Match Review: British Club vs Casuals FC

• Mark Stead DF
• Dave Pellowe DF
• Lee Scurr DF
• Sam Hallam MD
• Will Patz MD
• Andy Woodbridge ST
• Jake Taylor --
• Paul Cowie --
• Ben Smith --
• Harry Blakey --
• Patrick McMullen --

• John Common MD
• David Hitchen MD
• Johann Fernando --

Consistently inconsistent…

Cup game against the Colonials on a Saturday at Turf City – everything was strange about this game. We had assembled a squad that had a mixture of regulars, new faces, old faces but still enough quality to put a performance together and hopefully a win to carry on our decent cup record. The game started exactly how we planned with BC scoring after a lack of communication between our GK and CB, the Striker nipped between them and got a foot on it to prod in to the open net. Great Start. The lack of communication was to be a consistent theme, sure there were people screaming and shouting about how crap we are and how as humans we were not great, but in terms of real information like the basics, pass, man on, keepers etc etc that vital stuff was substituted for negativity. There were some positives, we had a lot of the ball and on the rare occasion we did play football we sliced through BC pretty easily however again we were consistently inconsistent. From memory there were no real chances in the first half, couple of shots but nothing that really troubled either GKs. Credit to BC who were working very hard with the young lads in the middle and the striker up top who won every header whilst being a good ft shorter than our CBs. HT and deservedly 1-0 down. Lots of chat, in my mind way too much chat especially when its negative with no real information to make anything better alas this scribe tuned off and marvelled at the new pitch by the old golf range. Looks a little bumpy and no doubt will be finished and then ripped up again like the other pitches but a new pitch is a nice touch. It looks a little smaller, maybe like an 8-9s pitch, same length but I think the width is quite a lot smaller. What pleased me most was the opportunity to hoof it over the goal and fence to hit the cricketers behind…totally sh*t sport and I think the Turf City committee were smart to place a smaller fence behind the goal so we can all have a go at hitting the softies dressed in white. Second half started and we played a little bit of football but not a lot and again credit to BC for working hard and cutting down the space. That said, Sam was finding space and he looked good when in the right positions. Will subbed himself off even though his Mum was there but to be honest if you look at the pics she took they were all of this handsome scribe so she didn’t really care – plus she was probably happy to see her boy come off before he got his marching orders. DH came on and was still drunk which is a great sign because he is totally useless when sober, Steady was attacked by nothing and went off for JC who had applied sun lotion factor 90000 on this rainy day and finally Johan came on. Just thinking if the new pitch will be cheaper because its slightly smaller and I also couldn’t remember if it had floodlights – might just be a day time pitch. Does cricket take place during the day? We finally got a goal when Pat launched a ball in the box where Sam finished with a great back post header, 1-1. Nice. Andy then decided to play a Crossfield ball to their attacker who launched a counter attack and scored after some defensive lapses but ultimately it was a crap ball by Andy, thankfully Wills Mum didn’t get it on camera. 2-1. DH equalised with a few mins to go another back post effort and finished well, can’t remember who crossed it so I’ll say it was Andy. 2-2 FT straight to pens. Always confident with the ever energetic Toadfish in goal, his peno save % is quite ridiculous and we knew he’d get 1 or 2 for sure. Sam, placed his in the top bin, Jake scuffed his down to the corner and Pat powered his in although he’s still a twat for missing in the Cup Final. Harry saved 3 of 4 and I think all against his mates so there were reports of a smile but they are unconfirmed. Casuals win on pens. Credit to BC who worked hard throughout and caused some problems – fair to say we were below par however a win is a win. MOM BC – the striker MOM Casuals - Sam