Wanstead Flats. Saturday 5 January 2008
This week Tollington Park were looking to continue their two-game unbeaten record. The Oranges have won only 3 games this season, and with 12 games to go, they clearly wanted to make this game count.
TPFC fielded an impressive team, with Daniel Spinola and Nathaniel Field returning to mid-field, and the call-up of the workhorse that is Tim Collier. Cranbrook FC's fate seemed sealed as they faced a squad of 13 against their meagre 8.
After captain David Hambridge won the toss, the Oranges had obviously listened to the rousing team talk by coach Nick Speroni. The ball found its way to Andy Owen who provided one of his magnificent long-range balls to Calvin who, with a cool head, slotted home to put the boys up 1-0 within 30 seconds.
Cranbrook were clearly riled by the first minute goal and pressed hard for an opener. This came from an impressive cross from their right wing which was met by an equally impressive volley from their striker. Were the Oranges going to see a repeat of the frustrating 5-0 win over Harmony FC?
A frustrating period then ensued with over 29 off-sides from the TPFC strikers, but perhaps this was indicative of the newly-found insatiable desire to win!
It seemed that at last 'Two Code' Andy Owen's boot had a place in this foreign game of football, as his long-range 'passes' found Ferris more than once, for him to chase around the stumbling Cranbrook defence and score two cleverly worked goals.
At the half-time whistle it was the turn of Nathaniel 'Phileas Phog' Field and Dwayne Mitchell to join the field. Nathaniel made his presence known as he scored two wonderful goals, with Dwayne doing a sterling job in mid-field. It was then the turn of Daniel Spinol
a and Eddie Campbell to open their accounts with two impressive goals to their names.Perhaps the most heart-warming goal of the season came from a father-son one-two, which helped Ferris put away a convincing goal to complete his hat-trick.
With 8 goals under the Oranges belt, Steve 'Maverick' Speroni lived up to his name and begged to come out of goal into the open field. Nick Speroni graciously accepted this momentous swap and Steve was able to use his strength to hold the Tollington line. At one point Steve took out two players with a thundering sliding tackle, one of the players being Andy Owen! Question is
, did he go-in head first?!Not happy with the score line, Ferris then jinked and span past the Cranbrook defence once more, to bring his game tally to 4, and to put the icing onto the fourth win of the season.
TPFC are 5th from bottom but with a behavioural average of 9.58 (the highest average), and the same goal tally as Walthamstow Parish who are 5th from top, the Oranges are beginning to impress.
This Saturday is a must-win game for the Oranges, and an opportunity to increase their already impressive goal tally of 27. Ecclesia are bottom of the table, having lost all 12
games. Surprisingly however, they have managed to score 18 goals, so the Oranges must be careful not to concede.Man of the Match: Ferris Lindsey after finding his scoring form at last!
Goals:
Calvin 1
Daniel Spinola 1
Eddie Campbell 1
Nathaniel Field 2
Ferris Lindsey 4
Photographer - Linda
Supporters: Natalie, Keziah, Sonia, Naomi
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