Match Reports For Week 28 Saturday 9th March Season 2001 - 2002
Mens 1st XI
Staines 2 Epsom 3
Although the season is now drawing to a close, there was still a lot at stake
for both Staines and Epsom when they met on Saturday. Unfortunately, Staines
once again threw away a one goal advantage with a disappointing second half
performance. Despite an encouraging first half, that saw two early goals from
John Stannard and Robbie Watson, a generally lacklustre display presented Epsom
with enough opportunities in the second half for them to take full advantage.
Staines once again seemed to lack the control they displayed earlier in the
season, and Epsom, fighting for survival in the league, took full advantage
to end up deserved 3-2 winners. Staines face league leaders Oxted this weekend,
and require a good performance to salvage something from a what has been a disappointing
end to the 2001/2002 season.
Mens 2nd XI
Staines 7 - Marlow 0
With the triumphant victory against Banbury ringing in the Blue armies ears
they approached the Marlow game in fine form. Initial concerns were raised because
Woods was fuelling his hobby and watching ladies hockey when he should have
been turning up to the game, it also didn't help that Woods made up the time
and location for the game himself and turned up at Bisham Abbey - no more Friday
night Absinth was recommended. Blame also rests on Bolton (aka Captain Calamity)
who used the reliable carrier pigeon to let Woods know about the game. The game
managed to start with 11 a side as Woods kept to the European Autobahn speed
limit through the sleepy Bucks villages. From the first whistle Staines were
in command with Marlow struggling to keep possession and Staines moving it well
across the park. First goal came through a well worked short corner and Atkinson
lifted over the keeper - get in !!. Greenway stalked in on the back post to
make it 2-0 and Atkinson added another well worked third. Marlow kept going
but never
really got their game together and allowed Staines to build greater and greater
pressure. Hudson dinked a cheeky one over the keeper at the end of the first
half and then swept in to make a personal tally of 2 at the start of the second
half. Atkinson hit the bar and a number of other opportunities went wide as
Marlow reverted to the long ball game to try and salvage a goal. Hurd must be
friends with Marlow centre forward as he was a recipient of a number of one
- two's !!. A bad tackle gave the Blues a flick and Oliver nearly hit the back
board but it did cross the goal for 6-0. Goal of the Season came next as an
intricate short corner routine allowed Bolton to pick his spot and roof from
the top of the D past the England keeper - mmmmm - unfortunately it was from
a yard and mishit - 7-0 all the same and a good result. With Oxford losing it
means that Staines need a win next week and then Banbury score 16 to be crowned
champions.
Mens 3rd XI
Staines 3. vs. Milton Keynes 4.
For our final League home game of this season the Blue Army 3rd Regiment of
Foot & Mouth again were top of the bill at the Stadium of Light. The paucity
of players continues into its fourth week with four of what had been 3rd eleven
regular's continuing to be unavailable to us. Colin Reed was dragged out of
Mike Smiths retirement home and with the loan of one of Keith's old Zimmer frames,
was placed in the right half position on the pitch. MK4's were presently lying
second in our division having established themselves as a superior team to their
own third eleven, they clearly had something to prove. It could be said that
we were not entirely confident of getting a win today. Uncle Fester employed
the latest in 'Just in Time' management techniques by finalising our team just
4 minutes before push back, bringing a new edge to the meaning of brinkmanship.
Still the game started brightly for Staines heading against the wind for the
first half. Staines won a short corner within 2 minutes. Rowley, Rengger, O'Brien
executed well, but Pace O'Briens crashing shot cannoned into the Keepers pads.
Like a greased whippet Mr Safety was first to the rebound and in reflex struck
the ball goalwards, unfortunately a defender cleared the ball literally off
the line, snuffing out the goal celebrations that were just starting. Chewy
Patel fielded the clearance and was in the process of setting up another Staines
attack when Mr Safety went down like a sack of spuds with a twisted knee (Feck,
Feck, Feck, it doesn't half make your eyes water !). Looks like we will have
to bring on Zulu Crow who was still damaged from his injury incurred two weeks
ago. Politely asked if he would like to take a rest the answer was adamant -
no, carry on, salute the flag, club and country, stiff upper lip, stiff knee.
The game restarted and continued to be played in determined fashion by both
teams. Staines defence settled into the normal routine of stubbing out everything
MK's could ignite. The midfield, anchored by Sgt Major Dunners gave good all
round support, Half a Shandy Kemish and Senile Reed both working hard. On this
basis the Blue Army launched some excellent attacking moves. The Tart led the
line very well, often holding the ball when necessary to allow our runners to
overlap. Forrest again caused mayhem in the MK's defence with his pace and unorthodox
shooting. Eventually Staines drew first blood, deservedly. Lots of activity
down the right wing, a well struck cross rockets through the D and Chewy nips
in at the perfect moment to deflect the ball passed their flailing keeper. Unfortunately
(there is always an 'unfortunately' in these stories) the advantage did not
last long. An MK's attack developed from a free hit in their favour just inside
our 25 line. Uncle Fester had a momentary lapse of reason and half cleared the
ball into the path of another MK stick. Their lucky player managed to maintain
his composure in the face of the looming apparition that is our keeper, a bear
like figure with manky beard and shrouded in V8 exhaust fumes, slotting the
ball between Keith's gapping thighs and twixt the wheels of the bathchair into
our goal. 1-1 at Half time.
A good solid team performance to be built on in the second half was the message.
Both teams came out fighting at the bell and then settled down to a regular
slugging match interspersed with some exciting umpiring decisions. Pace O'Brien
was bossing the right back position, giving MK's no quarter on this side, but
found himself getting a slapped wrist for showing frustration at some decisions.
Pid was constantly skirmishing with their Centre forward to good effect, denying
him any chance of a goal attempt. Mr Safety managed to keep the MK's winger
in his pocket for the half, and any other MK's player that dared try that side
of the pitch failed just as miserably, likely to find themselves over the side
line along with the cleared ball. Eventually the Blue Armies work rate and good
team work paid off. Again a flurry of intense activity along the right, across
the middle and back down the right again, resulted in Pace rampaging forward
and shelling the ball across the face of the MK's goal. Chewy Patel again arrived
with impeccable timing to deflect the ball past the helpless keeper. It is fair
to mention that their keeper was inspired, denying our forwards a number of
goals by some tremendous saves. Despite winning several short corners, which
this week were all delivered well and were constantly a major threat, Staines
were unable to benefit. The best being when Uncle Fester drove a well taken
shot against the foot of the post. The last 15 minutes looked like Staines had
the upper hand and so it was; the game finished with a 2-1 win to maintain our
unbeaten record with one league game remaining. MK's pressed us hard for the
whole game so the whistle came none too soon, much to the relief of Mr Safety's
left knee !
Hero: The later start obviously suited him, being wide awake this week and scoring
both our goals, a good performance by Alpesh 'Chewy' Patel.
BGB: After long deliberations, careful considerations and the attributation
of blame the vote swung decisively to Whispering Sid Patel.
Mens 4th XI
Amersham 3rd XI (League Champions) v Staines 4th XI
Newlands Astro
The crunch game of the season has arrived. Due to the continuing injury crisis and various absentees the 3rd and 4th XI's fianlly completed team selection at 14:26 on Saturday afternoon. Sean after a break of several years catapulted himself straight into this top of the table clash by attending training for a couple of weeks.
On the way to the ground several jokes were cracked along the lines of "I hope they've got enough 10p's for the meter this year" and "I hope you've been eating carrots to help you see in the dark". This was of course in reference to last year's farce when we stood about for half an hour in the dark whilst they tried to get someone to switch on the lights. Guess what - this year we were playing at 4:30 pm ....
When we arrived we didn't quite know what a colourful day it was going to be today ...
HORRIBLE PUCE PURPLE ... yep that's the colour inside their freshly painted dressing rooms ... its a good job it was late on a sunny afternoon rather than 1st thing in the morning after a hard night ..
UMPIRE PINK .. before the game could start we had to wait for Edward to arrive as our emergency umpire after Nick' had pulled out with a bad hip (best wishes for a quick recovery). UMPIRE BLUE ... mutter mutter mutter, Edward was not in a good mood, already umpired two games today, and had raced over from a tetchy 3rd XI game.
CHEERFUL WHITE ... yes it was the 4th XI white army today who started brightly charging forward with considerable panache. Amersham came under pressure and showed that they were not accustomed to it - especially the right back who swotted at the ball like a 36 handicapper and giving away the inevitable short corners. A couple of near misses resulted.
BLUE AND RED ... the home side did have some pretty nippy forwards but James in particular held them at bay. With sean making some unannounced runs from right back Martin had to drop back several times to cover, and on the left Matty was solid as a rock. The home side were visibly and audibly disappointed that they were not getting on top. Even worse for them we continued to win short corners and from one we almost scored twice with Sohail reacting a second too late to score his first goal for the 4th XI.
BLACK ... then Amersham won a free hit just outside the circle ... it was hammered in and things went decidely black as their No. 20 expertly deflected the ball into the top right corner of Alex's goal ... rats 0-1.
YELLOW turning to ORANGE to DULL RED ... as half-time approached the sun was getting lower and lower and from the left side of the pitch you couldn't see a thing. However our play stayed a brighter shade of yellow and we were most unlucky to go in 0-1 at half-time.
WHITE's we can do it was the rallying call at half-time ... we can get back into this ... we can win it ....
GREY going DARK GREY then going BLACK .... Amersham obviously made their own half-time adjustments and came out playing some blistering hovkey and started to dominate the key midfield battle and after Alex had made some good stops they deservedly extended their lead to 2-0 with another well taken goal. The ball was played quickly from the centre circle to the centre forward who touched the ball deflty into space for the left winger who had cut across into the inside right channel to slip the ball under Alex as he came out.
PURPLE HEARTS were handed out for courage in the line of fire as first Martin swept away a dangerous ball from the penalty spot, then Matty blocked one on the line and James completed the clearance. Nick blocked a couple of short corners in his own unique style. Martin half-blocked another cross and Alex was firt to react to kick the ball clear. Still the score remained 2-0.
Then we saw some GREEN shoots of recovery as Gordon and Simon started to link up down the left and Mike and Nick worked some space in midfield. As the game entered the last quarter Phil smashed home a great shot from a short corner ... 2-1.
Amersham were slightly rattled and were now getting a little upset by Edward's umpiring and were lucky to keep all 11 on the field when one of their players pushed the ball wide of Matty and then tried to run through him, then as he picked himself up off the ground he threw his stick at Matty but his aim was woeful and he missed. Fortunately for him Edward had followed the ball.
GREEN went the card as Mike took out the Amersham captain again ... just like he had in the first game at home .. dliberate no, committed yes !
BLACK AND BLUE ... Sohail gets whacked on the arm and can't hold his stick and goes to the sideline to be comforted by Billy Bump and Julia.
GREY went the skies and RED went the blood as the lights did not come on. It was getting difficutlt to see the ball. With 9 minutes left to play it was up to the captain's to decide what to do. Last year we stood around for half an hour as sit got darker and darker ... in fact there were no lights anywhere to be seen .. I think they should build a Stellar Observatory here its that dark at night. Just like last year they kept promising that the lights would come on automatically. Well if they don't come on soon we will go home and come back again for a replay ... a win in that might see us promoted.
BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT !!!! Halleluliah someone's woken up the security guard and he's switched the lights on .. I think I overhear that they come on automatically at 5pm during the week but not on a Saturday ..... it beggars belief ....
ORANGE ... the ball has changed colour so that the umpires can see it better. We have a new lease of life and rampage forward Gordon beats three defenders then is tackled the ball flies up in the air and his stick gets hooked with the defenders' stick. Another defender clears the ball and a second later Gordon's stick comes free from the tussle with the other defender and crashes into his knee ...
RED ... the No 20 charges fully 40 yds to get involved but is blocked on his way through ... it looks like a vindictive swipe ... their umpire sees it that way and sends Gordon off with a RED card.
Now things look BLACK ... 2-1 down a man down and only 7 minutes to play. Undaunted we fight on and win a short corner ... No 20 doesn't agree and mutters to himself. Edward asks him to come back over the halfway line several times ... he gets bored and the YELLOW card flashes out. Amersham attack again but we fight it off. Simon makes a break down the left wing, Martin tracking his run sprints forward from halfway to the top of the circle, Simon crosses beautifully and Martin cushions the ball from left to right (Keith would be proud - it just goes to show that after 5,546 drills on a Thursday it does eventually sink in), Sohail calls for it, Martin gives it to him and this time Sohail sweeps it first time past the sprawling keeper to make it 2-2 !!!! Sohail now limps back after being clattered by the keeper, his right arm still in pain, but a big grin is on his face ... that's what we want to see guts and committment .. Sohail has passed his 4th XI initiation test .. he has what it takes.
Only a minute to go and neither team forces the win. Final score 2-2.
Heros: Everyone - another good battling performance.
Zeros: The man with the 10p's for the 2nd year running - if we ever play the
again let's make sure its a lunchtime game !!!
Captains Log 20020309
Well Windsor unfortunately couldn't turn over Ashford, going down 3-1, which means that we cannot overhaul Ashford in 2nd place. However, that equaliser may yet be important, because if we beat Wokingham this week and Banbury lose at home to Amersham, then we would finish 3rd .. and there is a possibility that there might be an extra promotion spot due to withdrwals higher up the leagues ... but we'll have to wait and see on that one. No matter what happens of course - this season will be the best finish in the MBBO Open Leagues ... best previous finish was 4th from 10 back in 1998-99.
Mens 5th XI
Mens Centurions
Ladies 1st XI
Chiswick Poly 0 - Staines 5
Staines continued their winning form with a conclusive victory over Poly. The
home team started well with a series of early short corners, but Staines' defence
remained strong, preventing Poly from taking the lead. Staines then started
to dominate the game, and despite several attempts at goal from open play, took
the lead from a well worked short corner, scored by Jo Ives. Sustained pressure
resulted in further short corners, leading to a hat-trick of goals for Mel Attfield.
The scoreline was completed by Sue O'Connell who got the final touch to a goal
line scramble. This victory
sets up a decisive game between Staines and league leaders Hounslow & Ealing
next Saturday.
Ladies 2nd XI
Staines 2 - Eastcote 0
Another early morning start for the ladies 2nd XI. Being so early Caz could
be forgiven for saying how she knew the way but bearing in mind this is the
car load of people who quite regularly get lost, it was taken with a pinch of
salt. Rightly so it would seem, when they did take the wrong exit, interestingly
though, it was noted that the twins decided to put their trust in Caz &
co rather than follow Juliet (who did actually know where she was going for
once). Anyway that aside we all got there in good time and the game started
well with lots of opportunities from the off. Eryl was unlucky not to score
from a penalty flick (first time she's ever missed one!) when a hit in from
Juliet was kicked off the goal line by an Eastcote defender. However, just before
half time, Helen White scored her best individual goal of the season, going
past 4 Eastcote players to put Staines deservingly ahead. In the second half
Claire Holloway doubled the lead, with a cheeky little run to knock the ball
into the right hand corner of the goal and that's how the score remained. Still
with only 1 goal past the Staines defence this season, they look to take on
Chiswick this Saturday, (in the final league game) with a view to keep it that
way with the added objective to increase their goal tally.
Ladies 3rd XI
Ladies 4th XI