OFC Match Report

In January 2002 newly formed Oatlands FC trudged of the pitch in Ottershaw having suffered their heaviest ever defeat against established Premier division outfit Addlestone Town. We lost 13-3 and quite frankly it was a total shambles.

September 2005 and we went out to face our demons against a recently reformed Addlestone Town who are flying high in the league and turned up no doubt expecting to increase their goal difference at the top of the league. However in the past three years quite a lot of changes have occurred at Oatlands and apart from Jim and Jarv there were no other survivors from that day in 2002.

As per usual plenty of changes through the side as Oatlands continue to suffer from injuries and absences but despite the fact that Watson, Rob Hunter and Newlook were not available, Jack, Nigel and No Standards came in. Unfortunately we are still waiting for Alejandro, Peewee, Furno, Pod, Sus and Chris to come back.

This weeks starting 11. T-Bone in goal, Pippy, Nige, Sam and Jarv across the back. Barry, Jack, Goulash and Dave in midfield and Djimi and Ozzy up front. No Standards, Dom and Rob on the bench.

The game kicked off early due to both teams turning up early and despite pre match pleasantries with those we know on the opposition side it was down to business straight away as the game kicked off with the sort of ferocious pace and physicality that would set the tone for the next 90 minutes.

Sadly despite letters and numerous poor ratings both sides were stuck with undoubtedly the poorest referee in Surrey (these views may not necessarily reflect the views of Oatlands FC!). He's the guy who officiated over the bloodbath against Hambledon, the guy who disallowed a perfectly legitimate goal from Milford and Witley and did a runner after the game and also the same guy who allowed play to continue after a very nasty clash of heads against Lightwater last year. Anyway no point getting upset about it, we would just have to get on and make sure that we got stuck in as hard as the opposition.

Back to the football and as I said the game got off to a ferocious pace, both teams were physical and both teams appeared to have roughly the same game plan –get it out wide and get the crosses in for the strikers.

Despite playing well for the opening ten minutes and holding a good line to catch Addlestone offside on numerous occasions it was the opposition who scored first. A defence splitting pass found their no.9, he squared it across the six yard box and Addlestone scored from six yards. 0-1

Following the goal we didn't look at all out the game and pressed Addlestone hard chasing down everything and causing them a few problems. But that said Addlestone are obviously in my opinion, a Premiership outfit playing in Division1 and they had the edge on possession and pushed us deep into our own half. They might have doubled the lead, but T-Bone successfully stopped a one on one with the striker and Oatlands were able to clear their lines.

20 minutes in and some great interchanging of passes between 16 year old new boy Jack and new Hungarian signing Steve Goulash resulted in Addlestone up ending Goulash in the penalty area. Big Nigel marched up to the opposition penalty box grabbed the ball and made no mistake from 12 yards. 1-1.

Addlestone were clearly rattled by the turn around in events and the game became more physical. Firstly a very late and slightly unnecessary challenge by our corner flag finally prompted the referee to dig out the card. But not before he had cowered out the way and spoke to the linesman about what had happened. (again slightly worrying for someone who is the referee.) Both teams also gave it the so called “large one” and words were exchanged all over the pitch, most in jest but some slightly more serious than that. However it was Addlestone who continued to press our resilient defence. Despite numerous clearances from Nigel and Sam and some crunching tackles from Jarv and Phil, we conceded a corner from yet another great block but this time a ball into the penalty area war zone found an Addestone player at the back post who had just enough time to control it and poke it into the corner from close in. 1-2.

At this point we could have folded, we worked so hard but hadn't really tested the keeper from open play and again we found ourselves behind. But since those dark days of 2002 we have come along way and anything at this level is possible over 90 minutes. Subsequently we ensured that as half time approached the game was a much more even affair that was played in and around the halfway line.

The second half opened at the same hurricane pace with which the first had ended, we took a few minutes to settle down and subsequently found ourselves very much on the back foot. Fortunately Addlestone were unable to capitalize on our slow start and either blazed wide, over or at the OFC keeper.

One of the OFC performances of the day was from new addition Steve Goulash. Every time Steve got the ball at his feet he ripped through the Addlestone midfield with Lightening pace and poise. On numerous occasions it took an Addlestone foul to stop him. Having got off to a slowish start Steve is beginning to look like he will be one of Oatlands most influential players as the season goes on.

Addlestone stretched their lead ten minutes into the second half, having defended numerous corners previously in the game, an Addlestone player finally broke free of a marker and rifled in an unstoppable head from close range. 1-3.

Addlestone should have made it 4-1 a few moments later but Chris Harper made an absolutely heroic block on the edge of the six yard box. Again despite the scoreline and the fact that the game was being played mainly in our half we never looked close to giving and continued to chase down everything and make sure that Addlestone did not have any time on the ball. Our determination soon paid off when in Djimi's words “I received the ball from someone who may have been, I controlled the ball with my right foot while at the same time pushing the defender out of the way. I swiveled just inside the 18 yard box and crisply struck the ball with my left foot into the bottom right hand corner of the net across the goalkeeper. It was textbook!” Others may have seen it a little differently but nonetheless the goal once again drew Addlestone within touching distance.

The referee's performance was summed up shortly afterward when Phil Sweeting cleared the ball out for a throw in our corner, he was caught by a terrible late tackle. Despite the blatent foul the referee declined to give a freekick. Phil was on the floor unable to carry on and it sparked a ruckus between the 2 sets of players. If it wasn't for the common sense of the players things could have got very nasty but the referee took no action at all avoiding the trouble that he was responsible for causing. Had he given a free kick both sides probably would have accepted, bad challenges happen and its part of the game, but the way it was handled was yet again appalling. (Referee if you are reading Phil Sweeting broke his ankle – he won't be playing again this season)

Justice was done when from the throw in, we broke up Addlestone's attack and in a sweeping counter attack Steve and Ozzy combined well, leaving Ozzy to round the keeper and bury it low into the net. 3-3.

As a result of the foul OFC had to soldier on for 10 minutes with just 10 men, while Rob Hunter who was injured for the game and only 50/50 got changed and ready to come on.

Unfortunately while having to reshuffle the pack and play with ten men Oatlands conceded another 2 goals. The first from an attack down our left, leaving an Addlestone striker in a one on one with T-Bone, T-Bone may have done better after getting a hand to it, but the ball found the back of the net and Addlestone found themselves 4-3 up.

Addlestone increased their lead shortly after. A corner was initially cleared by Oatlands, but the ball dropped outside the penalty area to an Addlestone player. We gave him far too much time on the ball and his chip back into the area was flicked past T-Bone. 5-3. Addlestone.

An injured and half cut Rob Hunter came on to the pitch to boost the numbers late on but unfortunately damage already seemed to be done and realistically it looked like their would be no way back for Oatlands. Addlestone eventually ran out 5-3 winners but had injuries not taken their toll on Oatlands we may have nicked a point. Either way I am sure that Addlestone who probably arrived expecting to give Oatlands a thorough kicking, hopefully will have gained a lot more respect for us. As for Addlestone, I would expect to see them back in the Premier League next year.

Overall it was a good display by us against physical but very strong Addlestone outfit. We battled for every single ball and well and truly took the fight to Addlestone. Maybe the result could have been different had the referee not lost control resulting in one of our players getting a broken ankle.

Next week we play fellow strugglers Surrey Athletic. It looks like we are going to put together a make shift back four, but results would seem to suggest despite being one of the best footballing teams of 2003/4 in Division One they are really up against it at the moment and the points will definitely be up for grabs.