SAM A ..JOHN...2-GUN...FRASER...DOM...STEVE C...POD...TED...ELLIOT...JARV,,,JORDIE...HARPS...ANDREW...IAN

Last week the mighty OFC managed to grab their first point of the year after we came back from 2-0 down and should have gone on to win. This week another opportunity for 3 points presented itself in the form of Lightwater Utd, who are familiar opposition and a team that over the years we have just about gained the upper hand on.

This week's team needed some serious re-jigging as a result of extensive unavailability which included Ross, Sam C, Jack, Sonny, Pete B, Jim Beckram, Rob Hunter, Mike and Gravy. Regardless of the unavailability, we were still able to field a strong squad that included 3 subs.

This week's team; Sam in goal. John. Fraser, 2-Gun and Dom at the back. Elliot, Pod, Ted and Steve C in midfield. Jordy and Jarv up front. Andrew, Ian and Harps were on the bench.

Overnight rain meant the Abbeylands pitch was nicely suited for a game of slick passing. But right from the kick off, it seemed unlikely that a slick passing game would be what we would be getting.

The opening exchanges in the game were not pretty to watch and consisted mainly of the ball being hoofed around in equal measure by both teams. That said, we looked pretty solid at the back and it was good to see 2-Gun playing his first game of the season and adding some extra muscle to the back line. At the back on the left hand side, the defence were joined by another 2007/8 debutant, John Macaulay.

During the fist 10 minutes of the game, both teams failed to carve out any sort of opportunity and it was a battle that was mainly fought in the midfield area, where there was few passes strung together by either team.

This week we managed to hold on for about 20 minutes, but for the fourth game in a row this year it was the opposition that scored first. As a result of a bit of a melee in the OFC penalty area, the ball flicked up and struck an OFC arm and the referee pointed straight to the spot. The resulting penalty was well save by Sam, but we reacted too slowly to give Sam's save the reward it deserved and a Lightwater player was first on the scene to tuck away the loose ball. 0-1 Lightwater.

Despite going a goal down, we rallied well. In the centre of midfield, Pod who was captain for the day led by example and was probably the first player on the team to show some real composure on the ball and used possession well. Alongside Pod this week was Ted Smith, Ted had a very strong debut last week in central defence, but with his pace and energy he seemed like the right choice to put in the centre to act as a foil for Pod's more Jan Molby style of football.

The combination seemed to be working well and as a result Pod picking up the ball in midfield and with a bit of time and space he unleashed an absolute beauty of a shot that seemed destined for the top corner. Almost unbelievably, the Lightwater keeper made an amazing save, diving at full stretch to tip the ball away.

From about halfway through the first half we looked in control and Sam was rarely troubled in our goal, we did however need to create a few more chances in front of goal and we needed Jarv and Jordy to make the ball stick a bit more often. Despite the fact that our strike force was failing to trouble the keeper, they did do a job of trying to intimidate the Lightwater back line and it looked like it was only a matter of time before Jarv would find himself in the book.

We finally got our first real sight on goal in the 35 minute of the game. Elliot, who had quite a quiet game up to that point, put in a great cross from the left which was touched on by Steve C in the 18 yard box. Jordy was a the right place at the right time and even though he fell over and made a total hash of the finish, it deceived the keeper enough to dribble into the net. 1-1.

The game continued to be a messy affair up until half time, but with the OFC midfield generally on top we looked the more likely to score and 5 minutes before half time we nearly did, this time Ted was desperately unlucky not to score after the crossbar denied him from a tight angle.

We were obviously feeling quite good about our prospects in the second half as the half time chat consisted more of throwing water at each other, than discussing what we needed to do differently. Use the width and hold the ball up more were generally the only things we needed to change in the second half.

Almost from the start of the second half we looked the stronger team and quickly pushed Lightwater on to the back foot. But it was Jarv who was involved in the first notable incident of the second half. Having spent the first 55 minutes of the game manoeuvring round like an angry tank in a Devonshire village Jarv finally let his frustration get the better of him and a late challenge saw the ref brandish a yellow card that was normally reserved for Djimi.

As an attacking force we looked much stronger in the second half, Steve and Ted controlled the midfield well and won an increasing amount of first and second balls and used possession well. At the back, John making his debut was having a great game and made numerous important interceptions and rarely gave the ball away. Also at the back, but playing his first game of the season was 2-Gun, a five year OFC veteran and it was good to see him back in the team as he is almost as effective going forward as he is in a defensive capacity.

We should have taken the lead in the 55 th minute. A perfectly weighted ball from the centre of midfield split the Lightwater full and centre back and Jordy was clean through. Again more good goal keeping kept the scores level.

Jarv also came very close to putting us in the lead after great work down the right saw Steve Clarke put in a great cross. Jarv hit it first time and again it looked like we would have to be patient as we were again denied.

After picking up his earlier yellow card, it was decided that we would make our first change; Jarv who was certainly playing out of position for the day was replaced by OFC's grizzliest squad member, Chris Harper.

It was good to see that despite having spent the previous 2 and half weeks in France and doing the local cuisine circuit Chris had an immediate effect on the game and added a serious aerial threat up front and introduced himself to the game with some great first time passes.

The break though came with 65 minutes gone. Our pressure had forced a succession of corners from the right and after the corner was partially cleared, the ball was played out wide to Els who was still waiting by the byline. Another superbly flighted Elliot cross into the penalty spot was met by Fraser who headed towards the corner of the net. Despite getting a touch on it from a Lightwater defender it was not enough to prevent the ball finding the back of the back of the net. 2-1 OFC and the first time we have had the lead this year.

We continued to dominate the game after taking the lead and although rarely called into action in the second half, Sam did a great job in goal and apart from the annoyed grunts after kicking the ball out of play, he looked like a safe pair of hands at the back.

Out on the right hand side, Steve C worked extremely hard all game, but didn't get the rewards his efforts deserved and was afforded little space by the Lightwater left back. We decided to go for another change with 15 minutes left and Ian Parr was given his long awaited debut on the right hand side of midfield.

Jordy, who also worked tirelessly all game up front and played despite an injury was also given a rest, this was a decision speeded up after taking a pretty serious bash on the head after challenging a defender for a header. In his place went Andrew Ellis who has been sidelined in recent weeks with an injury picked up against Abbey Rangers.

Upon entering the theatre of conflict, the first touch Andrew had was to score in the 82 nd minute of the game. We won possession on the right hand side and threw the ball into the penalty area. Harps rose like some form of grey and angry salmon and flicked it on. Andrew was in the right place at the right time and bundled the ball in to make the points secure and get his first ever OFC goal. 3-1.

With 5 minutes to go, Elliot took a blow to the ribs and was forced off the pitch, unfortunately with our load spent in terms of substitutes and were forced to see out the game with 10 men.

The referee, who is definitely one of the best in the league and had a superb game in charge, bought the game to a close and we had bagged our first win of the year.

Overall it was a good performance by an Oatlands side that was made up of many players who were in unfamiliar positions, it certainly wasn't a classic and our football against Weysiders and Shottermill was much better to watch, but the result is the most important thing and we grabbed all three points at the end and everyone played their part.

Please ensure that you are at training this Thursday, as mentioned earlier we were forced to play a number of players out of position due to unavailability this week, but it is extremely likely that there will be much greater availability this week and Phil will have some tough choices to make in terms of selection.

Next week we have Mychett Rangers at home and those that played last season will know that this is another good opportunity to register more points. From the few games that we have played this season it does look like the league may be slightly weaker than last year and therefore we need to ensure that we don't make silly mistakes if we want to try and press for promotion again at the end of the year.

A big thanks to all those that came down and gave their support to the team on Saturday, we're at home again next week and hope to see you again then.

On another note, Furno and I are arranging a trip to the dogs on the last Saturday in October. More details will be made available soon, but anyone who's interested needs to let me or Furno know in case we need to make transport arrangements.