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!!!

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