2nd away match of the season for the globetrotting 3rd XI and another trip to deepest, darkest South London.
It was a lovely day for football and we arrived at their lovely plush clubhouse with over an hour to spare before kick-off. Sun shining, pitches looking lovely. Everything was looking sweet. Then, in typical 3's fashion…..we were informed we were at the wrong pitch. And had a 20 minute hike to where we were supposed to be. Great! By the time we walked it, got changed and got our there, it was 2:50pm. Not ideal preparation at all. The pitch was rough, and we didn't get a chance to spray some balls around and get used to it. They had managed to get a proper warm-up in and it definitely showed. The rushed warm-up meant the Norsemen took a while to get started, and Old Paulines took advantage of this, dominating the first 10 minutes and testing Carson with a couple of long range shots. It was clear that if Norsemen didn't wake up and take a hold of the game, they were going to be punished. However, ironically it was through a mistake of our own that we went behind, under no pressure from the opposition at all. A harmless long range shot from effort was deflected and heading out for an Old Paulines corner. Keye played the ball back to Carson to prevent the corner and just before the keeper went to put his boot through it, it took a bad bobble, meaning his clearance went about 10 yards, straight to their striker to prod home with an easy finish. 1-0. Having only had his shift cancelled at work a couple of hours earlier allowing him to play, Carson was clearly gutted. Norsemen didn't let the heads go down, and whilst Old Paulines continued to look the better side, gradually we started to get on top, win tackles and headers, retain the ball better and eventually forge some chances for ourselves. Half-time arrived at a bad point for us, we definitely had the momentum at that stage. Half Time 0 - 1 The HT team talk centred around how we were in the ascendency and just had to keep it going, whilst not making any costly mistakes at the back. Our passing had been slack at times, and on this pitch especially, the passing had to be better, more crisp and not overly ambitious. Following the last few weeks, everyone was confident we could turn this game around. They had 2 subs and were starting to make changes, which affected their shape. Norsemen came out the blocks at 100mph for the second half an equalised almost instantly. Bevers (who had turned up expecting to play in goal) capped a fine display at LB with some good work down the left freeing Clark, who drove down on past a couple of challenges before cutting inside and firing a shot off the post. Fortunately, it came straight back to our famous poacher Green, who kept his composure and finished neatly low into the bottom left corner. 1-1. GAME ON! By this point, we really were beginning to dominate. Almost every header was won by a blue shirt, and we were getting our tackles in early, pressuring them and stopping them playing the football that had hurt us in the first 15 minutes. Almost midway through the 2nd half, the giant that is Paul Amico scored with another excellent header following a cross from XXXXXX and the Norsemen were in front. 25 minutes to go. Old Paulines began to press more for an equaliser, and this opened the game up. Both teams won corners and created chances, but it remained 2-1 and very tense going into the final 10 minutes. Then, something truly magical happened. A real once-in-a-season moment. A gift from the footballing gods. Sit down. Take a deep breath. Brace yourself….. Following a scrap in the midfield, the ball broke back towards the Norsemen defence. Keye rushed out to clear, and with a Paulines player closing rapidly closing him down, he decided "safety first" and kicked it full whack up the field. It looked like it was going out of play for a goal-kick. But then it began to dip and curl towards goal….. Their keeper moved backwards trying to guage the flight. It came down off the top of the post, deflected off the keeper's fumbling hands and landed beautifully in the back of the net. Every Norsemen player went wild. No-one could quite believe it, especially Keye himself. He was a good 60-70 yards from goal when he struck it. Their keeper was gutted to concede such an embarrasing OG. It's not the first time we've associated Bryan Keye with the word "unbelievable", but no-one would ever have imagined it would be in a goalscoring context! 3-1! The last few minutes were seen out without any major scares and the final whistle was blown on another memorable Norsemen 3's away victory. A very enjoyable performance against a decent side. On we march. Striving to be the best. Final Score: Old Paulines 1-3 Norsemen Showers: 6 Shared showers. A little cramped and dirty, but no complaints otherwise. Towel rail (not heated) is always a bonus. Food: 9 Wow. Just wow. Huge beef burgers, tasty potato wedges and even lots of salad and coleslaw for the athletes. These things wouldn't be out of place in one of them fancy £10-a-pop West End burger joints. This will take some beating. Served with a smile and a cheeky bit of cleavage. Early favourite for Food Of The Season 2013/14. Beer Jug Rating: N/A Everyone drank their own drinks this week. I don't think jugs were available. Decent bar, standard prices, large projecter TV and outside balcony smoking area.
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So the first Away game of the season for the mighty 3rd XI came along on Saturday 14th September.
Merton were the oppo in the SAL Div 2 and recalling our loss away to them last year, we knew we were in for a tough battle of a game. So off to South London we trekked, some by train, some by plane and some by automobile (I lied about the plane bit, just thought it sounded good!) It was a wet & windy Saturday afternoon, but the pitch was in good nick, so it looked as though it would suit the 3's brand of football (football for the people) After being given the keys to executive changing room (it had padded seats!) the 3's got changed and got out onto the slick surface of the Merton pitch. The game kicked off at 3pm and from the off the 3's looked in control of the match. Some good work by Paul Amico early on put Danny Green in on goal early doors, only for Danny's shot to fizz past the post. Then came an early goal from the 3s. A corner was given to Norsemen and the box was loaded, Danny Green whipped in the corner and it caused mayhem in the Merton box only for a shot at the back post from Amico to ricochet off the post and onto a Merton defenders leg from 5 yards looping into the roof of the net! 1-0 to Norsemen. The 3's then proceeded to dominate the midfield battles and won a lot of ball in the air. It was still felt that the 3's could give a bit more in the match though as it seemed as though they were still in 2nd gear. A couple of alarms were had though maybe a bit of overplaying the ball and allowing the Merton pacey attack to break on the 3's defence, but nothing came of these couple of chances. Then came goal number 2, a well worked Norsemen move through the midfield resulted in the ball being lashed in the back of the net by Danny Green! A great finish to a great move! 2-0 to Norsemen Half Time 0-2 The Half Time Team Talk spoke of ensuring that we didn't give the Merton Midfield any space to turn and run at us as that was where Merton looked dangerous. The start of the second half saw Norsemen come out on the back foot and do exactly the opposite of what was spoken about during the half time team talk. Merton threatened and put Norsemen under pressure but it wasn't looking like Merton were going to score and then disaster struck. Merton picked the ball up on the edge of the Norsemen area and had an 18 yard shot that took a slight deflection which saw the ball squirm under K "The German" and into the net. K admitted that it was an error on his behalf but he only did it to make the game more interesting. Despite this setback Norsemen looked to still create chances and Danny proceeded to hit the post from a tight angle and Paul Amico hit a screamer from 25 yards that the keeper plucked out the top corner! Then it came, a Penalty was awarded to Norsemen with around 10mins remaining, this was to seal the match 3-1. Danny somehow managed to shank his penalty wide of the bottom left corner leaving the keeper to look as it whistled past his post. This miss gave Merton heart as they mounted more attacks and piled 3 and sometimes 4 up top. It was down to K to have the last word with a great save low down late on to deny Merton the equaliser! Final Score: Merton 1-2 Norsemen For every away match report this year we will also rate the Showers, the food and the Beer Jug Rating which is an integral part of the SAL Away Day experience. So here goes! Showers: 7 Lovely and hot and plenty of showers to go round. A short walk from the changing room (Bonus!) Food: 7 Good old meat and pasta. Really tasty and Bevers didn't like his so we got seconds! :) Beer Jug Rating: 8 Massive Jug. Kronenberg on Tap. Jug was quite pricey though at £22.50 Deano and Pett got to drink most of it to themselves with a little help from Bevers as everyone else buggeredoff home (Bonus x2!) The Merton boys stayed back to play darts and Deano & Pett enjoyed some good banter and more beer with the Merton lads. This led to an interesting trip home via Bits & Bobs (picture attached) where a Buddha was found (Bonus x3!) Next Up: Old Paulines Away (AFA Cup Match) A strong looking Norsemen 3rd XI under the continued leadership of Danny Green took the field for their first League fixture of the 2013/14 season on the small Grocers pitch.
With 4 new members making their league debuts for Norsemen, it was good to see a strong start and some good football being played from back to front. Norsemen eventually took the lead through ‘Deano’ Bartup following some good play. Old Parks as you would expect were always fighting hard to get back into the game and drew level following a good free kick midway through the first half. Norsemen then hit back quickly with Amico getting them ahead again after 25 mins, before Amico again extended their lead. Now playing some good football creating chances that Green would normally swallow, but on this occasion his shooting boots were not on show. A sad point was the caution to Halpin late in the half. HT = 3 – 1 Parks came out strong in the early stages of the second half and get a goal back following some good play. This only inspired Norsemen who were far less hot headed and began to create several chances of which were continually missed by their skipper, but having said that he unselfishly set up the fourth for Dan Howard to score on his debut as a Blue Giant. With the introduction of Roll on Roll off subs for League games in all SAL fixtures, Norsemen made use of this in the second half and from the bench White came to further extend their lead. Norsemen continued to create chances and it was Green who in most unusual fashion continued to miss the opportunity to open his account for the season. All in all a very solid performance against a well organised Old Parks team. FT = 5 – 2 |
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October 2019
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