Match Report: Saturday 17th July

St Pauls 2
Acomb Gateway 3

A fine day for a game of football and St Paul's took their 3-game unbeaten run to Global (the old manor school) to face new league team, Acomb Gateway. Our first game on grass and our first game without the talismanic Woody in the centre of the field. With other names such as, Will G, Steve J, Jonny W, Dave C and Steve Sav missing St Paul's were down to the bare bones and fielded a squad of 12 (with the 12th man carrying an injury) and there were debuts for Jonni Brown and Carbs and Matt Wright returned to centre midfield for his first game since the 12-3 drubbing of York Herts.

St Paul's lost the toss and started the game kicking uphill and lined up as follows:

GK: Kev Church
LB: Jonni Brown
CB: Phil McBride (C)
CB: Matt Young
RB: Roy Gibson
LM: Rich Church
CM: Tom Haigh
CM: Matt Wright
RM: Steve Gagg
ST: Simon Bissett
ST: Andrew Carberry

with Simon playing just infront of the two centre midfielders, despite having at least 11 players unavailable, it was still a pretty strong line-up.

Gateway kicked off and imediately put the St Paul's defence under pressure. Phil barked orders and organised the team well and Tom and Matt W battled well in midfield. Tom had a minor spat with the referee and was told not to argue (despite the ref telling Tom he agreed with him and he'd made a mistake). Gateway, had bags of pace and their number 7 (who played on the left wing) was causing alot of problems for Roy and Matt Y. The number 9 was also a real handfull and Matt Y was lucky not to give away a penalty after the number 9 had got ahead of him at a corner. Matt saw the number 9 would get a head on the ball so gave him a firm nudge in the back which sent him flying under the ball and the danger was cleared. Stonewall penalty, but Matt somehow got away with it.

The onslaught continued and, despite some good defending the breakthrough came after about 15 minutes and it was a goal St Paul's will think they should not have conceded. Matt Y tried to clear but the ball rebounded off an attacker and ran through, then Roy tried to clear but again the ball hit an attacker, hit Kev, hit Roy and ran beyond Kev where the number 9 was waiting and tapped into the empty net. An avoidable goal, if Matt had just wellied it out for a throw when he had the chance. These are the moments when you realise you can't play an 11-a-side like you play at Oaklands on a Wednesday evening. If only Matt had listened to Alan Hansen all these years and played "percentages". Still, it would be hard to say Gateway didn't deserve their lead. 1-0 soon became 2-0 (I'm afraid I can't remember their second goal) and this prompted Phil to switch things around a bit. Brett came on for Roy and slotted into the centre back role, with Matt switching to right-back. However, this change only lasted for about 5 minutes as, after winning a header, Phil landed badly on his knee and was forced off. So, Matt switched back to centre back, Pretty Boy Bissett dropped to right back and Roy went to right midfield with Steve Gagg pushing into a more attacking role.

When St Paul's did put an attack together, they seemed to peter out and it really wasn't happening for them up front. This was despite the hard work that Tom, Matt W, Rich C, Carbs, Simon and Steve put in. The whole team worked hard, communication was good and the defending pretty solid with Gateway only managing a couple of half chances for the rest of the half. Simon was having a tough time marking the number 7, but a combination of good tackling, surreptitious tripping and the most blatant push in the back ever (which Simon claims never happened) meant that Simon just about had the upperhand.

Then, on about 40 minutes, Matt Wright found a bit of space and tried his luck from long range. He unleashed a great shot that had the keeper totally beaten but the ball hit the post and rebounded across the goal, Carbs had done well to follow up and got to the ball but, from a tight angle, scuffed his shot and the keeper gladly gathered the ball up.

So, the first half came to an end, Gateway led 2-0 and to be fair, the first half had been all about Gateway attacking and St Paul's defending. There was not much to say at half time. No one was playing badly, the defence looked solid, Tom and Matt were doing great in the centre. So, Phil swapped the tactics round a bit and asked the team to hit the channels more where Rich and Roy would be, he asked Carbs to hold the ball up and look for the wingers runs and there wasn't much more to say.

I think the second half we lined up as follows:

GK: Kev Church
LB: Phil McBride (C)
CB: Brett Harrison
CB: Matt Young
RB: Simon Bissett
LM: Rich Church
CM: Tom Haigh
CM: Matt Wright
RM: Roy Gibson
ST: Steve Gagg
ST: Andrew Carberry

St Paul's played much better in the second half and were getting more joy in attack, especially down the left wing where Rich Church was giving Gateway's right-back a torrid time. Brett was outstanding in defence and nothing was getting past him and Phil. On the right side of defence Simon was winning his battle against their nippy number 7. The chances came for St Paul's: Carbs headed over after a great corner from Rich, then he had a volley from distance that wasn't far over. Jonni hit the tree, which was hilarious, but at least St Paul's were getting some shots in. Gateway were still attacking but the defence was pretty much in control.

Then St Paul's were awarded a free kick some distance out. Tom checked with the ref that it was a direct free-kcick and then, when the whistle blew, he launched an audacious free kick over the goalkeeper's head and into the bad of the net. "I'll have that" said Tom - great goal and St Paul's were back in it.

A clash of heads in the middle of the park between Matt W and Gateway's influencial number 8 led to a huge delay and both players being subbed. Gateway's player had a nasty looking cut on the back of his head. Matt W, being from Devon, just blinked a couple of times and said "Ouch, proper job, feel like i've downed a couple o jars of scrumpy, my lover..." Anyway, Phil moved into midfield and Jonni moved back to left-back.

Then disaster, just when St Paul's were thinking they would surely get an equaliser, Matt Y got sucked out of position and a poor challenge meant that their centre midfielder had the ball and the number 9 was completely unmarked. The ball was played wide to the lightning fast number 7 and he beat Simon and crossed in for the unmarked number 9 to smash the ball home. Kev had no chance. Shortly afterward, Gateway broke again and fashioned a good chance. Kev parried the powerful shot up into the air and just when it looked like it was going to drop over the line, he managed to turn and grab it - a great save. At 4-1 St Paul's would have been dead and buried.

A corner for St Paul's led to their second goal. Roy found himself free in the area and decided to gamble with a run to the near post. Jonni hit a low corner in and Roy was there to tap it past the keeper from virtually on the goal line. A good goal and St Paul's were back in the game. Rich Church continued to create chances and, Matt W (back on the pitch) and Carbs were linking well and it looked like a matter of time before St Paul's would grab an equaliser. Rich hit the bar with a cross/shot and both Carbs and Matt W had powerful shots blocked by the defence. A misplaced header from their centre back nearly caught out the keeper, but he did well to scramble back and make the save.

At the other end Gateway fashioned a good chance from a well worked move but their (now bandaged up) number 8 put the chance over when he looked certain to score.

The game ended 3-2 to Gateway, while I think they fully deserved the win, I do think that a draw would also have been a fair result after St Paul's much improved second half performance. It was a good match played in a good spirit and I wish Gateway good luck in their forthcoming league campaign.

After the game, in the subdued atmosphere of the changing rooms, Tom tried to kill us all with Legionnaire's Disease by turning on the 100 year old showers with their stagnant, disease ridden, brackish water. "It's OK" he said "I didn't put my head in!" and it was off to the Fox to drown our sorrows.

Player Ratings:

Kev Church: Always a reliable, safe pair of hands. There was nothing Kev could do about any of the goals. He made an outstanding save in the second half and his kicking was much improved in this game. We are lucky to have a natural keeper in our team and Kev, once again, proved he's easily our first choice. Rating: Gordon Banks

Jonni Brown: A good debut from Jonni who only knew he was playing on Wednesday. One of our new players he quickly settled into our Wednesday night football matches and gave a good performance at left-back. Solid and reliable in defence, he also took the corner that led to Roy's goal and can, hand-on-heart, say with a clear conscience that he was the only player to hit the tree after an effort on goal. Good game Jonni. Rating: Nigel Winterburn

Brett Harrison: Outstanding debut, especially considering he was carrying an injury. Brett came on midway through the first-half and was rock solid for the rest of the game. Absolute quality defender and Gateway never got past him. Looking forward to seeing a fully fit Brett partnering Phil in a dream centre-back pairing. Rating: Des Walker

Phil McBride: Like Brett, Phil was like a rock in defence. In the first half (before being forced off) he won everything, even producing a first class sliding tackle when it looked like on of their strikers had finally got past him. Phil claims that he's not really a captain, but that's, frankly, a load of rubbish. Like Tom, he's a natural leader that the team look to and he did a great job of captaining the side. He also knew exactly what to do to change the fortunes of the team in the second half showing he has an eye for the game too. First class performance by phil and St Paul's Man Of The Match. Well done Phil. Rating: Phil Jagielka

Matt Y: Probably Matt's best game for St Paul's. Will no doubt blame himself for the 1st and 3rd goals, but looked reasonably solid at the back and was pleased to win a couple of battles with the number 7. Was lucky not to concede a penalty early on in the first half. Rating: Carlton Palmer

Roy Gibson: tough tackling Roy was given a real test early in the first half by the lightning fast Gateway attack. Still did well though and had a great game in the second half on the wing. Scored his first goal for St Paul's and it was thoroughly deserved. Great game Roy. Rating: Ashley Cole

Rich Church: Brilliant game from Churchy. Was a contender for Man Of The Match and only missed out because Phil was so good. Rich battled well in the first half, but it was the second half when he ran the Gateway right-back ragged. He was unlucky when hit hit the bar and also when a couple of half-chances didn't quite fall for him. Top class performance. Rating: Kevin Sheedy

Tom Haigh: Great game again from Tom. He's scored in every match he's played for St Paul's, which is outstanding when you consider a) he's a right-back by trade and b) how bad his penalty was in the last match. Tom battled hard all game and played really well in the middle alongside Matt Wright. Didn't put a foot wrong all game and didn't deserve to be on the losing side. Rating: Juninho

Matt Wright: Matt is quality. He brought a bit of steel to the St Paul's midfield and had an outstanding game. Tough tackling and always looking for the ball with a nice range of passing. Matt won everything that came near him in midfield and was really unlucky with his shot that hit the post. He also had a chance in the second half that a defender did well to block. Great game Matt. Rating: Roy Keane

Steve Gagg: Genius footballer, did really well on the right in a game that didn't really suit Steve's intelligent passing game. Ran himself into the ground and ended up with cramp. Didn't put a foot wrong and should be very happy with his performance. Rating: Joe Cole

Carbs: Carbs did well, battling all of the first half but never getting the break he deserved. In the second half Carbs came alive and thrived on Phil's new tactics. Holding the ball up brilliantly and bringing Rich and Roy into play on the wings. Carbs had a few chances and was unlucky not to score. A great debut for St Paul's. Rating: Dimitar Berbatov

Simon Bissett: Simon hardly saw the ball in the fist half when he was playing just infront of Tom and Matt W such was Gateway's dominance. A switch to right-back ensured that Simon was one of the busier players for the rest of the game. When you consider just how good their number 7 was Simon did an outstanding job of defending against him. Was also influential in attack, taking a number of throw ins (and one foul throw like a netball throw!) and getting Roy moving down the right. Great game Simon. Rating: Gary Stevens