Gordon 1, Lane Cove West 2.
A funny
game. Two up after 15 minutes, you wouldn’t have guessed
that the closing stages of the match would see anxious moments. But it’s a
cliché that 2-0 is a dangerous score, especially early on, and so today proved.
(Though not, for us, as conclusively as for Middlesborough
this weekend: 2-0 up but lost 3-2 to
Gordon lacked the early fire that
had seen them race to 3-0 against us in their first win of the season. Indeed,
it was us who could easily have been three or four up early on. We seemed to
have acres of space, and time to use it.
In one very early move Mark S ran
onto a through ball and fired a shot across the keeper, onto the post but then
out, not in.
Other chances followed even before
we went ahead after about ten minutes. Brian was often involved down the left,
and it was often only bad luck that stopped the moves leading to a goal.
Then our two leading scorers Matt
& Mark S scored with their 9th & 7th goals of the
season.
The first goal came from a similar
combination of the two of them at the same stage last week, but with a
different result. Mark S, on the left, held the ball up with his back to goal
whilst calling, “Come on, Matt”. Matt who needed no further invitation (he
probably didn’t even need that one), raced towards Mark, gathered the ball as
it was deftly placed into his path, and in a few strides was in the area. This time the ‘keeper was left with no chance, and it was
1-0.
The second goal followed soon after,
and it was another cracker. One of a series of through-balls for Mark S to
chase found him out-pacing the defence, and sending another unstoppable shot
into the net. Appeals for offside were waved away by wise Willy, who was right
in line: 2-0 and we were coasting.
Although we
never really did coast. It didn’t seem to be complacency
that got us into trouble. Indeed, for long periods of the first half we looked
much the more likely to score again.
Then we saw again how dangerous FIFA
can be: it can spread a virus around the world in no time, striking down
innocents. Earlier this year it was the TYSIOYB strain
(tuck-your-shirt-in-or-you’re-booked); and TOYR (take-off-your-rings). Today,
James fell foul of the sudden re-emergence of SOTYPIO
(stay-off-till-your-player-is-off). Or was it COOAH (come-on-only-at halfway)?
There may be no warning signs. One minute you’re just doing what everyone does.
The next, the virus has struck, and you’re living on borrowed time.
But somehow, the game went on,
despite these troubling incidents.
Though we were 2-0 up, and creating
chances, it was not at all plain sailing at the other end. Our defence was kept
busy, but always looked capable of handling anything that came its way. Tim, in
particular, was commanding – in the air and on the ground. His performance was
rewarded with the Man-of-the-Match reward (which regular readers will recall he
may have deserved in earlier weeks, too).
So half-time saw us happy enough, though
vowing to start again as if 0-0, and all the other things you say when afraid
of feeling a bit too comfortable.
And for a while, the second half
seemed harmless. True, we no longer seemed to have the space up front, and
Gordon certainly weren’t going to lie down & die. But we created more
chances, and should have made more of them. For example, Peter floated over a
lovely cross when the ‘keeper was struggling to get back, and my header should
have gone in, not wide. Once Peter wove his way past most of the defence, and
almost got clear but was thwarted at the last. James also made chances, and
quite a few corners followed.
But one of these was our undoing.
Matt took a quick tap to Brian, who was actually coming over, as he thought, to
take the kick. In the ensuing confusion, we lost the ball which was swept up in
the other end, and in - a well-taken goal: 1-2 & quite a while to go.
Thereafter, we wisely slowed things
down a bit: no more quick-taken corners. But it was still us who had the best
of the play. In retrospect, perhaps, it is easy to see that we won the game
well, but at the time it was still a bit of a worry. Particularly
when, near the end, a fierce shot from the left flashed across our goal, and
could have gone anywhere. Where it did go was onto Martin’s shoulder,
and out for a throw-in on the other side, but a deflection by anyone moving
towards goal could have been fatal.
But that was our last scare.
Injustice was avoided and we weren’t sorry to hear the final whistle, signaling
our first win in 5 games.
Matt and Peter shared 3rd
in MOTM, and Mark S was second. Will we have a new name to follow Martin C on
the coveted trophy? Only October 21 will tell.
The win takes us to 5th.
If we win next week and Monash don’t, we’ll finish 4th (where we’d
already be, of course, if they hadn’t beaten us twice…). Lose, and we could be
as low as 7th, which would seem a far from fair return from our most
successful season for many years.
Thanks to Tim for the beers, as
ever, and to Willy for running the line, in our game, and Brian at
MARK
BRYANT