GEOFF...2-GUN(1)...STEVEN(3)...STEW...FURNO...HARPS...ELLIOT(1)...HAMISH...MIKE(1)...DOM...ROSS...SAM... ROB...JARV

This week we badly needed to put together a performance to make up for last weeks shocker. The opponents this week were Lightwater, a team that we seem to play every year and but for one occasion we always and without fail draw with.

The build up to the game wasn't perfect as training was poorly attended, but those who did attend were treated to a shooting masterclass from Barry and from Furno and those that came down to help were treated to some light running in the form of ball fetching. Going into the game there was a concern with respect to numbers for the squad but as always we managed to get a team together and were boosted by the inclusion of 3 subs.

It looked as though the game could get called off as there were a couple of puddles on the normal pitch, but the referee allowed the game to go ahead on the slopey less favoured pitch.

A few changes this week. No Boz, Dave, Big Steve or Jordip. But there were returns to the team for Jarv, Ross, Goulash and because we weren't sure how many players we'd have we even asked Furno to play as well. It was nice to see that we joined by our latest addition to the team in the form Hamish, who we hoped would get an opportunity to make his debut. Still in the sick bay are; Djimi, Jack and PeeWee.

This week's team; Geoff, Jarv, Furno, Sam, 2-Gun, Elliot, Goulash, Ross, Mike, Barry and Stew. Hamish, Rob and Dom were on the bench.

We chose to play the first half kicking up the hill and into the wind and sun, all factors that would probably serve as an advantage in the second half.

It was Lightwater who got the game under way and almost scored immediately with a good passing move that cut us open and was only stopped by a superb double save by Geoff.

Lightwater had the better of the opening exchanges, passing the ball round well and being more industrious than us. We spent the early exchanges finding our feet (quite literally) and we were a bit slow out of the blocks all told. The result was some sustained pressure on our goal and if it wasn't for some good defending we might have conceded.

It was against the run of play when we opened the scoring. Goulash and Ross were in the middle of midfield and we wanted to play it so that Steve could have the freedom to run at players and make things happen going forward. It was probably with his first touch of the game that Goulash got the ball in our half and simply ran at the Lightwater midfield and defence carving them open. A pass went out to Mike on the right and the ball was crossed low toward Elliot who was waiting at the back post. With just the keeper to beat Elliot made no mistake and swept the ball home with a superb left footed finish. His first goal for the club, our first of the game and our 15 th different scorer this season. 1-0

The goal gave us the lift that we needed and we spent the next 30 minutes playing some of the best football we have played in a long time and blew Lightwater away.

At the back, crunching tackles from 2-Gun and Jarv made the Lightwater wide players think twice about 50/50's and reduced them to chasing shadows as Elliot and Mike ran riot out wide. In the centre, Sam playing his second consecutive game looked very comfortable and was a superb foil for Furno. Furno was Furno, anything loose or more than a 30% chance of being won would be contested, even if it meant clearing the player as well as the ball.

Out wide Elliot and Mike easily had the beating of their counterparts and the result was numerous tasty crosses that our strikers had an opportunity to latch on to. It was from the left that we scored our second goal. Some slick passing down the left bought Elliot some time to put in a lofted cross, despite having numbers in the box, the ball found its way past our strikers and to the back post where Mike finished from about 2 yards. 2-0 OFC.

In the centre of midfield it was a physical battle at times and because we wanted to try and get Goulash on the ball it meant an afternoon of hard graft for Ross, a task he seemed more than comfortable with. As a result of Ross's hard work Goulash was given time on the ball to run at players and make quick and decisive passes, it also gave him the opportunity to get amongst it in the box.

Our 3 rd goal was again a result of some excellent work down the right; this time Mike from about level with the edge of the penalty area squared the ball to Goulash who had run from deep. A good first touch allowed him to skip the Lightwater challenge and he drove the ball low past the keeper into the net and it was 3-0 after 35 minutes.

Up front Barry and Stew worked bloody hard, a lot what they had to do was not pretty and involved chasing down the ball to force an error out of the Lightwater back line. What both players did extremely well was holding the ball up, moving it back to feet or out wide, allowing us to get numbers forward for our attacks and create genuine chances in front of goal.

As a team, at times we played some majestic sweeping football that used the whole of the pitch and all the players on the pitch. Our passing was decisive, simple and effective and we created chance after chance in front of goal. Lightwater simply couldn't live with us.

As a team were clearly enjoying ourselves and Lightwater became fairly physical in their attempts to stop us and subsequently saw a couple of yellow cards as a result. Particularly amusing was their mouthy no14, a lad with a serious case of little man syndrome.

As half time approached we grew overconfident and began to look for killer passes all over the pitch, the result was far too many long balls and attempts to hit the Beckham 50yard crossfield pass. These were easily cut out by Lightwater and put us on the back foot to often and while we were comfortably in the lead, Lightwater were still a good team who would be more than capable of scoring and getting a foothold in the game if given the chance.

We came in at half time deservedly 3-0 up. In the break Phil let the team know that he was extremely pleased with the opening 30 minutes, but felt we had slacked off slightly in the last 10-15 minutes of the half. Winning the game was absolutely imperative and protecting our lead for the first 10 minutes would be crucial, after that we might be able to get a couple more and put the game beyond doubt. In the second half we needed to get the tempo up and make sure we pressed their midfield and strikers hard without diving in or going to ground.

We had the advantage of the slope, the wind and even the sun in the second half but ultimately securing victory would be down to us and our performance. We started well and focused on winning our battles all over the pitch. We also had the first half chance of the half when Mike contested a bouncing 50/50 with their keeper, the keeper did well to hold it but looked as if he had been injured and was replaced soon after.

Our football was not as polished as it was in the first half, because Lightwater fought for everything and we didn't have as much time on the ball as in the first half. As Lightwater pressed for a goal of their own and committed numbers forward, we found ourselves outnumbering them in our own attacks and had a number of half chances.

It was Harps who nearly opened the scoring in the second half. In training on Thursday despite the best part of 30 minutes practice, Harps couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo from 10 yards, even with keeper missing, but as he has shown this season his specialty is scoring from distance or with style. Harps was desperately unlucky not to score when he was allowed some space 10 yards out from the penalty area and let off an glorious curling effort that rattled the frame of the goal.

The game was a physical affair at times and Lightwater had a few big lads who the likes of Mike and Stew simply bounced off when attempting to win the ball. In spite of this the referee seemed to give all the decisions their way, until we were awarded a penalty 15 minutes into the second half for a foul in the box. Before the referee had even finished blowing his whistle, 2-Gun was already running at top speed, fist clenched in a “yesssss!!” manner to get the ball and take the penalty. OFC's penalty taker placed the ball down and expertly dispatched into the top corner of the net. 4-0.

Lightwater were now a beaten and we could think about making some changes to give players match time. Even with the points in the bag there was no let up in effort and we continued to put in some very hard tackles, the best of which was when a Lightwater player did some stepovers in front of Furno. Imagine a car stuck on a level crossing and getting hit by a train at full speed and you can pretty much picture the tackle that Furno made.

Our 5 th goal was the not the sort of thing you would wish on anyone. We had an attack down the right and the ball was fired toward the keeper who parried the ball to the middle of the six yard box, a Lightwater defender then leathered the ball in to his own net. Very unfortunate for the player concerned but there was a rapturous applause from the 20 plus OFC supporters on the side. 5-0.

Lightwater weren't without their chances and on a number of occasions Geoff was called into action and made some very good saves, diving out at the feet of strikers and stopping some good long range efforts.

With 15 minutes left we made 3 changes; after another solid performance at left back, Jarv was replaced by Dom. Elliot put in an excellent performance, in which he scored and set one up and was rewarded with a rest and was replaced by Hamish who made his debut for the club. Up front Rob replaced Barry who had a great game up front.

Goulash made it 6-0 with 10 minutes left. He ran at the Lightwater defence and despite their best efforts to bring him down, he cut across the box beating 3 players and smashed the ball home. With Lightwater bodies scattered on the floor of the box, Goulash reeled off to celebrate and we were 6-0 up.

With 5 minutes left Lightwater got a consolation goal that they probably deserved. One of their strikers broke free of the back line and despite Geoff's best efforts; the finish was clinical, leaving Geoff with no chance. 6-1.

Our seventh and last goal came from the penalty spot. A Lightwater defender clearly handled the ball in the area, raising a huge collective shout from the touchline and pitch and the referee pointed to the spot. Despite being our usual penalty taker 2-Gun sporting stepped aside to allow Goulash the opportunity to complete his hatrick. Last year at Lightwater, Goulash had his penalty saved but this time round he made no mistake and despite guessing correctly, the keeper couldn't quite get to it and it was 7-1 to Oatlands.

Phil was on the side stroking his peninsula of hair and deep in thought about who would get the donkey t-shirt when the winner presented himself with 2 minutes left. A sweeping counter attack left Lightwater short on numbers at the back and the ball was squared to Mike who had cut in from the right and was in acres of space. With the keeper scrambling across to cover his near post a side footed shot would have made it 8. Instead Mike went for the chipped finish and it went woefully high and wide. The players held their breath on the pitch, hoping that they would all be punished with 10 press ups for what Phil terms as a “gay shot”. The ref bought the game to close shortly after and we had run out as winners.

Overall it was an excellent team performance against a team that was probably stronger than the last 2 teams we have played. The first half was especially good and while the conditions and the pitch were tough, we stroked the ball round quickly and simply and looked like we couldn't get enough of it. By 60 minutes, we had all won our individual battles and pulled together as a team when we were up against it and secured the victory. It was good to see a new face in the form of Hamish, he's at training every week, works very hard and deserved a run out. Sam played superbly at the back and demonstrated that we now have 4-5 very good centre backs in the team. Mike got the man of the match award for his tireless running, but everyone played their part and it could have gone to a number of people.

Next week we have Staines Lammas away, this one is a proper 6 pointer and a victory of any sort will see us leap frog them in the table with a game in hand. This will be a tough one, last time out we were stronger in the first half but a very poor second half cost us dearly and we conceded 5 goals. If we are to stand any chance of promotion we have to win that game because the following week it will probably get even tougher when we play unbeaten Border and Heath End Sports. Please make every effort to get to training this week and let Phil or Jim know if you're available as early as possible so we can prepare for this game.

A massive thanks to the great numbers that came down to support us this Saturday, it undoubtedly lifts the team when there are so many on the side. Next week we are away in Staines (a short trip from Oatlands Village ) so please come down and cheers us on.