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!!!

MERTON FC 3-1 IBIS FC 4's - (05-01-2013)

Match Report

Squad 
Maksim Barinov
Liam Angell
Karl Bolton
Will Hainsworth
Andy 'Potter' Hicks
Nick 'Boidy' Boid
Barry 'Baz' Clarke
Ben Newman
Josh Campbell
Kendal Campbell
Callum Mayfield
Matt Naughton
Nhamo – ruled out (hamstring)
Mantas Zaveckas – didn’t show

Happy New Year and Happy 100th birthday Ibis fc as the club is 100 this year. Our first game of 2013 but it didn't exactly go to plan but we'll get onto that. The Friday before the game was a bit mental due to the fact that at about 11 am on Friday the game was called off due to a waterlogged pitch, but by 5pm Friday we were back on again. My team mate Karl Bolton was saying how deflating/depressing was it to have the game cancelled, but how uplifting was it when it was on again, which I think was the general feeling in all of us as we wanted to get out and play. But I digress, we ended up playing on a pitch at the back of a goals centre in Tolworth which wasn't the best pitch but it was something at least, we had Kendal start in goal who did well and was switched with Maksim at half time as he was running late due to the venue switch. 

The first half was a battle and was pretty even in terms of possession, we had a couple of scares from which Kendal made a couple of good saves, Boidy almost scored an o.g but it fortunately spun wide, I took an accidental head butt to the face at one point but I was ok to continue after spitting claret for a couple of minutes. We did end up taking the lead, a ball was played from the right and Josh was in on goal, got his shot off and was brought down, but as the rest of us were shouting for a penalty, Callum did what everyone should do, which is play to the whistle and as he came on from the left hand side and blasted the ball home we were glad the referee played the advantage because it helped us go 1-0 up a few minutes before half time. 

Just before this on a side note with about 18 minutes before half time i tried to play a pass and my left boot was splitting so i'd like to say thank you very much Nike, your boots split at the worst possible time, but thankfully Kendal had a spare pair of boots which were mouldies so on the slightly boggy pitch it was hard not to slip. But back to the action, the 1st half saw a lot of good link up play down our right hand side with Potter & Matt Naughton but we gave away a corner on our right hand side which Kendal got a hand too and we thought it had been dealt with but the next thing we saw was the ball getting blasted into the roof of the net as the ball wasn't cleared so much to our chagrin we went in 1-1 at half time with one of the last kicks of the half. But 2nd half began after a Boidy team talk and Merton who are around the top of the league started as they ended the first half with some very good passing play and their second goal came from an attack of ours that had broken down, ball came down our left, I stood up their no. 17 but didn't want to dive in, so he had time to turn and put in a cross to the far post which was nodded in for 2-1 to Merton. We kept battling and Maksim made a couple of great saves and at one point I dived in for a slide tackle leading with my right side which took their player down but he landed on my left foot which was facing up and it bent my toes back which was painful to say the least, I came off and was replaced by Kendal. 

So the guys pressed on as I tried to help the back line from the sidelines as I tried to keep warm and keep my foot from seizing up. We had a few chances during the 2nd half with Boidy having a free kick saved in spectacular fashion by the Merton keeper and we had Matt & Callum with a couple of shots struck wide and at one point we thought Josh was going to score as he was through with a bouncing ball which he headed but the keeper had come out early enough to grab the ball. We conceded an unlucky third goal when a ball was played through the middle and we all thought Maksim had it but he dropped it and their striker pounced and scored and that was the final nail in the coffin, 3-1 final score and we were left to recover and reflect on what might have been, individually I had a poor performance and it just wasn't my day, split boot and an injury but they rest of the guys put in a great effort, we did need to keep the ball better and get more support to Josh up top, but we move and groove on to our next game.

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