As the defender came across to make a good challenge at the same time as
the keeper had come out to meet Lee’s run, it seemed like another opportunity
was gone. However, Lee wasn’t about to
give up, and with keeper and defender out of the picture he picked up the loose
ball on the left and fired low into the net from an angle that was just as
difficult as the one in the first half: 1-2.
The euphoria created by this goal rivals that resulting from
Liam’s winner in the Essex Cup. With the
league looking so tough, every win is going to be precious – especially from
tight games like this. The emotions
ranged from relief, to outright hysteria; cue H forgetting his injury and charging
onto the pitch to join in the celebrations.
The only question now was whether we could hold out, and everyone was
fully committed to this cause. In
particular Scott (on for Craig – who had emptied the tank) and Mike
relinquished any thoughts of attacking as they sat deep to help the defence
with some decisive interventions. The
defensive unit was functioning well, and Ockendon were restricted to speculative
long range efforts which didn’t trouble Lewis.
The win was made safe with two minutes to go, when Robin
launched a free kick for offside into the opposition half. Lee reacted quicker than the tired defenders,
and raced clear. It’s amazing how much
bigger the goal seems once you’ve got on the score sheet, and Lee had no
difficulty in finishing smartly across the keeper and into the far corner: 1-3.
There were well deserved votes for Lee and Bobby, but
Eye-Ball just edged it for MoTM on this occasion. I’m not quite sure what people were thinking,
but perhaps there was a bit of solidarity for the inexplicable penalty decision,
and some extra points for style and landing following a crunching 50-50
challenge which saw the full-back execute a double somersault with pike. Whatever the reasoning, this was definitely
an award that could have been awarded to the whole team (although Sharpy does
need to collect some subs). I’m not sure
if there was a unanimous decision on DoTD, but it would only have been a tongue-in-cheek
selection, as no one deserved that accolade.
Eye-Ball
Goal Scoring Chart
Next game: Sunday 23rd October - Away @ St Cleres v St Cleres U21 - EJC Rd 2
No comments:
Post a Comment