This week Oatlands faced off against Spelthorne Sports. We played Spelthorne Sports earlier this year and were comprehensively beaten and on the face of it this looked like it would be another tough task, especially given the fact that Spelthorne would be full of confidence after winning 11-0 last week.

For us there were (as always) some changes, this week we were blessed with an abundance of defenders but missing some of our more attacking players, meaning that there were familiar names in some unfamiliar positions.

The team; Will in goal. Fraser, Sonny, Furno and Baynezy at the back. Jordy, Tom, Mike and Joe in midfield and Pod and Jiz up top. 2-Gun, Sam, Dom and Clarkey on the bench.

We started well and should have opened the scoring in the first minute of the game. Pod looked to be clean through on goal. But like a reptile that hadn’t heated itself up properly in the morning sun, Pod didn’t quite have the turn of speed to get there first and the situation was well swept up by Spelthorne.

Our good start to the game was further underlined by chances in the 5 th and 10 th minutes and Spelthorne looked a much different prospect to the team we played back in February, especially across the back were they were missing the older chap who organised them so well in the last game.

The game itself was a pretty ugly affair to watch from the side. We’ve played some great football at times this year, but today wasn’t one of those days. For us we were missing Pete and Gravy both of who have superb movement and passing ability and we were a bit more direct from that centre of midfield. Spelthorne were also very direct side, and their attacks were based predominately on the long ball from the back to their strikers, both of whom were quite nippy.

Spelthorne weren’t the only team guilty of adopting a direct style of play. The nippy Spelthorne strikers did a good job of chasing down our defence and on several occasions we hoofed it up the field towards our strikers who found themselves capitalising on some rather nervous Spelthorne defending.

It was in wide areas that we generally had the most success. Out on the left, Joe made some great runs into space and was found well by our strikers and central midfield and but for a bit of extra luck in front of goal, we may have done a bit better from some of the resulting crosses.

It was our man on the right hand side who assisted in the first goal. Mark Jordan who was putting in a strong performance, found himself with the ball at his feet just outside the box. Mark turned back the years and turned on the trickery as he travelled with the ball and rode a couple of tackles. It looked inevitable that if given the opportunity, Jordy probably would have taken on the rest of the Spelthorne team, gone round the keeper and then knelt on the line and nudged it in with his head, but Spelthorne weren’t going to let that happen and the only way that they could stop him was by fouling, and even that took four players. The referee pointed to the spot and we had a penalty.

On the sideline, ex-penalty taker 2-Gun suddenly warmed up vigorously and in a manner that that was clearly designed to attract Phil’s attention. Initially Mike went to the ball, but the chairman put a stop to that because we’ve already lost too many balls this season. Therefore looking round the team, penalty taking options were somewhat limited. Furno offered but I don’t think you are allowed to tackle the ball in when taking a penalty, Pod and Baynezy then volunteered, forcing Phil to seriously think about asking the referee if we could trade a penalty for a corner. But eventually it was Tom Pryce who was given responsibility and made no mistake putting the ball low and to the keepers right. 1-0 Oatlands.

After scoring we were still the better of the 2 teams. We did try and pass the ball around when we had the chance and we did create some further openings, but Spelthorne continued to simply drill it from back to front. Fortunately given the pace and aerial ability of our back four, we were rarely troubled.

One criticism of the performance was that we weren’t really winning enough of the aerial challenges in central midfield, but thankfully the defence were doing a good job of sweeping up anything that was flicked on, or filtered through to them.

We doubled our lead just before half time. This time more good movement from Pod up top and an accurate pass from the central midfield unlocked the Spelthorne defence. Pod was clean through and left with just the keeper to beat. Thankfully Jiz was along side to support Pod as he bore down on the keeper because a combination of the keeper and a defenders boot did enough to prevent Pod scoring, but as the ball broke loose Jiz was there to bury it in the unguarded net and make it 2-0

At half time there wasn’t much to say, we were playing reasonably well and the main threat from Spelthorne was being dealt with quite well by our defence. The only real danger was that we had thrown away a couple of 2-0 half time leads this season – most notably against AFC Hersham and we would need to remain composed for at least the opening 15 minutes of the second half. We also made a change – swapping Sam for Will.

The opening 10-15 minutes of the second half were bitty. Spelthorne continued to hoof it from the defence and generally speaking, we hoofed it back. The game also took a bit more of a physical turn and was broken up by several fouls from both sides.

Up front Pod was having a very good game, he held the ball up extremely well; he showed some superb touches to retain control in some tight situations and distributed the ball extremely well to bring other players into the game when were in attack. In central midfield Mike Taylor was again superb, breaking up possession, winning the 50/50’s and generally upsetting the opposition while he was at it.

Tom Pryce should have made it 3-0 midway through the second half. We had endured some increasing pressure from the opposition and our attacks were increasingly as a result of breaking from the back at speed and hitting them on the counter. I think it was Joe down the left who received the ball and spotted Tom Pryce bursting from midfield. The ball was superbly weighted and right in Tom’s path. Like Pod, Tom was left with just the keeper to beat, but the angle was difficult for a right footer and would require one of those Thierry Henry open the body and curl it to the far post type finishes. Tom appeared to do everything right and slid the ball under the advancing keeper, it looked destined for the net but sadly it hit the post flush, and the rebound also evaded those who had tried to follow up.

With 20 minutes left Phil made his final changes. A rest for Jordy, who was replaced by Clarkey and a change up front where 2-Gun came on for Jiz.

As the game edged closer to its conclusion Spelthorne fought desperately to get back into the game and we were being pushed onto the back foot. However we defended well and Spelthorne were still yet to have a serious shot on target. The game was also continuing to be broken up by a series of challenges by both sides, which tested the referee’s patience and threatened to result in one or two individuals reaching for their handbags.

In his last performance in an OFC shirt 2-Gun, played magnificently well at right back and had the AFC Hersham right winger tucked in his pocket for the entire time he was on the pitch, this time he was asked to do a slightly different role and lead the OFC attack.

It was with about 10 minutes left that 2-Gun got his first real touch of the ball and it was from a nicely threaded ball from Tom into the channel between centre back and left back. Despite being marshalled by 2 defenders, 2-Gun did well to carry the ball to where the goal line and the penalty area meet. He was under pressure and a corner looked the most likely outcome, but 2-Gun produced a bit of magic and chipped the ball toward goal with the outside of his left boot. The chip couldn’t have been any better and from an unbelievably tight angle the keeper was beaten and we were 3-0 up.

I am pretty sure we were still celebrating when Spelthorne took the ball from the centre circle to our penalty area completely unchallenged. Furno was there to make a challenge, but unfortunately it wasn’t one in which he won the ball and for the second time in the game the referee pointed to the penalty spot. The spot kick was dispatched well and was pretty much identical to Tom’s one in the first half. 3-1 and a taint on what was up until that point, a very solid defensive performance.

We might have made it 4-1 at the end, but what looked like the perfect lob from 2-Gun, was spoiled by the intervention of the crossbar. 3-1 was how it ended.

Overall it was a good result and a solid performance. The result was made more impressive by the fact that some of our more attacking players such as Jim, Pete and Gravy were not available but those that stepped in did an excellent job.

This week there were a couple of candidates for the MOM, Jordy played very well on the right hand side and was a constant threat throughout the game, Tom adapted well from his usual position of right back to play a strong game in the centre of midfield. However the MOM went to Pod for a rock solid display up front. Furno picked up the donkey award.

For us the result guarantees 6 th place. Next week we play Milford and Witley away. If we win there is a chance that we could nick 5 th place, but we would need to rely on AFC Woburn getting at least a draw against Emmanuel Reserves.

Please don’t forget that the End of Season / Legends Game is on the 9 th May. If you want to come or if you have friends that want to come, please let someone on the committee know. Same goes for those intending to play in the Legends team. If you want to know more please visit / sign up via the events section of “The Mighty OFC” facebook group.

Thanks to all those that came to offer their support.