Warra Win Dat Was Den
GPR 5 AFC Heathrow Reserves 3
A new year dawns but some things never change. Among those that did, long standing secretary and registration aficionado Marcus finally braved a Middlesex County Sunday League start and helped the Salads to victory with an emphatic brace to begin the 2024 campaign with all three points. It was hard fought though, against a Heathrow team that have recruited well and brought in some star talent that will definitely bolster their second half of the season.
We got off to a racing start in the frost, going 3-0 up within the first 15 minutes. Oli’s outswinging delivery led to a scuffle in the box, but Jeff had the last word from close range to continue his incredible scoring record for the club. Minutes later, a cross from deep by Heathrow was caught by Greg, who pinged the ball to Yannick. Yann turned and sprayed the ball down the line to Jeff, who glided half the length of the pitch before floating a cross to Marcus, who was in stride to flick a delicious header into the top corner. We’ve scored some great goals this year, but this one was a really professional effort from all players involved, one that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Prem. Our fortunes with the long ball continued into the first half, and when a searching pass lobbed into the opposition’s half, Marcus broke from the defender and slotted the ball into the corner.
We were looking excellent value for the lead and we’re comfortably on top. Despite this, some of Heathrow’s new players developed into the game, and midway through the first half their winger picked up the ball in space and used some lightning quick feet to dance past the defence before squaring the ball to their striker. Shortly after, their defender rose tall from a corner ball to bring the game back within one score at 3-2. We were still firing off shots and several went agonisingly close; Marcus in particular will be ruing his injury time effort, which was blocked onto the bar. Their keeper made a few additional stops that kept things close and the game firmly competitive, including a brilliant tipped effort onto the post following a counter-attack. The feeling at half time was palpable: that we should have been in control. But the confidence and belief was there, and we had the quality to secure the W.
Now, throughout the first half, the game had been somewhat simmering. A few robust challenges and choices words hadn’t gone unnoticed by either side and some players had been getting a wee bit absolutely furious. The next hour and a bit was vintage Sunday League as the game stopped several times and the ref threatened to abandon the game on more than one occasion. Amidst this, a darting run from Rory down the touchline found Jack T in space, and his deflected shot-cum-pass-cum-something trickled into the net to restore the cushion. It wasn’t long, however, before a hopeful effort from distance bounced up in a sandy penalty box, and the parried save was followed up by Heathrow’s nippy striker to bring the game back to one goal. In trying to recover the ball, goalie Greg was knocked on the back of the head, and had to leave the field for concussion treatment. This took things to a boil and after about 15 minutes the game was continued under the proviso that there were no more incidents or the game would be called off. During this, we were having a chat with their keeper on the touchline and a hopeful hit from the KO found Jeff for an easy tap in. This set off yet another incident. Fortunately, the game wasn’t abandoned and the goal was chalked off on moral values, something we never thought we’d be in a position to accept.
But the boys rallied brilliantly, shutting down the few attacks Heathrow mustered in the closing minutes. With our heads firmly focused on victory, Jeff latched onto a defence-splitting ball and knocked it past the goalie to kill the game and secured all three points. It was a raucous, dramatic second half that took ages to close, but we defended our lead well and dug deep when it mattered most. We have a break from the league next week, so it’s time to regroup and time for me to get back to taking more money off Alan - who made some fantastic blocks throughout the game - for his woeful NFL playoff predictions…
MOTM 🤌 = Marcus’ return to football went so well we decided to give him the nod this week, but Jeff’s brace was a reminder of his talent. There was plenty of midfield rotation this week and injuries forced a few makeshift changes that the lads embraced well. This weekend was a real team win, love to everyone.
DOTD 💀 = It could have gone to either Potter but it has to be Matty for not setting the correct alarm, unbelievable! Greg gave us all a scare but I’m just glad he’s okay now and on the mend. And we can’t go without mentioning Phizz’s pirouette as he was turned inside out by the opposing striker - one of the highlights of the season. He’s still recovering, physically and psychologically.
