After the disastours games in December, Matching really needed to get back on track. With Lane, Andy and Sam away and Wren and Tom injured or ill and Springy and BB working, Matching started with Nathan in goal, Paskie at RB, Rob and Dan in the center and Ron at Left back. Adam went RM with Scott and Jaime in Center mid and Niall on the left. Ben and Ray leading the front line and Ricky and Scottie Byrne as subs.
Things looked good for Matching when it was announced that Stewards only had 8 men, always handy first game back after Christmas. Matching had won the home fixture 2-1, and last season had lost both games. So even before turning up, were looking to do the double over Stewards.
With a 0 goal difference, Matching were looking to improve on that and put some goals away. Things started well with Ben getting two goals in quick succession. Niall was next on the score sheet with Ray also putting away a first half hat-trick to make it 6-0 at half time. However, Stewards did have a couple of chances with their Number 5 and number 11 both going close. Number 5 being a very skillfull and quick player.
Half time came and with Nath looking bluer than a Smurf, Ron decided to swap Keepers to stop Nath from freezing to death. Groomie went in goal and Nath went straight into Center mid. Matching approached the second half in a relaxed fashion (much to Ron's annoyance as he was thinking of the goal difference), but it wasnt long before the 7th and 8th goals came both courtesy of Scott Drane. Making it 2 goals and four assists in this game for Scott and a very unselfish pass from Nathan for Scotts 7th.
Then a Comedy moment from Groomie. Ben picking up the ball in his own own half didnt realy have a pass on. After a call from Jaime in goal, Ben turned and played a simple pass to Jaime who, without hesitation picked the ball up, much to everyones disbelif. The Ref had no option but to give the free kick, only for Jaime to ask why the kick was given. It then dawned on him that we were not playing in the 1980's and the back pass rule had been introduced.
Jaime was then to make amends to produce a cracking save from the free kick after the wall failed to do its job properly. With about 20 minutes to go, Ricky came on for his Matching debut, going straight into midfield. Scott Byrne also made a very welcome return after a long lay off. Replacing Niall on the left. It was at this point that Ron went in goal. Jaime needed to score after promising his missus that he would score at least one. In fact he got two, and the second was a top draw finish. After a nice ball from Nathan, Jaime looked up and put a delicate chip over the keeper into the far corner of the net.
Overall this was a good result. Full credit to Stewards who played well with 8 and then 7 when the keepr had to go off injured. If they could get 11+ every game, they certainly wouldnt be in the situation they are now. Matching played well and on another day could have had a lot more goals. However, just after Xmas I can say I am pleased. This win puts Matching 3rd, with Eppaldo coming up two weeks in a row, this could be a very important month for Matchings promotion charge towards Division 4.
Goals: Connolly 3, Ford 2, Groom 2, Drane 2, Lawless 1
After a two week break Matching looked to continue their good start to the second half of the season. With Wrennie back in Goal, Rob went right back with Nathan and Dan at Center back and Laney at left back. Sam started at right midfield, with Scott and J in the middle and Adam on the left. This left Ray and Ben leading the line and Ron and Ricky as subs.
Matching started the better of the two teams and tested the Eppaldo back four with some good pressure. Jaime going very close in the opening few minutes. However, it was down to the John Arne Riise of the Matching side, Simon Lane to open the scoring.
Matching were beginning to take control of the game and in all honestey could have had a couple more. The back four were doing an impresive job and with the Eppaldo strikers sitting offside it was just a case of stepping up a majority of the time. However, when called into action the back four didnt falter. However, the Eppaldo goal was a sloppy one. The striker hit a shot from distance which Wrennie got down to and done well to pus it away, only for the other Eppaldo striker to run in and smash the ball home.
Eppaldos tails were up and they started to take control of the game, pushing the midfield back so Scott was playing in front of the back 4. From here Matching hit Eppaldo on the counter attack. A long ball over the top saw Matching awarded a Free kick, Scott swung the ball in which found Ben's head and he executed a delicat flicked header over the keeper making it 8 goals this season for the Sally Army vetran. Eppaldo soon pulled one back from a corner. Very poor marking from a Corner by Matchiong saw the smallest bloke on the pitch head home unchallanged at the far post.
A few words were said at half time and it was pointed out that we needed to keep hold of the ball more. Eppaldo started to push on from Kick off but Matching again capitalised. Either a Free Kick or a corner was swung in by Scott. Adam got a touch to the ball but the Eppaldo back defence cleared the ball only as far as Dan who hit a great shot into the top corner. Eppaldos heads seemed to drop slightly and despite them pushing on, it was Matching that looked the likely to score again. With a great ball over the by Jaime, the Eppadlo defence gave Ray lots of space to run onto the pass, always a big mistake. Ray didnt disappoint, slottiong the ball in from an acute angle.
Adam came off after taking a knock and was replaced by Ron. However, a special mention should go to Ricky. Adam mentioned at half time that he had taken a knock. Ron asked Ricky how he felt about playing RM and his response was that he felt that it would be wiser to play the other sub. 100% honesty which was very much appreciated.
This was good result for Matching and save for two or three last dicth tackels by the Eppadldo back four, the score could have been higher. Matchong face Brookside
Goals: Connolly 1, Ford 1, Stack 1, Lane 1
Sorry for the delay in writing but I have been so busy lately.
After good results against Eppaldo and Stewards, Matching were looking to continue from where they left off. After losing to Brookside 6-4 at the lads were not taking this game lightly.
With ray on a Stag do, new signing Pat started up front with Ben. Adam, who was running late had to be sub. So the starting 11 consisted of Wrennie in goal, Rob, Dan, Nath, and Lane, with Sam, RM, Scott and J in the middle and Tom on the left, leaving Pat and Ben up front.
In all honesty I cannot remember the order of the goals. I know that Brookside went down to 10 men after the Right Midfielder kicked out at Laney, and I can confirm that Pat got two good goals, Ben got another Hat-trick to make it 11 for the season, and Scott got 1 Penalty and 3 Headers to make it four goals in one game (possibley a Matching Res record).
The next game for Matching is Eppaldo at UG. With four games left, Matching could take 2nd place and automatic promotion.
Goals: Ford 3, Drane 4, Orange 2
First off, it is with very much regret that I must announce the retirement of Scott Byrne. Scott called me on Sunday to inform me that he had been at Hospital all afternoon with his troublesome knee after a fall at home. Scott feels that if just a slight fall at home causes him so much distress, then playing 11-a-side every Sunday is out of the question. Scott has been great servant to the club and will be very sadly missed. He has assured me however, that he will come to as many games as possible and offer his full support.
With Springy, Wrennie, and Niall working, Sam, Dan, Scott, and Adam injured or ill, Paskie, Tom, and Ricky MIA, and Laney at the Cup Final, Matching started with a bare 11. With Jack from the first team in goal, Rob at Right back, Adam from the first team, and Nath at center back, and Alex Groom Left back, that was the back four complete. Ron started on the right, with Scott and Jaime in the centre. Pat went Left midfield leaving Ben and Ray up front. A special mention must go to Daddy Drenst who took over Lino duties and performed them superbly.
The game kicked off and Eppaldo looked good for the first 30 seconds until Pat collected the ball near the edge of the 18 yard, charged into box and smashed the ball home. This is possibly Matchings quickest goal of the season. It was a great finish by Pat who picked up where he left off against Brookside in the previous game.
From the off, Eppaldo's heads seemed to drop and they never seemed confident enough to pose the threat which Matching had expected. However, some of the Eppaldos player's minds could be on their cup final next Sunday.
Matching continued to push forward with Ben, Ray, and Jaime, all going close, but unable to find the back of the net. Despite the excellent defending, Eppaldo were soon to equalise. A foul on the edge of the Matching box saw a Free kick given to Eppaldo. A excellent Free kick was struck straight into the top corner to make it 1-1. With minutes to go till half time, the ball broke to Ben in the Eppaldo half and he smashed the ball home to give Matching a 2-1 lead at half time.
After reiterating the fact that we were giving too many free kicks away, Matching started to defend more resolutely. Players standing up and not divining in… (Ron). Eppaldo had the most of the ball in the second half but very very rarely trouble the 3ft 2 Jack in goal. When called upon Jack produced excellent handling and confident keeping all round. When jack was finally beaten Ron was on the line to head the ball wide although from where I was standing it was going wide anyway.
With minutes to go and Matching holding on, Eppaldo were pushing on. It was scripted that Matching would break on the counter attack and get another. That's exactly what happened. With two minutes to go Ben found space on the left and beat his man. Eppaldo were caught short and it was two on one. As the defender approached, Ben squared the ball to Ray. Now Ray, having had verbals with the Keeper for most of the game, took up the ball, bamboozled the keeper and slotted in to make it 3-1 and victory secure for Matching.
Just a quick well done to the Ref Danny Innes who everyone thought had a great game. He let play go when advantage was an option, and controlled the game from beginning to end. He was willing to talk to players and explain decisions when he needed to or to just calm the situation down.
This was a massive result for Matching which now brings there winning run to 5 games on the bounce. That's 26 goals for and 4 goals against. With Eppaldo having to face Epping, Harbets A and Rouge and Matching having to face Archers Dart, Rouge A, and Harbets, the race for 2nd place is going right to the wire.
Goals: Orange 1, Ford 1, Connelly 1.
With Matching not playing together for over a month, this was always going to be a hard game.
The game started well but Rouge soon started to dominate. Jack played well in goal but Matching never really got going. We looked disorganised and didnt really seem interested. Ray came closest to scoring for Matching but the ball hit both posts then bounced out.
Overall, this wasnt the best performance from Matching. The pitch wasnt ideal, and this was our first game in six weeks. However, thats no excuse, and whilst this is a disappointing end to our 6 match unbeaten run, we are still in contention for the runner up spot.
Goals: No Goal Scorers
With Ray on holiday, Ben at a wedding, Nic and Niall working, and Nick Doree injured, Matching started with a 4-4-2 formation. Wrennie returned in goal, much to Jack's delight, whilst the back four consisted of Lane at left, Nath and Dan in the centre and Steve Finnan (a.k.a Rob) at Right back. Jack from the first team went Left mid, Scott and J in the middle and Sam on the right. Pat and Baz were the strike force. This left Ron as Sub and Lino.
The home game Vs Harbets was a cracker with some wonderful goals from both teams, but especially Ben's free kick which almost too the net off. With Ben getting a hat trick, Matching won the game 5-3. With Harbets only two points behind Matching with an extra game to play, Matching couldn't afford to slip up.
The game started at a frenetic pace and Harbets were pushing the Matching back four. However, the back four were immense in the first half and listened to every word that was being said by Rafa. With the Harbets striker standing behind the last man for much of the first half, it wasnt so much an offside trap, but Rob would drop back with the CF then just walk up and stand next to Nath, leaving the striker a yard off every time. When he did get through Nath and Rob combined to make sure he didnt get a shot off. With Wrennie barking orders at the back four Matching looked very solid.
Matching took first blood and it was a cracking goal. The ball was played to the edge of the box, and a step over from Baz foxed the defence. The ball ran to Pat who had a touch and then slotted the ball through the Center Backs legs into the bottom corner of the goal out of reach of the keeper. A superb finish for our Manc loving striker. In all honesty Matching were immense in the first half. This is the best I have seen us play and in my opinion Harbets couldnt contain us. Jaime Groom was next on the score sheet in somewhat suspicious circumstances. With Jaime pushing on the ball was crossed in (from Pat I think) and J had the task of slotting the ball past the keeper. To be honest, I thought he was 4 yards offside, but the Harbets Lino was 20 yards away chatting to his mates so the Ref gave the goal.
Pat was not finished though and fancied another. Getting the ball near the edge of the box, he charged in and smashed the ball towards the goal, the keeper was unlucky as the ball hit him in the chest before bouncing over the line to make it 3-0. As I said, Matching were excellent in the first half. The back four were all superb, the Midfield were dominating the game and Sam even won a header. The front two had the Harbets back four petrified every time they had the ball whilst making clever runs and bring other players into the game.
Harbets came flying out the traps as we knew they would but Matching stood firm and weathered the 15minute storm. With about 20 Mins gone, the Harbets striker found some space and crossed the ball in. Rob marking his man superbly, got a touch to the ball but could only divert it past Wrennie to make it 3-1. Matching could have gone further in the lead. Baz charging through one on one with the Harbets Keeper, saw the keeper pull a great save to deny Baz his first of the game, whilst Pat hit the Bar and also shot wide after some fantastic play to lose his marker and find space. Even the subs and manager watching a different game commecnted on a sublime bit of skill.
Harbets then made it 3-2. A shot coming in caught Wrennie squarely in the chest. Unfortunately, it bounced straight out to the Harbets midfielder who smashed the ball home to make it 3-2. However, despite some nervy moments, Matching held on to record a good victory and depending on other results over the next few weeks, could see them finish 2nd.
On a separate note I would like to say Thank You to the Harbets Manager Sarfraz Idrees who was very gracious in defeat unlike one or two of his players.
Goals: Groom 1, Orange 2
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