GLEMNET INTERMEDIATE NOVETS CUP: OLD ACTONIANS 8th 4-3 IBIS FC 4’s (21-09-2013)

Starting line up

Karl Bolton

Gideon Barnett

Steven ‘Boney’ Bone

Carlos Gordon

Ash Farrell

Nhamo Matamisa

Tom Butress

Jordan Mills

Pete Snell

Barry Clark

Will Hodges

Subs

Liam Angell (c)
Gavin Henry
Thami El Fane

Match report
In the Glemnet Intermediate Novets cup we travelled for a local derby to Gunnersbury park to take on one of the Old Actonian teams. We did have a good looking squad this week but it was A match that had somewhat of a disjointed start after certain people arrived well after kick off and due to having to chase people 10minutes before kick off yours truly Straight Shootin’ LJA didn’t have a warm up, but I’ll come back to that later. We went 1-0 down quite quickly after Tom Buttress (in his 2nd game after returning from a long term injury) conceded a penalty, which in all honesty was a stonewaller. After the goal we did get back into it and with a quality corner from Gideon, Barry ‘Baz’ Clark leveled the scores at 1-1. We had a reshuffle to make quite early on in this match and much earlier than I expected as Tom Butress pulled his groin, but I was directly culpable for the next goal as their striker (no.10) was lively and caught me napping at the near post after coming in from the left and slotted neatly past Boney into his far right hand corner to put us 2-1 down. I do admit culpability in this goal because it was my fault but admittedly I took my eye off the ball as I was more concerned with things happening off the pitch rather than on it.

Half time rolled around and after some wise words from Boney and my attempt at a motivational speech we went out and gave it a go in the 2nd half.

We did battle but we did go 3-1 down with a speculative shot that went under Boney’s foot (which he did blame on a bobble) but we got it back to 3-2 with Jordan’s goal eventually being bundled in after Old Actonians couldn't clear their lines, fortuitous was definitely the word I’d choose for the goal but I wasn’t complaining. It was soon 4-2 to old Actonians after their big ginger attacker bulldozed his way through the middle of our midfield & lobbed Boney who was only just off his line, much to the delight of the kids who had congregated behind the goal to cheer Actonians on. We did pull back another 4-3 with Gideon putting away a low effort similar to the 2nd goal we conceded after good buildup from the right hand side especially involving Carlos Gordon but in the end we did come up a bit short. It was a cup game as mentioned earlier so we did experiment with the 3-5-2 formation which we worked hard on to make work but midway through the 2nd half we did revert to 4-4-2, it was a match where reshuffling was done quite a bit but there were positives in terms of how hard everyone worked so we move and groove on to next week.

I’m Straight Shootin’ LJA and that’s my take on the match

IBIS FC 4’s 2-6 SOUTH BANK CUACO 5th - (14-03-2014)

Video version of this blog (Also featuring Haringey Borough Women's FC 
& Stevenage Borough Ladies FC)  

Ibis FC 4's Match report

A tough start to the season was underlined by the punishment of mistakes by our opposition this week. We did have a late dropout & a couple of late arrivals but we also had a late addition in goal so a bit of rejigging was done on the starting 11. After a good warm up my first game as Ibis 4’s captain got underway and with Boney on the sideline helping us with instructions We did go 1-0 up during a very positive first 20-25 minutes as Pete Snell’s speculative effort ended up as a Goal of the week contender as it was a fantastic strike. But after that we did sit back and start overplaying the ball and we conceded somewhat of a sloppy goal, against the run of play it must be said. One of the goals we conceded I (SSLJA) have to say I was directly culpable for, I got the ball & came in from the left when I should have turned out, I lost the ball and we got instantly punished for it, captains log? More like captains botch on that one. So we ended up 3-1 down at half time and it has to be mentioned that during the 1st half after the 3rd goal we conceded we had to make a quick substitution as frustration began to rear it’s head when one of our players stormed off.

Half time came and we tried to keep our heads up and with Nhamo & Boney on for Kendal & Jordan in a move I made to try and get more of the ball we started the 2nd half we just couldn’t keep hold of the ball for any extended period of time (especially in midfield) with eventually became out undoing as our back 4 was under constant pressure. We did get it back to 3-2 with Jon East getting himself onto the score sheet with a low place effort into the bottom left hand corner but the joy from that was short lived as we ended up conceding another 2 and in the aftermath of the 5th goal we conceded I had to come off injured after landing awkwardly on my back.

So, from the side lines I tried to survey the game and get things going after getting Kendal back on at left back after Nhamo had earlier been switched to left mid to get Furness in the middle for a bit more control of the middle of the park the guys carried on and ended up conceding one more goal to make it 6, but oddly enough for the last 15-20minutes or so we actually played like we did in the 1st 20mintes with some nice possession play and keeping the ball well but the damage had already been done so we ended up seeing out the game with no more than 6 conceded. An honourable mention to Gavin Henry aka Da Gman who came on for Pete Snell and put in a good shift, but for a somewhat disjointed team there were positives to take, but one thing that was underlined is that this season will be a challenge, but challenges are there to be overcome & promotion is the aim!!!

I’m Straight Shootin’ LJA and that’s my take on the match

IBIS FC 4's 1-3 HSBC 7’s & HARINGEY BOROUGH WOMEN's FC 1-3 STEVENAGE BOROUGH

Haringey Borough Women's FC 1-3 Stevenage Borough Ladies

Match Report

Haringey started well after a delayed kick off due to the opposition being stuck in traffic. Jules Andrea Kyei-Carruthers played a lovely ball through to Lina who slotted the ball low and hard to score first early in the game. Stevenage had few real chances in the first half and Haringey were unlucky not to extend the lead further. Haringey gifted our opponents an equaliser and the opposition continued to hoof the ball forward. Refereeing decisions didn't go our way and we were unable to be clinical in front of goal. Despite some good play and loss of concentration Haringey will be disappointed with the result knowing the better playing side on the day didn't take the points.

Match report from Karla Parker of Haringey Borough Women's FC

IBIS FC 4's 1-3 HSBC 7's
Squad


Olly Raggett
Patricio Baptista
Carl Buffery
Neil (Carl’s cousin)
Peter Eastgate
Alan Harmon
Gustav Lindblad – (no-showed)
Rob Lusher
Stuart Mackensie
Nhamo Mtamisa – (no showed)
Jordan Mills – (dropped out)
Mark Mitchell
Barry O’Toole
Callum Scott
Gavin Henry – (late addition)

Match report

A day, which was as confusing as the weather our final game of the season ended in a manner befitting the season in general. We started off having to draft in players and I’m not just talking about half of the 2’s side who’s match was cancelled, my Pitch Talk co-host Gavin ended up filling in up top along with Carl Buffery’s cousin Neil which helped us get a bare 11 after 2 players no showed and we had a late dropout in the form of Jordan Mills (due to work commitments) who usually plays up top.

Fast forwarding to the game it was a bit of a whirlwind day with yours truly (Straight Shootin’ LJA) was basically assistant Captain alongside our next Pitch Talk Meets interviewee Rob Lusher and due to Gavin playing I was on filming duty for the Ibis documentary that we’ve been filming over the season, but I digress, so let’s get back to the matter at hand. Pre-match we were trying to make sure we got a bare 11 and we just about did, so after Man City had beaten West Ham we kicked off and before I could even get the camera set up we’d conceded an early goal which put us on the back foot in the first minute. But the guys did well to battle back into the game and HSBC’s right winger was a useful player and had Rob for pace at left back but there were some nice passages of play at times on our side as the weather was changing more than a woman of loose morals changes sexual partners, from sun, to cloud, to sun to rain to cloud again and this was in the 1st half.

Half time rolled around and I felt the need to give my two cents to the guys, which was basically ‘when you get the ball down and communicate with each other, you’re ripping them to shreds’, which was true. Second half rolled around and because of the rain the camera had to be put away so I ended up becoming like a manager on the touchline which I must admit was a lot of fun as I did get immersed in the game from the sidelines but anyway back to the match itself and from a free kick, which was unnecessarily given away from about 25 yards out the HSBC player decided to take a chance and similar to Joe Hart’s mistake in the early Premier League kick off the ball bounced in front of and squirmed under our keeper Olly Raggett, 2-0 and fortuitously so but 2-0 it was and I had to scream from the touchline for Olly ‘the octopus’ Raggett to put it behind him and remind him that you can’t change the past, but you can change the future, which has become my catchphrase this season. Feeling a bit hard done by our disjointed side carried on trying to force chances and ended up conceding a 3rd goal which was an absolute belter, if I’m being over critical the striker should have been closed down quicker but the shot was unstoppable and had me in shock on the touchline as I watched it fly in. Full time tolled around and after a few good performances from a really patched together team for myself at least, being one of only a couple of 4’s players in attendance on the day was looking ahead to next season and the questions that are still up in the air at this moment in time, will there be a 4’s side next year and if so, who will captain it? I (Liam Angell aka Straight Shootin’ LJA) said to Rob & Barry on our way to the game I’d consider it an honour if I was chosen and I wouldn’t turn it down, but no-one knows what the future holds so we’ll see, our final game of the season was a 3-0 beating, with plenty of food for thought next season.

I’m Straight Shootin’ LJA and that’s my take on the match

ALLEYN OLD BOYS 5’s 5-0 IBIS FC 4’s - (20-04-2013)

Match Report

Squad
Liam Angell
Karl Bolton

Baz Clarke
Will Hainsworth
Nick Boid
Gideon Barnett
Nhamo
Jordan Mills
Matt Naughton
Callum Mayfield
Ben Thomas
Arnaud Cautier
Ross Cooper – (no show)
Pete Snell – (late dropout, ankle injury)

On another lovely sunny spring day in London the Ibis 4’s travelled down to Herne Hill to face the Alleyn Old Boys 5th side and spirits were high pre match even though I (Liam Angell) was going to be in goal and my record isn’t that great (after this match I think in 5 games it’s about 30+ conceded) but all of us apart from Boidy & Nhamo got to the ground in good time and were able to have a good pre-match warm up. Personally after missing my 1st game of the season last week due to being at the RNV Wrestling Capital Collision event, I was chomping at the bit to get back out and playing, even with my knees being banged up and wrapped up with more support than the welfare system gives. I did warn the guys again pre-match that I’d need more protection than condoms as I’m not a keeper and in the 1st half (at least for most of it) I got the protection I needed as Ibis were in control and we did have a couple of penalty appeals waved away. Ben & Arnaud were causing problems for AOB on the wings and we were carving out some good chances, forcing their keeper to make a few good saves but the one thing we didn’t get was a goal, but AOB did late in the 1st half against the run of play. On the edge of our box their striker had time to hold the ball up, turn & shoot and unfortunately he was able to arrow a low drive into my bottom right hand corner, a slide rule finish and that meant that undeservedly, we went into the break a goal down. 

At half time we couldn’t really fault much in the way we’d performed so the team talk was very positive, so we went on to the pitch feeling aggrieved but feeling there was a match to be won for us. The AOB 2nd goal I take culpability for as I dived earlier to save the ball from a hit and hope effort from one of their strikers but as I went down the ball hit a divot and went over my left hand and in and if the 1st goal didn’t puncture the Ibis balloon, the 2nd definitely did as we went on to concede a couple more with one of their strikers somehow dancing onto the edge of the left hand side of our box and picking out a man at the far post for a tap in, another goal with their no. 7 (who had pace and trickery) dancing past Gids & Karl on the right and firing low and hard to my left hand side. Alleyn Old Boys also got a 5th as we ended up on the receiving end of quite a beating but after the match we were annoyed at the 2nd half capitulation where we had very few highlights, 1 of which being Boidy hitting the crossbar from the edge of the box & a couple of good moves down the left when Nhamo came on after we switched Will into midfield and went to a back 3. After the match in the club house we were having a chat and Boidy announced that he’s going to be moving back up North in the summer so he’ll be giving up the 4’s captaincy, which caught a lot of us by surprise, so there are now 2 burning questions in regards to the Ibis fc 4’s, 1. After our relegation, will there even be a 4th team at the club next season & 2. If there is a 4th team, who will be the captain of it. 2 important questions, the answers to which will hopefully be revealed over the coming weeks, interesting times at Ibis with the 2’s & 3’s chasing promotion.

I’m Straight Shootin’ LJA and that’s my take on the match

CIVIL SERVICE 7-0 IBIS FC 4’s - (06-04-2014)

Match Report

Squad
Liam Angell
Mike Jarolin
Tomasz (Mikes mate)
Jon East
Pete Snell
Nick Boid
Karl Bolton
Stu Mackenzie
Jordan Mills
Mark Davis
Ben Newman
Nhamo

Another defeat that can be summed up by a few short words, outplayed, out battled & outfought, all of these sum up Saturdays performance from the 4's. This game meant so much but ended up providing so little for the mighty Ibis, it truly was a relegation six pointer & a local derby all in one but it wasn't as keenly contested as I was expecting. It was a lovely day for playing football, warm & sunny but the ground was solid as anything & a couple of us were carrying injuries going into the match. Putting that preamble aside, the first 15 minutes or so were riddled with both sides poor passing but there was a questionable penalty given by the ref which put us on the back foot early on. Boidy was trying to stand hiss ground and the civil service player bounced off him and Boidy was in my view unfairly penalised. The resulting penalty was converted into my top left hand corner after I tried to put their striker off. Their 2nd goal came after a ball over the top and 'Slovak' Mike was unlucky as he missed a header and their striker was clean through and beat me to my right hand side, 2-0 down and the heads had already dropped and 3-0 came from a cross from the right was steered in from about 6 yards out first time giving me little chance of stopping it. Our best opportunities in the 1st half came from a Boidy free kick from about 25 yards out that hit the crossbar & Pete Snell hit the side netting from the left hand side (after he'd been switched from right to left midfield after good linkup play down the left with Jon East.

Half time rolled around and we needed a boost, which our captain Boidy tried to give after we went through what we were & weren't doing. The bottom line was playing for pride more than anything and even I tried to get the guys in for a huddle/hands in the middle and say some inspirational words but it was in vain in the end, but i'll get onto that.

Goals 4, 5, 6 & 7 came in the 2nd half after heads had dropped and we also had Pete Snell & 'Slovak' Mike Jarolin come off with injuries so we did end up dropping to 10 men as we started with only 1 sub. I thought i'd get worked on set pieces more & 1 of their goals did come that way, but conceding 7 hurts anyway you slice it and as much as I hate to say it, there were no real positives to be taken from the game for us. Civil Service did what we should have done, pressing the ball, stringing passes together and generally fighting for the ball and pressing as a team but it's onwards and upwards, with only a couple of games left we've got to do what we didn't do against Civil Service...play for pride and enjoy ourselves now as we're pretty much down barring a shedload of miracles, but in all honesty, if we can't do ourselves a favour, we can't rely on others to do it for us. It's painful to go down, but when you don't go down fighting it's a bit harder to swallow...if you'll pardon the pun, it's time to look forward to next season & enjoy the games we have left.

I'm Straight Shootin' LJA & that's my take on the match.

IBIS FC 4's 0-0 HSBC 5's - (23-02-2013)

Match Report

Squad
Maksim Barinov
Liam Angell
Karl Bolton
Nick Boid
Kendal Campbell
Jordan Mills
Baz Clark
Mike Jarolin
Mike's mate
Tom Morrell
Carl Buffery
Johan Gustafsson
Stuart Mackenzie
Gustav Lindblad

A match we ran into with a good feeling even though these guys beat us earlier in the season, no goals but plenty of action. First half we were all over HSBC stringing together some lovely passing moves and yours truly even got involved in the act in an attacking sense. We had a changed team this week which is nothing new for us this season as our team has been more changeable than English weather but this was another game where we put in a hard shift. HSBC 5's are flying high in 3rd spot in our league but you wouldn't have thought it based on this match. We had a good warmup this week as pretty much everyone was on time but before the game we had to wait for a changing room as they were all full, I swear usually the home team has to have some perks to being a home team? But I digress, after a good warm up & the changing room kerfuffle behind us we were largely in control of the 1st half and we did have a few chances as we were playing some nice slick passing football but the closest we came was when Karrl at right back hit the outside of the post on a chance. 

On a personal note, I felt we could have got 1 or 2 goals as we were really trying to put our previous result behind us. The work rate was tremendous and there were times where Thomas on the right and Tom on our left were skinning their full backs and Tom skinning their full backs enabled me to join attacks & stay up for corners, I did get 1 chance from a corner but it was on my right foot and was blocked. Half time rolled around and we came off thinking, and I even said this team is a scalp and can be got at. Stuart, Boidy & Baz in midfield put in an excellent shift and were winning everything and Boidy was able to spread balls out wide especially to Thomas and Jordan was his usual active self up top. At the back Karl Bolton & 'Slovak' Mike were cleaning up everything at the back & Maksim was in good form in nets & our other Karl at right back was quality. At half time Boidy made all 3 subs but it was rolling subs so we all ended up coming back on but Boidy stressed these subs were made not down to performance but because it was freezing and our subs needed some game time. Kendal came on for me (Liam Angell), Johan came on for Jordan & Gustav came on for Thomas and the first 15/20mins of the 2nd half were a bit disjointed as our subs were getting into the game and HSBC were trying to take advantage of this as they were getting back into the game and starting to cause problems down our right side as Gustav seemed a touch off the pace. Chances were few and faw between as the game was end to end at times in the 2nd half and the rolling subs came into play as we who had come off at half time ended up coming back on, I eventually came on for Karl who had a problem with some blisters on his feet so I got back on for the last few minutes. Johan had a good chance to steal the points for us when he was through but put his shot wide and I was hoping to get some time up top as I thought I could bother their backline a bit, but it ended all level, no goals, but a big point for us as it leaves us 2nd bottom still on goal difference, but we know we can play and play well on our day & give any team a fight so our destiny is still very much in our own hands, as I say when we concede 'we can't change the past but we can change the future', so it's onwards and upwards for the Ibis 4's.


I’m Straight Shootin’ LJA & that’s my view on the match

IBIS FC 4's 2-5 SOUTH BANK CUACO 4's - (16-02-2013)

Match Report

Squad

Maksim Barinov
Liam Angell
Karl Bolton
Will Hainsworth
Nick Boid
Gideon Barnett
Kendal Campbell
Ash Farrell
Matt Naughton
Jordan Mills
Nhamo
Mike Jarolin
Mike's mate (Thomas)
Riccardo ‘Rico’ Boyce

A hard day and a hard battle in one of the more weird matches I’ve played in this season. Momentum counts for a lot in football and we took a long time to get any for ourselves, to be exact, in my view it took us to go 3-0 down before we got moving at all after the shell shock of conceding 2 early goals then conceding another one early in the 2nd half. But it was one of those days where it kind of was one of those days. Our warm up was pretty short as we were waiting on players to arrive so that left us short on time and I was on the phone most of the time trying to get a certain someone (nudge nudge Rico aka Big Reeze) to our ground as he was cycling and it was his first time. Our oppo had been out for a while warming up but Gavin helped by bringing Rico to the pitch. Anyway, match underway and we started very slowly & I renewed my acquaintance/rivalry with their no. 7 (who I had a very keenly contested battle with in the 2-2 reverse fixture earlier in the season) and their 1st shot on target was a speculative effort from distance which was clearly hit and hope, but the shot bounced in past Maksim, much to all of our shock, even the goal scorer. We soon went 2-0 down as their no.7 (who was a good player in terms of hold up play and on the ball) scored and it was a good touch turn and hit low to beat Maksim in his bottom left hand corner. We did have a good chance to get a goal back in the 1st half where Jordan looked clean through but their defender got back & stopped Jordan after he tried to get the ball out of his feet for a shot, and we also had a version of football pinball at one stage from a corner which everyone was trying to get something on but eventually South Bank Cuaco cleared their lines. From a corner we actually conspired to concede our 3rd goal which was a well dispatched penalty, there was a bit of a scramble in our box and Matt Naughton in trying to clear the ball off our line missed his kick and handled on the line giving the ref no option to point to the spot. Much to the chagrin of their no. 50 (who looked about 50 but was b*tching & moaning like a 12 year old) Matt was not sent off & the handball wasn't deliberate, but their no. 50 wanted Matt sent off. Ash Farrell at one point made an absolutely superb tackle on their no.7 which their no. 10 wasn't happy about but in my exact words their no. 10 was a 'mouthy jabrone who needed to act his age, rather than jaw jacking and acting the age on the back of his shirt'. Half time rolled around and after a few odd decisions from the ref, including one odd decision given as a free kick against me after I won the ball and their player barged into me (who we found out was refereeing his 1st game at SAL level) our half time team talk was one laced with hurt pride and a desire to salvage something from the match.

2nd half underway and we did play some good football with a couple of nice spells of play and some interchanges and we got one goal back with a Will Hainsworth header from a Boidy free kick after we'd built up some good pressure. A second goal followed with the same combination of Will & Boidy in similar fashion to the first (in terms of Will scoring with his head) but this time from a corner, 3-2 and we looked like we could get a 3rd but a sucker punch came and our balloon was well and truly punctured when we conceded a 4th goal from their no. 7 which was a frustrating one as they came forward with 2 on 1 against yours truly, slipped it through the middle and their striker shot between Karl's legs & beat Maksim at his near post. After a great passage of play we'd been deflated and we did bring on a couple of players with Slovak Mike (as he's affectionately known around the club), his mate Thomas & my mate Rico aka Big Reeze coming on (Rico & Mike up top with Thomas on the right) in place of Jordan, Kendal (which saw Gideon slip into right back) and Matt Naughton (which Nhamo switching to left wing in front of me) and we continued pressing and trying to work hard and battle (which we did) but from one of their corners a ball was swung in, Boidy called for & jumped for it, Maksim called and tried to come out and catch and the ball went in unfortunately off Will Hainsworth as Thomas tried to clear (albeit in vain) off the line. So a match with 7 goals, a bit of a see-saw at times, a penalty, 2 braces and a mouthy jabroni of a no. 10 was hard graft playing in, hopefully it was good for a neutral to watch but right near the bottom of our league we need to pull out some wins quickly otherwise the dreaded drop might become a reality.

I'm Straight Shootin' LJA & that’s my view on the match

IBIS FC 4's 1-1 ALLEYN OLD BOYS 5's - (26-01-2013)

Match Report

Squad

Maksim Barinov
Liam Angell
Will Hainsworth
Jon East
Kendal Campbell
Daniel Rhule (Kendal's mate)
Josh Campbell
Barry 'Baz' Clark
Ben Newman
Mantas Zaveckas - dropped out
Jordan Mills
Ash Farrell
Gideon Barnett
Matt Naughton

A bottom of the table clash between the 2 bottom clubs ended up as one of those 'as you were' kind of days in terms of points & league position but it was far from that simple. Our captain Boidy was away so Barry 'Baz' Clark was in charge for this one and he was picking the team. In the changing room before the game there was a bit of banter as we were surprised that someone (maybe one of the 1's players) left a loaf of bread and cheese under the bench which gave us all a chuckle. But we went out a few players short (Gids, Kendal, Kendal's mate Daniel and Will were running late at this point) and started warming up but we had to nick a ball from the 1's to get some ball work in pre-match and have a match ball to play with due to Boidy having the balls (and no, not in that way you wronguns). Will & Gideon turned up and so did Kendal & his mate so we had a full compliment of players to start the game with in the end. Me and Ash Farrell were discussing the game afterwards and he said it was really good to play in but might not have been enjoyable for a spectator and i'd be inclined to agree with him as it was a scrappy affair. First half there were few chances at both ends but we broke the deadlock from my centre back partner for the day Will (I normally play LB) supplying the ball in. His free kick was won by Big Ben Newman and with his looping header their keeper had no chance and we went a goal up. Within the 1st half there were a few neat interchanges of passing by both sides but neither keeper was greatly tested, although I accidentally almost scored an own goal when I intercepted a pass with my right foot (those who've seen me play will know that foot is useless) with a side foot that trickled towards goal, which as it rolled towards goal I was thinking 'it's going wide, it's going wide, oh please let it go wide, let it go wide, oh my g... it's hit the post, thank goodness for that', then I cleared that ball with my right foot and we went on. Half time rolled around and Baz gave his team talk and we went back out thinking 'we can and should win this'. So the 2nd half started and we did start sitting back which invited pressure and definitely made it testing for our back line, which became even more testing when I picked up a knock to my foot which I originally damaged against Merton away almost a month ago. But still, we dug in and the effort was there but the passing did become wayward and the link play between defence, midfield and attack dried up as the game became more bitty and disjointed and Alleyn Old Boys started to impose themselves on the game. A few last ditch challenges had to be made by yours truly and at one point I made an interception which went out for a corner, standard fare really. Now, this ended up in the back of the net, the corner was swung in & our keeper Maksim went to catch it but he seemed to be pushed so he dropped it but as our back line tried to clear it their striker nipped in and bundled the ball in, scrappy goal but an important one as it sealed a point for AOB and left us extremely frustrated. One of the more frustrating things was the lack of chances we created in the 2nd half along with the lack of composure from some of us at times (myself included in that of course) and the lack of link play around the pitch, but we'll need to dust ourselves off and go again next week.

I'm Straight Shootin' LJA & that's my take on the game, UP THE IBIS!!!

For more information on Ibis FC visit -
www.ibisfc.co.uk
Facebook.com/ibis.fc
Twitter - @ibis_football
email - ibisfootballclub@gmail.com

IBIS FC 4's 3-4 ALLEYN OLD BOYS 4's - (05-01-2013)

Match Report

Squad
Maksim Barinov
Liam Angell
Karl Bolton
Kendal Campbell
Nick Boid
Ben Newman
Baz Clarke

Josh Campbell
Mantas Zaveckas
Jordan Mills
Callum Mayfield
Matt Naughton
Robert Lusher
Yohan

On a day which started auspiciously with part of my bicycle being stolen, my day got slightly better on the football pitch, but alas any happiness was fleeting due to a day of defeat on the pitch, but i'll get onto that in a bit. I have to first thank my team mate Karl Bolton for giving me a lift as I was up sh*t creek without a paddle when I realized someone had stolen the part of my bike that holds the front wheel on but when we got to our home ground there were only about 6 of us there so the concern set in as we were closing in on kick off time and half our team was en-route due to travel problems, thank you very much TFL!!! But we got changed, got out on the pitch with our depleted numbers and eventually we had a full compliment of players, but before we came out we had to take Rob Lusher from the 2's and keeper Yohan to make up our numbers. 

There was a funny side note when we asked Rob (who came into our changing room looking for the 2's side) to play for us. We were saying 'come and play with us' as we were short on numbers and Rob's reply was 'alright but let me go for a poo first', classic Rob Lusher. But we went out onto the pitch, warmed up and started the game with 11 as Matt Naughton, Kendal and Josh Campbell turned up a bit late. So on to the game, our first 20/25 minutes weren't brilliant as we couldn't get hold of the ball and a few bad touches and we ended up 2-0 down early on, the first of the Alleyn Old Boys goals coming from a cross from our right which Rob tried to clear with a pass out but a poor first touch led to a whipped cross in which one of their strikers ended up bundling in. 

Their 2nd goal again came from a cross from our right back position and Yohan got in the way of it but spilled it and it got put away. So we were 2-0 and we actually started to play, knocking the ball around and stringing passes together but at the sharp end it wasn't happening and Josh cut a lone figure up top and his frustration was clear but we ploughed on. We did get a goal back before half time when Ben Newman was running forward with the ball through the middle and being repeatedly pulled back, he did well to hold it off and the ref gave us the free kick. Boidy took it and after a couple of unsuccessful free kicks (that their keeper had caught/had been cleared) Boidy put one right through the middle and Matt Naughton blasted it home from close range after a bit of a scramble in the box. Half time 2-1 and the message was clear from the team talk, keep battling, so we started the 2nd half and battled our way back into the game and eventually our 2nd goal came. 

In what was a keenly fought encounter the 2nd half saw 2 penalties and a good few goals, the first of which came after we'd made some half time subs, with Jordan, Maksim (coming on in goal) & Manthas coming on for Callum & Matt Naughton and Yohan (who was in goal in the 1st half). Jordan as per usual was hustling and harrying as usual and Manthas put in a great shift and was helping Ben & Boidy get their foot on the ball more as Old Alleyns no. 6 was playing between the lines and causing problems. Anyway our second goal came from the penalty spot after Jordan ran across one of their centre backs who pushed Jordan in the pack and he went down. Boidy stepped up and cool as ice sent the keeper the wrong way, jubilation set in as we'd battled back but Old Alleyns came fighting back and the battle raged on and soon they went 3-2 up. Once again we never let our heads drop and we battled back again and got it back to 3-3 and Jordan was the man who got it, after an assist/clearance from yours truly Liam Angell, in all honesty it was a clearance but Jordan did well to get round the keeper and his shot dribbled in and once again we were elated. I was so elated that when Jordan scored I was doing Degeneration X cross chops (Ben thought I was doing Gangnam style so I had to explain that after the game in the clubhouse) but we'd battled back from behind again. But the action and the scoring wasn't done, Callum had a speculative effort from a good 25 yards out come crashing back off the cross bar and Old Alleyns had one crash off the bar themselves but a bouncing ball came through the middle and as Rob Lusher (along with a couple of others) was shouting 'away' Karl was trying to clear it, miscued it but as he went to try and clear it again he caught their striker and the ref pointed to the spot. So they had a penalty which was scored, but due to encroachment had to be taken again and Maksim made a very good save down to his right (the 1st pen he went left) after Karl shouted 'same way again' before the penalty was taken. So, Karl had a reprieve due to Maksim's save but just as we all thought we might get a point from right back their winger skinned our right back (who was now Baz Clark & he's not a natural full back) and once again delivered a ball into the 'corridoor of uncertainty' and 2 AOB strikers were waiting to pounce, 1 of which I had covered but the other popped up out of nowhere from midfield, so a couple of minutes from the end of the game they stole the points and we felt extremely hard done by as we trudged back to the clubhouse for some changing room banter (the showers were flooded, could have used a paddle boat to navigate through it) and some beers after the game. 

Got to say all of us put in a real shift and it was a very well contested encounter but once again we've got nothing to show for it, the disruption before the match with the late arrivals didn't help but we're just over halfway through the season and I think it's going to be a battle in our league, but we've got to convert losses into at least draws and some more games into wins, you can't change the past but we can change the future, so it's onwards and upwards for the Ibis 4's.

I'm Straight Shootin' LJA & that's my take on the game, UP THE IBIS!!!