Last week wasn’t the ideal start to the season and this Saturday needed to be a marked improvement. Training this week was somewhat different to normal and we focussed entirely on attacking including patterns of play and generally trying and failing to put the ball in to the net. This week’s team had an attacking theme about it, mainly because we only had three defensive players available and as such there were 5 changes from last weeks starting XI.

Although Windlesham have come down from the league above, we have played against them before having knocked them out of last years League Cup. That said; the only player from the starting 11 who played in that game was Pete Butler.

This weeks team Will, Ryan, Furno, Bayno, Tom L, Jordy, Sean, Moo, Butters, Jamie Nic, Jamie B. On the bench; Sam, Dockers, Jiz, Spooner and Si

I didn’t see the start of the game, but upon arrival I was told it was poor from our perspective. But 5 minutes in when I arrived, we were playing quite well. There was plenty of chat across the pitch some nice passing and we looked like a fairly solid unit.

This week there were a number of debuts. At the back, Ryan Kent took the left back spot and was superb from the start with his excellent distribution, ability to get the basics right and his simple but effect approach to the game.

Up front were team Jamie which was comprised of Jamie N and Jamie B, both making their first starts for the club and keeping regular strikers Dockers and Jiz on the bench. Again it was a positive start for both players who ran down defenders and helped us defend from the front. Indeed both players made early contributions up front with well timed runs and some good hold up play.

Sean K was also a debutant for the club and was tasked with playing in one of the most important roles in the side, central midfield. Sean was playing alongside Butters and Moo and was tasked with breaking up the oppositions passing and moving the ball on to another OFC player when in possession and much like the other new lads he slotted into the team extremely well.

In the opening 20 minutes we were the better team in all areas. We seemed to want the ball more, passed it better and had all the play. In the early part of the game we did create a number of chances for team Jamie up front but a combination of some great saves by their keeper and the frame of the goal kept Oatlands at bay and it was about 25 minutes in when Moo put the first killer pass in. It was a ball that scythed open the Windlesham defence and left Jamie B with just the keeper to beat. Faced with the first real pressure situation in an OFC shirt, Jamie made no mistake guiding it past the keeper and into the net to make it 1-0 to OFC.

Having scored, OFC switched formation and Moo dropped back to fill in alongside Furno at the back. The slight tweak in formation didn’t stop OFC dominating the next 20 minutes. In central midfield Windlesham simply couldn’t live with Pete Butler who seems to have the ability to teleport around the pitch and influence the play. Out wide we seemed to have some superb combinations on the go. After a very quiet start in the last game, Baynezy came to life in this one with some great overlapping runs down the flanks and link up play with Jordy. Down the left Ryan and Tom L linked up nicely as well, playing some nice little triangles with the central midfield. At the back Furno and Moo did what was required of them but were rarely troubled.

It was from the right hand side that our next goal came. This time it was Jordy who was the supplier and threaded a beautiful ball through to Jamie N. There was a moments hesitation when we thought there might have been a flag for offside, but with just the keeper to beat, Jamie composed himself well and slotted it to the keepers left and into the net. 2-0 OFC.

As we approached half time we continued to press Windlesham and a number of good opportunities presented themselves, but we were either thwarted by their keeper, the frame of the goal or by the referee – particularly when we appeared to have scored but the ref deemed the ball not to have crossed the line.

It was shortly before half time when Pete Butler put OFC 3-0 up from the spot following a challenge in the box. Pictures HERE, HERE and HERE.

At half time we were reasonably pleased with our efforts, did the usual “its not all over yet” and went out unchanged in the second half.

The second half continued in the same general manner that the first had ended and we were still the more dominant team and looking for more goals. We were at our best when we moved the ball quickly and simply and as a result we were able to string together 8 or 9 passes at time to set up our attacks.

It didn’t take very long for OFC to make the score 4-0 in our favour. Again it was good work down the right hand side that lead to the goal. I am not entirely sure, but I think it was Baynezy who put the ball through for Jordy leaving just the keeper to beat. There are times in games when you need the chance to fall to the right man, and if there’s a man in our team that you want a chance to fall to, its Jordy – he’s simply the best. Having collected the ball Jordy drove in the box from the right hand side. The keeper came out to narrow the angle, but Jordy had already picked his spot and was never going to miss once the trigger had been pulled. With an icy calmness, Jordy slotted the ball home and it was 4-0 OFC.

At 4-0 up we made a change. Simon McCormack came on to the pitch for Jamie N up front to play his first game for OFC and his impact was instant, getting on the end of a Butler cross to make it 5-0 with his first touch of the game.

We were still shaking each others hands in the Windlesham half when the referee allowed them to restart the game. It was one of those moments that was controversial, bizarre and brilliant. Instead of the usual procedure of both sides lining up again and 2 players doing the usual style of kick off, Windlesham simply ran up took a shot from the centre spot, lobbed Will who had barely touched the ball all game and scored!! We were understandably upset about this, but you have to admire the ingenuity of the goal. 5-1.

Following the restart we had more chances to score which we didn’t make the most of and the referee again courted controversy by allowing play to continue when it looked like the ball had gone over the line for an OFC goal.

The last 20 minutes from our perspective were pretty poor. We were clearly over confident, lost our concentration and lost our way completely for the last 20 minutes. Too often we dithered on the ball and didn’t move it with the pace urgency and fluidity of the rest of the game and subsequently our threat in front of goal diminished and we allowed Windlesham to have easily their best passage of play in the game.

Overall it was a good performance from Oatlands, it was also a good result, but experience tells us that Windlesham were a very weak side on the day and probably made us look better than we are. On the pitch there were some excellent displays particularly from the new boys and it was nice to see new lads Jamie B, Jamie N and Simon all getting among the goals. Elsewhere on the pitch there were a lot of other players who played very well including Jordy who was playing his 50 th game for Oatlands. In the end it was Moo who took the man of the match award for a superb all action display in which he played in centre midfield, then went in to centre back and then back into centre midfield. Very rarely did he give the ball away and rarely did he lose a challenge all day.

Despite the good result, there are still areas where we need to improve. Despite Phil saying this just about every time he coaches the team, there is still a tendency to just scream our names at other players without any sort indication where we might be on the pitch and we still insist on keeping the ball for too long when simple options are available.

Next up is a home fixture against Elstead who have come up from D3 and will no doubt provide a stern test for us.

A big thanks to all those that made it to Windlesham to show their support