Dave's Team: 6
Sam's Team: 6
Dave's Team: Dave, Phil, Andy, Jonni, Kev, Roy
Sam's Team: Sam, Matt, Simon J, Rich, Churchy, Jason
As a few of us gathered in the foyer of Engergise, with the "new look" England team playing on the TV it appeared that we'd be playing 4-a-side and would have to ask for the pitch to be made smaller. With a few lads away on camp, Simon B up to his eyeballs in beer in Kent, Brett missing (presumably fighting crime), Buncey AWOL and Tom on a beach somewhere playing vollyball (think Top Gun) we were, once again, desperate for players.
The returning Phil picked the teams and then the Church brothers turned up to make it 5-a-side, followed shortly by Andy and Jason, so, we had 6-a-side and the prospect of an energy sapping game exploiting the space on the pitch. You can see by the score line how well the teams were picked.
The game turned out to be a fantastic contest played at a blistering pace with both teams starting strongly. For Sam's team Simon J and Churchy passing and running with the ball, with Jason upfront finding space and Sam in midfield supporting from deep. Dave's team countered this with strong defending from Jonni and Roy and Phil's box-to-box powerful runs and Dave's tricky play. Kev seemed to be popping up everywhere and Andy was a real danger from the left wing. Rich had to be strong in defence for Sam's team as Kev and Phil fashioned a few early half chances and Kev found himself wide right on a few occasions but fortunately for Sam's team the final ball was not quite there.
So, the game settled into attack-counterattack-attack mode with some fast breaks from defence and last ditch tackles. One such break found Phil running at Matt as the last defender, with Dave to his right Phil tried to slip the ball through but he put it too close to Matt's chubby leg and the pass was just cut out. Phil went mental at himself, but there was no time for that as Sam's team were suddenly the ones with the opposition's defence at full stretch.
Churchy opened the scoring with a nice finished past Jonni as the keeper ran out to block. That was one of the problems with only having 6 players - the goalkeepers were often left exposed. 1-0 was soon 2-0 when after winning a corner, Churchy played a lovely ball in along the ground and a great run from Simon left him with an easy tap in. Then Matt found himself free in the area, turned and shot but Kev made an outstanding diving save.
The 2-0 lead did not last long as Phil got a bit of space just outside the area and despite Matt attempting to close him down (which to Phil, must have felt like this) he fired in an excellent shot that flew into the bottom corner. A brilliant finish.
Phil then produced the save of the game. Simon J was played in on the left wing by Matt, but Phil charged out of his area and Simon attempted to lift the ball over him. It was a nice bit of skill but Phil (who was now outside his area) jumped up and performed a most blatant handball. Simon took the free kick quickly as Churchy had made a good run to the back post and the pass was inch perfect. Churchy hit the ball hard and low from a couple of yards out, but somehow Phil dived and kept it out. Fantastic save.
The chances and goals came think and fast and it's all a bit of a blur, but included:
- A lovely goal from Sam's team: Churchy had done well on the right wing, beating a couple of players and after shrugging off the close attention from Phil, he played a peach of a ball into the box. Simon J made a great run across the box and produced a sublime dummy which fooled everyone and the ball ran to the back post where Jason was waiting and blasted in from close range.
- A goal from Roy where he chipped the ball beautifully over the keeper.
- A Tap in from Churchy followed by him grabbing a hat-trick with a wonderful volley into the top corner
- A cool finish from Dave after a corner had been cleared, but then struck Rich on the knee sending the ball back into the box and Dave controlled well and slipped the ball past Matt's dive.
- A rare goal from Matt! He picked the ball up deep in his own half and ran at Phil who was the last defender. Simon J and Jason were available on each wing, but Matt continued to run at Phil who continued to back off, then a drop of the shoulder and a left foot shot from distance from Matt led to the ball arrowing into the goal leaving the keeper rooted to the spot. It's rare to see Matt score from more that two yards!
So, it was 6-5 to Sam's team and time was running out. It looked like they would earn the win in a closely fought contest. Enter Phil McBride. He picked the ball up in the middle and ran at the defence beating about three players and letting fly with a brilliant shot. However, the ball cannoned off the foot of the post and rebounded out to a defender. The clearance should have been easy but Phil threw himself at the ball and deflected it to Roy who was waiting at the back post for the simplest of tap ins. 6-6.
Both teams went for the win but the chances dried up and "time" was called on a great game with a draw being a fair outcome. Great game lads.
Goal Of The Week: Roy's tap in, Phil run beat 3 players, hit the post, blocked the clearance and then the ball found it's way to Roy who tapped in at back post. This goal was made by Phil's relentless, bottled up anger which was threatening to burst forth like a nuclear bomb exploding in a filing cabinet. I haven't seen anger like that since Simon B last played. Classic St Paul's football.
Player Of The Week: Simon J was head and shoulders above the rest of us - pure quality. That said, no one had a bad game and there were good performances from Jonni, Roy, The Church Brothers and Phil in particular. In fact, despite his frustration Phil was very close to giving a POTW performance, it's just that Simon was so good. Like an updated, modern take on the Milky Bar Kid, Simon stands out with his skillful runs and excellent passing. He led his team brilliantly and his dummy that set up Jason's goal was awesome. One of the performances of the season. Well done Simon.
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