Ally Pally 4s vs Winchmore Hill 4s
SAL Junior Div North
21 September
First game, first point, first blister.
Reminiscent of the arid, sun kissed pitches of southern Spain, the newly promoted Winchmore Hill 4 XI turned up to Ally Pally’s reserve pitches with the excitement of a new season commencing.
Covered in dry, brown grass with ground as hard as rock and the sun beating down, it seemed like a great day for football but clearly no one had told the groundsman about a recent invention of a watering can. Clear to see in the warm up, unpredictable bounces and dodgy passes were going to be elementary in this game as kicks went astray, shots well wide and crosses over the bar – a normal occurrence for some of the team, but slightly more out of character for others. It was clearly going to take some time to get in to the swing of things. Undeterred by the conditions, the proud, newly appointed 4s captain, tall, towering and handsome, Cozzer met with the referee and opposition captain at the centre spot. Seeing this as his first chance to get one over on the opposition’s captain (called “Nigh”, stupid name), he was determined to win and set the precedent for the rest of the game, as well as keep the teams as they were already lined up. Staring the hairy hobit down, Cozzer called "tails” confidently – tails never fails!...
Heads, we swap ends at their request and the precedent was set. We got to kick off, which was what Cozzer really wanted all along *eyes emoji*. Kumbe got the season started with the kick off, and the build up of a summer of drinking, schmoozing with Tyson Fury and getting tattoos of kittens came to fruition.
It wasn’t the greatest of starts. A number of poor passes and a lack of cohesion led us to deal with a lot of pressure in the opening twenty minutes. Cozzer, clearly believing he was Matts Hummels, decided to make a number of “long balls” from CB to the opposition strikers standing 10 metres away, and in general we struggled to maintain any meaningful possession, culminating in the opposition scoring a somewhat flukey but deserved goal. The shot taking a deflection off of the Aryan Haydn which spun the ball in to the bottom corner of our net. We needed to regroup fast, and in truth this goal seemed to relax us as a team and meant we started to play some really nice build up football on the tough surface. We spurned some really good opportunities, Sami deciding to help the opposition defend by blocking a clear goal bound header from Savva on the line, before Savva got in on the act and missed some great opportunities unluckily that on another day would have seen him have a hat trick by half time.
Rory, a late addition to the squad, had Ally Pally’s RB on toast, and after successfully beating his man for the nth time, got in the box and was fouled. The ref, clearly feeling the heat and pressure of the opening day of the season, refused to give it. We remained 1-0 down, however shortly after, deciding to make up for the penalty he didn’t have a chance to miss, Kumbe finished another well worked build up, turning just inside the box and pushing the ball past the goalkeeper with swiss cheese for hands at his near post.
One one at half time and we were on the rise. Bouyant by the finish to the half, the team talk was positive (minus complaints about not being in shade), and we went back out confident we’d go on to dominate the second half. We were bossing them, having chance after chance, struggling to get the ball out of their half for 30 minutes. Surely a goal for the Hill was soon to come…!
2-1 to Ally Pally. An unfortunately short back pass from the otherwise excellent Paddy saw the Ally Pally striker go through on goal, 1 on 1, and score past our stand in keeper for the day, Chris A. Another goal conceded, directly down to the poor playing conditions, so we had to react again. There were only 10 minutes left! We still believed. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the team pulled together and first getting fouled mid-way in to the opposition box, Sami got to his feet to deliver the ball in from the free kick he’d won. Now let me tell you, Sami has the technique that could easily grace a higher team of the club, and it was clear where he wanted to put the delivery. His eyes said back post, 6 yards out for a strong header from one of our big lads. He steps up and delivers exactly what he intended to…near post where old swiss cheese hands flapped again, letting the “shot” through his palms & in to the net! The comeback had happened, we were even again! Fantastic! 2-2, we were going to go on to win it…!
3-2 Ally Pally. As quickly as we’d levelled, the tables had turned and the pressure they were exerting on us paid dividends. We conceded a tired goal where their midfielder, with the freedom of Tottenham, played a through ball to the chubby one up top, who held off the significantly less chubby Nick Kelman (get on the weights) to slot past Chris. Devastating.
There were only a couple of minutes left and the team were dejected…but not dead. We were determined to get something from this game, no less than we deserved, and even though Ally Pally continued to press, Cozzer intercepted a through ball from the midfield and, making his first successful pass of the game, fed the sprinting Savva on the counter attack. The move broke down, only for some dogged persistence from Nick Kelman who, not once, but twice force fed Savva the ball in the penalty area. His stinging shot was parried by the goalkeeper, but unfortunately for him it fell to Combe who deftly caressed the ball home for his second goal of the afternoon with the outside of his right boot. No time left, the whistle was blown as soon as the ball moved from centre spot and both teams could legitimately feel positive and deflated in equal measure. Both sides left the pitch with pain in their hearts and pain in their feet, blisters emerging from the hard, unforgiving ground. Importantly we maintained our unbeaten record in the league since last October, and it’s looking likely it’ll be a full year for the team without a league loss, such an achievement, especially coming back three times in difficult conditions and a higher league. Well done chaps!
On to the cup!