Oaks Athletic 3 - 2 Greyhound (League game 5)

I’d like to start by issuing a warning to all Oaks Athletic match report readers, of a previously undiscovered danger that could be lurking in a fruit bowl near you: the “Angry Banana”. This intoxicating yellow piece of fruit is indistinguishable in every way from an everyday banana, but when consumed it turns a usually placid and well mannered left back into a vicious, goal-keeper kicking animal. Fortunately the referee spotted the side effects (foaming at the mouth, diluted pupils etc.) and realised that the unfortunate victim was not acting under his own will, and spared Evil Eric from any further yellow coloured punishment. Next week I’m bringing an orange.

Anyway, now the public health warning has been issued I feel I can move onto the far more gratifying matter of The Oaks fourth victory out of five games in the league. You don’t have to have too good a memory to remember that our one defeat in the league came against the same Greyhound side we were facing today. You should also remember that we made a few excuses for that defeat – mainly around player availability. Well, we definitely weren’t going to be able to make such excuses today, with Milesy basically having a full squad to choose from, with the exception of Scott (work) and Parker (imminently erupting third nipple). With Jamie available again, and Al having impressed at centre midfield in the previous week, Milesy chose to start with Jordan on the left. The full line-up was as follows:

ppppppppppppppTyrone (GK)

pDeano (RB) Milly (CB) Rob (CB) Eye-Ball (LB)

pNathan (RM) Al (CM) Stu (CM) (c) Jordan (LM)

pppppppppJamie (CF) Sharpy (CF)

Subs: Bill, Aaron, Jimmy

The pre-match talk from the skipper was a positive one, and re-iterated the fact that this was our chance to stake our claim as one of the main challengers for the league, and that – at the fourth attempt – we should finally do what we should have done already and beat this team.

The uneducated onlooker may have thought that Stu would be ill-advised to ever attempt a career as a motivational speaker when The Oaks went behind within the first two minutes. Having kicked off we were immediately under pressure, and Deano was unfortunate to be penalised for a perfectly good challenge on the edge of the 18 yard box. The resulting free kick was not dealt with, and an easy tap in gave Greyhound the lead: 0 - 1.

Conceding such an early goal against one of the better teams in the league would have had previous Oaks teams preparing for a painful morning. However, the current crop play with much more self belief, and soon set about getting back on level terms.

The equaliser came when Evil Eric intercepted a pass up the line, and swung the ball first time with his left foot into the penalty area. Sharpy reacted quickest to head the bouncing ball past the advancing keeper. He did exceptionally well to get over the ball and keep it under the crossbar, and deserved to claim his sixth goal of the season: 1 – 1.

This goal was a real boost for the Oaks, and with Sharpy and Jamie spearheading the attack we started creating a number of chances. It seemed that Jamie especially was involved in every good Oaks attack, and used his superb control and ability to hold up the ball to bring others into the game, and create a couple of good chances for himself which flew just wide of the mark. He was also undeservedly denied a goal when Jordan, having drifting in-field, played a delightful through ball which Jamie subsequently buried in the bottom corner. Only two people were adamant that he was off-side, and unfortunately they were the linesman and referee, so the goal didn’t stand.

The Oaks have been conceding a few too many sloppy goals from set pieces of late, and the latest to add to the catalogue was inexcusable. A failure to react to Ty’s well voiced instructions left two Greyhound players unmarked at the back post from a corner, who were basically allowed to challenge each other for the honour of heading the ball goal-wards. Despite Jordan’s best efforts on the line he was unable to keep the ball out, and Greyhound had retaken the lead: 1 – 2.

Given the chances we had been creating there was no need for heads to drop, and when Jamie followed up some good work on the right with an inviting low cross into the six yard box, those unfamiliar with Sharpy’s game would have bet their life savings on seeing the unmarked talisman levelling the scores again. Those of us who know only too well that the 6 yard box is to Sharpy what Kryptonite is to Superman, and have stared in disbelief as our most prolific goal scorer has put the ball over, under and either side of the goal when all these achievements seemed impossible, only held our breath and prayed. Initially these prayers seemed to have been unanswered as we watched the ball hit Sharpy’s knee and shin before finally making contact with the business end of the typical footballer’s anatomy, and trickle harmlessly towards the goal. Fortunately the goalkeeper was one of those poor unfamiliar soles, and had obviously set himself to hopefully get something in the way of a rasping shot. He was definitely not prepared for making a simple save, and as a result was only able to help the ball into the bottom corner: 2 – 2.

Having been behind twice we were very happy to be drawing at half time, and given the nature of the two goals conceded the confidence in The Oaks ranks was clear to see. Milesy made one change at half time with Bill replacing Jordan on the left.

Both teams were really pushing for the vital third goal in the second half, and every challenge was well contested and there were some really hard tackles flying in. Rob, as always, was leading by example in this department. There is definitely no such thing as a 50:50 where Rob is concerned, and the sight of Greyhound players flying through the air (with the ball having been fairly won) on numerous occasions made me glad – as always – that I’m on his team! He definitely inspired the rest of the side, and the commitment of the outfield players combined with Ty’s dominance of his 18 yard box meant that we restricted Greyhound to a few speculative long range efforts in the opening twenty minutes.

During this time we also had to cope with the significant blow of losing Al with an injured toe, which meant Aaron had to come on and replace him in the middle of the park (at least we think that is where he had been asked to play)!

Our efforts were duly rewarded when Jamie linked up with Sharpy on the left, who then crossed the ball into the middle where it was met by Nathan who volleyed left footed into the bottom corner: 3 – 2.

The next 20 minutes felt like an eternity, and it was quite clear that to stop Greyhound we had to stop their star player who was determined to run through us at any opportunity. To be fair we really struggled to get the ball off him, but we were disciplined in defence and managed to keep him at bay (although Aaron was a little less subtle in his approach to stopping him). We also had to defend with 10 men for some of this time while Jamie recovered from a knock on his dodgy ankle.

Greyhound were now throwing everything at us, and when they threw an extra man upfront he could have scored with his first touch, but Rob was there once again to make yet another superbly timed challenge from 12 yards. That was to be their last chance, and the Oaks were able to run down the clock and end the match as deserved 3 – 2 winners.

This was the sort of gutsy and determined display that you expect when The Oaks play the best sides. The real test will be when we play Linford and Anchor in the upcoming weeks as we definitely won’t be the underdogs in these games, but if we don’t show have same attitude we showed today we will drop points, and today’s efforts would have been wasted. Well done lads, and let’s keeping climbing that ladder.

Evil Eric

Next Match – Sun 22nd November Cup Game v Greyhound @ Blackshots (Away so no nets to put up).

League Update

With Rec Rovers losing to Lakeside, and Belhus and Pegasus playing out a nil-nil draw, this win lifts us to third in the table:

Goal Scoring Chart (appearances from one game still to be added)

Oaks Athletic 1 - 0 Linford Wanderers (League game 4)

With the analysis of last week’s heavy defeat complete, nobody was under any illusions of what we needed to do to ensure we returned to winning ways against a team who we had beaten on three occasions last season. The football aspects (passing, dribbling etc.) would improve with a run of matches, but we needed to increase the intensity, work-rate and togetherness that are synonymous with The Oaks at their best. You could say mission accomplished, and although not everything we tried came off when we had the ball, the way we played without it – hustling Linford and limiting them to a few half chances – was the main contributing factor that gave us a well earned and hard fought victory.

With Jordan unavailable due to work commitments Milesy again had to give the team a bit of a shake up, and with the luxury of fourteen players to choose from he went with the following starting eleven:

ppppppppppppppTyrone (GK)

pJimmy (RB) Milly (CB) Rob (CB) Deano (LB)

pEye-Ball (RM) Al (CM) Stu (CM) (c) Bill (LM)

pppppppppNathan (CF) Sharpy (CF)

Subs: Parker, Scott, Aaron

It would be interesting to see how Nathan and Sharpy played together upfront, with the former obviously being rewarded for his three goals the previous week which had put him level with Sharpy in the goal-scoring charts.

A respectably observed minute’s silence preceded the match to remember those who had fought and died for our country, and soon afterwards the game got under way.

It always seems to take us a little while to get into our stride, and today was no exception, with Linford starting the brighter of the two sides. However, although we struggled to find our rhythm Linford didn’t pose much of a threat in the final third and Ty’s goal remained fairly untroubled.

Most people would agree that the best refs are the ones you don’t notice, and it was soon obvious that today’s official was definitely not one to be put into this category. So often the team who handles the ref best is the one that comes out on top, and the early signs weren’t good for The Oaks as Deano understandably showed his frustration after being wrongly accused of hand-ball and then also being denied an obvious free kick. I don’t know for sure, but I think Deano holds the record for the Oaks player who has sent himself off the most and he was a whisker away from adding to that record (it’s a good job those shirts are a bit tight). However, he soon composed himself and went on to play a leading role in a strong defence display.

Although most of the play was in The Oaks half in the first 45 you could still argue that we should have been in the lead at the break with Sharpy and Nathan both coming close, but failing to find the killer finish with only the keeper to beat. It’s hard to say who would have been happier with the nil-nil half time score-line. Ordinarily you would definitely say Linford given the drubbings we had given them last season, but then they didn’t know they were facing an Oaks side who whose confidence had taken a bit of a battering the previous week.

The instructions for the second half were pretty straight forward; keep concentrating, fight for every ball, and get the ball in the onion bag! Milesy made one substitution (and a number of positional changes) at half time, with Scott replacing Jimmy and slotting in at left-midfield, Eye-Ball going back to left back to relieve the altitude sickness, Deano shifting to right-back and Bill following him over to play right-mid.

I’ve often wondered what Milesy puts in the water bottles, but whatever it is it definitely worked as the Oaks were soon on top in the second half in every respect. In defence Rob and Milly were immense; they didn’t give the Linford strikers a sniff, and funnily enough the only challenging save Ty had to make was from Milly who misunderstood the strange concoction of sounds emanating from Ty’s mouth and ended up almost heading the ball past him.

Ty did request that I justify his self appointed position as “the best footballer in the world”, but I’m afraid the fine defence display denied him the opportunity to shine today. Deciding to kick the ball out for an attacking Linford throw when it would have been Oaks ball didn’t help either (although he could argue a Linford throw is possibly less dangerous than letting Eye-ball take it). When he did need to claim a cross or gather a shot he did so with ease, and deserved his first clean sheet of the season.

In midfield Stu and Al were dominating their opposite numbers and must be commended for their work-rate and commitment both in attack and defence. On the wings Scott’s introduction made a definite impact. I think we are all in agreement that he’s a very good young footballer, and will be a valuable asset if we continue to see him over the rest of the season. On the other wing Bill – on his second pair of boots for the game – work tirelessly and is definitely benefiting from the regular appearances.

Upfront the Oaks answer to Jedward (Sathan or Narpy maybe…) were showing a telepathic understanding that is usually only gained from time spent together in the womb, and despite his own run in with the ref vice skipper Nathan once again led by example from the front and was a constant menace.

There is always something to talk about where Sharpy is concerned. Thankfully a lot of the time we’re talking about his goals, but after last week’s shenanigans there was a point when we didn’t think he’d be pulling the Oaks shirt on again. However, it takes a big man to admit he is wrong, and the apology he gave to the whole team before kick-off was much appreciated (although he knows he still has one apology to make). It also seemed to lift a big weight off his shoulders, as a dry and happy Sharpy had one of his best games in the Oaks colours. Yes, his finishing has been better but his movement, determination and overall attitude (not to mention he avoid the ref for the full 90 minutes) meant there will be a couple of Linford defenders having Sharpy coloured nightmares tonight.
As already mentioned, Sharpy’s finishing wasn’t quite at its best but this didn’t stop him giving the Oaks the lead when the keeper could only help a scuffed shot into the net. 1-0 to The Oaks.

This spurred on the Oaks to get that all important second goal, and Al was a whisker away from scoring the best team goal that I can remember for the Oaks. The ball was passed through the midfield, and then up to Sharpy, who then played a delightful first time ball behind the defence to Al, who had made a superb run into the box. With only the keeper to beat Al fired inches wide of the left hand post.

With a number of other chances coming to nothing (including Eye-Ball almost inadvertently lobbing the keeping from an attempted cross) there was a fear that Linford might snatch an underserved point, and the last ten minutes was definitely “squeaky bum” time. However, the Oaks dug deep - with even Aaron (who had replace Bill) winning a header for the cause – and got the three points they deserved.

1-0 is a great score-line when the 90 minutes are up, but it’s probably the worst score-line for the subs as, injuries permitting, it is always a risk to change things. Parker was the unfortunate one to miss out this time, but at least he avoided the flag!

We know the next match against Greyhound is going to be a tougher encounter, but if we take the momentum from this game into next week’s match we can definitely get something from a game we really need to if we want to make a real challenge for the league title this year.

Eye-Ball

Next Match – Sun 15th November v Greyhound @ Blackshots (Home so 09:45 meet).

Goal scoring chart (with appearances from one previous game to be added)

AFC Blackshots 6 - 3 Oaks Athletic (League Cup Rd 1)

It was only a few weeks ago that I was saying how fortunate it was for me to have to rarely report on a heavy defeat for the Oaks. And yet here I am having to explain how we managed to ship 6 goals in this League cup encounter. However, I plan to spend as much time dwelling on this defeat as it took for the score line to go from 2-1 at half time to 5-1 (which you’ve probably guessed wasn’t very long!)

Milesy understandably decided to start with the same 11 who had won so emphatically in the last match. Unfortunately a last minute change was required as Deano was still feeling the affects of the flu, and so Eye-Ball came in at right-back:

ppppppppppppppTyrone (GK)

pEye-Ball (RB) Milly (CB) Rob (CB) Aaron (LB)


Nathan (RM) Jordan (CM) Stu (CM) (c) Bill (LM)

pppppppppppAl (CF) Sharpy (CF)

Subs: Jamie, Parker, Jimmy, Deano

It’s not always necessary to give a weather report, but today the elements were to play a major role. Heavy rain that had been falling all morning, and continued throughout the game made the pitch very wet, and caused to the ball move and skid very quickly across the ground; add to this a strong wind (which the Oaks were kicking against in the first half) and you can imagine that these were challenging conditions in which to play football. As we were soon to discover, the conditions definitely favoured the younger, quicker AFC Blackshots.

It became apparent almost immediately that AFC’s plan was to put balls behind the back four for their speedy forwards to run on to, and if not for their failure to beat the off-side trap and some good keeping from Ty, they would have taken the lead. Despite looking dangerous in attack, their defence and goal keeper had a shaky start, and when an innocuous high ball from Al into the box was insufficiently dealt with, Nathan was on hand to slot home with a cool finish from 12 yards. 1-0 to the Oaks.

Re-starts were to prove a problem for The Oaks throughout the match, and as soon as they had taken the lead it was lost. AFC played the ball forward from the centre circle, and a ball through to their striker left the Oaks back four inexcusably standing waiting for Parker to raise the flag. Honest John didn’t however, and the striker had time to compose himself, have a cup of tea, watch the latest Harry Potter Movie, read the book, decide the book was better, and write a letter to the Harry Potter Fan Club telling them as much. Having done all this, he rounded Ty and put the ball into the back of the net. 1-1.

To lose the lead so soon after taking it was obviously unsettling, and AFC made the most of the momentum the goal had given them to take the lead when the AFC striker finished neatly past a diving Ty, who managed to get a hand to it but couldn’t stop the wet, slippery ball going into the net. 2-1 AFC.
The only other incidents to mention from the first half were Eye-Ball finally managing to put in a tackle in the area on his least favourite pitch at Blackshots without conceding a penalty, and a couple of great saves from Ty; one with his legs when the striker was clean through and a superb double save.

Despite going in 2-1 down at half time The Oaks were still well in the game. They had created plenty of chances, and would be kicking with the wind in the second half. The orders for the second half were given, and two changes were made with Deano replacing Aaron and Jamie replacing Bill. Jamie took his customary position upfront, whilst Al dropped into midfield and Eye-Ball moved to left back to make room for Deano at right back.

I said I wouldn’t dwell on the first 10 minutes of the second half. So here is what happened in as few words as I can manage: Oaks kick off, lose possession, AFC score. Oaks kick off, lose possession, AFC score. Oaks kick off, AFC don’t score straight away, but then Rob unluckily heads the ball past Ty when trying to block a shot. 5-1 AFC.

This was a really sloppy period for The Oaks, and to give away 3 soft goals in such a short space of time was obviously a shock. This shouldn’t take anything away from AFC who were clinical, and showed a quality in possession and finishing which highlights why they gained promotion in their first season in the Sunday League, and are currently sitting top of League 2B.

The one positive from conceding four goals so quickly was that we still had most of the second half to get back in the game. Although it would have been easy to give up at this point, credit must be given to the eleven Oaks players who finished the game strongly and managed to claw the score back to 5-3 before unsurprisingly conceding a sixth late on.

It may seem odd that we played our best football at 5-1 down, but I suppose we had nothing left to lose, and seeing as we had all got up on a Sunday morning to get drenched and caked in mud we might as well enjoy it! The Oaks second goal typified the freedom with which they were now playing. It started with Jordan holding the ball up on the left touch line and then passing in field to Stu, who found Al on the half way line. Al then split open the AFC defence with a through ball to Nathan who had timed his run behind the back four perfectly and again finished with aplomb with a side foot across the keeper into the bottom left hand corner. 5-2.

This lifted the Oaks and for the next 20 minutes they dominated possession and started creating genuine chances thanks to some superb link up play. When Nathan completed his hat-trick with a shot which was helped in via a deflection I for one believed extra time was a real possibility. 5-3.

It would have been hard to tell if AFC were sweating at this point due to the monsoon conditions, but you could be pretty sure that they would have been if their keeper hadn’t pulled of a stunning reaction save to deny Parker from 3 yards following more good build up play between Jordan and Jamie on the left. To be fair to Parker the only thing he did wrong was to start celebrating the goal before it was safely in the back of the net.
If that chance had gone in, the last 10 minutes the game would have been very interesting. As it was, despite Rob and Jamie also coming close we weren’t able to get any closer to AFC, and the game ended with AFC finally finishing us off with a sixth goal on the break. 6-3.

Although we were obviously disappointed to lose, and may have thought we could have played better, Milesy made an important point at the end of the game. This is Sunday League Football, and you’re never going to win them all. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it though, and at the end of the day that has to be the reason we give up our own time to get up on a Sunday morning come rain, wind or shine to get kicked about and pay for the privilege. Those who were playing for The Oaks in 2006/07 will remember that we only managed to win 3 games in the whole season, but I still remember looking forward to every game to have the opportunity to play a game of football with a bunch of guys who I liked and respected, and who respected me. The only thing that has changed since then is we’ve actually got a bit better at the football bit, and as long as the other parts don’t change I’ll definitely keep turning up.

Eye-Ball

P.S. Please spare a thought for Rob who is going to have to put up with some stick from his son for a while, who I believe was playing upfront for AFC and scored 3 goals.

Next Match – Sun 8th November v Linford Wanderers @ Blackshots (Home so 09:45 meet).

Goal scoring chart (with appearances against Lakeside to be added)

Oaks Athletic 6 - 2 Lakeside (League Game 3)

I'm afraid this report is lacking detail as I was sunning myself in Tenerife (although I don't have much of a tan to show for it).

I've been told that despite going into half time 2-0 the Oaks rallied in the second half, and scored 6 goals in 20 or so minutes. The scorers were Nathan, Bill, Al, Jamie, Sharpy and Jordan.

Eye-Ball

Greyhound 4 - 1 Oaks Athletic (League game 2)

Thankfully it is rare that I have to report on a heavy defeat for The Oaks. The only positive is that the report tends to take less time to write as everyone knows it’s unhealthy to dwell on the irreversible anguish that such situations contribute to. Certain mitigating circumstances could be pointed at – the lack of manager, team captain, and both halves of the regular centre back partnership spring to mind – but ultimately the match was a contest between two sets of eleven mortals, and was one in which the Oaks came up a long way short.

The eleven unlikely lads who took to the field were:

ppppppppppppppTyrone (GK)


ppScott (RB) Deano (CB) Eye-Ball (CB) Jimmy (LB)


pNathan (RM) (c) Al (CM) Bill (CM) Aaron (LM)


pppppppppppParker (CF) Sharpy (CF)
Subs:

I always think that the edge The Oaks have over many of the others is the balance between youth and experience. Unfortunately we weren’t missing these in equal measure for this match, with all those unavailable being seasoned campaigners. This, along with the fact that we were playing one of the top teams in the division, no doubt contributed to the nerves that were evident before kick-off. There were none more nervous than Deano and Eye-ball, who were much more comfortable when the linesman’s flag was within striking distance. Although to be fair to Deano, he has played at centre half regularly in the past, and had shared a successful relationship with Eye-ball in this position in a previous match.

The Oaks started the match brightly, playing some good passing football and putting the opposition under pressure when the ball was lost. They then deservedly took the lead when the long throw of Nathan once again earned an assist as Sharpy rose superbly at the back post to head the ball home from 6 yards. 1-0 to the Oaks.

Although Greyhound looked a dangerous threat, the Oaks were successfully keeping them at bay. However, all their Christmas’s were to come at once as Eye­-Ball all but gifted them one goal, and then might as well have been stuck up the chimney when they took the lead soon after.

Statistics can be deceiving; only conceding one foul in the 90 minutes might be a stat most centre backs would be proud of. But when that one foul is via a tackle that was so late you would have thought the clocks had gone forward, and is inside the 18 yard box, you may have well gone onto the pitch wielding a sledge hammer. Greyhound subsequently licked the plate clean from 12 yards. 1-1.

The idea of putting the ball out for a throw is that it’s a lot less risky than trying to beat the man bearing down on you, and also gives you and your team-mates time to re-group. However it helps if you manage to kick the ball further than two yards over the touch-line. Greyhound reacted much quicker than the Oaks were able to, and a disorganised and under-strength Oaks defence was unable to stop the ball once again rippling the back of the net. 2-1 to Greyhound.

Going from leading to losing so quickly would hit most teams for six, and the score would have got even worse if it hadn’t been for a superb last ditch tackle from Jimmy when the striker had the goal at his mercy. The Oaks did have chances to score, but these mainly came from set pieces that we weren’t able to convert and the half ended with the score still 2-1 to Greyhound.

With 20 minutes played in the second half in which the Oaks had spent most of the time defending it was decided we needed to push another man upfront to support the strikers. Given the score-line this was a risk worth taking, but unfortunately it didn’t pay off as another sloppy goal was conceded when Greyhound were allowed to cross and finish from close range.

In possession the Oaks had just about run out of ideas, but without the ball there was a dogged determination shown by all in the red and black. The stand-out contribution being from Bill, who had worked tirelessly throughout the match and deserved better, when chasing back from a failed free kick from just outside the opposition’s 18 yard box, than to see the ball in the net having single-handedly blocked the first 3 or 4 attempts. 4-1 to Greyhound.

Although this is how the game ended, there were definitely some positives to take from this game, with players who don’t usually get 90 minutes showing they were able deputies, who will give Milesy real headaches if they continue to make such telling contributions. We also saw the first recorded full blooded sliding tackle from Aaron, and it was a beauty!


Given time this line-up could be successful (and maybe one day may have to be), but to call this a baptism of fire would be an understatement. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the challenge, and is looking forward to next week when we get the chance to start again from scratch.

Eye – Ball

Next Match – Sun 18h October v Lakeside @ Blackshots (Home so 09:45 meet)

Scoring chart (not included cup stats)

Oaks Athletic 1 - 4 Castle Ranges (Essex Cup Preliminary Round)

I'm afraid all I know is that Sharpy scored our goal, Castle Rangers were a strong side, and Deano and Parker's pre-match preparation had only ended about 4 hours before kick-off. If anyone could leave a comment with line-up/subs I'll update the records.

Eye-ball

***2009/10 Season - Game 1 - 13/09/09 *** ****Young Knights 2 - 4 Oaks Athletic ****

The Oaks started the new season with a hard fought victory against the newly promoted Young Knights. This scrappy affair was not without incident, including injuries, two red cards, a missed penalty, and the usual array of goals ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous

Pre-season had been a short affair for The Oaks, with only two matches for Milesy to have a look at the squad at his disposal for the new season. He will be pleased that the squad from last year has remain more or less completely in tack, and that the few players that have been added will add real quality. The one disappointment is that Gollum’s continuing back problems show no sign of abating, and although we know he will be available if required, his involvement is likely to be limited this season.

With 14 players to choose from for this game Milesy went for the following starting eleven:

ppppppppppppppTyrone (GK)

ppDeano (RB) Milly (CB) Rob (CB) Eye-Ball (LB)

pNathan (RM) Jordan (CM) Stu (CM) (c) Aaron (LM)

pppppppppppJamie (CF) Sharpy (CF)

Subs: Jimmy, Bill, Parker

The line-up included two brothers making their league debut for The Oaks; Tyrone is a seasoned campaigner who has played in the Premier division of the Sunday league. Less is known of the younger Jordan, but impressive pre-seasoned displays rightly earned him a place in the starting eleven.

The Oaks had been guilty of being slow out of the blocks in the two pre-season friendlies, but perhaps were a bit too keen to get stuck into the opposition with too many silly fouls being conceded around our penalty area in the early exchanges. This really set the tone for the match, with the sound of the referee’s whistle being heard on far too many occasions. We spend a lot of time lamenting about referee’s, and the conclusion is always the same; the team who are prepared to accept the decisions and hold their tongue more often than not come out on top, with this match being no exception.

A less than perfect start got even worse for The Oaks, as two influential players left the field injured in quick succession within the first fifteen minutes. You know when Rob stays down following a collision that things are bad, and the blood spewing from just above his eye confirmed our worst fears. With Rob heading off to A&E a quick re-shuffle saw Stu moving to centre back, Aaron replacing him in central midfield, and Bill coming into left midfield. The only people happy to see Jamie limp off with a groin injury would have been the Young Knights defenders, who had been finding his obvious quality difficult to deal with. However, they probably hadn’t banked on The Oaks having yet another prolific goal scoring machine waiting in the wings.

Given these disruptions, it was something of a surprise when The Oaks took the lead. The source of the goal was all too familiar, as a long throw in from Nathan went through the hands of the opposing keeper. The goal stood because the keeper had fondled the ball on its way into the net. I’m sure Nathan will argue that he should be awarded the goal, but because a goal can not be scored directly from a throw in the keeper has to take the credit.

1-0 soon became 1-1 when a good passing move from the Young Knights saw them cut through the heart of the Oaks defence and finish smartly pass Tyrone.

The lead was regained mid way through the first half when Sharpy bagged his first goal of the season with a curling free kick from just outside the penalty area that left the keeper rooted to the spot. Sharpy’s 21 goals from last season will take some beating, but if he gets anywhere near that total it will surely be a good year.

Surely no player can claim to be more loyal to The Oaks cause than Michael Parker. In over ten years at the club he has probably played in more positions than most, including being the regular goalkeeper for a number of seasons. However, his request to no longer be the No. 1 has lead in recent years to prolonged periods spent either warming the bench or treading a well worn path up and down the touch line with flag in hand. How someone with such a prolific goal scoring record (two games starting upfront, and two goals) has been overlooked for a regular striker’s berth beggars belief. If you’ve never had the pleasure of seeing the man in action, just imagine the love child of Steve Claridge and Ade Akinbiyi, and you won’t be far off. We all know the lad can play, and natural ability combined with energy and enthusiasm meant Parker had quite an impact when he replaced the injured Jamie. His impressive work rate was rewarded when he arrived in the box to volley home a low cross with the outside of the boot – it was a quite superb finish, and gave The Oaks a two goal cushion which was to prove the catalyst for the self destruction of the opposition.

When half time eventually arrived the score was 3-1 to the Oaks, but everyone knew there was still a lot to do to secure victory.

The events of the second half reminded me of an episode of the Simpsons, where Lisa conducts an experiment to see if Bart is dumber than a hamster. Electrodes are attached to a cup cake, and the hamster soon associates touching the cup cake with a painful electric shock, and so stops trying to eat the cup cake. Bart on the other hand can’t see the link between the pain and his attempts to eat the cake, and so continues regardless. It would be unfair of me to compare the entire Young Knights side to Bart Simpson, but a few of their players definitely made Bart look like a young Albert Einstein.

Their failure to accept the referee’s decisions (regardless of whether they were correct) and the frustration they subsequently felt compelled to expel caused them to completely loose their discipline, and with it any hope of winning the match. Up to this point they had looked a threat going forward, and only a fine acrobatic save by Tyrone following a corner prevented them from closing the deficit. However, when they had a man sent off for what I can only assume to be foul and abusive behaviour towards the referee that was it, and they were soon 4-1 down.

Eye-ball was encouraged to sneak in unmarked at the back post for a corner, from which he was expertly picked out by Nathan. Credit must be given to Sharpy who acknowledged the call from Eye-ball and allowed him to head the ball back into the danger area where Deano was on hand to guide the ball into the net: 4-1.

No Oaks match would be complete without a paragraph dedicated to The Oaks keeper, and this time Tyrone gets his first taste of the spot light. Ty is different, in a lot of ways, to the keepers we have had in recent years, and it was clear that The Oaks defence took a while to acclimatise to the strange hollering emanating from somewhere near the goal behind them. Ty attempts to do all the things a good keeper should; he commands his penalty area, gives clear, decisive calls; marshals his defensive troops; and knows when to come for a ball and when to stay. He is clearly going to make a big difference to the side, and will hopefully enjoy himself in the process. Unfortunately, following this match, he does now have one thing in common with all the keepers I have played with at the Oaks: being caught off his line and lobbed by a speculative effort from 40 yards: 4-2. Oh well…..

The game should have been well a truly wrapped up with 15 minutes to go when a lapse back pass presented Sharpy with a guilt edge scoring chance, only for the keeper to fell him. The keeper was rightly sent off, and Sharpy once again added weight to the claim that the closer he is to the goal, the less likely he is score; first seeing his penalty saved from 12 yards, and then almost demolishing the chimney of the house behind the goal from 6 yards. Perhaps Stevie Akinbiyi should have been given the chance to make it four in three.

Hopefully nothing too exciting happened in the last five minutes; the score line definitely didn’t change, and we should all give ourselves a slap on the back for such a great team display, and for starting the season with a win.

Eye – Ball

Next Match – Sun 27th September v Castle Rangers (Essex Cup) @ Blackshots

Goal Scoring Chart

End of Season Summary

I think everyone will agree that our achievements in the 2008/09 season far outweighed expectations. When you consider we had finished near the bottom of the third division the previous year, and had only been promoted due to the large number of new teams to finish fifth in division 2B was quite an achievement.

The Oaks found the net a grand total of 63 times in the league last season (the second highest total in the league), and a further 7 goals being scored in cup competitions by Oaks players. One of our greatest strengths was that players from all positions contributed to the scoring; 38 goals came from our three main strikers, 15 from regular midfielders, and 12 from the defenders. The only outfield players not to score were Milly, Eye-Ball, Jimmy and Parker (who has already removed himself from this list in the new season). Approximately 1/3 of our goals were scored by Sharpy, who really found his shooting boots this season. Some say he was inspired by a burning desire to stay top of the goal scoring chart, and if that's the case let's hope he keeps the desire the retain his crown.

The Oaks capped a great year with an end of season awards night where Al picked up the Players Player award, and Sharpy and Rob deservedly picked up Milesy's manager player award, with Milly and Eye-Ball picking up second and third place respectively.

Let's hope the new season is as much fun, and even more successful than the last.

Eye-Ball

Oaks Athletic 1 - 3 Greyhound

Thanks to the league deciding we should wait four weeks for the last game of the season, this game was a bit of an anti-climax, with The Oaks only able to field ten players.

It didn't matter too much as fifth position was already secure, and at least Aaron got to add one more to his goal tally and bring him level with Deano for the season.

Eye-Ball

Oaks Athletic 2 - 2 Greyhound

If you believe the numbers Greyhound would have been overwhelming favourites to win this game; before this game they had only lost 3 times and still had an outside chance of winning the league. Compare this to The Oaks who had lost 7 times, and could only finish 4th at best if they won the last two games. You might then expect that not only would Greyhound be hungrier for the win, but that The Oaks may have been resided to defeat before the whistle had even been blown. However, this isn’t a mindset that exists amongst The Oaks faithful, who are playing with a desire and belief that belie the stats. This was evident today through the mixed feelings of satisfaction and disappointment at the end of this game; satisfaction for an excellent performance, but disappointment at not gaining the additional two points we felt we deserved.

With Captain Stu still on the injury list Nathan once again took the arm-band, and after being exhausted by an extra length in the warm-up an unchanged side from the previous week took to the field:

ppppppppppppppParker (GK)

ppDeano (RB) Milly (CB) Rob (CB) Eye-Ball (LB)

pNathan (RM) Al (CM) Gollum (CM) (c) Aaron (LM)

pppppppppppJamie (CF) Sharpy (CF)

Subs: Jimmy, Bill

We were assigned the same ref as last week, and fortunately he turned up this time and the game kicked off on time. Greyhound are obviously a good footballing side, but it was also clear that they try to use their physical presence to intimidate and disrupt the opposition. This may work against some of the teams in this league, but is not a tactic that is going to work against The Oaks; we more than matched them when competing for the ball and didn’t give them any time to settle. Although, having said this, Sharpy possible could have picked on someone else rather than the biggest player on the pitch – he does love a challenge.

If Greyhound hadn’t expected such a hard fought match, they definitely didn’t expect to go behind, which they duly did half way through the first half. We can all remember what it’s like to be the young newbie in the team (OK some of us remember), when you want to show you can hold your own with the big guys, but you invariably learn some valuable lessons. Greyhound’s young winger definitely learnt a lesson today (although I doubt he’ll heed it): that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. He’s just lucky that Milly only communicated this message verbally, although I suspect this was all that was needed and the next time we play he won’t show such petulance if Milly beats him to the ball. A similar incident when the youngster was beaten to the ball by Eye-Ball gave The Oaks the free-kick that lead to The Oaks first goal. Aaron whipped in an outswinging cross that eluded the defence and was met by Sharpy at the back post to tuck away. Sharpy has admitted that he may have inadvertently controlled the ball with his hand, but then what the ref doesn’t see doesn’t count: 1-0.

This goal gave us an extra impetus, and we were unfortunate not to go two up when the keeper called to collect a trademark Nathan long throw, but completely misjudged the flight to allow Rob to rise well and head home at the back post. However, this time the ref saw something none of the rest of us did and awarded a free kick.

We were then hit a hammer blow when Jamie paid the price for not joining in the pre-match warm up and pulled his groin. This meant a quick re-shuffle with Al moving upfront and Jimmy coming on to partner Gollum in the middle. Although we took a little time to settle again we were able to weather a mini storm, with Parker coming quickly off his line on more than one occasion to clear the danger and making a good save at the feet of the striker.

Before half time The Oaks gained further reward for their efforts when Nathan speared a throw to the near post that was not dealt with by Greyhound and was poked in by one of their own players under pressure from Sharpy. If only he’d known Sharpy can’t score from one yard. 2:0.

We went out for the second half knowing that Greyhound would commit extra men forward, but that they would also try to wind us up in the hope that we would make life easier for them. We continued to cope pretty well with their attacking threat, and even created some really good chances to finish off the game.

Unfortunately Greyhound were handed a life line when the ball fell to one of their players following a long throw, who managed to thread the ball through the crowded box and into the net. 2-1.

The equaliser came with about 15 minutes to go when some scrappy play around the area led to Parker having to push out a looping ball at the back post under pressure, only for it to fall straight onto the head of a Greyhound player. At this point we were starting to tire, and were probably the most likely to concede the third goal. However, we were denied a great opportunity when it seemed everyone – Oaks, Greyhound and Ref! – were in agreement that Sharpy had been illegally felled in the area, only for the Ref to wave play on. Apparently he was hoping to re-align his karma having realised Sharpy’s first goal should have been disallowed. This didn’t help us much, and in the end we had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

This was a great performance, and it was fantastic to see the commitment and desire from all in the squad despite it being the penultimate game of a long and tough season. Well played everyone and let’s finish off in style.

Eye-Ball

Next Match – v Greyhound away @ Blackshots– Date to be confirmed.

Goal Scoring Chart