OAA Nines 3
Poly Nines 1 (Watkins 56).
Half Time 0-0
A ninth team squad barely recognisable from
the previous week made the short trip to Gunnersbury Park for
a parochial scrap against local rivals Old
Actonians.
The Poly lined up with a great deal of experience against the
much younger home side, with the manager hoping that the heavy
pitch would frustrate any attempts by the home side to undo us with
pace.
And sure enough, the pitch played a big part in determining the
character of the game. The football was rarely beautiful but
the game made a gripping spectacle nonetheless as the two sides
battled fiercely from one end of the field to the other and back
again for almost the entire game.
Poly threatened first, with good work from Big Tom putting in a
delivery which didn't fall quite kindly enough for Chris to
convert. Actonians immediately responded with a couple of
raids down their left wing resulting in tempting low crosses which
flew thankfully unmolested across our box before Craig was able to
clear. Pressure then switched to the Actonians end as guest
star Terry Buckland orchestrated a couple of raids that ended with
scrambled clearances, long throws, more scrambles, but sadly no
decisive touch.
Actonians then came back and on twenty minutes a moment of
miscommunication between Neal and Dan in goal seemed to have let a
chasing Actonian in for a tap-in but somehow we got away with it as
he maybe slipped or panicked and could only poke the ball into the
side netting. This seemed to unnerve us for a few minutes and
again the home side were upon us, the ball was pinging around our
half but the line held thanks to a multitude of tackles and
scrapes.
And then suddenly we created two great chances of our own.
First Chris broke in the right channel and crossed for Big Tom, who
just couldn't quite get enough on his diving header to steer the
ball back towards goal. A few moments later and good
persistence from Danny, switched to a striking role, gave Terry a
great chance from 8 yards out but his half volley flew a foot over
the bar. But back came Actonians finally finding some
shooting range and demanding two useful saves from Dan as the half
advanced. Another nervous moment of defensive
non-communication almost let them in again, and Poly greeted the
half time whistle with a touch of relief.
HALF TIME 0-0
The second half started horribly. A routine attack seemed
to be under control but an Actonians striker managed to find a few
yards of space and shoot from the edge of the box. Dan looked
to have it covered but it sneaked under his dive. Obviously
we needed to have taken something stronger at half time.
But the great thing about this season is that we have shown time
and again that we can fight back, and sure enough we took the game
back to Actonians. Within two minutes a perfect through ball
from Irish Tom seemed to have set up a gilt edged chance for Danny
to beat the goalie, but a top drawer last ditch tackle thwarted
him. The Galwayman was the inspiration behind our next attack
which resulted in Pete B having a shot blocked, but we kept the
pressure up and got our reward on 56 minutes when Big Tom headed in
a far post corner from substitute Tash Hilmi. The same
pairing almost gave us the lead just a minute later, but this time
the Actonians keeper was able to tip Tash's cross to safety as the
Grim Reaper lurked.
Sadly that proved to be the high water mark of the match for the
visitors. Actonians fought back and Poly resisted
bravely. Petr and Tom Holmes at centre back, though they had
hardly played together before, had been outstanding and combative
and indeed continued to be so with fearless tackles and commanding
headers to repel the home team's attacks. So it was cruel
that the match finally swung on moments of tired hesitation in the
centre of our defence, but sadly that is what happened twice in
succession as the game entered its final quarter and both times we
paid the heaviest price, Actonians converting from close range
after crosses went unchallenged.
With the home side now having breathing space, the intense
contest entered its only lull as Actonians took charge for ten
minutes and looked like they might give the scoreline a rather
unfair look if they could step on the gas. But a smart save
from Dan on eighty minutes seemed to revive us and we
found the reserves to take the game the full distance. A
sloppy backpass minutes later gave the persistent Chris a chance to
reprise his poacher goal at Weirside, but the keeper got
fingers to his goalbound chip and averted a grandstand last five
minutes. We pushed on, substitute Tash popping up everywhere
as he tried to make an impression, but it wasn't quite our day.
But it was certainly worth the entrance fee and we had given a
high-flying and much younger side a very thorough
examination. Credit to all involved.
TEAM
Dan B
Neal (sub Sweety 48)
Tom H
Petr
Craig
Pete B
Terry Buckland (sub Aytac Hilmi 48)
Tom G
Danny
Tom W
Chris
MOTM : Tough one, a good case could be made for almost anyone,
Good saves from Dan, Solid defending from Tom H and Petr, Craig
continuing his excellent season, Big Tom had his best game of the
season and richly deserved his goal. Hard work from Danny,
trademark never say die battling from Pete B, great halves from
Tash and Terry. This time it goes to Tom Glavey, a year older
on Friday and without 90 minutes under his belt this year, but
really stepping up to the central midfield role with a performance
of both class and determination.
Giggsy who?