Not a very good week with four defeats and only two wins.
The 1st XI lost a tight game against Old Stationers 1-0 which could have gone either way, but gave total commitment. The Reserves won away in the AFA Cup against Old Uffingtonians 1st XI 2-1. The 3rd XI lost their first league game at home to close rivals Old Garchonians 1-0, I think that a loss of discipline from our team contributed to their demise. The 4th XI also lost their unbeaten record losing 3-1 to Old Parks. The 5th XI also lost narrowly 3-2. The 7th XI won the Presidents jug this week with a 1-0 victory over the Hill. There is no doubt the club needs to strengthen the player pool if we are to succeed in our aim to become a force in the SAL again, we do not seem to get many players from our youth section, our type of football does not seem to appeal to them. In the past we have recruited far and wide for our members who were introduced to us by existing members. Can I suggest that we all make a point of introducing new members where possible to swell our ranks of people who will enjoy SAL and AFA football. It would not take a lot of effort and could lead to a better club and more success.
0 Comments
This week like the curates egg good in parts.
The 1st XI had a disappointing 2-0 loss to Kew they are having a bad run at present the team needs some strengthening which is difficult to achieve in the current circumstances. The Res XI are very strong and if they can keep their temperaments under control they have a great chance of gaining promotion. This week they continued the high scoring since we purchased the new goals on the first team pitch with an 8-0 victory over HSBC, their much maligned striker Charncey Dash claiming 6 of them. The 3rd XI had a tough cup tie against local rival and also unbeaten Old Minchendenians and lost narrowly 5-4, unfortunately this week we had several unavailables which did not help our cause. A word at this juncture for that much maligned person the referee in this game, we had a fellow Old Stationer, the veteran Geoff Blackmore who controlled the game very well and nipped in the bud an incident which with a less experienced official may have led to a plethora of yellow and red cards. I am also pleased to say he is still able to hold his own in the bar. The inter club match between the 4's and 5's was won by the table topping 4's, it would be good to see this team more involved with the club as a whole. The 6th XI had an excellent win away against Old Parks with one player Bobby Bartlett scoring 5 goals, note to higher teams. There was been much activity last week off the field, our new Acting Chairman Barry Ayers getting involved in areas that may have been neglected in the recent past, you can read his posting by going to the News Section Notice Board on our web site. A mixed week results, we played 7, 4 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats.
Unfortunately the 1st XI was one of the defeats, they were heavily beaten in the AFA Senior Cup by a very good Old Foresters side who are unbeaten in the Arthurian League and Cups this season, they will trouble some of the first division sides in the later rounds. The bad news is we have drawn them away in the next round of the Middlesex/Essex. I was rightly called to task by a couple of first team players for what they saw as negativity in my reports, we had a good conversation and I was encouraged by their enthusiasm and the fact that after a heavy defeat there were many of them socialising in the bar well after the game. They need all our support to get something good out of this season. The Reserves moved to second in the table with a good away win at Merton and the 3rd XI consolidated their position at the head of the table with an away win against previously unbeaten Old Parks, only one this week from goal king Danny. The 4th XI had a good win away in the AFA Minor Cup to Old Aloysians. The 5th XI won the Presidents jug for coming back three times in their match against the Hill, the 3-3 draw was described as a terrific match by the spectators, both sides and the Match Official being a credit to SAL football. The 6th XI had a good away win at EBOG's but the 7th XI lost to a suspiciously strong CEV.side. The results this season have been largely good but we need to set our sights high to get back to the top of SAL football and to improve our discipline. If we don't we will suffer further penalties from the league. The annual issue of the payment of subs is now high on the Agenda for the facilities we offer it is the best game in town, I was speaking to the Old Foresters after the game and they were in awe at the state of the ground and the comfort of the various bars and wished they could play at our ground every week. It is a shame that we still have members who try and get a free ride at the expense of everybody else. PAY UP AND LOOK BIG Eureka, a happy story for once, 6 games played 6 games won.
The 1st team pulled off an excellent away win in the AFA Cup beating Old Aloysians, one of the stronger Old Boy sides 4-3 after trailing twice by two goals, we may not have one of our most talented sides but they have great spirit of which in our type of football is very important. I watched our Reserves playing their first game on the main pitch, which with our new pro goals was looking a picture, they easily beat a very poor Bank of England team 7-1 there will be much harder tests to come for this highly promising team. The 3rd team continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 5 - 0 victory over Merton, at this stage I must mention their much maligned skipper Danny Green who has achieved something that even Pele failed to do, that is he has scored 5 successive hat tricks, 4 goals on Saturday taking his total for the season to 21. Danny and most of his team are in age terms well past their sell by dates therefore not suitable for going up the sides but they provide a good example off the field of what we want from a Norsemen team. The 4th team continued their winning ways with a 5-3 win over CEVamps, we need to integrate this team into the club so that all the talent does not disappear overnight at the end of the season. The 5's had a good away win at Old Finchleians and the 6's an excellent win against Old Lyonians 4th team. As I mentioned last week the Commitee was suffering from too few active members. Ronnie Robinson our excellent Chairman for some years has had to take a temporary break from his duties due to work commitments and I am delighted to announce that the indefatigable Barry Ayers has agreed to step into the breach. His enthusiasm for the club is not in doubt, he demands high standards and I am sure we will benefit from his input. |