Going into Saturday’s match OFC were placed 3rd in the table, a position that is probably an unfair reflection on our performances thus far. This week we faced the Weysiders who we know extremely well and usually get at least 3 points a season from. However last weeks result for them, an absolute thrashing over M+W probably raised a few concerns in the OFC camp. It was critical that we put in a decent performance this week.

As per usual there were changes in the squad, in came Sam Campbell, Jim and Pod. Out went Dan, Clarky, Jarv and Furno (dropped).

A slightly reduced, but relatively strong squad consisted of; Sam in goal. Fraser, Sonny, Ted and Pete H at the back. Baynezy, Butler, Gravy and Joe in midfield. Jim and 2-Gun up front. Andy, Pod and Sam C on the bench.

Saturday saw us playing our first home game at our new ground at the Coronation Recreation Ground in Hersham and at first glance it has to be said that it looks like it will be a very nice place to play football until we gain permission to build an 80,000 seater stadium in the village.

We got off to exactly the sort of start that was required with a couple of strong but fair challenges that rattled the opposition and seemed to give us the competitive edge all over the pitch.

We spent the first 10 minutes totally dominating the game. Across the midfield there was plenty of space to exploit and Pete Butler more often than not made it count by releasing Joe and Baynezy down the flanks and with further time and space out wide it seemed that it would only be a matter of time before one of the many crosses into the middle found an OFC head or boot and the back of the net.

The foundations of our dominance were built on a solid defence. Prior to kick off Sonny and Ted were tasked with cutting out the threat from the lanky GCW striker who has caused us plenty of grief in the past. Today looked like it would be a different story as Ted and Sonny did an excellent job of cutting out the threat he posed, by allowing him no time on the ball and keeping his back to our goal. It must be noted that they were ably assisted by Gravy would provided great protection from a defensive central midfield role.

Despite dominating the possession and putting GCW under huge amounts of pressure we almost had too much time and were guilty of occasionally taking to many touches and looking for the perfect cross or through ball rather than playing the early ball. The result of which was a few wasted opportunities to get the ball in or simply allowing the defenders too much time to close us down.

In the 19th minute we eventually made the breakthrough. GCW broke from defence with the ball, but were caught in possession near the half way line. We countered with attackers outnumbering defenders and on the edge of the box 2-Gun squared it to Butler who took an early shot. Sadly for GCW despite it being a weak effort, the shot miraculously squirmed under the keeper and in to the unprotected net. 1-0 OFC

It wasn’t long before we doubled our lead. After subjecting GCW to more pressure in the 22nd minute, we again found ourselves in possession and on the edge of the GCW penalty area following some good play down the left. This time it was Gravy who simply squared the ball to 2-Gun and in a move that was reminiscent of days gone by, 2-Gun completely sold the defender with a drop of the shoulder and in a flash he was gone. A superbly composed finish to the keeper’s right doubled the score.

Heading towards toward the half hour mark it was only some outstanding last ditch defending from GCW prevented Oatlands increasing the score and killing off the game.

As the match approached halftime, GCW probably had their best spell of the game. We appeared to take our foot off the gas slightly, gave the ball away once too often and gave the opposition hope getting something out of the game. We also showed a few moments of frustration and it wasn’t long before that all too familiar sound of a Jim Beckram boot, connecting with an opponent’s shin pad reverberated around the pitch.

Without Phil at the helm on Saturday, the half time talk was done somewhat by committee than from one single voice, but really there wasn’t much wrong with the way we were playing or much that needed saying, we just needed to ensure that we got the next goal in the game.

We came out all guns blazing in the second half and GCW were very quickly on the back foot again. With 5 minutes gone, we effectively put the game beyond the visitors. This time it was Baynezy who latched on to a superb Pete Butler cross-field ball. Using his pace and determination, he skinned the GCW left back and broke into the penalty area. He could have shot himself but chose to calmly square it in to the path of Jim. Jim took one touch and then buried it calmly in the corner. 3-0.

Having put the game beyond GCW we made some substitutions and after a strong 60 minute outing in which he scored and set one up, 2-Gun made way for Pod up front. It didn’t take Pod too long to get into the game and he soon forced the keeper into an unconventional but effective save following a beautiful dipping volley from 25 yards.

Next to make way was Jim Beckram and again it was a change up front, this time with Sam Campbell coming on.

Again we continued to dominate the game for long periods. All across the team there was calmness on the ball for the first time this season and instead of panicking, we were simply trapping it and moving it on to the next available white shirt irrespective of whether it was sideways, backwards or even to Sam who needed something to do in goal. As a result we carved out several more chances on goal.

We had to wait until the 70 th minute of the game for the next goal, but it was well worth the wait. We had forced a series of corners out of GCW and after Pete delivered one from the right hand side the defending team looked to have cleared the danger, but Ted picked the ball up near touchline and midway in the GCW half. After one touch to control the ball, Ted swung in a pinpoint cross to the back post where a clutch of OFC players were lying in wait. It was Joe arriving late who put his name on it and with a superb left footed half volley across the keeper it was 4-0 to OFC and 2 goals already this season for Joe.

At 4-0 it was clear that confidence was at a high and we looked extremely comfortable in possession, while still retaining the determination to go and win the ball back every time we lost it. With 15 left on the clock we made our last change. This time we bought off Pete Hallam and bought on Andy Ellis which sparked a raft of changes of positions across midfield and defence.

With a minute to go we put the icing on the cake with a fifth goal. It was a move that was started by Pete Butler and finished by Sam Campbell who came out on top in a one on one with the keeper. 5-0 OFC

Overall it was a vast improvement and a very good display by Oatlands. The result also takes us up to 2nd in the league. For the first time this season everything seemed to gel even though we were missing a few players. We looked incredibly solid at the back, we wanted to win every single first and second ball in midfield, we passed it well, played at a high tempo and were clinical up front. In terms of individual performances, Gravy who was making his 50th appearance got the man of the match honours after a faultless display in central midfield and 2-Gun’s goal was probably the pick of the bunch, a nicely worked opportunity and finish.

Although it was a good performance and nothing less than our efforts deserved, it is worth remembering that it was not the strongest team that GCW have been put out over the years and there will be much tougher tests to follow. If we want to be near the top we will need to put in this sort of performance every week. Next week we play Lightwater, a team who like to get extremely physical and a team against whom we usually achieve a mixed bag of results each year. We will again have to be at our best if we want to take 3 points.

A big thanks to everyone who came down to support on Saturday. Our next game is also at home, so hopefully we’ll see you guys next week – just try to avoid kicking the training balls on to the pitch when we are playing!