Old Wilsonians Raffle Fund

A L L T H E N E W S T H A T ’ S F I T T O P R I N T

(THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE OLD WILSONIANS’ FOOTBALL CLUB)

NO 1,608 SEASON 2016/2017

Contact Info: Editor: Old Wilsonians Mike Pike Hayes Hill 68a Knighton Park Rd Hayes Sydenham Kent, BR2 7HT SE26 5RL Tel: 020 8462 2600 Tel: 020 8659-6443 (H) Website: www.oldwilsonians.com Email: [email protected]

Roll of Honour Life President Mike Harris Treasurer Alex Forbes President: Richard Smart Chairman: Jamie Parkinson Hon. Jamie Parkinson Club Neil Kendrick Secretary: Captain: Team Captains Team Name Mobile Home 1st XI James Paton [email protected] 07572758418 2nd XI Stuart Dunk [email protected] 07743135493 3rd XI Matt Williams [email protected] 07969030962 4th XI Jon Knight [email protected] 07515948378 5th XI Ceejay Watson [email protected] 07735967390 6th XI Chris Chamen [email protected] 07956724701 7th XI Nick Mole [email protected] 07722559193 0208 669 0603 8th Xl Kek Amankwah [email protected] 07793814537 07811217188 9 Xl Roddy Trompiz [email protected] 10th XI Vets Lee Reid [email protected] 07961371514 Super Al Forbes [email protected] 07855 273218 Vets Selection Yuved Bheenick [email protected] 07736272270 Secretary This week’s games , January 28th Team Opponents Ground Contest K.O. 1st Xl No game 2nd Xl Polytechnic Reserves Away League 2-00 3rd Xl Merton 3rd Xl Hawes Down League 2-00 Shene Old Grammarians 3rd Xl Hayes London Old Boys 1-30 4th Xl Cup 5th Xl Civil Service 6th Xl Away League 2-00 6th Xl Polytechnic 6th Xl Hayes AFA Cup 1-45

www.oldwilsonians.co.uk Page 1 of 11 [email protected] 7th Xl Polytechnic 9th Xl Hawes Down League 2-00 Civil Service 8th Xl Home (venue League 2-00 8th Xl tbc) 9th Xl Old Salesians 3rd Xl Away League 2-00 10th Xl Vets Super Vets ALWAYS PACK A WHITE SHIRT WITH YOUR KIT

Classified Results, January 21st Home Score Away Scorers NUFC Oilers 1 V 2 1st Xl (League) Sergio Ohane Djan, Akkaya 2nd Xl 3 V 2 Alleyns Old Boys (AFA Cup) Ojetunde, Piri, Kennedy Williams, Bonsels, Talabi, Old Parkonians 4th Xl 1 V 4 3rd Xl (League) Harwood 4th Xl 2 V 3 Ibis Eagles 4th Xl (League) Adams.A, Abdou Merton 4th Xl 2 V 4 5th Xl (League) Gilson, Doyle 2, Matthews 6th Xl 5 V 5 Old Salesians Reseves (League) Cruz 2, Bennet, Scott, Demola 7th Xl 1 V 2 Civil Service 7th Xl (League) Smart.R Old Wilsonians 9th Xl P V P 8th Xl (League) 9th Xl P V P Old Wilsonians 8th Xl (League) Palace 0 V 1 Everton

The SAL website is www.southernamateurleague.co.uk

Newsletter Contributions

All contributions to the newsletter should reach me by 6-00 pm on a Sunday evening – the earlier the better, preferably as a word attachment, and sent to [email protected], but please ‘phone to confirm that you have done so (0208 659 6443) - you also get an extra point on the reports table if you do so. Alternatively you can ‘phone through your report and dictate it to me

Fixtures: Fixtures are correct at time of publication but are subject to change and alteration

Football training takes place EVERY WEDNESDAY night at Wallington Powerleague, 7-00

www.oldwilsonians.co.uk Page 2 of 11 [email protected] Proud sponsors of Old Wilsonians FC;10% discount for all OWFC members when they eat at the restaurant.

This week’s men of the match

1st Xl: Sergio Ohane Djan 2nd Xl: Michael Otejunde 3rd Xl: Sam Elliott 4th Xl: Not reported 5th Xl: Not reported 6th Xl: Not reported 7th Xl: Not reported

Leading goal-scorers

16– James 13 – Williams.M 10 - Sellman (Benteke) 9 - Howe, Martin, Falconer- Roberts 7 Adams.W, Gravensande 6 - Bonsels, Bratterman, Fox, Kennedy, Watson ALL OUR YESTERDAYS Classified Results, January 18th 1992 Suttonians 1 1st Xl 2 Trout 2

Isleworthians 2 2nd Xl 1 Law

3rd Xl 3 Westminster 1 Chapman 2, Mace Citizens Dorkingians 1 4th Xl 0

5th Xl 4 Glynn Old 0 Blake 3, McGeever Boys 6th Xl 3 Reigatians 2 Mir, Forbes.S, Smith.A

Dorkingians 1 7th Xl 1 Ayling

Reigatians 2 8th Xl 2 Scorers not reported

Leeds United 1 Palace 1 Thomas

PLEASE TAKE PITY ON AN AGEING, BALDING GOAL-KEEPER 3 rd Xl 3 Old Westminster Citizens 1

So a quarter-final tie for the 3rd Xl in the Old Boys Cup and we dominated the play from the start, creating four or five good scoring chances, with RICK CHAPMAN finally converting one, winning a 50-50 header against a Citizens’ defender which gave him the space to take on the ‘keeper and score. We then fell into the trap of thinking that we were going to win easily and immediately stopped performing the basics of simple passing and tight marking, which resulted in Ashley Simpson heading home a glorious own goal when, in truth, he had little option to do anything else! This seemed to set alarm bells ringing for the 3rds and panic set about the majority of the side, our normal flowing football ceased and our defending was poor, with half-a-dozen back passes being played woefully short of the goal-keeper; lads, I’m not getting any younger and cannot manage those short sprints off the line. It also causes me to lose my hair and, to add insult to injury, their centre-forward asked, “Who’s the spam head in the goal?” With five minutes of the first half remaining RICK CHAPMAN was again put through and scored with a delightful chip over the ’keeper. The second half was a dismal affair, with the 3rds showing none of the football they are capable of playing but simply hanging on until, in the final minutes, MARK MACE scored a simple tap-in following a goal-mouth scramble. In summing up, and always wishing to look on the bright side of life, it is always a good sign to win when you have played badly, and now we have a semi-final tie to look forward to. Kelvin Wing Wing.K Parkinson Prince Davis (Ali)Simpson (Ashley)Simpson Pullen Valder Stone Mace Chapman www.oldwilsonians.co.uk Page 3 of 11 [email protected] GOAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 5 TH Xl’S GAME 5 th Xl 4 Glynn Old Boys 0

Our first goal came from HUGH McGEEVER, when the Glynn defence and goal-keeper made a hash of a clearance which allowed Hugh to hit the ball home from all of 30 yards. DANNY BLAKE then proceeded to get a hat-trick, the first coming when a flowing move saw Dave Stewart draw the ‘keeper before slotting the ball to Danny to tuck home, the second when he latched on to a through ball and beat the ‘keeper with a low cross shot and the third following another mistake from the Glynn defence, leaving Danny free with the ball in the six yard box, enabling him to slot home. Paul Johnson Marsh Letts Johnson(Paul) Pilgrim.I Lloyd Milledge McGeever Stewart Wilson Blake Mole.J

ALL OUR YESTERDAYS - GOING EVEN FURTHER BACK

Classified Results, January 21st 1967 The School 2 1st Xl 4 Reaseley 2, Turner, Kendrick.M

2nd Xl 2 Inland 2 Morley, Brittain Revenue 3rd Xl 4 Mill Hill 3 Holder 2, Goddard, Marks Village Edgware 5 5th Xl 3 Sanger, Fitzgerald, Causer

Derby County 2 Palace 0

The game between the School 2nd Xl and the OW 4th Xl was cancelled because the referee was drunk! The game between the School and the 1st Xl sounds a bit of a giggle. (Mind you, and according to rumours, the 1st Xl always play like that) The School played well, despite the handicap of teachers John Burstow and Norman Sollis thrusting themselves into their side in an attempt to play on a winning side for a change! The Old Boys won 4-2, but it is the first of the two that is interesting as BURSTOW scored with his head, although it is not clear whether the ball just hit his head and just happened to bounce into the net To add to this day of miracles Norman Sollis cleared off the line – with his head – and I have it on good authority that that the ball did not then go into the top corner but actually came out again! Dave Cohen had the best shot of the game; it completely beat Eddie Masters but John Houghton cleared and then Dave nearly scored at the right end – does he know which is which? Other events in this football feast include ‘KENDRICK misses from six inches and then scores from even closer’; Burstow goes off and the School lose grip on the game; Cohen goes off – OWs improve further. Game held up when Kendrick swallows ball – still not recovered. Kendrick carried off with cramp in jaw; oh how we laughed. I have heard very little about the 2nd Xl game except that we should have won 10-2, but instead only drew 2-2. BRITTAIN returned from 3rd Xl obscurity to notch a goal and somebody mentioned that BILL MORLEY also scored; highly unlikely! Inland Revenue had several lucky escapes and I hear that Brian Watson has been given a large tax rebate. The 3rd Xl further consolidated their position with a good win over Mill Hill Village, with our side including many veterans - Al Marks, Bob Keen, Charlie Holder, Gerry Adams and Tony Golborn. CHARLIE HOLDER played on the left-wing and scored, yes, scored, twice, yes, twice. What a week this has been

www.oldwilsonians.co.uk Page 4 of 11 [email protected] The 5th Xl were involved in a bad tempered game in which Edgware won 5-3. The home side showed many changes from the team that which won 9-1 at Hayes and the 5th Xl led 3-2 at half-time, including a fine header from TONY CAUSER following a perfect centre. Mike Galvin has an injured toe. It is not clear how he sustained this, although several improbable suggestions have been made! Crystal Palace ran straight into trouble when Derby County scored in the first minute. It was a brilliant move between Hodgson, passing through to Buxton, who flicked the ball back to Hodgson to score. Palace rarely attacked and, when they did, it was usually with no more than three men up, and Derby’s second came after only 13 minutes, with Hodgson again the scorer. Hector’s brilliance made the opening and a gentle, unselfish, pass left Hodgson with an easy chance.

League Tables - Correct to January 21st

Senior Division One - Top 4 of 11 P W D L GF GA Pts

Alleyn Old Boys 13 8 4 1 23 12 28 Polytechnic 10 8 2 0 30 9 26 Nottsborough 11 6 1 4 15 14 19 OLD WISLONIANS 12 6 1 5 20 20 19 Intermediate Division One - bottom 4 of 11

OLD WILSONIANS RESERVES 9 3 1 5 19 24 10 Nottsborough Reserves 10 3 1 6 12 27 10 Old Parkonians Reserves 8 2 2 4 14 19 8 Alleyn Old Boys Reserves 8 1 2 5 9 16 5

Junior Division Two - bottom 3 of 10

OLD WILSONIANS 3rd Xl 12 4 2 6 34 36 14 Old Owens 3rd Xl 10 4 0 6 17 27 9* Merton 3rd Xl 12 1 0 11 19 36 3 *Points deducted

Minor Division One South – Top 5 of 9

West Wickham 4th Xl 9 8 1 0 32 7 25 Polytechnic 5th Xl 9 6 2 1 40 13 20 Alleyn Old Boys 5th Xl 10 5 2 3 23 15 17 Weirside Rangers 3rd Xl 9 5 2 2 18 16 17 OLD WILSONIANS 4th Xl 8 4 0 4 19 16 12

Minor Division Two South - bottom 5 of 10

OLD WILSONIANS 5th Xl 10 4 0 6 20 32 12 Bank of England 4th Xl 11 4 0 7 16 32 12 Civil Service 6th Xl 11 3 1 7 18 45 10 Merton 4th Xl 12 2 0 10 27 36 6 Lloyds Warren 3rd Xl 10 1 0 9 9 60 3

Minor Division Three South – bottom 3 of 9

www.oldwilsonians.co.uk Page 5 of 11 [email protected] West Wickham 6th Xl 10 3 1 6 34 30 10 OLD WILSONIANS 6th Xl 9 3 1 5 19 30 10 HSBC 6th Xl 11 2 0 9 15 59 6

Minor Division Four South - Top 4 of 10

Polytechnic 9th Xl 9 8 1 0 38 10 25 Kew Association 3rd Xl 11 7 1 3 41 30 22 Merton 5th Xl 10 7 1 2 21 19 22 OLD WILSONIANS 7th Xl 11 5 1 5 19 19 16

Minor Division Five South - Bottom 3 of 11 South Bank Cuaco 6th Xl 8 2 1 5 15 29 7 OLD WILSONIANS 8th Xl 8 2 1 5 16 33 7 OLD WILSONIANS 9th Xl 9 0 0 9 4 43 0 Old Wilsonians’ Association Sports Club Terms & Conditions for hire of facilities

To all Sports Club Hirers: The cost to hire the club facilities £200.00 We require a breakages/cleaning deposit £50.00 We require a kitchen use deposit £50.00 If an extension after midnight is requested £100.00 per extra hour Corkage will be charged per bottle @ £8.00

All moneys to be received by the OWA at least 1 month before event

We politely request there be no decorations on the honours boards No use of party poppers, spray string, table confetti or similar If the club-house-bar and/or kitchen are left in need of cleaning, the appropriate deposit will be forfeited.

NB: The Association relies heavily on hiring out the Clubhouse to increase its revenue from which we all benefit. The above outlines our terms and conditions, so please pass on to anyone your think may be interested or, indeed, yourself – many Old Wilsonians have already held functions in our Clubhouse For more details, please contact Anton Snowsill: [email protected] ALL OUR TODAYS

THE CHANCE TO LOSE TWO (VALUABLE) HOURS OF YOUR LIFE NUFC Oilers 1 1 st Xl 2

www.oldwilsonians.co.uk Page 6 of 11 [email protected] The 1st Xl embarked on a long trek, with a depleted squad, to ‘The Hive’, home of Barnet FC. Unfortunately we were ousted off the stadium pitch by Barnet vs Newport and, instead, played on an excellent but definitely frozen/ barely playable training pitch. We did not settle in the first half. Again Shaw seemed to be in a blind panic due to the fact he had to mark a player! Looking into the sun did not help either, and they wanted it a bit more, epitomised by the knee high tackle on new 1’s skipper, Dan Sellman, which led to an early substitution. Before this Dan had missed an excellent opportunity, so perhaps it was for the best! NUFC had a couple of early chances, with Eglon making a couple of good blocks. They also looked dangerous from set pieces, and eventually took the lead when a floated corner was headed home by the centre half from about four yards out and, on the stroke of half time, one was nearly two in a similar manner. Half time saw a Lazarus like recovery by Sellman and he came back on, and we were far better in the second period. More first and second balls were won and, despite the continuing tough conditions, we played better but did not really create too much and, unfortunately, Williams twanged his hamstring again. The best chance we had was when Simmons went on a mazy (if you want to lose an hour of your life, ask him about it) run and was brought down as he drove into the box. How the already booked player stayed on I don't know but, from the resulting free kick, Simmons hit the bar (if you want to lose an hour of your life, ask him about it). NUFC then had a good chance which hit the wheel on the goal but, despite this, the referee played on and the striker should have scored the rebound. With nine minutes to go captain Sellman went to 3-5-2, much to Shaw's dismay. Moments later SERGIO OHANE DJAN (great name for a right wing back) buried a strike in the top corner, much to the joy of Nick Williams, who squealed like a pig about 20 minutes before it went in. We stayed 3-5-2, much to Shaw's dismay – he still has not worked out what it means, and went for the jugular - and European league qualification. To be fair a draw was no good to NUFC either, so they flew forward. This led to gaps and the rejuvenated Gravesande was causing problems and the ball again found its way to the black Alan Hutton, whose cross was shinned in by AKKAYA, who had been standing in the six yard box since Parkinson's overlapping run in the 70th minute. Moments later Sellman, with a similar chance, managed to shin it into the ‘keeper’s arms. The final five minutes were spent with Simmons and Akkaya asking the referee every three seconds how long was left and then arguing with him and Wilson (who had a baby boy on Thursday) and Shaw (who has the brain capacity of a baby boy) finally working out how to head the ball. The final whistle went and the two sides, who had kicked each other and wounded each other for 90 minutes, were friends again. Shower, chicken and chips, Starbucks, home. - If Carlsberg did Saturdays. Quote of the day. "I'm going to be a bit late boys. This bus keeps stopping" - Richard Shaw 2017! Thanks to Giles and Middleton, who played here a couple of weeks ago for the 2’s and came into the 1’s squad without looking out of place. The good news is the 2’s are away to Oilers in a couple of weeks! Mom went to Sergio for making Nick Williams orgasm on the side of the pitch. James Eglon, Sergio Ohane Djan, Sam Wilson, Richard Shaw, Ben Middleton, Oz Akkaya, Jamie Parkinson, Mark Simmons, Dan Sellman, Jalen Gravesande, Ben Giles, Nick Williams.

BALLARD PILGRIMAGES TO FIRST THREE’S WIN Old Parkonians 1 3 rd Xl 4

Our third away game in as many weeks began as many of them do - a 12pm meet at Victoria Smiths. However, despite a '100%' guarantee from Matt Ballard that he would be there, we found ourselves waiting until 12.30 before he decided to tell us he would meet us there, thus securing his first of many accolades of the day...the kitbag. If the wait was not bad enough, fellow players were left bemused at how first choice goalkeeper David Pilgrim had declared himself in, yet the decision was made to go with our unlucky charm and 'pointless' back up goalkeeper, Matthew Ballard. Mackley, in particular, looked absolutely sick. The long journey to Fairlop was made easier with the usual football trivia doing the rounds, stumped only by the revelation that Zat Knight had scored so many own goals. Who knew? As we arrived, a familiar team was taking shape which was also boosted by the return of BNS and a first appearance of the season for Ore. However, an unfamiliar formation lined up as we went 3-5- 2 for the first time this year.

www.oldwilsonians.co.uk Page 7 of 11 [email protected] In the changing room, Matt Ballard had a new formula to help him win his first points of the season. He brought with him, wait for it... glove glue. I'm not sure this is a real thing, in fact I'm pretty certain it isn't and it was a ‘secret santa’ present he has taken very seriously, but he proceeded to glue his gloves anyway as we went out onto the pitch. Parkonians kicked us off and passed back to their centre back. MATT WILLIAMS sharply closed down the defender, winning the ball and slotting past the goalkeeper. We scored inside 6 seconds and they had kicked off, a possible Wilsonian record. At least I am led to believe that is what happened, as the ball was apparently flat and Mackley sent me into a bush to retrieve a yellow one, so I missed it; cheers pal. That was the last action for the flat ball as the new ball was thrown onto the pitch. 'Can we start again then?', hilariously asked one Parks’ player; good one mate. You know when you are in the pub and the barmaid brings food to a table that they have not ordered but someone still says, “oh, but we'll have it...” - yeah, she's never heard that one before. He's that guy. Anyway, I digress. As we pressed to go 2-0 up, Bonsels found himself in a great position to score. However, the referee halted play due to a head injury. An incensed Bonsels alerted the referee to his unfavourable decision, but it was the referee who finally had the chance to 'pick on someone his own size' when he went nose to nose with Bonsels, whose wise head pulled back to make a point rather than nut him, which would have been equally acceptable. No yellow, just threatening behaviour dished out by the man in black. Parks did soon get themselves back in the game when a cross from the sunny side was sent into the box making it difficult for the defence to judge and a first time finish beat Ballard at his near post; the unlucky charm strikes again. This goal gave Parks a lot of confidence and they were soon on the attack again when their striker found himself just six yards out, and an outrushing Ballard kept the game at 1-1 when it looked easier to score. With half time looming Harwood broke down the right, whose clever play took two Parks players out of action, finding Matty Williams , whose goal bound shot was heroically cleared off the line by the Parks’ right back - his reward? The ‘keeper smashing the ball right back into him, the ball falling to GARY BONSELS, whose two touch finish into the bottom right hand corner was too strong for the Parks’ ‘ keeper and Gary had his sixth of the season, but remarkably his first from inside the penalty area. Half time 2-1 to the 3’s. We faced early pressure in the second half from Parks, their best chance coming from a hopeful high hoof which dipped lower and lower towards the goal. Ballard will tell you it was well left, but cynics (and realists) will tell you that he had no idea where the ball was and you could hear the collective sigh of relief from the 3’s as it bounced off the top of the crossbar and out for a goal kick. With Wilsonians needing a killer third, the return of BNS was imminent, and with his first touch of the football (his first touch was booting a Parks player and giving away a needless free kick) he produced a flick not too dissimilar from one that Harry Kane would replicate just a few hours later, his samba like flick taking defenders out of the game, finding James Harwood who unselfishly squared the ball to ORE TALABI , whose excellent 20 yard finish found the top right hand corner, leaving the rooted goalkeeper no chance – 3-1. With the wind in our sails, and the glue on our gloves, a fourth goal was not too far off. James Harwood, who had clearly spent the week watching too much Sky Sports News, seemed to think that Marco Van Basten's revolutionary idea of scrapping the offside rule was actually passed as a law, as he spent most of his game marking the opposition’s goalkeeper. However, HARWOOD refused to give up and he finally broke through onside and finished with a low left footed drive superbly into the bottom corner - 4-1. With the game as good as done, it was time to see it out, which, to most of us, would mean win tackles, slow things down and keep the ball. To Ballard, however, this meant a rendition of Frankie goes to Hollywood's number one hit from 1984, Relax. Yes. I kid you not, this actually happened, he was singing when he should have been taking a goal kick. And if the ‘dick of the day’ was not sewn up with the Victoria meet and the in game karaoke, the strangest moment of all took place in injury time. As Ballard retrieved the ball for another goal kick, he appeared to morph into a seal and carry the ball back to his goal on the back of his neck, sealing his fate for a pint of hydration later on.

www.oldwilsonians.co.uk Page 8 of 11 [email protected] Full time and a 4-1 away win, which was overall largely comfortable for the 3’s. And in a week where twitter timelines were filled with a Jack Elliott being picked for a soccer team, it was 3rd Xl stalwart Sam Elliott who got everyone's first draft pick for ‘man of the match’ this weekend, a faultless display in the centre of defence. Ballard took his dirty pint well, no doubt made slightly more enjoyable by his first ever win for the 3s , thus lifting the curse that had plagued him for so long. If anybody thinks Ballard was hard done by and he should not have been ‘dotd,’ it later transpired that he took his ‘phone into the goal and recorded the game. However, he failed to position the ‘phone correctly, so if you want a 15 minute video of a blue sky, get in touch with him.

Apologies to the many other players who deserved positive mentions, but the word count has largely been taken up by the Matt Ballard Show. Tune in next week to see what strange and unusual predicaments he gets himself into as we face Merton at home. Matt Rand Team: Ballard (GK), Elliott, Hanna, Playford (Rand 75) Mackley, Talabi, Martin (C), Bonsels, Highwood, Williams (Newman-Sanders 65) Harwood (Williams 85)

AFA CUP MARCH GOES ON FOR THE 2 ND Xl Old Parkonians 1 2 nd Xl 4

The 2nd Xl kept alive their quest for silverware this season with a hard fought victory on a surface more suitable for ice hockey against a solid Alleyns side. Coming under early pressure the 2’s continued to threaten on the counter through Michael Ojetunde's marauding running from midfield. However, it was Alleyns who took the lead after some sloppy defending at centre half allowed the Alleyns forward to pounce on the loose ball and slot past ‘Deaders.’ Soon after Stu Dunk somehow found himself far enough up the pitch to pick out James Karamath with a Xabi Alonso-esque ping into feet, and ‘Karra’ neatly rolled it into the path of CHRIS KENNEDY for 1-1. Wilson’s continued to struggle to impose themselves on this surface in the second half but kept out the repeated Alleyns attacks through good work from the back four, and eventually ‘Kenners’ caused enough mayhem under another long percentage ball for it to drop perfectly for the onrushing PIRI to finish and put Wilson’s in the lead, with the 2’s management having subbed themselves off at half time. Alleyns found a deserved equaliser when ‘Deaders’ shouts of "show him left" were dutifully followed by Aaron, and the Alleyns forward promptly squared it for his mate to smash it in for 2-2. Good to see the wisdom ‘Deaders’ will be passing on to the Norway U21 goalkeeper at East Grinstead. With extra time looking likely, some good work down the right led to a chance for MICHAEL OTEJUNDE to round off an impressive display with a deft finish on the angle and snatch a victory and put Wilson’s into the AFA Cup semi-finals. Stuart Dunk - or possibly Jon Howe Deadman George Smart Oluwu Tanner Elliott Ojetunde Dunk (Keen) Howe (Piri) Braterman (Karamath) Kennedy

LACK LUSTRE FOURS PAY THE PRICE IN THE LEAGUE 4 th Xl 2 Ibis Eagles 4 th Xl 3

After the disappointment of last week’s London Old Boys Cup semi- final being postponed, the 4th Xl came into this week’s game unsure whether or not there would be another postponement, but a late inspection, and the dubious decision of keeping the game on, gave us a good chance to prepare for consecutive semi-finals in the next two weeks. Unfortunately it looked as though the whole team had their eyes on those games and we started very slowly. A lack of communication and desire across the board meant that we quickly found ourselves 2-0 down. This did give us the impetus that we needed and we finally started playing the football we know we are capable of and, 30 minutes in, came the best chance for us when strong running from Matt Knight, on what looked to be a lost cause, resulted in him picking up a weak back pass before being taken down by the defender to win the penalty. Game changing moment? Yes. Conversion by Sam James? Unfortunately not. The momentum did not stop here, however, and ten minutes later, smart work by James put ADAMS clean through on goal and he calmly slotted past the ‘keeper. Game on.

www.oldwilsonians.co.uk Page 9 of 11 [email protected] Half time came and the talk was all about showing desire and setting standards for the next two games, which we responded to well. High pressing and quick passing came straight away and the chances came, with the visitors being penned into their own half. Eventually a good move started from the back three, and the ball was moved over to Watson, who burst down the line and shifted quickly to James. James's cross was then met first time by ABDOU, who riffled the ball into the top of the net. We continued to make chances but could not find the breakthrough, with the luminous yellow wall of Ibis's goalkeeper handling everything we threw at him, including an acrobatic catch off a long range Matt Knight shot. Disaster struck with ten minutes to go as an attacking move from us ended up with a long clearance falling straight to their striker and, with a three on three move, Ibis converted this chance to take the lead against the run of play. We pressed on and one final chance fell to Jon "rhino" Knight , who found himself uncharacteristically high up the pitch and one on one with the ‘keeper, but the tactic of 'head down and hit it' was not enough to beat the ‘keeper, who again saved well, and the final whistle came shortly after. A disappointing result, given our recent good performances. However, it should set our priorities firmly on the next two weeks. A return to an almost full squad, and a real desire to get ourselves to at least one cup final, should make sure we do not see a repeat of this kind of performance again. Jon Knight Squad- Mark Trevatt (gk), M Knight, J Knight, I Phillips, Y Bheenick, D Wateridge, A Green, P Panicker, A Adams, S James, J Abdou, J Watson

A BAD DAY AT THE OFFICE Civil Service 4 th Xl 4 3 rd Xl 0 - Played January 14 th

The 3rd Xl made a painful journey across London to what seemed like the middle of nowhere to face Civil Service 4’s. It seemed like everyone had a nightmare journey over to west London, yet, when we arrived, the referee had decided against turning up, but a spectator stepped up and, from somewhere, managed to locate an XXL full referee's uniform and we were off. Availability not being at its best, we lined up unorthodoxly, with Gary playing alongside the skipper in the middle, Harwood up top next to Matt Williams, and Tommy Highwood starting on the left wing. In truth, the less said about the first half, the better.. and the less said about the second half... the better. From the beginning we looked off the pace. A poor pitch did not help, but the inability to string passes together left us constantly being dispossessed around the halfway line and under constant pressure. There was, however, one chance where Matt Williams broke the line and was on goal on the left hand side of the box, but unfortunately the shot found its way slightly closer to the corner flag than the back of the net. The forward men were not getting any joy, and neither were they able to show any real quality. The constant Civil Service pressure left them, deservedly so, with a 2-0 lead at half time. A deflated OWFC 3rd Xl, for the first time ever, seemed to have their heads down at the half way point. We identified the need to try and keep it simple and lined up for the second half desperate to get back into the game as early as possible but, and unfortunately, it was seemingly more of the same. The opposition number seven controlled the majority of the game and seemed to be everywhere , and we struggled to keep up. The opposition netted again to take a comfortable 3-0 lead about half way through the second half, but a couple of good crosses into the box from the 3’s did see s few chances go a begging, and the referee, who had clearly not been on side throughout with decisions worse than Mike Dean’s in the premier league, also decided to unjustly rule out a lovely glancing header from Williams that found the far corner of the goal. Goal disallowed. That seemed to top off what was a depressing performance , but not before Civil Service added a fourth to rub salt into the wounds. Credit where credit is due, they deserved their win. Without a doubt a really poor performance all round. Dan Searle

Reports Table

www.oldwilsonians.co.uk Page 10 of 11 [email protected] Team P RS RSL NR NP Pts Dropped % response

1st Xl 25 24 1 0 15 56 19 100 8th Xl 17 17 0 0 0 51 0 100 9th Xl 16 14 2 0 1 43 5 100 2nd Xl 21 17 3 1 12 42 21 95 3rd Xl 18 14 2 2 14 30 24 88 4th Xl 16 12 1 3 12 25 23 81 6th Xl 15 5 0 10 4 11 34 33 5th Xl 19 3 1 15 3 7 50 21 7th Xl 16 2 1 13 1 6 42 18

P = Played RS = Reports submitted RSL = Reports submitted late NR = No Report NP = No phone

www.oldwilsonians.co.uk Page 11 of 11 [email protected]