Winchmore 1s vs Old Parks 1s
SAL Div 1
16 November
Required footwear: Studs
A short drive away in leafy Ilford lies the home ground for Old Parkonians. At least, it would have been a short drive if the A406 had been OK or the roads through Chigwell didn’t have roadworks at every turn. And being November, there were no leaves. Just bare trees and the residual underfoot mush of what was once a glorious Autumnal scene.
For many of us that meant a delayed arrival and having to put up with Kieran who somehow managed to be one of the only players there on time. Joke.
Parkonians main pitches have suffered from poor weather in the past. Exposed on open flat fields they can often be tricky places to come.
Despite the recent wet weather though they were in fine fettle. Damp underneath and slightly turned in places but overall very respectable on a day when a lot of fixtures suffered. A possible reason is that the size of their main pitch makes it statistically improbably for all of the ground to be covered at some point even by the most industrious of teams. Bex, who needs to work on his running, was never going to get round it all in 90.
We started brightly. We’ve talked almost every week about needing to start the game with the right intensity and this week we seemed to click into gear early.
With the extra space on the pitch we used the ball well. We were happy to move it quickly and rush the spaces in behind the Parkonians back line. At the other end, the back 4 stayed narrow, reducing the space and making it hard for the Parkonians front men to find a rhythm. They looked to build their attacks down our left more often than not and Corfe was there every time, snapping away at their winger.
Just as we started to gain momentum Parkonians took the lead. Cutting in from their right hand side they found some gaps between our back four and midfield. Unable to recover quick enough Parks found a yard of space on the edge of the box. A low hit shot went through a couple of players and, although he was down quick, the strike and weather conditions made the ball squirm agonisingly slowly across the line.
A great response from the Hill though. No one fell silent. Everyone got straight back on the proverbial horse. We looked to charge again and were unlucky to capitalise before half time.
We were equally lucky to keep the score down to just one after Will The Beaver Deamer pulled off a fine save from point black following a set piece routine.
Lots of positive messages at the interval. We talked about the successes, where we were having joy and what we wanted to achieve going into the final 45.
We started the second half and immediately took a grip of the game. Kieran and Sam Jennings down the right started to link up and if Corfe learnt how to overlap, rather than underlap we’ll start seeing similar success on the opposite side.
Our goal came with nearly 15 minutes gone. Pressing high as a team we forced their keeper to try and clear a ball on the edge of his box only to see it crash into Andy Barrel. With the ball struggling to make it on its own, Tom King (Don’t forget not to call him Tommy) raced ahead of the defender to force it over the line.
We looked most likely to take the three points home from there. Branners finally found a run on to a Lewis free kick but his 50p head spun it narrowly high of the bar. With Barrel off the pitch Lew was on free kicks and audaciously tried the patented quick free kick.
Let me talk you through how Barrel does it;
Places the ball early. Looks nonchalant whilst the wall squabbles among itself about whether it should shuffle to the left or the right.
Goalkeeper tries lining the wall up, stood firmly on the front post, 1 eye closed, the other providing laser precision to place the wall exactly where he wants it from his years of experience.
With the keeper’s vision obscured, the wall otherwise distracted, and the referee alerted to Barrel’s intentions well ahead of time, Barrel will finely drift the ball into the open space at the far post to the rapturous applause of the watching public.
Let me talk you through Lewis’s attempt;
Places the ball early. Looks nonchalant whilst the wall squabbles among itself about whether it should shuffle to the left or the right.
Goalkeeper tries lining the wall up, stood firmly on the front post, 1 eye closed, the other providing laser precision to place the wall exactly where he wants it from his years of experience.
With the keeper’s vision obscured, the wall otherwise distracted, and the referee alerted to Lewis’s intentions well ahead of time, Lewis finely drifted the ball with the outside of his boot into the open arms of the keeper at the front post, having watched it bounce twice on it’s way to (probably) going wide anyway.
Oh well.
In the dying moments of the game both teams had 1 more chance to seal the victory. On the break, Parks found the only piece of joy they had all second half. A square ball inside and a shot saved by Deamer again.
At our attacking end a clever through ball by Leroy found Kieran jinking his way past defenders. The ball sadly not quite keeping pace ahead of him and he was unable to get his shot off to any effect.
The game ended in a stalemate. The way this season is shaping up it could be a valuable point for both teams but we’ll both be equally disappointed not to have come away with all 3 points.
Onwards and Upwards.
MOM went to Will Deamer again
DOD was Lewis for the aforementioned shambolic free kick.