May 2010 Match Reports

Sunday 2nd May 2010
Trenham Drive, Warlingham

Santos 92 2 - 2 Banter Central FC
  Cling, Brownie

Team: Doc; J-Dot, Baird (Wommy, 65), Wilkes, Ridders; Adkins (Boma, 65), Tino, Vidic, Brownie (Wuker, 70); Hughes, Cling

The last game of the season and it threatened to be called off. Shelton Sports was host to hard ground but puddles everywhere. The ball even managed to float through the centre circle, it was that deep. So the referee had no option but to call it off. After such nice weather, it seemed that the rain had come back to haunt Banter once again. Thankfully, Trenham Drive were able to assist and the game was moved to there, but not before Doc was out there with a broom to sweep water out of the goalmouth.

After an unsatisfactory couple of performances recently, it was felt that a shake-up was needed in all areas of the pitch, hence the surprise choices in a number of positions. Doc went in goal and had Wilkes and Baird playing in front of him at central defence. Jon Stewart and Ridley played right and left back respectively, whilst Adkins moved to right midfield and Brownie was recalled at left midfield. Tino and Vidic were clearly touted as the midfield enforcers and in there to bring stability and power through the centre, whilst Hughes partnered Cling up front. Many felt the side had a very natural verve and feel about it immediately, with Boma, Wommy and Wuker rightfully taking their places on the bench, where they may find it difficult to get back in next season after so many assured performances against Santos.

But it was the “home” side - that being Santos - that made the better start and for reasons unknown, had more natural chemistry to begin with. They took the lead when the ball rolled back to Doc, who rushed out and appeared to be in a position to deal with it, but the ball stopped dead in the water and allowed Santos’ forward to latch on and round the helpless keeper to score. It gave Santos, fighting to stay in Division 2, a deserved lead.

After a vocally quiet start, Banter took some control of the game and moved the ball around a lot better. Both Adkins and Brown used it better and Tino began to take hold of things in the centre, whilst Vidic struggled just to stay on his feet. Baird and Wilkes made an efficient pairing at the back, even if a couple of the challenges were a little frantic on occasion. The rain falls, the ground gets wet and ultimately, David Baird decides to spend most of the game sliding in to every tackle. It’s become a given.

The desperate Santos calls from the first game came up again for Banter’s equaliser. Upon Adkins getting to the rebound of his penalty miss in February, the calls were for players being in the area. This time, a foul throw from a Santos player brought no backlash. Not until that is, Hughes latched onto the wayward throw first, skinned his marker in a 25 yard run and squared for Cling to score his first Banter Central goal in over two years. Then the blue and black shirts surrounded the ref asking why their own player wasn’t deemed to have delivered a foul throw. Mental, but it mattered not as the scores were 1-1.

Cling snapped at another chance into the penalty area and didn’t compose himself, whilst Vidic had a wild shot from 35 yards which didn’t trouble the goalkeeper. Santos had several corners, but Doc cleared his lines well on more than one occasion. It remained level at the break.

The rain continued as the substitutes became more and more anxious to see just when they’d get on. Banter created a host of chances in the second half, some of which opened up space without quite finding the final ball and many were adjudged to have been offside during a counter attack. But the second goal came when Brownie took the ball on from deep, fed Hughes wide on the left and continued his run, meeting the cross with a header at the near post. It was Brown’s 15th goal of the season.

Wommy and Boma were introduced with 25 minutes remaining, the former replacing Baird and dropping into central defence, whilst the latter deputised for Adkins and played wide right. It was Boma who had the best chance initially, too, when Cling’s run from the left saw him cut inside and square for his teammate, who controlled right footed and swung his left leg at the ball but buckled and saw his shot screw wide, much to the crowd’s disappointment.

Wuker came on and made his second ever outfield appearance for the club, he replaced Brownie and slotted into left-back, with Ridley moving further forward. With mere minutes remaining, it appeared as though Banter’s mix and match lineup would hold out for victory, but a cross from the right by Santos was only partially cleared and the resulting shot was well drilled and flew into the top right corner to equalise, much to their delight.

Banter did create another chance before time was up, Wommy moved forward in search of his 21st goal of the season and was instantly slipped through on goal by Hughes, his shot well saved by the goalkeeper. 2-2 was the final result and it moved Santos out of the bottom two for a short time, but Real Madras’ stunning victory over Maple Tree has meant that they leap-frog them again.

Man of the match: Andrew ‘Tino’ Sheridan. Having been given the man of the match awards on his debut - at left back - and on several occasions playing central defence, this marks his 3rd man of the match award in as many positions. I can think of two others who might be able to match that, but I couldn’t be certain. Either way, a terrific display in the middle of the park showing a good passing range and tough tackling as always.

A few more comments on those out of position…

Doc – Sweeper keeper. Lovely punching action to clear away. Watch out for puddles.

J-Dot – Not unfamiliar enough territory, but there was little other options, besides goalkeeper. So overall, very comfortable.

Wilkes – It like watching Franz Beckenbauer in his pomp. Except with a mincey run. A fine and dominating display.

Baird – Unbelievably erratic, but most of the time, unbelievably effective. Never mind his second touch, I think his first, second and third touch are all slide tackles these days.

Wommy – Towering headers from one of the shortest members in the squad. The U-Turn he performed when coming on, when told to get to centre-back, was my favourite part.

Ridders – Easy. You should have been in goal as well. Playing some sort of monkey rush with Jon.

Adkins – Left footer, playing wide right with little pace and unwilling to do defensive duties? You are the next Chris Waddle. Good link-up play.

Boma – Right footer, playing wide right with a brown face and missing sitters? You are the next Aaron Winter. I prefer him up front though.

Vidic – Seemed to slip over a lot. Attempted maybe the most ridiculous effort from 35 yards ever.

Brownie – Offered a good outlet and took his goal very well. Seemed to drift higher and higher up the pitch the more the game went on.

Wuker – Very solid. I would liked the game to have last 30 more seconds to see how you’d have dealt with that striker, it looked to be going well but I had visions of a kung-fu kick or rugby tackle as your next move.

Cling – Clever movement, coupled with a fantastic finish confirm him as a complete predator as well as the complete player.

Hughes – Two assists and some lovely dribbling – on and off the pitch – throughout.