George & Dragon 3 - 0 Oaks Athletic

"Sometimes you have to learn how to lose before you are ready to win"
Arnold J. Rimmer

All good things must come to an end, and after one year and one month, 29 games, one league title, one league cup and an unmeasurable number of ham sandwiches, the Oaks players finally experienced the feeling of losing a game. It isn't a nice feeling, especially when you've not felt it in so long, but much like the flu vaccine a small dose of a bad thing can only make us stronger. Ideally our run would have ended with a great performance, where we fought valiantly until the end only to lose out in a game that could have gone either way. That wasn't to be, and although George & Dragon showed themselves to be a fine young side who are worthy of their position at the top of the table, our performance was disappointing. We allowed the opposition to play their slick passing football, and were inaffective in possesion.

ppppppppppppppppTyrone

Deano (c)ppppppRobppppNikippppEye-Ball

NathanppppppTapsellpppppMikeyppppppScott

ppppppppppppppppRyanppppDale

subs: Browne, Milly, Bunny, Luke



Still a lot of fixtures behind everyone else

I'm not going to go into much detail about the game. We were beaten by three goals from set pieces; two in the first half and one in the second. Two came from crosses and the other was scored directly. Apart from that, and having the lion's share of possession, G & D never really got behind us. We created very few chances, with the closest we came to scoring being a shot hit into the ground by Tapsell that looked destined to go in but hit a dodgy patch of grass that diverted the ball onto the post. This would have made the score 2-1, and who knows what might have happened then. The referee was awful, and at times we were rash as frustrations got the better of us.

It's important not to dwell on this defeat, and I know individuals (your match reporter included) will be wishing they could turn back the clock and not concede that free kick, or make a better job of marking their man, or have another go at making that pass or shooting at goal. Instead we've got to be as much of a team in defeat as we have in every victory over the last glorious year. Forget this game, and take some time to think back to what we have achieved. Read through some of the old match reports of your favourite games and memorable moments: the 5-1 win against Pegasus that convinced us we would be a force to be reckoned with in Division 2; coming back from 3 nil down against Tilbury in the cup semi final; Tapsell's goals in extra time to win us the cup; H fouling himself two yards from goal. The list goes on and on, and I think it would be great to hear some more when we meet next week. Everyone should feel immensely proud to have played a part in what has been the most succesful period in the Oaks history, and I'm sure we'll have many more reasons to celebrate in the future.

Eye-Ball

Next game: Sunday 25th November - Away v Dynamo Basildon - Meet Orsett Cock - 0930

Goal Scoring chart

Oaks Athletic 6 - 0 Mustang (Ted Fairchild Cup Round 2)

The Oaks cruised into the 3rd round of the Ted Fairchild cup thanks to a commanding display against Division 4 side Mustang. This game had some extra spice given that a number of the Mustang players are known to some of us, and also as they were sponsored by The Ship Inn last season. We did our sponsors proud, and maintained bragging rights for the foreseeable future.

Such is the strength of the Oaks squad, and the confidence that Milesy has in the resources available, that he was able to tell a number of players - including the club captain and player of the season - to leave their boots at home. This was a chance to mix up the team a bit, and reward the players who have had fewer opportunities for their loyalty and support. One unexpected change to the starting eleven was Milly replacing Niki, who pulled up lame during the warm up. Milly and Rob have played countless games together over the years for both the Oaks, and previously Berma, but incredibly this was the first time they had formed a partnership in over a year! Still, the fact they kept a clean sheet and rarely looked troubled proves that they haven't forgotten how to play together.

ppppppppppppppppConnor

pppLukeppppppppRobppppMillyppppBrowne

Nathan (c)ppppppBunnypppppMikeyppppppRyan

ppppppppppppppppHarryppppDale

subs: Niki, Al, Scott, Ty, Eye-Ball
Watchers: Tapsell, Parker, Deano

Mustang started brightly, but it soon became clear that they lacked the quality to capitalise on the pace they had upfront. They were also heavily reliant on the one quality defender they had, and although he got them out of trouble on a number of occasions it wasn't long before the Oaks started finding routes to goal.

The best of the early chances fell to Mikey, Nathan, Ryan and Rob. Firstly Mikey was denied a shooting chance when bursting into the box by a last ditch challenge, then smart saves from the keeper prevented Ryan, on the left, and Nathan, on the right, from opening the scoring. Rob was also denied by two goal line clearances as he twice won the ball in the box in the same attacking move.

The lead was eventually taken when Nathan took a throw in on the right into Dale's feet. Dale showed great skill to bring the ball down before crossing low into the centre, where the other Kenyon was waiting. Ryan calmly slotted the ball into the corner of the goal to take his tally to three for the season: 1-0.

Bunny then had a great chance to double the lead, but maybe had too much time when the ball broke to him 15 yards out with the whole of the goal to aim at. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I'm sure if the chance came again he'd side foot it into the corner rather than trying to put the keeper in the net with the ball. In the end the windows in the flats behind the goal were in more danger of being broken than the net.

This miss didn't prove to be costly as the Oaks got a second goal before the break. Much like the steeple chase at the Olympics, the Kenyons were stealing the show. Provider turned finisher, as Dale collected the ball in the box from Nathan's pass and nonchalantly skipped past the covering defenders before slotting the ball into the net: 2-0.

Ty and Al replaced Connor and Mikey for the second half. I wrote a few weeks ago about Niki's feat of travelling back from Scotland on the morning of a game. Due to the postponement of last week's match, the trumping of this achievement nearly went unnoticed, as Tyrone turned up for the match having flown in from Turkey at 0700 that morning. Although I'm sure this isn't supportive evidence, we do know that Ty has a competitive streak, and the fact that clean sheets had been kept in the last 5 halves of football wouldn't have gone unnoticed.

Ty did more than his fair share to extend the clean sheet record to three games, as he pulled off two great saves in the opening minutes of the second half. The first saw him get down well to his left to tip a well hit shot round the post, and then he came off his line quickly to palm the ball over the bar as the striker chipped it goal ward.

The slight anxiousness caused by the dreaded 2 nil score line soon evaporated when H was on hand in the box to volley Ryan's cross goal ward. Both keeper and defender got something on it, but could not prevent it crossing the line: 3-0.

The Oaks were in full swing now, and the rest of the half was a joy to watch. The only disappointment was to see Luke limping off again, especially as he had only just returned from injury. This led to a major reshuffle, with Scott coming on to take up a familiar position on the left hand side of midfield. Ryan moved to the right, Rob to full back, and Nathan to the heart of the defence.

Scott nearly made an instant impact when he won possession on the left before hitting the ball against the underside of the crossbar from all of 25 yards. Later in the half, H also learnt to think twice about requesting the ball from Scott, who duly obliged by leathering it at him from about 10 feet. In Scott's defence I think it might have been another attempt on goal, but this didn't make it any less amusing for the spectators (or painful for H).

Once Harry gets his confidence up, he is almost unplayable and after scoring his first in this one he then scored another and set up one. The assist came first as he flicked on Nathan's clearance with the outside of his boot for Dale to run on to. He held off the defenders who tried to dispossess him before beating the keeper for his second goal of the match: 4-0.

Bunny then got the fifth when the ball bounced back to him in the box, as the keeper could only parry Ryan's fiercely struck shot. This time Bunny made no mistake as he side footed the ball into the corner: 5-0.

H finished the scoring, with Dale once again providing the assist with a cross into the box that fell perfectly for H to strike first time into the roof of the net: 6-0.

Six goals and a clean sheet proved to be more than just reward for yet another good day at the office, as the Oaks march on to the next round of the Ted Fairchild Cup. I hope it also gives all the players the belief that they have what it takes to knock the league leaders off their perch next week.

Eye-Ball

Next Game: Away v George and Dragon (venue to be confirmed):Sunday 18th November.

Goal Scoring Chart

Wheatleys 0 - 4 Oaks Athletic (Essex Junior Cup 2nd Round)

This is a game that would have left statos scratching their heads, as there is no way you could have arrived at a 4-0 win to the Oaks based on possession and territory. The Oaks were below par with the ball, and although conditions could be used as an excuse (if it hadn't been so muddy the ball would have easily rolled unassisted from one end of the pitch to the other), the truth is that our opponents were far superior, on the day, with the ball at feet. The difference was that the Oaks were colossal in defence, and took their chances - when they arrived - to exploit the frailties of Wheatley's immobile keeper. If reaching the second round of the Essex Junior Cup is a novelty, reaching the third round (and last 32) is possibly a first, and just adds a little more gloss to what has been a truly remarkable run.

Once Eye-Ball had safely lead the troops to Eastwood Park, Milesy named his starting eleven, and demonstrated his man management skills by conforming to the cup rules of allocating numbers based on positions without upsetting any of the more sensitive members of the squad. We were all pleased (Scott and Dale were over the moon) to welcome Connor, who had already impressed in a pre-season friendly, and was now making his full debut in goal having signed for an undisclosed fee during the week. A familiar face also returned to the subs bench, as Parker made a welcome return.

ppppppppppppppppConnor

Eye-BallppppppRobppppNikippppDeano (c)

NathanppppppBunnypppppTapsellppppppScott

ppppppppppppRyanppppDale

subs: Parker, Milly, Al, Browne, Harry

The contour of the pitch was not the only thing making it an up hill struggle for the Oaks in the first half, as they failed to keep hold of the ball and were camped in their own half for most of the opening half an hour. Still, this gave Connor the opportunity to show us what a fine young keeper he is. Although picking up a back pass, in order to have to make a fine save from six yards, is going a bit far. As well as showing great handling and agility, Connor's booming kicks were the main route out of our own half in the opening exchanges. Despite their dominance, Wheatleys were finding the Oaks to be a hard nut to crack and they couldn't make the break-through.

Probably the Oaks biggest strength is that they have so many weapons in their goal-scoring arsenal, and for every loaded gun there is a skilled marksman to pull the trigger: Nathan and Rob combining from throw-ins; Tapsell burying Ryan's fantastic deliveries; H's runs in behind the defence that are so expertly picked out by any number of our midfielders. Now with Dale in the squad, we've added our very own loose cannon to the mix. He may appear pretty harmless, but without any warning he can go off to devastating effect. To translate, I'm referring to his ability to make something out of nothing, which he very nearly did in this game when he volleyed a cross from the edge of the area that I can confirm was goal bound before giving some unfortunate defender mild concussion.

It may well have been from the resulting corner that the Oaks took the lead. Maybe Tapsell is losing some of his fiery glow, as despite the insensitive cries of, "Pick up the Ginger", nobody did, and he was left to head home Ryan's corner at the back post (de ja vu or what!). The number of goals Tapsell scores in this way is simply ridiculous: that's four so far already this season, and long may it continue: 0-1.

Nick may have found it hard to cement his place in the Oaks side, but nobody could argue his position as the number one spot kick exponent, with Sharpy being his self appointed deputy. I don't think we have actually discussed who would take penalties now that these options are unavailable, but Scott bravely stepped up when a penalty was awarded to the Oaks. I have to admit I have no idea what for, but I believe Bunny may have been infringed. Scott probably wishes we'd all missed his attempt from 12 yards, which was dragged wide, but all his team mates encouraged him to keep his head up as we still had a lead to defend.

The beauty of the Essex Cup this year is that they are trialling the idea of 5 rolling subs, which is great for a big squad like the Oaks. Steve made his first change at half time when he replaced Ryan with H. You can't knock the enthusiasm of youth, but perhaps Milesy needs to give more careful instructions to these impressionable souls. With the Oaks now attacking down the slope, shooting from distance could be a good tactic, although having a pop direct from the kick-off probably wasn't what he had in mind. To give H some credit, his effort was well weighted but lack direction.

It took a while for the Oaks to extend their lead, again against the run of play. With Dale on the pitch you never know what might happened, and he caught Wheatleys' number 1 off guard as he made room for a shot inside the area and fired low under the keeper's body: 0-2.

With Wheatleys continuing to dominate possession, this second goal must have felt like saving up all your pocket money for a year, to then find the toy shop has sold the last Power Ranger toy to the spoilt brat in front of you in the queue (we do have a lot of youngsters in the squad now, so I'm trying to keep the references relevant). If that wasn't bad enough, Dale then preceded to taunt the opposition with the aforementioned Power Ranger as he collected a pass from Tapsell and fired it high over the keeper's head and into the net from 25 yards: 0-3.

Despite not being overly bothered whether or not we won this game, I think Milesy had held off making too many changes up to this point more from a fear of extra time keeping him out in the cold for longer than was necessary. This third goal therefore gave him the breathing space to make wholesale changes, with Parker, Milly, Browne, Al and Ryan all making second half appearances while Eye-Ball, Niki, Deano, Bunny, Tapsell and Scott all spent some time watching from the sidelines.


Milesy considers drastic measures to avoid extra time

I imagine this game wasn't that enjoyable for Harry, as much like the first half the defenders were seeing a lot more of the ball than he was. However, he worked his socks off to give us an outlet, and despite not getting a goal for his hard work, I've accepted the petition for him to be credited with an assist for the part he played in the fourth and final Oaks goal.

The Oaks played some good football to move the ball out of the defence down the left, and Ryan picked up the ball some 40 yards from goal out on the left. He spotted H's run into the box, and played what he described as "a screamer" - but I'll call a floated cross field pass - into the opposition box. With the keeper anticipating that H's despairing dive to make some sort of contact with the ball would be successful, he was made to look very silly as it eluding H, bounced over him and nestled in the far corner. If the keeper had been sporting a grey beard, he would have resembled a well known festive figure who will definitely not be visiting the Kenyon household this year: 0-4.

Although the game may have finished soon after this, the most incredible revelation of the day was still to come. There were two games taking place on Eastwood Park, with all four teams sharing one large changing room that only had three showers. Three showers between approximately 50 muddy footballers. If Niki, Rob or Eye-Ball had any concerns about missing the fine Ship sandwiches they needn't have worried, as they had the luxury of each having their own personal (very warm) shower. Just to prove that the soap-dodging epidemic is not just confined to the Oaks Athletic.

Eye-Ball

Next game: Sunday 4th November @ Home v Brema United - 1030 KO

Mossops 0 - 4 Oaks Athletic

The Oaks recorded their second league win, and first clean sheet of the season as they cruised to victory over bottom side Mossops. Stearner tests lie ahead, but when you come up against a side yet to register a point, it is somewhat of a relief to not be the first side to fail to take all three, and although it took us a while to get going, once the first goal went in the result was never in doubt.


The Oaks gain 3 more points and move up one place to fifth

Milesy returned to team-picking duties this week, but had one less option than usual as ever present Nick had, earlier in the week, informed Steve that he would be leaving the club. This isn't the place to talk about the reasons, as that should only come from Nick. I know he was immensley proud to be a part of the double winnings Oaks squad so this couldn't have been an easy decision. I wish him all the best for the future, and hope he finds another club where he can enjoy his football and most importantly be happy.

With still no goal keeper signed, Dale took the gloves this week as it wouldn't have been fair to stick Scott between the sticks for a second week running. This meant there was only one recognised striker (although H isn't always recognisable first thing on a Sunday), but despite this Milesy still had plenty of options and he chose to shake the team up a bit. The biggest surprise was probably Tapsell starting at centre back, with Rob moving to the right and Bunny partnering Mikey in the middle. I say it was a surprise, but the truth is that it demonstrates the strength in depth we possess in all positions (OK, so not including willing goal keepers).

ppppppppppppppppDale

RobppppppTapsellppppNikippppEye-Ball

RyanppppppBunnypppppMikeyppppppScott

ppppppppppppHarryppppNathan (c)

subs: Deano, Milly, Al, Browne

The Oaks have a habit of lowering themselves to the standard of the opposition, and in the first half the going was far too easy. As a result we hardly got out of first gear, and despite showing no real threat to our defence, Mossops probably felt they were unlucky not to take the lead in the first 40 minutes of the match. Their best chances came, firstly, when Niki under-hit a back pass but was relieved to see Dale save from the striker with his legs. In Niki's defence, I reckon he must have broken the record for furthest distance travelled to get to a game, as he flew some 500 miles from Scotland that morning to make it to the game - that's some commitement.

The Oaks had Dale to thank twice more in the first half for keeping the score at nil nil. A cross that turned into a shot needed the slightest of touches from an out stretched hand to direct the ball onto the inside of the post, and then a top class save from a well struck 25 yard volley prevented the ball looping over Dale's head and the embarasement of being caught off his line.

Despite being below par, the Oaks still created chances of their own. We've got many players with the quality to pick out a defence splitting pass, and H again showed himself to be the perfect recipient as his pace and movement saw him find himself behind the defence on a number of occasions. Unfortunately he's still yet to find his deadly shooting range, and these chances went begging. Nathan also missed from close range after the ball unexpectedly broke to him off the keeper.

Milesy re-arranged side didn't last long, as Mikey pulled up with yet another hamstring injury mid way through the first half. Mikey has be plagued with injury over the last year, and this latest blow looks set to see him sidelined for a number of weeks. Mikey was replaced by Deano, which meant Rob moving back to the centre of defence and Tapsell going back to his favoured position at the heart of the midfield.

The break through finally came in the 40th minute from a familiar source when a throw-in was won on the left hand side of the box. This was the first throw in that Nathan chose to take, and Mossops seemed completely unprepared for what they were going to have to defend. Perhaps they didn't think a bloke wearing embroidered ankle straps would have much of a throw, as when it arrived the defence seemed struck dumb, and Rob had the simple task of strolling into the six yard box to head the ball home without anyone making an attempt to challenge him or the ball: 0-1.

The same team took to the pitch for the second half, but Rob's late goal in the first half seemed to have finally woken the Oaks up, as they put the Mossops goal under constant pressure for the remainder of the match.

Scott and Ryan were offering plenty of width, which gave Tapsell and Bunny the opportunity to release them down the wings on countless occasions. This meant Mossops were getting more and more stretched, leading to big gaps appearing all over the pitch. It also meant defending was a doddle, especially as Mossops' lack of quality on the ball meant they often cocked up before a tackle was even required.

Scott and Ryan were rewarded for their tireless running when they linked up for the second Oaks goal. Scott caught the full back in possesion and raced to the byeline before picking out Ryan on the far side of the box. His shot was intercepted by the defender on the line, but off balance he could only deflect the ball into his own net. There was some debate as to whether this should be given as an own goal, but Ryan's shot was on target, and it would be harsh to deny him his first goal of the season, and Scott his first assist. It also means I don't have to create another row on the goal scoring chart: 0-2.

Scott was once again involved in the third goal, which was the best of the bunch from a team perspective, as it involved four players and just four touches. The goal keeper's clearance was won in the air by Scott, with Nathan then nodding it back into the path of Tapsell. His vision and H's anticipation saw the young striker released into the gap between the centre backs and he finished first time into the bottom corner. This was just reward for H's hard work, and made up for a cracking vollied goal that had been ruled out for offside: 0-3.

If the third goal was a great team effort, the fourth came from a touch of genious from club captain Deano. He went marauding down the right but seemingly found himself penned in by the corner flag. However, the defender should have known that you can't contain the beast, and with a drop of the shoulder and a cheeky nutmeg Deano was away and breaking into the box. Bunny is making a habit of being in the right place at the right time, and his late run into the box was perfect to sweep Deano's low pull back into the net: 0-4.

Blackshots put 9 past Mossops, and the Oaks created more than enough chances to match this. We might feel we need to be a little more clinical, especially when chances are harder to come by. Nathan would have expected to have done better when he found himself the wrong side of the defence, but his first time shot blazed over. Sometimes there is nothing you can do differently, and Nathan was denied a certain goal when the keeper needed all of his afro to deflect the ball over the bar from point blank range.

With the game safe Milesy chose to defend the clean sheet as he bought Al on for H and Milly for Rob. Not only did the changes not affect the Oaks rhythm, they also had a negligble impact on the average age of the side.

Mossops had given up by now, and the game was eventually ended with the unfamiliar sound of the referee's whistle (which made a nice change from last week). All recieved a slap on the back from the manager for a convincing display, who will surely have a headache picking next week's side.

Eye-Ball

Next match: Sunday 28th October - Away v Wheatleys - Essex Cup Round 2 - Meet at Orsett Cock - 0915. DON'T FORGET THE CLOCKS GO BACK SAT NIGHT.

Goal scoring chart:

Oaks Athletic 3 - 3 SSC Orsett

The Oaks were left a little deflated at the final whistle, having led this match 3-1 going into the second half. Although both teams come away from a draw with the same reward, it tends to feel more like a victory for one side and a loss for the other. Orsett would have felt pretty good about themselves, but it's important that we also look at the many positives to be taken from this display: this was only our second game in this league, and we've shown again that we can more than hold our own at this level - and without a recognised keeper. We scored three really good goals, and recovered from the early set back of going a goal behind. Also the post match banter and roast potatoes were still as enjoyable as ever.


No surprise to see the Oaks playing catch up already

With Steptoe only getting back from holiday the day before, Albert was once again given the job of picking the side, and was grateful to Scott for once again taking the gloves in the absence of Ty, whose injury is likely to keep him out for a number of weeks. With Luke and Deano both injured, the strength of the Oaks squad was once again evident as Albert was able to call on specialist full back Browne to start on the right side of defence.


Milesy shows Sharpy his preferred method for picking the side

ppppppppppppppppScott

BrowneppppppRobppppNikippppEye-Ball

Nathan (c)ppppppTapsellpppppMikeyppppppRyan

ppppppppppppHarryppppDale

subs: Bunny, Nick, Al

Orsett started the brightest of the two sides, and were particularly effective without the ball as they stopped the Oaks from finding any sort of rhythm by hassling and cutting out passes on numerous occasions. They deservedly took the lead, although it was a 1 in 100 strike from an individual rather than a goal earned by a dominate side. The ball sat up nicely for the Orsett midfielder some 30 yards from goal, and his sweet strike dipped over Scott, hit the underside of the bar and nestled in the back of the net: 0-1.

The Oaks tend to come to life after going a goal behind, and this game was no exception as passes started to find their range and it became clear that the key to turning this game around was to exploit a shaky defence with balls in behind for our two young whippets to exploit. Corners are an obvious consequence of forcing defences to run towards their own goal, and this was to provide the source for the Oaks equaliser. Ryan's deliveries just seem to get better and better, and from one corner in the first half he whipped a fantastic ball to the back post where Tapsell arrived unchallenged with a header that had too much power for the keeper to keep out: 1-1.

The Oaks continued to press, with Dale especially showing that he had too much pace for the Orsett defence to deal with. This was proved beyond doubt when the ball found its way to Dale on the left and he raced clear of the defence and into the box. He then lifted the ball over the advancing keeper, and we all held our breath as the ball bounced towards the goal, hit the inside of the post, spun along the line and finally came to a halt the right side of the white wash before a covering defender could become a hero. Dale later foolishly admitted that he hadn't even meant to lift the ball over the keeper, but it looked pretty good from where I was standing: 2-1.

It wasn't long before the Oaks added a third, with Orsett not learning from their earlier error as they once again allowed Tapsell to arrive unchallenged at the back post to head home a corner from Ryan, in a carbon copy of the first Oaks' goal: 3-1.

The Oaks were then denied the opportunity to add a fourth when Dale was tripped in the area. His momentum carried him outside the box, and the referee decided to award a free kick from there rather than taking note of where the offence had initially been committed.

The game could have been over by half time if it wasn't for Orsett's keeper, who pulled off a number of saves, including denying Harry who found himself in the penalty area with just the keeper to beat. As well as good saves, the Orsett keeper also performed one of the most bizarre clearances I've ever seen as when the ball was the wrong side of him and the goal, he chose to punch it over the bar rather than the far easier and less risky option of just putting both hands on it! As it was neither the keeper nor the Oaks players could extend the lead further, and we had to be happy with a well deserved two goal advantage at half time.

The second half unfortunately didn't match the excitement or goal mouth action of the first, and instead was dominated by the performance of the young referee, who was the cause of increasing amounts of frustration and anger from both sides due to general poor decision making, a tendency to be looking the wrong way when key incidents occurred, and a lack of confidence that ultimately meant he lost the respect of those he was supposedly in charge of.

The chances started to dry up for the Oaks, and even the introduction during the half of fresh legs in the form of Al (on for Taps) and Nick (replacing H) could not galvanise a side that was still showing signs of early season weariness. In contrast Orsett seemed to have recovered from the shell shock caused by the Oaks' first half onslaught. When a long throw was allowed to bounce in the 6 yard box, Scott showed good reactions to deflect the ball away after it was prodded goal wards. Then Mikey was in the right place at the right time on the near post to divert a powerful header wide for another corner.

Orsett finally pulled a goal back when the right winger found room to run into the box and put in a low cross. The initial effort was blocked, but the ball fell kindly to another player who slotted low past a helpless Scott: 3-2.

The Oaks were hanging on now, but with five minutes to go the resistance gave way when the ball was not adequately cleared, and the Orsett striker was allowed time in the box to squeeze a low shot past Browne, Eye-Ball and Scott and into the bottom corner of the net: 3-3.

Despite some late pressure the gods (and the referee) were not on our side, and we had to settle for a point. On reflection this was probably a fair result overall, but having had a two goal lead we're bound to think those two points were cruelly snatched at the death.

We've made a good start to the season, and with a run of games now we'll surely get stronger and stronger. The one issue that remains is in goal, and I'm sure Scott is hoping more than anyone that a solution can be found by next week.

Eye-Ball

Next game: Sunday 21st October - Away @ Palmers College v Mossops.

Goal scoring chart