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Match Reports » October 2007 Weirside Rangers V Old E’s 3rd XI – 6th Oct 2007Result 3 -3 Scorers: Benjie Jones, Nosa Mackenzie, Anthony HarringtonLong old journey this one! Next time will get the train! Got there with ten minutes to warm up, and was probably the reason for our poor start as Weirside started strong and played the ball round with ease in our half and created a few good chances as they dominated the first ten minutes. The failed to take advantage of our poor start and we eventually calmed down and started talking to one another. Started knocking the ball around and created a few close chances ourselves with Benjie coming extremely close. 0-0 at halftime, Toddy gave a encouraging speech with Benjie Jones receiving some constructive criticism, and it must have worked as 5 minutes in the 2nd half, following a through ball to Benjie, he beats two defenders with his pace and places it beautifully passed the keeper. 1-0 to the E’s! Wierside responded straight away and poor defending lead to a penalty, 1-1, then with more poor defending and goalkeeping led they scored again, 2-1 to Wierside. This livened up the game as both sides were looking for a goal. It came with Tommy Green winning crunching tackle and passing to Nosa who uses strength and skill to turn in the box and score a great goal, 2-2! With time running low and both teams playing well, I thought the next goal wins. With 3 minutes left we get a corner and Anthony Harrington headed in, 3-2 Old E's, surely 3 points for us. Unfortunately, they steal the ball and beat Nosa down the left wing, cross the ball in, a poor clearance form Dave leads to a corner. They somehow get the equaliser with 30 seconds left! Couldn't believe it... but a deserved point for both teams. Player Ratings
Nottsborough V Old E’s 3rd XI – 13th Oct 2007Result 3 – 2 Scorers: OG, Ricky TaylorOne of the youngest ever 3rd's descended on Tolworth, brandishing their child travelcards, their Haribo and their Biactol!! Toddy led the team in the absence of Dave who was sunning himself somewhere less appealing than Kingston. An early kick off was agreed and the team talk was given of playing like a team and being in every challenge, and for the most part we were. We started slowly, losing the ball too often, but then again with the youth we had, they were lost on a huge pitch. We did manage to knock the ball around and the Notts boys were chasing us, part of our plan. But we didn't have the cutting edge to break them down and eventually they broke and, some poor marking and tracking back, we were one down, and on balance deservedly so. We then went on a 20 minute stint of forcing numerous corners and putting their experienced back line under pressure. Their centre half was lighting quick and nullified Benji for a good part of the game. We equalised just before half time, Peter Moore delivered a wicked curling free kick into the box, Benji moved in front of the goalie and their defender glanced it into the net 1 - 1 (OG). We got to half time, proud that we were back in the game, and calling for more energy all over the pitch. Very positive team talk, defend tighter, get the ball to Tommy and then look to spread the play. Second half was much tighter all over the pitch, until we conceded again, after 20 minutes of the half. Up until that point, I thought we had the better of it without finding the net. Benji had efforts, Ricky T had some longer range chances and Notts were under it. However their 2nd goal was where the defence switched off, they got behind us, Lee and Nosa got caught out and their man went on to score, a little against the run of play. Again we picked ourselves up and drove Notts. Some ferocious tackling and a no fear attitude saw a few tasty flash points; however Notts and Old E's didn't worsen the situation with any nonsense, for which both teams should be congratulated. We got a free kick in the same place as when we scored in the 1st half, Pete stood over like a proud mother hen, took 3 paces back and unleased a venomous drive which was comfortably saved. However either the fear of seeing the whites of Ricky T's eyes (bloodshot, blackened etc) or just lack of concentration the excellent keeper spilled the ball and Ricky popped it in. A frantic finish ensued, Toddy locked the defence down, trying to get his midfield to track the surging Notts team, our strikers getting through a couple of times, it seemed to be heading for a entertaining draw. Until a lack of experience and concentration saw them break down our left, we over committed in the challenge and their busy winger crossed an inch perfect ball over Toddy's head to a man (who should have been marked by 3 static Old E's players), who buried the ball in the corner of the net. 3 -2 down with 90 seconds left. No more action. Gutted we lost to a team we thought were beatable, but without cool heads we never pushed Notts enough. The boys will learn and gain much from this game (not just the penalty fares on the train !!), that the last 15 minutes is the key to winning and losing games. No MVP / LVP awards as all the players played well and can self evaluate their own performance (teacher talk for 'can't be bothered') Old E’s 3rd XI V Civil Service - 20th October 2007Result 0 – 5With three defenders missing for this game I knew we would struggle defensively, but did not anticipate such a score line. Though the scoreline doesn’t lie, I don't think that 5-nil thrashing reflects the teams performance as we to could, if not should, have easily scored 5 ourselves! Despite some very attractive foot work and link up with Lee Vickers, Benjie Jones failed to score as he ripped there defence open several times and was so unlucky with his first half effort that was destined to go top right corner, (even the ref was ready to clap) but the keeper somehow pulled of a great save! 2 minutes after that the lively Jack Podmore was put through on goal with a great one two with Lee Vickers but again was very unlucky. Then after that Civil Service dominated the first half winning every tackle, every header and they just completely out muscled us for the remainder of the first half as we gifted them 3 easy goals from extremely bad defending. So at half time we discussed what was going wrong and what we needed to do to correct it, and we all agreed that they would continue to win everything in the air. Half time starts, we pass the ball to feet, we keep it on the floor, we started well, and create a great chance 5 minutes in to the half to make it 3-1, which could really have been the turning point, but it was not to be. Though we were much better in the 2nd half and the better team in the 2nd half we just couldn’t finish. So as we were pushing forward (and not scoring!), it was bound to happen, they catch us out on the counter attack and score two well-worked goals in the last 20mins. This game was a lesson for us young guns, that we need to be stronger in every challenge and be more clinical with our finishing!! So civil take all 3 pts, but the Civil defence have taken a very lucky clean sheet back with them today.... Player Ratings
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Ref rating 10/10 the first ref I haven’t screamed at!! very fair and very calm!! Old E’s 1st XI V Old Foresters Preliminary round AFA CupResult 3 – 0 Scorers: Andy Roberts, OG, Dan SteelOld E’s went into the game after starting the season with three games undefeated and only conceding one goal, which was due to poor tracking by the midfielder, Rob Weaver. The confidence was high, especially after an extra special training session in midweek that highlighted the maturity of the squad during an open discussion about the season so far. This combined with Scott ‘Bruno’ Brooks tactical analysis of their forthcoming opponents put the squad in an excellent spirit, the only dampener was only having 13 players in the squad after Ian Torrance went AWOL on match day. Old Foresters (OF) started the game well and stretched the Old E’s in the first five minutes. The OF seemed to be confident and their right midfielder was even heard saying “I’m up against a dinosaur give me the ball and I’ll beat him”, this seemed to spur Aaron “Tyrannosaurus” Mills on. No real chances were created and the Old E’s soon started to put the OF defence under pressure. As the game went on Old E’s grew in strength and started to dictate the pace of the game, changing the tempo to great effect, just as requested by Aidan McQuaid in midweek. OF only threatened on the rare occasion and the defence looked solid as they have all season, with Mills, Jon Widdows and Brooks. In goal Joe Widdows was only called into action twice and both times did superbly, tipping over the bar and smothering a cross shot. The Old E’s midfield seemed to have finally clicked with Dave Croker, Rob Weaver and McQuaid all running the show, they seemed to have eventually found themselves in the right positions. Old E’s continued to create chances and McQuaid, Weaver and Dan ‘Hartson’ Steel combined to put P. Nut clean through, he flicked the ball past the oncoming keeper and chasing defender to give Old E’s a deserved lead; 1-0. Chances now came thick and fast for the Old E’s through a mixture of short and long passing all around the pitch, Weaver, McQuid, and Steel were all guilty of wasting chances. Old E’s maintained the pressure and OF could not get any decent possession. Then a rare OF attack was dealt with by a powerful Aaron Chapman headed which fell to Steel who then put P. Nut clean through. P. Nut’s cross shot was turned into his own net by the OF defender, we are awaiting the decision from the AFA officials whether it will be classed as an own goal or P. Nut’s; 2-0 half time. OF started the second half with more determination and started to put themselves about a bit more. Tempers soon flared between the teams after inconsistent refereeing decisions angered both teams. Gary Seaborne was the bookie’s favourite to be the first cautioned and it proved to be a dead cert after a two footed tackle brought him a yellow card. A few minutes later another refereeing decision ending with a OF player questioning the decision before being shown the red card. OE’s continued to create chances as frequently as they did in the first half; the only question was when the third goal would come. Mark Fellowes replaced P.Nut and Matt Cherrett came on for Seaborne to inject a bit more life into the team. A hatful of missed chances then followed, most of the Old E’s attacking players were guilty, and especially McQuaid, Weaver and Croker who all kicked better conversions than Jonny Wilkinson! Aidan ‘the magician’ McQuaid dazzled the OF and created numerous chances the best two fell to him, firstly when he rounded the keeper before having his shot cleared off the line the second saw his shot rebound off the post with the keeper rooted to the ground. Thankfully Steel made the game safe after Aidan put him through, 3-0. Fellowes thought he had made it 4-0 after work by Weaver but an amazing refereeing decision kept it at 3-0. David Agass MBE who has witnessed more than 4,000 games of football at this level commented, “Not bad but poor finishing in front of goal cost the Old E’s a far bigger victory – it could have been double figures”. Overall the best performance of the season to date, clear improvement in work rate, movement was better, final ball vastly improved and lots of the game was played 2 touches – just what was asked for at training!!! Well done the lads. Now maintain this standard from now on. Old E team:
Old E’s 5th XI V Old ParksResult 3 – 2 Scorers: Toch Singh, Wee Man Roberts, Baz SturgeonTwas a Saturday unlike many the Old E's had ever experienced before, we put out exactly the same team as started the last game, all of weeks earlier. We were down to bare bones, but unchanged all the same. Bazza had opted for a new system of playing to our strengths, which worked until some ginger idiot moaned like crazy and made us all work that much harder. We started brightly as usual, good passing, strong tackling, swift attacks, that lasted until about 20 minutes. We had created a number of chances, but we didn't seem to be dominating as much. Old Parks, looked a handy unit, experienced at the back and a creative central midfielder pulling strings. To be fair they didn't have many chances, with Frank and Stu looking solid (not just build) and Toddy looking red faced and out of sorts (shining one to the corner flag, which was meant as a back pass!!). Craig started to get some purchase in midfield, Greg drifted around (if that is possible) and Matty Roberts looked busy on the break. Needless to say they scored from a set piece, which is not something we usually do. Poor marking and a lack of urgency were to blame. A very very tactical discussion took place between some of the senior pro's and a little niggle entered our game, again very unlike the 5th this year. We usually snap straight back, but for 5 minutes we moaned and huffed. We were still creating chances, Brian missed two good chances, Toddy missed a sitter and Toch put the fear of god into their back 4. We equalised with a classic move and run, with Toch slotting home a great team effort. We got to half time not really doing ourselves justice. Team talk reminded our selves of our previous outings of being positive and the quality we had on the pitch. To show more spirit was the cry. Second half we did just that. Brian and Matty looking very busy, Frankie solid at the back and Toch and Bazza linking really well. The defence were not troubled at all, Jamie got behind every ball and we looked solid. We scored again, after 15 minutes of a controlled second half performance. Toch received the ball on the half way line ran one way took their entire team with him (looked like a scene from Benny Hill), then released a reverse ball to Greg who had all the time in the world to stride forward confidently and stroke the ball into the net, unfortunately the keeper denied him any stroking, so 'wee man' Roberts on the follow up fired in the rebound only for it to be saved again, but was alert enough to pop the ball into the open goal. A goal well deserved for Matty Roberts, who has improved loads since his Mens debut. We then doubled our lead with some more forward play, inspired by our lively strikers. A handball by their centre half, shielding his face, was harsh, but the ref had given a number of similar decisions (both ways) all afternoon. Penalty awarded, Bazza strides up for his 4th penalty kick of the season, calmly he slots it home 3 - 1 (however, Toch got a little over excited and wanted the ball back so we could score loads and loads of goals!!). The ref disallowed the pen for encroachment and Bazza had to do it all again, which he duly did. For the second game running with 20 minutes to play we decide to make it easy for the opponents and not kill them off, we invited pressure, with some poor clearances, losing the ball too cheaply and wasting good scoring chances, esp from corners. They were trying to play on the break and nearly got through us on a couple of occasions only for Jamie to save, Frankie to clear or Stu to use a bit of experience (what about Toddy I hear you cry, or just laugh), Toddy ran round a lot, missed numerous challenges and shouted a lot (normal), except for one bit of unexpected skill and awareness, that not even he can believe. They sent a man clear, who coolly rounded Jamie the keeper and stroked the ball goalward, only for Toddy to sprint like Brian Habana to intercept the ball and put it out for a corner. With that kind of spirit he deserves to be the first name on the team sheet (that and he also picks the team as well!!). We held on, again, not killing the game off as we should have. Some team is going to get drubbed by us this year, the sooner the better. On a positive note, we are unbeaten and every member of our team and squad has paid their annual subs, so if there are first team players who have not paid and on the basis of 'no pay no play' we might have some 5th team players in the 1s, but only if they asked very nicely!! I will leave Bazza to do the player rating on our 11 heros. Lloyds Bank next the in the cup. Till then. Up the E's! Weirside Rangers V Old E’s 1st XIResult: 1 – 2 Scorer: Fellowes, WeaverOld E’s went into the game after starting the season with four games undefeated and only conceding one goal - 3-0, 0-0, 2-1, and 3-0. The confidence was high despite going into the game carrying a few injuries – Joe Widdows was struggling with a hamstring niggle. Old E’s carried on from where they left last week with some slick passing across the pitch, the play was often spread wide with good width being offered by Brooks, Chapman on the right and, Seaborne and Mills on the left. Old E’s 2 touch passing was too much for Weirside Rangers (WR) and the Old E’s were eventually rewarded with a goal after Seaborne crossed for Fellowes to flick home past a flat footed goalkeeper. Old E’s were unlucky not to extend the lead and were guilty of Steel-esq misses!! They were then caught out after plastic man McQuaid injured himself on a blade of tretetorous grass and WR broke quickly to score after some sloppy marking at the back allowed their no.9 to turn and run at the defence. This unsettled the Old E’s and for 5 minutes WR was back in the game. The class of the Old E’s started to show again and the range of passing was rewarded when McQuaid passed to Weaver whose miss-hit scuff somehow evaded the goalkeeper in the WR goal to give the Old E’s a 2-1 lead. A dampener for the Old E’s was seeing Jon Widdows limp off right on half time with a hamstring injury that looks to sideline him for a few weeks. Matt Cherrett replaced Jon and this meant a reshuffle with Seaborne joining Brooks and Mills at the back. Thinks looked bleak with Fellowes, McQuaid and P.Nut all struggling due to injuries. Due to the position that the Old E’s found themselves in the defence were called into action very early on, although they were forced to clear the ball from danger the distance that they were clearing the ball was very impressive. Seaborne’s kicking for touch was at times awesome. A combined effort from the players who were able to run meant that WR were restricted to hoping for some luck when they launched the ball into the penalty area. This was repeatedly dealt with by a combination of the Old E’s rearguard. After a panicky 15 minutes Old E’s started to find their passes again and managed to create some half chances but were not able to put the game out of reach. The last 10 minutes saw the WR launch an aerial attack but the work rate of the Old E’s all over the pitch saw the game out for a thoroughly deserved victory. Overall probably our hardest game of the season to date, especially considering this was the kind of game that we struggled to win last year. We now need to build on this to maintain our progression, next week could be difficult with injuries to Jon Widdows, Joe Widdows, McQuaid, Fellowes and P.Nut playing like he is injured!!! Old E team:
Old E’s 3rd XI Cup game awayResult: 0 - 0 full time - won 2-1 AETDominated from start till finish! (just as well Dave Buckley was in goal ) much much better than last week!!! We won everything, we passed it round confidently, and created so many chances, with Victor and Sam from the 4's (covering for absentees) doing a great job up front for us, was so unlucky not to score in the 90mins!! Straight in to extra time Victor pops in two beauties from well worked football from the Old E's!! A well deserved win, despite their team saying Dave won the game for us pulling of a great save from their only shot in the 90 mins!! Player Ratings
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