Ecclesia 1 v 2 TPBC FC
TPFC fired a warning shot to the big guns of the NELECL with a win on their first league outing. David Hambridge hit the winner in the first half, gleefully lashing home a long ball assist from Andrew “Two Codes” Owen. However, the result could have gone either way, and things were not made any easier for the newcomers with a penalty miss halfway through the second half.
The Oranges took to the field with a mixture of youth and experience, and the downright old. Eddie "The Enforcer" Campbell, prowling just in front of the back four, and clearly only half way through preparing for next day’s sermon, sinned often in the hope, no doubt, that grace would abound.The Oranges first went ahead through a Moses “The Goat” Balogun two yard tap-in after good work from Dwayne on the left. It was clearly more than The Goat was used to, with personal goal celebrations exceeding those of the crowd.
The game plan was for a “solid” 4-5-1 formation. Soon, however, it appeared to be 4-1-5 with large gaps appearing between midfield and defence. Ekklesia posed a continual threat down their left, with Lee "The Director" Blakemore at right back kept busy for long periods. The back four tried to enforce an offside trap, though with mixed success. John Helm, carrying a groin injury picked up during the pre match warm up, hobbled from one header to the next. Ecclesia, however, suffered from much indecisiveness in front of goal, last-ditch blood-spilling where’s-the-support defending from Ian Howard - and at times a bobbly pitch. But there were several very close calls. Even moderately better opposition will not be so generous.
Calvin Lindsay, manfully volunteering to keep goal in the first half, and pulling off some fine saves, conceded an indirect free kick from 12 yards out, as he tried to invoke pre 90’s back pass rules. However, the free kick came to nothing, being ably dealt with by The Goat, standing just 4 yards from the dead ball. Appeals that the requisitie 10 yards had not been respected were waved away. Earlier, the TP stand in keeper had been fortunate to escape a strong appeal for a penalty, when a challenge inside the area at the feet of a forward left the forward sprawling. There were also one or two occasions when unguarded nets posed invitations to shoot from long range, but again to no avail as the efforts went high or wide.
So it was no surprise when Ecclesia did eventually break through to draw level. It was a first real test of the Oranges’ team spirit. But it was tested only briefly. Step forward Dave Hambridge. Dave had hit the bar with a sweetly struck volley in the pre-match warm up and, whilst some of us thought that that was as good as it was going to get, the good form continued and he was in the right place at the right time to hit the winner.
In the second half, Ecclesia were kept away from the TP goal, with the versatile David, replacing Calvin, having relatively little to do. There was greater excitement at the other end where Calvin’s pace down the right began to make inroads into Ecclesia territory and trouble their defence. A great corner from Nick Speroni saw the ball diverted towards the goal with the goalkeeper well beaten. A desperate hand shot out to stop the ball from nestling in the back of the net. A clear penalty – and a clear sending off offence. Two Codes appealed for a penalty try but was swiftly reminded that he had in fact recently switched codes. A yellow card followed, but it should clearly have been a red. Dwayne Mitchell struck the resulting penalty kick firmly but it was ably and perhaps surprisingly saved by the keeper who’s handling had not been the best up until that point.
It was nevertheless a welcome relief to hear the sweet sound of the final whistle! There were three cheers for Ecclesiastes at the end. A pity, then, that they were in fact Ecclesia. Never mind!
There were one or two ugly moments, especially when Two Codes was pursued by a mountain of a chap who tried to break his legs from behind in an off-the-ball incident. However, Andrew handled it admirably.
Dan “Smokey” Spinola had an energetic game, eager for the ball and eager in the tackle. He was named man of the match.
Samuel “Lisa” Balogun put in some late training before the game, and so rule xx.xx was invoked for the first time, with Samuel missing the first half and the team photo. Moses turned up without a kit believing that “No Pay No Play” was the club’s motto. As those who are better informed know, it is Hortatio Semper.
The general play was shambolic. There were few, if any, sequences of passing lasting more than 3 passes. The team pushed hard for the record for foul throws in one game. If the Oranges wishes to go further, they need to start getting the basics right. This was far from the beautiful game!
Stats
Team: John Helm, Ian Howard, Nick Speroni, Moses Balogun (Samuel Balogun 60), Lee Blakemore, Eddie Campbell, Daniel Spinola, David Hambridge, Calvin Lindsay, Dwayne Mitchell, Andrew Owen
Scorers: Moses Balogun, David Hambridge
Attendance: 4 (Samuel, Natalie, Keziah & Sonia)
Weather: overcast, light breeze. 22 degrees. Perfect.
Pitch: hard underfoot, but taking stud, just.
Writer: John
