Match Report

Sunday 7th October 2007

Earls Colne 1 – Stanway Rovers 2

The day started badly and didn’t get much better. No referee, lads turning up late and phantom replacement shorts were compounded by only a few dads around to help with the horrible goals. Louis did his best to run the warm up, but we were embarrassed by the professional preparation shown by Stanway.

The first 15 minutes were awful. Hardly a player in blue seemed able to connect with the ball and we lacked any physical presence in a tackle. Stanway smelled blood and poured forward.

Then came a moment of stunning decision making. James, having been battered all over the pitch, neatly turned his defender and turned towards goal. His progress was abruptly halted by a cynical and quite deliberate hack from behind, which was probably spotted by the residents of the care home down the road. Amazingly the ref didn’t see anything untoward, a decision even criticised by some Stanway players. To rub Deep Heat into a open wound Stanway promptly broke and scored.

There were some bright spots. Harry broke through on at least three occasions and on another day would have claimed a hat-trick, but his shooting boots had been held up in the post. Louis curled a cross field pass onto the laces of Luke’s boots only for his shot to drift wide. Finally we scored; Louis worked the ball through to Harry, who shot, but the ball was blocked by the unrushing keeper. The rebound fell kindly and Harry was able to poke it home, just inside the post.

The second half was tense, but the injustice of the decision making seemed to galvanise us and we were winning more of the 50-50 balls. Luke was working extremely hard and our defence looked more confident. Thomas was much more assured and made a number of important stops, and when he didn’t, Calum was on hand. However, we didn’t really create notable chances, and this was to be our undoing. We lost the ball in midfield, and the ball was passed to their striker, who had time to set himself up before smashing it past Thomas.

More questionable decisions frustrated us – how come it is wrong for Luke to push a player but then be shoved to the floor in the penalty box and it to be ok? However, our football was not great and we resorted to booting the ball regardless of where we were on the pitch.

So the whistle blew and our angry team trudged off. Sportingly the Stanway manager acknowledged his team had benefited from some odd decisions. My view was that we did not play good enough football to win, but we did not deserve to lose like that.

Once again thanks to the dads for help with the heaviest goals in the Western World, and to James for running the line in his wellies.

Man of the Match – Patrick Dixon – a much more intelligent display, solid and reliable.




		Under 12s Match Report



		Sunday 7th October 2007 Earls Colne 1 – Stanway Rovers 2 The day started badly and didn’t get much better. No referee, lads turning up late and phantom replacement shorts were compounded by only a few dads around to help with the horrible goals. Louis did his best to run the warm up, but we were embarrassed by the professional preparation shown by Stanway. The first 15 minutes were awful. Hardly a player in blue seemed able to connect with the ball and we lacked any physical presence in a tackle. Stanway smelled blood and poured forward. Then came a moment of stunning decision making. James, having been battered all over the pitch, neatly turned his defender and turned towards goal. His progress was abruptly halted by a cynical and quite deliberate hack from behind, which was probably spotted by the residents of the care home down the road. Amazingly the ref didn’t see anything untoward, a decision even criticised by some Stanway players. To rub Deep Heat into a open wound Stanway promptly broke and scored. There were some bright spots. Harry broke through on at least three occasions and on another day would have claimed a hat-trick, but his shooting boots had been held up in the post. Louis curled a cross field pass onto the laces of Luke’s boots only for his shot to drift wide. Finally we scored; Louis worked the ball through to Harry, who shot, but the ball was blocked by the unrushing keeper. The rebound fell kindly and Harry was able to poke it home, just inside the post. The second half was tense, but the injustice of the decision making seemed to galvanise us and we were winning more of the 50-50 balls. Luke was working extremely hard and our defence looked more confident. Thomas was much more assured and made a number of important stops, and when he didn’t, Calum was on hand. However, we didn’t really create notable chances, and this was to be our undoing. We lost the ball in midfield, and the ball was passed to their striker, who had time to set himself up before smashing it past Thomas. More questionable decisions frustrated us – how come it is wrong for Luke to push a player but then be shoved to the floor in the penalty box and it to be ok? However, our football was not great and we resorted to booting the ball regardless of where we were on the pitch. So the whistle blew and our angry team trudged off. Sportingly the Stanway manager acknowledged his team had benefited from some odd decisions. My view was that we did not play good enough football to win, but we did not deserve to lose like that. Once again thanks to the dads for help with the heaviest goals in the Western World, and to James for running the line in his wellies. Man of the Match – Patrick Dixon – a much more intelligent display, solid and reliable.