Match Reports October 2010

Sunday 24th October 2010

Friendly, Trenham Drive

Croydon Postal 3 - 2 Banter Central FC
   Brownie, Wommy

Banter: Tyler; Vidic (L.Dancer, 46), Doc, Tino; Cling, Fintan, Wilkes (Gillardino, 46), Ridders, Baird (Wilkes, 70); Wommy (J-Dot, 40), Brownie (Wommy, 46)

Thanks to a fixture computer that was clearly still using MS-DOS, Banter found themselves without a fixture again this weekend, but made amends by arranging a friendly to face Croydon Postal – the Premier Division side who had been suffering the same problems with their games.

So whilst the rest of Division Two attempted to get more points on the board, Trenham Drive hosted an evenly contested friendly between two familiar sides.

Croydon Postal got their noses in front when a ball from the right was not cut out properly and Postal’s left winger nipped in to finish and punish his opponents. Despite this giving Banter the kick up the backside they needed and having long spells of possession, the lead was soon doubled when a long ball into the area saw a mix-up at the back which Postal’s forward took advantage of to finish and make it 2-0.

Postal had several corners and long range efforts, including a free-kick from the edge of the area, with which to extend their lead; but Banter picked up the pace and saw several crosses of their own go begging.

Brownie scored a wonderful goal to pull a goal back when some quick passing in midfield saw Wilkes, Cling, Fintan and Ridders all get touches before finding the goalscorer, who advanced and rifled in a shot from 25 yards out.

The start of the second half saw a couple of personnel changes for Banter; Legend Dancer replaced Vidic, Gillardino came on in place of Wilkes, whilst Wommy (having been replaced by J-Dot shortly before the interval) came back on for Brownie.

Banter began to get in behind the Postal defence and create openings, on several occasions from wide areas and this brought quite a few forced fouls, which eventually saw one hot head be temporarily replaced whilst he “calmed down”.

A sweeping move brought the equalising goal, a ball into Fintan saw him hold on and then play a precision pass down the line for Cling to chase, he crossed in low for J-Dot, but when he dummied (missed) the ball, Wommy was on hand to tap-in and finish the move off. J-Dot was, rightfully, quick to claim the assist. It was 2-2 and all to play for.

The game might well have been heading for a stalemate, though Postal were seen in the Banter penalty area more often than was the other way around. They found their opening when a cut back from the right saw two unmarked players come from midfield, the finisher had returned from his spell on the sidelines and slotted the ball away to make it 3-2. It was a goal and victory that clearly meant a lot to Postal – if the bundle and celebration/touching were anything to go by.

Banter’s last attempt of the game came from a free kick on the very edge of the area when Postal’s keeper was adjudged to have handled outside the box. Tino blazed the kick high over the bar, just as he’d done in the first half. The next set piece he’ll be banned from taking will probably be throw-ins.

Man of the match: Ben ‘Doc’ Doherty.

Closing comments: Our shape looked a lot better in the second half (well, once the first goal went in to be honest) and for long, long spells throughout the game we played some good football. We could’ve stretched their defence a bit more and seen their centre-backs pulled out of position before the final pass was made, but we performed well against a decent side. We’re still making daft errors to concede goals. The first two were sloppy and the winner was puzzling where marking is concerned. Conceding in this manner is inevitable if we’re going to make it that easy. Of course, any goal feels like a mistake to the team conceding it and a great piece of improvisation to the team scoring it, but for some reason it feels like this season we’ve been even more generous and less committed. I have no idea why. Like penalty misses, it should not be considered the norm, it should not be accepted! For two week’s running we’ve scored the types of goal to pull one back that we should do even more of. Against Santos from a corner and against Postal with a shot from the edge of the area. If you don’t buy the ticket, you can’t win the raffle. In other words, take a gamble. Brownie did. Now that the league is down to 7 teams, we’ll play 12 league games. If we count the minimum amount of cup matches, it’s 1 in the League Cup, 1 in the Surrey Cup and 3 group matches in the Leonard Vase. That’s 17 games. Last season we played 23. Apart from the fact that two of the cups are well within our reach to win, it’s now looking like wins in these competitions are important to extend our season; which could end in about February if we’re not careful. Thanks, Kurdish. That starts on Sunday, away to Addiscombe Corinthians in the League Challenge Cup. We’re looking for our first win in this competition. No
  pressure at all then.What’s more geeky, having a website to read and enjoy for yourselves or having bugger all involvement in the subject matter but logging on to read it every week and then knocking it? Now that’s a thinker…

Sunday 17th October 2010
League, Ashburton Playing Fields

Santos 92 3 - 2 Banter Central FC
   Brownie, Fintan

Banter: Tyler; Boma, Vidic, L.Dancer; Cling (Ridders, 60), Gillardino, Fintan (Wommy, 55), Wilkes, Baird (J-Dot, 80); Hughes, Brownie