Match Report 19

The three big guns were all in action this past weekend, in matches that would produce action, drama, excitement, and the most boring half of football ever witnessed. Bottom of the table Lonsdale played hosts to second placed Ladzio. Mid table battlers Ascot travelled to table topping May & Bakers, while I had the "pleasure" of being at the clash between Esprit and Racing Club Fantana. It was a very blustery morning over the open space of Hainault Rec., and the conditions really didn't suit the game of football. With The Prati Bros, and Simon Field all missing the RCF backline may have been severely weakened. But with Nigel Collins, and Akash Bhuwanee returning alongside Chris Tilbury, and Bradley Micallef to make up a very strong back four, RCF's great strength in depth was really highlighted. Other absentees, were Darren Waithe (work), Darren Salmon (toothache) long term absentee Dave Day (broken face), and Dave Sack who pulled out of the side during the warm up complaining of a dead leg. So RCF had a strong starting XI but for the first time this season, no subs available. Racing got off to a good start. Although the conditions were poor, they looked the sharper of the two teams, and were trying to get an early goal. With Spicer, Maskell, and Stimpson beginning to get a grip on the game in the middle, it wasn't long before RCF were a goal to the good. A long cross field ball from Collins was controlled perfectly by Spicer on the edge of the six yard box. With his back to goal, he rolled the ball to Russell Leiter. A surprisingly good first touch allowed Leiter to open his body up and curl the ball round the keeper and into the far corner of the goal. A lovely finish. But there was more good news for Fantana. Longtime RCF fan Stan Day heard on his pocket radio that Lonsdale had taken a shock lead against Ladzio. The news of this quickly spread around the ground, and must've got through to the Fantana players on the pitch. With a goal within the first 15 minutes, some may have expected RCF to steamroller Esprit. But Esprit battled back and within 5 minutes were back on level terms. A free kick midway in the Fantana half was launched into the box. Confusion reigned, and a mix up between defence and goalkeeper allowed the Esprit no.9 to sneak in and head home from 6 yards. The game was back to square one, and Esprit had their tails up! Fantana knew they had to raise their game, and looked to step it up a gear. The pitch wasn't really allowing for Fantana's usual game of playing along the floor, so they were forced to use the direct ball, which with the wind, was causing havoc for the Esprit defence. But they dealt well with the threat and limited Fantana to two awful, awful long shots from Clarke and Maskell. But minutes later, RCF were 2-1 up. A long kick from Steve Dawes, and a good flick on from James Spicer set Peter Pedomonou free. Pedonomou was 1-on-1 with the keeper, but his shot was parried by the rookie goalie, and it fell into the path of Leiter who couldn't believe his luck as he rolled the ball into an empty net from close range. A first half brace for the young Jewish lad. Fantana now went to kill the game off, and minutes later had a two goal cushion. James Spicer, received a long ball in the area. He controlled the ball on his chest beautifully, and volleyed home past the Esprit number 1. A well taken goal, and Fantana went into the break 3-1 up. The news at half time was that Lonsdale were still holding their slender 1-0 lead against Ladzio, and Ascot were keeping the May & Bakers boys out, and it was currently 0-0. But the gaffer didn't want to hear another word of any scores from any other games. Stan was admonished, had his radio taken away from him, and told that if he pulled anymore stunts like this again he would be banned from attending the cup final.\ The second half was possibly the worst 45 minutes of football I have ever seen. Esprit looked deflated, the two quick goals before half time had taken their toll on them. Racing looked comfortable, and never really forced the issue of any more goals. Although the pitch and the wind weren't helping anyone, both teams looked fairly content with the scoreline as it was, and the second half was a very drab affair. There was, however, one moment of skill that resulted in Fantana's fourth. James Spicer received the ball just inside the Esprit box, and was seemingly outnumbered. Lee Stimpson was available, and screaming for the ball just to his right. But Spicer had other ideas and clipped the ball into the far top right hand corner of the goal and it bounced off the underside of the bar into the net. The goal alone, almost made the second half worthwhile. Not quite though. So the game finished 4-1, and there were handshakes all round in what was a good spirited, friendly game of football. With the news filtering through that May & Bakers were held to a 0-0 draw with Ascot, and Lonsdale held onto their lead against Ladzio to finish up 1-0 victors, it was a great weekend for the RCF boys. Calculations have been done, and it is possible that RCF can win the league on Sunday as they face a tricky tie away to Woodford Hammers. But they need the result between Ladzio Vs May & Bakers to go their way. - If Fantana win against Wammers, then a draw between Ladzio and May & Bakers will see RCF crowned champions. - If Fantana win against Wammers, and May & Bakers win, then RCF are guaranteed promotion, and need two points from their remaining 3 games. - Ultimatley, however, regardless of other results RCF need just 5 points from 3 games to become champions. This Sunday is sure to be a cracker!