GEOFF...HARPS(2)...JARV...ROBH...PEEWEE...JIM B(1)...DOM...2-GUN...FURNO...JACK(1)...DAVE E...NIGEL...STU...JORDIE(1)

After a long summer break it was back to competitive action for OFC. Prior to the game everyone knew just how critical it would be to get off to a good start as every season in our brief history has been spent chasing the pack after a bad start. Injury to Pod and a holiday for Mike meant a new look central midfield for this game and Peewee was joined by OFC's grizzly centre back, Barry Harps. It was also great to see returns to the starting 11 for Nigel and Jordy and we welcomed 16 year old Geoff Smith playing his first game for the club in goal.

This week's team. Geoff in goal. Nigel, 2-Gun, Furno and Jarv at the back. Jack and Djimi on the wings and Peewee and Harps in the centre. Jordy and Stu up front. Dave, Dom, PC Piss, Rob and Sam on the bench.

I have only been down to limited amount of training sessions this year but there seemed to be a very good vibe going around and watching the players in training and at the Oatlands Cup, the team do look to have collectively raised their game and were looking sharp going into this one.

This week's opposition were Mychett Rangers, a team that we have not played before and a team that were previously called Dynamo Hindhead. Also present with the Mychett team were the League Secretary and the League Fixtures Secretary, so it would have to be best behaviour for today's fixture.

We kicked the game off and started a bit nervously, but once the nerves settled we began to play some nice football which even involved passing the ball to each other. Despite being physically smaller than the opposition, we seemed to be the more aggressive team and subsequently we were the more dominant team in the opening exchanges. Our dominance paid dividends after 5 minutes, when Djimi buried the ball in the roof of the net following a cross from the right hand side. Alejandro made the point that 1 yard further out and it probably would have gone over. 1-0 OFC.

The first goal seemed to give us confidence and we kicked on from the restart, playing some very nice football. The combination of PeeWee and Harper in the middle of midfield looked very strong. Harper won just about everything in the air, looked extremely composed on the ball and played numerous simple passes to ensure that we retained possession. PeeWee was a constant thorn in the side of the Mychett players and on numerous he intercepted the opposition's passes or nipped in front of a Mychett player to get the ball.

One nil very quickly became 2-0 when Jack used his speed to break down the right leaving the opposition for dead. He broke in to the penalty area and drilled a low shot that clipped the post before going in. 2-0 and there were wild celebrations and anticipation of victory on the touchline.

From the touchline we clearly looked the stronger team and were definitely worthy of our 2-0 lead but Mychett did create chances of their own but far too often they found Tim Furnival in the way and or their shots were from distance and easily seen away by Geoff.

15 minutes into the game the referee judged that an Oatlands player had handled the ball in the area following a goal mouth scramble that involved OFC bodies littered around the 6 yard box. Sadly for Mychett the penalty taker put the spot kick high and wide and OFC were off the hook.

Djimi might have made it 3-0 shortly after, when he turned sharply in the box and let off a quick shot, the Mychett keeper made an excellent save to keep the game at 2-0. However Oatlands did make it 3-0 after 25 minutes when an excellent move consisting of 6-7 quick passes culminated in the ball being squared across the box. Jordy made no mistake and finished decisively from 12 yards. It was a great reward for Jordy who has been out for a year with a broken knee cap.

By this point in the game everyone in the team was playing well. At the back we looked solid and on numerous occasions Jarv and 2-Gun were able to move into attacking positions and put in crosses. In the midfield Harps and Peewee were dominant and out wide Jack and Djimi were both having good games. In fact, Djimi was playing so well that he was even winning headers. Up front Stu chased absolutely everything down like a man possessed and forced the opposition defence into either rushed clearances or the loss of possession.

Our fourth goal was already a contender for goal of the season. Chris Harper, a man who's usually found in the heart of the OFC had been given a central midfield role and been given licence to go forward. Following a corner, the ball was semi cleared by Mychett, but only as far as Harps who was just outside the box. With his back to goal he controlled the ball with his chest, span on a fifty pence piece and sent a superb looping shot toward goal. It initially looked like it might go over but the contact was such that it looped in superbly over the despairing keeper's hand. 4-0.

At 4-0 up we took our foot off the gas and seemed to let our advantage go to our heads, this despite not even having played half the game. Subsequently Mychett got more into the game had a few efforts before half time; fortunately for us they were mainly from distance and wide of the mark.

At half time there wasn't really much to say except that we needed to ensure that they didn't score in the second half and it would be a bonus if we scored some more goals. Jordy was replaced by Rob Hunter up front due to a blistered foot.

The second half was halted almost immediately after it had started when Djimi made a horrendously late challenge on the opposing right back. He got a yellow card and the right back couldn't continue.

When the game got going again the pattern of the end of the first half resumed and we began playing ugly and at times nervous football. Subsequently we got caught in possession too many times in our own half, hoofed it long to our strikers and we were second to many headers and loose balls. However Jarv, Nigel, Furno and 2-Gun were all in excellent form at the back and the main threat came from set pieces.

We were forced to make a substitution due to injury midway through the second half. Stu, who had chased down just about everything all through the game twisted his ankle and had been unable to run it off. He was replaced by Dave Ewan who went to left mid and Djimi went up front with Rob.

We had looked a bit jaded at the beginning of the second half but with 20 minutes to go we found our second wind. Our midfield had been excellent throughout the game, but what was especially encouraging to see, was the way that our midfield were back very quickly in numbers when the opposition broke into our penalty box and then the same four midfielders were in the opposition box in few seconds later when we broke quickly. This huge effort was rewarded with 10 minutes of the game left. OFC broke from there own penalty area and shifted the ball out to our right. Jack then bombed down the right took on 2 players and rolled the ball across the box to three OFC players who were lying in wait. On this occasion it was Harps at the back post that was left with the simple task of rolling the ball in to the bottom corner to score his second and our fifth. 5-0.

With the game safely wrapped up we made our third and final substitution and Chris Harper got a well deserved rest after a man of the match performance in which he worked incredibly hard, bagged a couple of goals and even found some time to strut around after some classy touches. In his place came Dom and 2-Gun went into centre midfield.

Mychett were now a beaten team and the last ten minutes of the game saw Oatlands create a string of chances that included a superb air shot for 2-Gun and a volley that went just over from Rob Hunter. We closed the game out well and were worthy winners.

Overall it was a good performance and exactly the sort of start to the season that we needed. For the first 40 minutes and the last 15-20 minutes we were very good but there was a period in the middle of the game where were too sluggish and reverted to hoofing the ball and conceding possession too cheaply, but this was outweighed by the fact that everyone played their part in the victory and our team spirit and approach to this game were excellent.

Next week we face Lightwater United in an away fixture. Our games against Lightwater have always been tight affairs that get decided by a single goal, so nothing less than an exceptional performance will be good enough if we want to win this one. We always seem to get good support at this fixture, probably because of the bar facilities, so it would be great to see good numbers down there again.

Big thank you to the 25+ OFC supporters who came down to cheer the boys on, your support is always appreciated and we hope to see you all next week and give you more reasons to cheer.