September 2008 Match Reports

Sunday 28th September 2008

League, Duppas Hill 1

Banter Central FC 2 - 4 Real Madras
Wommy (2)

Team: Wuker; Village, Boma, Doc, Rod; Shannon, Jewish, Baird (Pasty, 35 mins), Cling; Hore, Wommy

Sometimes, you come away from a game and the scoreline doesn't always do the performance justice. This is one of those times. It really is a wonder how Banter Central managed to keep it into single figures, Real Madras deserved every bit of their victory in what was ultimately a contest of who tried the hardest. Madras scored their first from a set-piece, Banter equalised soon after when Wommy was put through on-one-one by Baird, his finish was calm after rounding the goalkeeper. The blues took the lead when Cling nicked the ball away down the left, played in Hore who crossed for Wommy to tap in. These were good spells. Baird got injured shortly after and he appeared to take the team's drive and determination off the field with him. Pasty replaced him as the team re-shuffled: Rod to centre-midfield, Cling to left-back and Pasty to left-midfield. Madras had multiple set-pieces and equalised just before half time with another header. 2-2.

Madras came out for the second half a completely different team. Determined, wanting to win, putting in all their effort. Banter came out for the second half playing the same as they did first half. It was sloppy, it was half-hearted and no-one in blue seemed to give a shit. Madras took the lead from, yes of course, another set-piece - a 3rd towering header to score. They extended their lead not long after and Banter had now completely collapsed. The only voices to be heard were from the away side, a succession of passes were a rarety from the blues and instead of working harder to save an embarrassment or indeed try and win the game, heads dropped and almost everyone stood scratching their arse for the majority of the half. It's a wonder how Madras didn't score more goals, the midfield was allowing anything and everything to come through, the defence doing no better to clear their lines. Cling moved up front for the last 15 minutes to attempt to get something back, whilst the referee battered into Madras' full-back, knocked him down and could only apologise for the lad's nose exploding. It was probably a fitting way to cap off his and Banter's performance - a disaster. 4-2 final score.

How everyone faired...

Wuker - 5 - Didn't command his area enough and could have done better from set-pieces, made some good stops in the second half.

Village - 5 - Struggled, but battled on.

Boma - 7 - One of few to come away with any dignity.

Doc - 4 - Awful.

Rod - 5 - At full-back, good. In midfield, not as good.

Shannon - 3 - Did nothing. Actually nothing.

Baird - 6 - Usual work-rate, was missed after 35 minutes.

Jewish - 4 - Two yards off the pace at all times.

Cling - 6 - Worked hard at left-mid, left-back and up front.

Hore - 4 - Showed glimpses of what he could do first half, but stands watching the game too much.

Wommy - 7 - Man of the match. Put simply, if you give him the chance to do something, he'll do it.

Pasty - 4 - Struggled. Badly.

There is nothing technical about why we lost this game. Organising ourselves a bit better at set-pieces aside, there are no tactics that we could've tried to have made this a different result. It was disgracefully lacklustre and many played like they didn't want to be there. No heart, no desire and very little will to win. Without any of these things it is impossible to ever start talking about winning football matches. There are new signings due, along with some returning next week, perhaps that will give some people the kick up the arse they so badly need.

Sunday 21st September 2008
League, Trenham Drive

Croydon Postal 4 - 0 Banter Central FC

Team: Wuker; Village (Pasty, 70 mins), Doc, Cling, L.Dancer; Jewish, Baird, Gill, Wommy; Hore, Shannon 

Not a vintage performance in Banter’s first league game of 2008. ‘Toothless’ is probably the best possible description since there were only a few moments where Banter were pulled apart, all the while without troubling Croydon’s back four much and the goalkeeper barely at all. There was some neat passing to begin with from Banter, on a nice pitch to make the post of the width. Postal’s attacks were mainly long balls to the wings which the number 10 looked to run onto and cut in, which he did to good effect. Jewish came close with a header that went wide from Hore’s pass, but goal chances for Banter were few and far between. After some pressure on Banter’s penalty area, Croydon won a penalty when Legend Dancer slid in and fouled his opponent. The spot kick was tucked away – arguably a little softly – to give Croydon Postal a 1-0 lead. Banter remained positive and Jonny, along with Baird, kept the playing ticking over with simple passes to feet until there was an opening. Hore came deep to bring the ball down well and lay off, but still Postal’s goalkeeper was never under pressure, comfortably saving some long range efforts. The home side doubled their lead when a long ball was played down the right wing, the bounce catching Legend Dancer out as Croydon’s ever dangerous number 10 raced onto it to slam in his shot at the far post from a difficult angle. An excellent finish, if a little surprising. 2-0 at half time.

Rather than up the tempo and individuals raise their game, most Banter players actually dropped off in the second half. The two centre-forwards – Hore and Shannon – were starved of service with a huge gap between attack and midfield, whilst most attacks were cut short from no end product from anyone wearing a maroon shirt. There were a few Jonny Gill corners which looked dangerous though, one of which dropped to Jewish barely 10 yards from goal; his shot was a little scuffed under pressure, with Croydon’s goalkeeper easily collecting. The home side continued to play long balls over the defence, most of which were dealt with until a scramble in the penalty saw the ball fall to Doc who used all his time available and more as he was dispossessed and could only watch on as the ball flew in to make it 3-0. It remained at that score for some time, Banter trying to press to find what would only be a consolation goal. Pasty replaced Village at right-back with 20 minutes to go and with around 10 remaining Croydon found a 4th as they all lined up to have a go, eventually the move being finished into the far corner to cap off a demoralising morning for Banter Central. A booking for a Croydon player, some ridiculous halfway line shots and inability to pass the ball forward from kick-off were about the last notable incidents as the game finished 4-0.

Banter’s performance lacked cutting edge and at times there wasn’t a lot of team-work going on, defensively and when going forward. It was more units of defence and midfield and attack, rather than 11 together. But some of the football was tidy at times and had Banter got a bit more luck in the first half the game could have gone a different way. It wasn’t to be and the better team won on the day.

How everyone faired…

Wuker – 6 – Made some excellent claims coming off his line, maybe could have done more with the penalty but could do nothing about the other 3 goals.

Village – 6 – A steady performance and didn’t look uncomfortable – besides when pulling faces from the whatever pain he’s in this week – which was good to see.

Doc – 7 – Solid throughout, despite wanting to be Franz Beckenbauer in the penalty area for Croydon’s 3rd, kept things organised and contained the tricky forward line for long periods.

Cling – 7 – Was forced to play wildly out of position due to absences and performed solidly enough.

L.Dancer – 5 – Had a far better second half but made some very rash and desperate challenges throughout, capable of a lot more.

Jewish – 6 – Quieter second half and was forced to drop and cover for long spells which made it difficult going the other direction. Kept the passing simple and rarely conceded possession. Could – maybe should – have scored.

Baird – 7 – Worked hard as usual without being overly dominant. Was told that he’s not Maradona when going on a mazy run, but was positive in trying to get attacks going.

Gillardino – 7 – Banter’s man of the match. Not at his best it should be said, which is encouraging in a round about way - to know he can offer more - but did a good job by keeping possession and made few mistakes, if any.

Wommy – 6 – Not brought into the game much and wasn’t particularly influential, but should be credited with not looking out of place despite carrying an injury from about the 10th minute.

Hore – 5 – Had some lovely touches in the first half with his back to goal but barely troubled the back four when facing the other way. The occasional selfish turn to run at defenders and make full use of his pace wouldn’t go amiss.

Shannon – 5 – Worked reasonably hard but was frustrated not to get more out of it, with no real chances on goal. Really, really needs to check his runs to stay onside!

Pasty – 5 – Not a lot to do in the short time he was on but did his job to good enough effect.

In the words of D:Ream: things can only get better. On the plus side, some of the passing was decent it was just finding an opening which was the problem, which had we done could have made it a different game. If you go 1-0 up, the score would undoubtedly not have been 4-1 as events, mindsets and attitudes change. I’ve watched Back to the Future enough times to know that.