February 2010 Match Reports

Sunday 14th February 2010

League, Ashburton Playing Fields

Carlton United 5 - 0 Banter Central FC

Team: Wuker; Doc, Vidic, Tino, Cling (J-Dot, 75 mins); Ridders (Brownie, 60 mins), Wilkes, Hughes, Baird; Adkins, Wommy

Having lost to Maple Tree the week previous, this game was seen as a ‘must not lose’. Without scoring or mustering many chances at all in the second half, it didn’t quite go to plan.

Without a referee, it was agreed that both teams would volunteer somebody to do a half each. Carlton’s man went first and though a little shy with the whistle – usually preferring to shout – we thank him for the job he did.

The contest began reasonably evenly, though Carlton were creating more of the half chances as they played the ball around the edge of the away sides penalty area with too much ease. Banter retained possession reasonably well and used Baird down the left wing as much as possible, where he was excellent at beating his man and finding a cross into the box. He combined well with Wommy when he took the ball from Baird and then gave a return into the area, but his shot cleared the crossbar by a fraction, much to the away side’s frustration.

Carlton opened the scoring when a through ball was misplaced and rolled to Cling at left back, a routine control turned into a nightmare as it bounced and rolled under the #7’s foot, into the path of the home side’s right winger, where he took it on and fired the ball over Wuker’s head and into the roof of the net to make it 1-0. It was a killer blow, though Banter seemed to respond well enough and still created a few decent half chances soon after, seeing almost all of the ball. Adkins hit numerous attempts on target from the edge of the penalty area and Tino had a header clear the crossbar from a Cling corner on the left. A couple of shouts for handball were waved away in Carlton’s penalty area, whilst Ridley had a direct free kick saved and Hughesdog a shot deflecting away for a corner after an excellent run through midfield.

But Carlton soon doubled their lead as Banter paid for not clearing their lines, not reacting quickly enough and ultimately being unorganised and sloppy. Carlton had put the away side under plenty of pressure and Banter had struggled to clear their lines too often. A free kick was given away down Carlton’s left wing and was eventually swung in at Wuker, who spilled the initial shot and although he took a swing at clearing it the second time, one of two Carlton players smashed it in on the rebound to make it 2-0.

There was reasonable confidence that, with some effort and desire, there could still be something salvaged from the game in the second half. Two goals in 45 minutes is certainly not beyond the white and blues, but on this day it might’ve taken all afternoon to find one.

He might not have pulled on a shirt since last March, but Rob ‘Fintan’ Stewart took to the pitch as the second half referee. “If I have to give a penalty against you lot it’ll be one of the worst days of my life”, was just one sample quote as everyone took to the field. Within a couple of minutes though, he did. An awful breakdown in communication down the left saw Carlton’s winger somehow storm through about three players, onside and as he raced into the area Wilkes got back to catch him, slid in taking man and ball. He certainly played the ball, but he most definitely played the man. Carlton applauded Rob’s honesty as their centre-back came forward and calmly tucked it into the bottom right corner. 3-0.

A forth followed soon after, a goal which looked offside but with Brownie as linesman he had no reason to lie unless Rob had promised him a cut of his referee fee. Brownie’s honesty then prompted his introduction, in place of Ridders. He went on up front as Banter moved to a 3-4-3, with Cling moving to right midfield. The change in system didn’t help, Baird was starved of possession and whilst Adkins had some decent touches and held play up well, he had little to look for too often. Wommy was a shadow of his normal self throughout and Brownie was rarely serviced in the half hour that he played – though some neat skill down the left did see him play a decent cross into the box before it was cleared.

Carlton won a corner with around 20 minutes remaining and as Banter got it clear the first time it wasn’t cleared a second, the ball came back into the area and with Baird playing everyone onside having been on the post, the Carlton midfielder simply hooked the ball in for a tap in to make it 5-0.

Jon Stewart replaced Cling with 15 minutes remaining and though his introduction arguably should have been sooner, it was impossible for him to make any impact whatsoever as the stuffing had been well and truly knocked out of almost everyone by that point. 5-0 was the final scoreline.

Man of the match: Edd Adkins. He was chuckled at before kick off but if only a few more were close to him for effort or productivity. A good display in a deep forward role, probably unlucky not to get himself on the scoresheet, too.

A rather disappointing result and performance from a Banter perspective. Has it all but ended any chance there ever was of a league title? Not mathematically, but realistically it could well have killed it off. That said, we’re still only halfway through the league campaign with a possible 24 more points to be collected. So on the positive, given that we’ve traveled to Portland, Maple Tree and Kurdish, plus played Carlton twice, it isn’t all bad so long as we remain more consistent. We can get ourselves into the top three if we fight for it.

But consistency is our problem. A 5-0 loss to a side we’d beaten 7-3 a fortnight earlier is a sorry story. Not scoring a goal is also very weak. When we’re good, we are good. But sometimes we turn up completely switched off and we’re easily beaten and deflated. We were mentally drained as well, in some cases, physically due to the previous evenings shenanigans. Boma saved face and didn’t even bother to show up, but then by all accounts he was a dribbling buffoon on the way home so it’s hardly surprising.

There are few actual problems with our team as a whole, despite results like this. Just on different days its different stories and outcomes. All we can do is put a couple of disappointing results behind us and get back to winning ways and make sure we enjoy and get the most out of our next game and beyond. Kurdish next of course, who since their first game of the season against us have made quite a turn around…

A couple of quick points…

Can we make an effort to have a drink at Trenham Drive after our matches, all of us, please? Have a coke if you have to. Have a rum and coke if you’re adventurous. Have a pina colada if you’re really feeling up for it. I don’t actually know if they do pina colada’s, I was just saying it. You can have many things. I know I keep saying it, but the point is I think we need to make a contribution and be seen to be doing good for the clubhouse. They hosted a money raising “stag” night there and we didn’t attend, which doesn’t look good on us. If and when they come to decide who should play at Trenham Drive in 2010/11 and they see we’ve not contributed much, they have no reason to keep us there, that’s all. Which would be a big shame.

A few thank-you’s as well, if I may. Thanks to Doc for organising the team in my absence, against Maple Tree. Also to Wuker for carting around all my gear – football, cones, bibs, cards etc. A thank-you to Wilkes and Vidic for doing the match report as well, lovely entertainment there, Lloyd sounds excellent. Big, big thanks to Rob for refereeing too. It takes balls to volunteer and do it in the first place, but to award a penalty against your own team? That’s one we won’t forget too quickly.

Sunday 7th February 2010
League, Purley Way 23

Maple Tree 3 - 1 Banter Central FC
  Hughes

 Team: Wuker, Boma, Vidic, Doc, J-Dot, Ridders, Hughes, Wilkes, Baird, Brown, Wommy

It’s always nice for a referee to look the part even if it is just Sunday League football. For this game our referee, Lloyd, certainly did. As he introduced himself before the game he told us he was raring to go and had been spending the last 8 months brushing up his knowledge of the ‘beautiful game’. To describe Lloyd's performance as ‘busy’ would be an understatement. With 2 penalties, 5 Yellow cards and a disallowed goal, Lloyd proved he was raring to go as Banter got a taste of the current league leaders. It’s interesting how only having had two yellow cards all season (one of which was from an angry substitute), with few, if any bad challenges going in on Sunday, quite how 5 bookings came about. The week before, against Carlton, the league’s head referee described Banter as ‘a credit to the league’, now are wel of a sudden a ‘dirty’ team? Something doesn’t quite add up. But anyway…

Banter lined up with a bare 11, not including Legend Dancer on the bench who is still recovering from the assault a few weeks earlier by Madras' captain. Banter got off to a sluggish start, unable to keep possession for any length of time and also coming off second best in the majority of the 50/50 challenges. Maple Tree employed the tactic of the long ball either between the centre backs or over the head of the full backs - it’s an effective weapon to use and maybe something we could use more often, especially considering the pace in our forward line. Unfortunately however, Maple Tree’s attack also weren’t slow, and after Doc had won most of his headers to that point, a long high ball between the centre-backs caught out Doc and Vidic, which allowed the Maple Tree striker the opportunity to chest down and volley expertly into Wuker’s far corner from the edge of the area. 1-0 Maple Tree and at that point it looked as if things could get worse for Banter, and they almost quickly did. A run into the box by Maple Tree’s winger ended in Vidic sliding in and taking the man, albeit with the ball having already been played. A penalty was awarded. A dubious decision, but thankfully Wuker came to the rescue as the forward scuffed his penalty down the middle, which Wuker blocked and did well to get up for to claim the second ball.

20 minutes had gone and Banter needed to step their game up if they didn’t want it to be over before half time, and step it up they did. Gradually everyone began to make stronger challenges and began to start passing the ball around as well as we do most of the time in training. The first of Lloyd’s five yellows was dished out to the Maple Tree centre midfielder, for two ‘pushes’ when jumping for the ball from goal kicks. I think everyone agreed it was extremely harsh and it set the tone for the ref’s performance really, giving soft free-kicks regularly. Banter were enjoying a lot of possession with Hughes picking out Baird several times down the wing, who himself was having a successful time getting the better of his marker. Although the possession was mainly Banter’s, we struggled to create many clear cut chances with the ball not sticking with Brown or Wommy. That was however until Baird beat his man down the left, showed good pace to cut into the box, only to be seemingly taken out by the onrushing keeper. Penalty? No chance. Baird was booked for his protests. Feeling a little hard done by, Banter pressed and continued to compete well, with the cobwebs seemingly dusted off from the slow start, everyone was looking more assured.

You sensed a goal was coming, unfortunately it went to the home team. Just before half time, another long ball over the top resulted in the Maple Tree number nine racing into the box with Doc chasing, there was a tangle of legs and the forward went down. Although accidental, the ref only saw it one way. A different penalty taker stepped up this time and confidently placed it into the top right corner. 2-0 to the home side at half time.

Following last week’s 2nd half display, Banter felt that they had goals in them and started the period brightly, despite now playing uphill. The possession that Banter enjoyed in the first half seemed to have more venom and saw Ridders, Brown and Wommy come into the game more, creating a few half chances. That’s not to say that Maple Tree were against the ropes at any stretch as they too caught Banter on a few occasions, causing Wuker to come to Banter’s rescue again with an excellent initial save from a long range effort that he did well to get up and block from the rebound. It is an old cliché but it did feel that the next goal would be the deciding factor with Banter trying to fight for a comeback and Maple Tree trying to kill the game off.

Lloyd (the referee) carried on the 2nd half as he left the 1st awarding free kicks aplenty. Although it is fair to say in no particular preference to either team. It was from one of these free kicks that Banter made it 2-1. Intelligent play from Baird (no, really!) saw Hughes make a run down the left wing unmarked. Taking the kick quickly, ‘The Icon’ drilled the ball into space for Hughes to run onto, catching Maple Tree’s defence napping. Hughes, as cool as you like, placed his shot into the top right corner from the tightest of angles. Game on!

The momentum was in Banter’s favour, which saw them fighting for every ball. Tackles from Doc, Vidic, Jon and Boma across the back were much more solid and well-timed, albeit with the constant thought that any mistimed tackle would result in a yellow and probably another penalty (even if outside the box, the mood Lloyd was in). Unfortunately this led to Banter’s 2nd yellow card of the game. Wilkes' sliding tackle just outside his area was deemed to be a foul by Lloyd. Wilkes didn’t agree and told Lloyd so, branding his decision “terrible” (which, it was). Maple Tree players encouraged the referee to book Wilkes for his outcry which only prompted him to get angrier telling them shut up in the process. This saw the 2nd Banter player of the game to go into the book again for ‘dissent’ and also ended any chances of Wilkes being the face of the next “respect the ref” campaign.

Maple Tree eventually did manage to get the decisive third goal. With a break down Banters left hand side, Tree’s winger sent over a cross which was met by the centre forward with a firm header that Wuker was just unable to keep out. The two goal deficit was back, 3-1 to Maple Tree.

As time was ticking away it was appearing that the 2 goal cushion would be enough for Maple tree, and there were fears that a disheartened Banter could concede more. As Maple Tree tested Wuker again from distance, with the big keeper pulling off another fine save. Banter were still trying to play possession football, which led to Maple Tree committing a foul just outside their area. Ridley took the free kick quickly passing to Hughes who whipped the ball into the box for Wilkes to leap like a salmon, flicking the ball into the bottom left corner. 3-2? And Wilkes’ first goal for Banter?.......... No, according to the referee, who awards a free kick to the home team for offside. Banter bewildered at the decision.

3-1 was how it remained as Maple Tree extended their lead over Banter at the top.

Man of the match: Luke 'Wuker' Manhire – He continued his fine form since the turn of the year with another string of excellent saves, including a penalty and a superb double-save at his far post in the second half. If he can keep it up then Banter will have a strong chance of keeping in touch at the top during the run-in.

I think the reasons why we lost against Maple Tree is our recurring problem of starting too slowly in games, before finding our feet. I think once we are in full swing, it's difficult to think of a better team in our league that can move the ball around, but the slow starts help the other team grow in confidence making it more difficult for us. Another criticism that was mentioned throughout the game against Maple Tree is that we do not ‘gamble’ enough when balls are launched into the box. Also, although it worked for our goal today, sometimes I feel we insist on taking every free-kick in the opposition half short and quickly. It’s good to mix it up, but when you think how much pressure we are under when the opposition load our box with players, and how many we’ve conceded from set pieces, then sometimes it’s worth waiting to send the big men up and trying the good old fashioned lump into the box. It's sometimes too easy for us to make it look good and dominate long spells, thus making it difficult to find end product - even though we can, as showed against Carlton. These are issues that I think will be resolved just by playing football every week after the stop/start season we’ve had so far. As a team I think our team morale is good and it is beneficial that we know where we can improve.

Overall, there were lots of positives to be taken from this game. It was good to find out the quality of the league leaders as I felt that we did match them and the home leg should be an interesting one. It seems a very tight league at this present stage with no teams really shining above the rest. As for the two teams that do go up, I think will be down to consistency and gaining momentum. There is no reason why Banter Central cannot be one of those teams.

As for our next game, against Carlton, it should be a good game and it is there for us to win. After we beat them at Trenham Drive they were already saying how they were going to do us at their place without our “home advantage”. We know they are a physical team but at the same time they are their own worst enemy and if things are not going their way they will turn on each other. Although I criticised some of Lloyd’s decisions, he is a good referee who will not tolerate any dissent. If Lloyd gives bookings for saying “thats terrible” then someone should tell Carlton ’s #10 to not bother turning up at all on Sunday.