Men’s 2s Edge Richmond 2s 2-1
Somewhere Slightly Nicer Than Croydon – November 23, 2024
The Men’s 2s came out on top in a hard-fought 2-1 win over Richmond 2s, a side known for their vocal reactions to the game’s twists and turns. By full-time, the lads had silenced the chatter with a determined display of grit and creativity.
First Half – A Short Corner Sucker Punch
Richmond opened the scoring with a well-taken short corner, leaving the Men’s 2s briefly on the back foot. The Richmond bench celebrated as if they’d found the cure for missed trapping drills, but the 2s weren’t fazed.
The equaliser came soon after, sparked by Tom Lawson at the top of the D. While his attempt at a shot had all the finesse of a toddler’s first crayon drawing, it still found its way to Will Phill. Phill calmly finished the job, tucking the ball home and sending the Richmond keeper into a minor existential crisis.
Second Half – Bodies, Boots, and Back Sticks
With the game finely poised, the 2s turned up the heat in the second half. Tom Lawson, taking the concept of “using your body” to new heights, expertly shielded the ball from a Richmond runner. In the process, there might have been an accidental boot, but let’s call it “creative play.” The loose ball found its way to DR, who didn’t waste the chance. His back-stick effort bobbled into the side netting, leaving the Richmond defense wondering what just happened.
The lads celebrated with restrained joy, though there were whispers of a particularly well-timed half-time refreshment that might have given them an extra edge. Whether it was the oranges or something else, the second-half energy was undeniable.
Full-Time – A Win for Determination
The final whistle blew with the score at 2-1. Richmond’s efforts to stage a comeback never truly threatened, as the Men’s 2s shut things down with a solid defensive display. The lads left the pitch with three points, big smiles, and a well-earned spot at the pub.
Man of the Match: DR – For a finish that combined ingenuity, audacity, and just a touch of luck.
Villain of the Match: Lawson’s Boot – Though technically not a player, it had a starring role in the game’s most contentious moment.
Women’s 4s 1 – 2 Richmond Ravens
Richmond started off strong, which we had anticipated, and they had a couple chances in the first 10 ten minutes but we managed to stop them successfully. We fought back and got into their D but couldn’t convert any of the chances. Richmond were very strong on the counterattack and caught us with an overload, scoring their first goal to put them 1-0 up. For the rest of the first half, Richmond were pretty dominant, however, we managed to stop them scoring and the first half ended 1-0.
After an encouraging team talk, we were ready to go again, starting much stronger and maintaining possession for much longer and had some good passes up the line and runs along the baseline. Despite this, Richmond had a solid defence and we couldn’t get the ball in the goal. Not much later Richmond formed a well sequenced attack going 2-0 up. This didn’t get our hopes down and a great run down the line from Sophie led to a goal from Eilidh making the score 2-1. We kept going, trying to even the score but the game finished before we got the chance.
POM-Niamh
Goalscorer-Eilidh
Puricrans 5 – 1 Chelmsford
An annoying last few seconds of the 70th minute consolation goal marred a very satisfactory day for the Puricrans who extended their lead at the top of the table to 6 points.
No KC, as he was in Wales, but the rest of The Sunshine Band were present as Bert induced wind and horizontal rain were the order of the day. A move from the slippery and far from perfect Oaken Lane to Reeds school was welcomed by one and all.
The danger we faced was from being too complacent and a scrappy first 15 minutes gave the initiative to Chelmsford who made life difficult for us especially as we seemed intent on playing the long glory ball that was being cut out every time. Eventually we went one up when a delicious aerial from Andy Mac landed in Knappy’s path with only the keeper to beat. We should have extended our lead before half time but the spurning of a number of chances meant we did not have any breathing space after 305 minutes. The second half saw us play our effective passing game and although we only had 11 players the ball did the work and we scored 4 more goals. A deflected short corner, a super finish from Andy Mac after a strong run, a clever nudge of the ball past the keeper from Andy S and an unselfish pass by Andy M to Knappy completed the scoring.
With a clean sheet beckoning we then conceded the last second consolation goal much to Simon’s annoyance with his being left extremely exposed with the Chelmsford forward finishing the one on one expertly.
Amersham away coming up who beat us in our last game of the 23/24 season and therefore a score to settle.
M o M Andy Macleod
Goals Knappy 3, Macleod and Sanders.
Over 55s 1 – 0 Epsom
The inaugural O55s cup match saw us beat local rivals Epsom 1 – 0 in the expected hard fought game at TD. With both sides a few players short for various reasons there was a stalemate in the first half before we nudged ahead with Barry the Provider setting up Knappy on a plate to tap home a perfect right wing cross. We were unable to convert a few further chances to wrap up the game but did not allow the Epsom side a sniff at the other end.
Always good to start a cup run albeit this being a tough cup competition to win.