WEST WICKHAM 6th 2-2 IBIS FC 4th - (22-03-2014)

Match Report - 

Goals - Jon Ewens & Karl Bolton

Yellow cards - n/a

Red cards - Gavin Henry

Starting Lineup - 

Gavin Henry

Liam Angell (c)

Karl Bolton

Rob Lusher

Jon Ewens

Pete Snell

Christian Frixou

Alex Laugharne

Callum Mayfield

Andrew Williams

Jordan Mills

Subs - 

Nhamo Matamisa

If fighting spirit alone could keep us up then I think we'd be fine but unfortunately it's points that matter and we need to start racking them up. Still though in battling for a point today filled me with more optimism in terms of us surviving. Away at a west Wickham side we'd beaten 3-0 at home was a welcome return to 4's action after spending the last 2 weeks fulfilling 3's fixtures but one thing that was a bit annoying was actually finding the ground! We all ended up finding it in the end even after a couple of the guys had rather difficult times the night before and even that morning in Alex's case. The match was an interesting one as we started the game well after winning the toss to switch ends, I was at my preferred left back finally for the first time in about 2 months, ironically enough it was myself and Rob Lusher who played centre back when the 2 sides met back in mid December.

Still though after a couple of minor scares in the first half we ended up taking the lead after a corner was half cleared and Jon Ewens placed a lovely finish into the left hand side of the net. 1-0 up and deservedly so as we'd played some nice stuff and gav looked comfortable in nets. There was a change on the horizon though as Wickham got more of the ball and their players started connecting and it was a ball over the top that led to us going down to 10 men. 1-1 came from a quality fk which clipped in off the bar. After keeping a generally good line their nippy no.10 bent his run, got in behind us and he nicked the ball past Gavin who absolutely clattered him and even though I had dropped inside after seeing Gavin come out the ref gave a spot kick and gave Gav a straight red which left me as the next in line to go in goal. I tried everything to put their penalty taker off (basically dancing on the line) but they took a 2-1 lead 2 minutes before half time as I guessed the right way but was beaten from 12 yards.

At half time feeling a bit unlucky to be down to 10 men  we had to do some reshuffling after destiny intervened and I was back in goal and with the help of Alex Laugharne who'd noticed something tactically about their attack (they were using their full backs to get forward instead of out and out wingers) & Rob Lusher we switched to a 3-5-1 with Jordan & Pete as wing backs & Christian as the extra man in the middle just behind Andrew. So we went out in the 2nd half knowing we'd have a battle on our hands and the wind against us and to a man we all put in a great shift. During the half I made use of the rolling subs with Christian coming off for Nhamo who was nursing a sore calf but then coming back on due to Pete limping off with a pulled calf after a brief stint up top.

It must be said that our ref in the second half could have given another penalty after a risky last ditch challenge on our right hand side in the box but it wasn't given. But we kept on battling and after limiting Wickham to only a few chances we equalised with a Karl Bolton header which had me jumping for joy and Karl needing to work on his celebrations after doing jazz hands! We kept working hard & trying to create chances (especially using a bit of Andrew's pace over the top) and oddly enough we seemed to play better with 10 as we knew we needed to work harder but from Karl, Rob & Jon at the back to Callum & Alex in the middle everyone put in a great shift which filled me with pride to wear the Ibis shirt.

Full time came and as I did my post match dress down I reiterated the pride at the effort put in, a match which made me think of the 'this is what our business is all about' line wwe commentator Jim Ross used to say about Wrestlemania, but replace our business with grass roots football. We're in a dogfight at the bottom so that point was not just hard earned, but crucial against a side who are directly above us and that kind of fight & spirit will be needed for the rest of the season along with numbers as we have double headers on the horizon.

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

IBIS FC 3's (4's) 1-4 OLD FINCHEANS 3's - (15-03-2014)

Starting line up 

Liam Angell

Karl Bolton

Rob Lusher

Jon Ewens

Stephen Dodd

Joe Elvin

Ash farrell

Isaac Penza

Gideon Barnett

Barry Clark

Emmanuel Afful

Subs/dropouts 

Jordan Mills

Kendal Campbell

Nick Etty

Another game where the 4's were filling in for the 3's and try as we might, continuity got the best of us. We were somewhat of a changed side from the away game from the week before but it was quite good to be playing at home again on the Dukes Meadow pitches and may I say, it was a lovely day to cycle to the game as the sun was shining, the river thames was glistening and the lycra clad women at the boathouse were looking tremendous, but I digress.

On a beautiful day for football we got our pre match drills in and welcomed back some familiar faces in the for of Gids, Barry, Manny & a couple of others but due to a clerical error on his side Andrew Williams missed out on the match as we had 14 men. As usual we did our pre match drills and Kendal had brought along his friend Natalie (one of the Haringey Borough Women's fc players) to watch but unfortunately the game ended in defeat. We started off well and after everyone got familiar with each other in the pre match drills we all knew our roles and in my starting lineup (especially up top) I paired Baz & Manny & was hoping that they'd exploit their familiarity with each other being that they are work colleagues but we were under a lot of pressure 1st half as Old Finchleans clearly had played alongside each other regularly as their wingers were playing some neat 1-2's to get at our full backs and carve out chances.

We lost the toss before kick off which ended up being crucial due to the way we conceded our 1st goal but more on that later. We actually took the lead in the 1st half after great work by Manny from a through ball, he was brave & beat the keeper and similar to David Nugent's only goal for England in as much as Manny did the hard work and from close range Isaac Penza scored his first goal for the club on only his 2nd appearance. The equaliser from Old Finchleans came in very fortuitous circumstances and even though I had a cap on the sun has to take the blame. Now of course i'm not a keeper but I came to the edge of my box with the ball in my hand to kick it out, but I booted it out and the ball came straight back and as I was so far off my line and the ball bounced as I was caught in no mans land as I desperately looked into the sun, lost the ball and whilst stretching for the ball I basically palmed it into my own net. Fortunate goal yes, but a goal it was and I had to hold my hands up and apologise to the guys and I did at half time. 1-1 at the break and we were holding our own with a fortuitous goal levelling things up, but I thought i'd change things up a touch with Nick Etty coming on for Isaac at right mid after Ash Farrell had limped off with an injury in the 1st half which forced me to bring Jordan on replacing Baz up top & putting him in midfield.

Later on in the 2nd half the evergreen Karl Bolton came off with a twisted ankle after a corner so we had another reshuffle to make as Kendal Campbell came on at left back after we'd switched formations at half time with Gideon switching in to centre midfield, Baz went out to the left. When Karl came off Stephen Dodd slid in to centre back alongside Rob Lusher and we battled on but we conceded 3 more goals, 1 of which I had came from a corner after i'd made a low point blank save and from the resulting corner I made a couple of saves but it fell to one of their guys who blasted past me. 2 came from slide rule finishes that were buried right in the corners, 1 top right and one bottom right after some slick interchanges of play with their wide men coming in centrally and causing problems. We did have our chances but in the end we were beaten by the better side who had a lot more fluidity in their play, but again this week I couldn't fault the guys for effort, it's hard times at the club right now with a lot of things up in the air and we need to dig in to survive.

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

OLD PARKONIANS 3’s 4-0 IBIS FC 3's - (08-03-2014)

Starting line up
Liam Angell (c)
Karl Bolton
Kendal Campbell
Stephen Dodd
Ash Farrell
Ollie Lewis
Rob Lusher
Jordan Mills
John Richardson
Andrew Williams
Manny Tesfai

Subs/dropouts
Christian Frixou - ILL
Nhamo Matamisa – No Show
Mussie Goyrom – late dropout

So another day, another defeat but the circumstances of the defeat were a bit odd this week as there is a bit of concern about the future of the club, at least in terms of number of teams but that's all i'm at liberty to say at the moment. The simple fact is, the double header that us 4's were supposed to have at home ended up being a treck to fairlop in Ilford, Essex to fulfil a 3's fixture v Old Parkonians. Now, on the morning of the match we had a dropout but on the day we also had a no show from Nhamo Matamisa which was extremely disappointing and that's me putting it mildly, I actually had to hold my tongue with my real feelings post match, but I digress. The fact is, 11 men (mainly 4's players) had to play against a 3's side from Old Parkonians which was being contested for league points, but nonetheless we soldiered on. 

Now I must say that as the 4's captain I didn't tell the guys until after the match that we we're playing as the 3's this week due to extreme under-availability throughout the club, I didn't lie when asked about the game, I just avoided the question when asked about where Old Parkonians were in the league in terms of position as I didn't want to lie to the guys, but at the same time I didn't want them to play like the points meant nothing, for the good of the club would be the short way of putting it. Anyway, we started off very well after practicing our corner routines, it was a mission to find the ground so we didn't get to practice as much as I would have liked, but for a team with a good few people who hadn't played together much I felt we did well.

First half we had a couple of warnings and near misses but we contained Old Parkonians very well and limited them to few shots on target but midway through the 1st half the returning Kendal Campbell basically was knackered so eventually I had to switch him and Jordan Mills around just to limit the damage. There was a chance from a free kick that Jordan had but he put it over and ended up on his backside (there was another chance that had the same outcome later in the game). Lateron in the half just before half time after a really organized performance we ended up conceding from a corner, the ball was played in from the left and I think, as I didn't see it go through my legs the ball dropped to a striker and he fired it past me, sucker punch but 1-0 it was. Ollie Lewis came really close to a quick equaliser after a lightning quick break down the right which ended up in him flashing a shot wide which the keeper got finger tips to.Half time rolled around but it was a tad disappointing to be a goal down but I had to emphasize to the guys to keep going as Andrew Williams chipped in saying give him the ball early and Ash Farrell adding some notes in as well, by the way Ash is one of the fittest players i've seen come through the 4's in many a year, can run for 90 minutes.

But 2nd half we went back out and after a chat with the referee to clear the air after he accused me of cheating in the 1st minute when I asked the ref (who took an eternity to signal) to clarify a whether it was a corner or a goal kick, which our opposition hit the bar from the resulting corner, by the way it was a corner but refs usually signal and say it is before it's taken. 2nd half started and we had our chances but early in the 2nd half Old Parkonians came out of the blocks quickly and had us penned in for a while and forced me into a few good saves which at times surprised me that i'd made. Old Parkonians did end up scoring 3 more goals as fatigue and cramp started to set in and as we only had a bare 11 due to no shows and dropouts we couldn't make subs so we had to switch people around on the pitch, one of the goals was a quality finish from the edge of the 18 yard box to my right which even at full stretch I could do nothing about, but even with the deficit we still had chances, the best of which fell to Ash after a great run and cross by Andrew but somehow the keeper got over to it and saved it, I still don't know how he managed that, even before Ash hit it I screamed YES!

Another hilarious chance we had fell to Kendal and after he'd done the hard work on the edge of the box with a great turn to open up the space to shoot, but he fluffed his lines by falling over and basically hit the corner flag his effort went so far wide! After the match the revelation was made by Karl Bolton and Rob Lusher about the side we faced being a good 4 divisions above us and us filling in for the 3's this week but we felt that we have the fight and we have the heart for a battle, but once again we don't have the legs because we lack the numbers, 37 people available for 4 teams tells it's own story and it's not a positive story. But I can't fault the guys for effort and even writing this on a Saturday night I can feel my knees seizing up so my ice pack is going to become a very close friend, big shout out to the effort put in, we just need the numbers to turn that fantastic effort into fantastic wins.

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