Match Reports
10 February 2008
SPL Under 12 Junior Cup
Onslow FC 9 : 1 St Francis Sports
‘Round of 16’
This cup game brought a break from the quest for league points and, apart from a place in the quarter finals, local bragging rights were at stake. Onslow secured a second 9 – 1 cup victory of the season, which hints at the possibility of a good run toward the trophy.
Onslow got off to flying start after only 3 minutes when Matt outpaced the St Francis defence to reach a high clearance and beat the keeper with what I think was a cool right-footed finish. Just 2 minutes later Daniel slotted home a nice cross from Harry to double the lead. After 8 minutes St Francis replied when Onslow failed to clear their lines and a shot looped into the back of the net. However, on 12 minutes Onslow re-established their two goal lead when Alan jinked his way around a defender or two and fired in a crisp shot from the edge of the penalty area. Onslow dominated the rest of the first half and could easily have put the game beyond doubt – Matt and Harry both came close including a goal correctly disallowed for offside, but Ben bravely headed home one of Connor’s corners to make it 4-1 before half time.
The second half was much the same the same story, St Francis only occasionally breaking out of defence. Onslow’s 5th goal was almost a carbon copy of the first as Matt ran onto a ball over the top and caught a static St Francis defence cold, but this one was a counter attack from a rare St Francis corner. Harry then got in on the act with a well-earned hat-trick, two capitalising on unselfish assists from Matt and the third from another of Connor’s superb left-wing crosses. In between, Adam had shown excellent speed and strength when he controlled another long clearance to finish calmly under heavy pressure for Onslow’s 7th.
The defence was not really tested today but Aidan, Edward, Ollie and Ben repelled most of what St Francis had to offer and I was pleased to see Tom coming off his line to good effect on a couple of occasions. The midfield of Alan, Daniel, Haytham, Adam and Connor exerted almost complete control and the strike partnership of Harry and Matt took full advantage of a somewhat ponderous St Francis defence. Seb was unable to play due to illness and we hope he will be fighting fit for the next match.
Despite the score this was not one of Onslow’s best performances, but it was certainly good enough to see off St Francis and I cannot complain at an 8 goal winning margin. Unusually, several of our goals resulted from long balls down the middle, a tactic that will not work quite so well against better opposition. There will be tougher tests ahead but I am sure we can rise to them. We will need to continue working hard in training on ‘pass & move’, feeding the wingers, crossing, control and communication. I would also like to see everyone being a little more assertive when the ball is loose, particularly at the back.
This week’s Man of the Match award goes to Haytham for his link play and high energy. 50/50 goes to Edward for some fine defensive clearances, snuffing out St Francis’ hopes of a second goal.
The team:
Tom Giles
Aidan Service
Ben Harding (1 goal)
Edward Babbington
Ollie Falkner
Alan McFadden (1 goal)
Haytham Whitear
Adam Cooney (1 goal)
Connor Hill
Daniel Wallace (capt) (1 goal)
Harry Trussler (3 goals)
Matt Coppinger (2 goals)
Regards,
Steve
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3 February 2008
SPL Under 12 Division 4
AFC Yateley 4 : 7 Onslow FC
What a game! After the 4 – 4 draw at the Varsity between these teams back in October both sets of players knew they were in for a tough morning’s work and arrived at the ground fired up for the match. Thankfully there was to be no repeat of the indiscipline displayed by one or two Yateley players last time around and the game was highly competitive but fair. Onslow took the field with Tom in goal, a defence of Aidan, Michael, Ben and Aram, Alan again fulfilling the midfield holding role, Adam, Daniel and Connor across the middle of the park and a front pairing of Seb and Matt. JC was like a coiled spring waiting to do some damage to the Yateley defence as an ‘impact sub’.
The first 20 minutes was like a basketball game; each time Onslow scored, Yateley went up the other end to equalize. Onslow got off to a flier with Matt firing home from an excellent cross by Seb after just 3 minutes. Yateley responded to make it 1-1 on 10 minutes. 5 minutes later Matt put Onslow back in front, only for Yateley to pull the scores level again after only one further minute of play. Seb then made it 3-2 with a cool finish just one more minute later. Crazy stuff; great for the neutral but there were not many of those about! At this point Adam took a blow to the head and was seeing stars, so JC slotted into his right wing position while he recovered.
5 minutes passed before Yateley equalized yet again, but Onslow finally made their superiority count by rattling in two more goals just before half time, both by the goal machine otherwise known as Matt Coppinger. Half time, 5-3 to Onslow, breathless. The break gave us the chance to reorganize – we always looked like scoring but Yateley had been causing us problems at the back. Daniel slotted into the centre of defence while Michael and Ben shuffled leftwards. Adam had now recovered and bravely rejoined the action at attacking central midfield, although like his three colleagues he was to cover a lot of ground tracking back too.
Despite continuing to press forward Yateley’s attack did not look quite so potent in the second half and this was reflected in the scoring. Matt (32 mins) and Seb (40 mins) added another couple of goals which, although nobody was entirely sure at the time, effectively secured the points. Yateley knocked in the last goal on 42 minutes, but it was only a consolation and Onslow looked the more likely to score again. The last 18 minutes passed without further goals, despite Yateley hitting the crossbar, and Onslow ran out deserved winners.
I was really pleased with this performance, which was full of character and intelligence, particularly as the boys put into action what we had practiced in training, namely getting the ball out wide and crossing it in to our front two. Tom was as safe as ever in goal, Aidan, Michael, Ben and Aram showed great maturity and determination in defence, the midfield five of Alan, Adam, JC, Daniel and Connor frightened the lives out of Yateley, while Seb and Matt showed superb composure in front of goal.
Once again I find the awards very difficult because everyone involved deserves one or the other. However, having consulted Paul and Chris we have two Men of the Match; Connor for his fantastic crossing and all-round wing play, and Seb for showing that he can set up goals just as well as scoring them. On another day Matt would have got the award for his 5 excellent goals, but the key to this performance was all-round team play and I hope the 5 goals in themselves are reward enough for now. 50/50 goes to JC for showing us that he can get stuck in when the team needs him to (good header too). Michael’s 50/50 prize from last week remains in the team bag (wrapped and protected from smelly kit) and will find its way to him next weekend or sooner.
Well done to everyone. With this kind of performance every week we can go a long way – keep it up!
For those who were not there, we finished the morning with a presentation (card and digital photo frame) to Chris for all his hard work in running the team over the last 3½ years; thank you to Alison for organizing this.
Steve Giles
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27 January 2008
SPL Under 12 Division 4
Onslow FC 2 : 1 Knaphill Hurricanes
They say two weeks is a long time in politics and this match shows the same is true in football. Perhaps it was the weekend off or a bit of complacency following our 9-1 victory against the same opponents in the cup. However, credit must be given to the opposition for their determination to make amends for that previous defeat and I for one underestimated Knaphill today. It shows how difficult it is to keep a winning run going.
We lined up with Tom in goal, a back four of Ben, Aidan, Michael and Ollie Falkner, Alan in the midfield holding role behind Adam, Daniel and JC, with Haytham and Seb up front. Edward, Harry and Nathan were our substitutes.
In the first half Knaphill were generally quicker to the ball while we tended to stand off and turn our backs to it. We never really got our passing going and I acknowledge that the shape of the team was not quite right, which did not help our wingers and attackers in particular. However, the defence was coping well whenever Knaphill threatened and Tom made one good save to keep them at bay. Harry joined the fray to give us a greater presence up front, but five minutes before half-time Knaphill mounted a route-one breakaway and their striker slotted home coolly from the edge of the penalty area to make it 0-1 at half time. To be fair, the score at that stage did not flatter them.
Half time gave us the opportunity to re-organize, with Adam switching to his more familiar right wing berth and Haytham moving to the left. This, and Knaphill’s noisy group hug, appeared to galvanize the team and we played much better in the second half, to the extent that it was virtually one-way traffic toward Knaphill’s goal. They occasionally threatened on the break but the defence was looking more secure now, with Michael and Ollie blocking everything that came their way and Ben and Aidan also getting forward when they could. Alan and Daniel took control of the midfield, Adam looked much more comfortable tearing up the right and Haytham was doing a fine job out of position on the left. Harry’s efforts were rewarded with a well-taken equalizer in the 35th minute and now Knaphill were hanging on for one point. Seb was seeing much more of the ball and was a little unlucky with a several half-chances that just escaped. After 45 minutes Edward came on for Michael and didn’t put a foot wrong, while Nathan replaced Haytham on the left and showed some nice touches. Eventually the pressure told and, with seconds remaining, Seb spun on a sixpence and cracked in the winner.
On balance I thought we just about deserved our victory against a spirited Knaphill team and, as they say on Match of the Day, if you can develop a knack for winning when not at your best you will do alright. Sorry to those of you who did not get much of a game, which is a reflection of how the match had gone. I appreciate it is frustrating when you give up your Sunday mornings but in difficult matches it can be tricky to bring on all three substitutes. I will think about bringing only two in future.
Man of the Match this week goes to Alan, who pulled the strings in the second half, and 50/50 goes to Michael for a very solid defensive performance (I’ll play you in goal on another occasion). The whole team kept going right to the end in pursuit of all 3 points; well done to everyone.
The team:
Tom Giles
Aidan Service
Ben Harding
Michael Anderson
Ollie Falkner
Edward Babbington
Alan McFadden
Jonathan Curtis
Adam Cooney
Daniel Wallace (capt)
Haytham Whitear
Sebastian Pillinger (1 goal)
Harry Trussler (1 goal)
Nathan Campbell
Regards,
Steve Giles
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13 January 2008
SPL Junior Cup 1st Round
Knaphill Hurricanes 1 : 9 Onslow FC
Each and every player made an important contribution to a thoroughly deserved victory in difficult windy conditions, achieved mainly through our excellent passing and movement (say it with an Alan Hansen accent). We could have had another couple but I am certainly not complaining, and I was particularly pleased that goals were scored from so many different areas. Communication is improving and we need to keep working on that side of the game.
We were under a bit of pressure in the first half against the wind but our defence and midfield held up well; our two first half goals were scored on the counter-attack. At only 2-1 the match was still in the balance but in the second half our attacking play was terrific.
This week’s awards are really difficult because it was such a good team performance. However, Man of the Match goes to Daniel and 50/50 goes to Alan – both played superbly in central midfield. I must also mention Matt’s hat-trick, Seb’s ‘brace’ and the lovely individual goals scored by Harry, Aidan and Connor, each of which is a contender for goal of the season (not forgetting Daniel’s, which got us off the mark). Well done to all and thanks also to Michael for supporting the team, despite being unavailable for selection.
The team:
Tom Giles
Aidan Service (1 goal)
Ben Harding
Edward Babbington
Ollie Cose
Aram Bahmaie
Alan McFadden (1 goal)
Adam Cooney
Connor Hill (1 goal)
Daniel Wallace (capt) (1 goal)
Harry Trussler (1 goal)
Matt Coppinger (3 goals)
Seb Pillinger (2 goals)
Regards
Steve Giles
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Sunday 6th January 2008
ONSLOW FC 6 FELTHAM 1
Here with my last match report in annotated style for easy reading:
The frost had just melted on a sunny but windy morning and the pitch was still hard.
MINS:
2: Adam poaches a goal in the six yard area, 1-0.
6: Adam has a long range shot saved by the keeper.
12: After sustained Onslow pressure on Feltham, Ben takes a knock to the knee and has to come off. Daniel from centre back to left back, Michael on.
13: Harry's shot high but near.
15: Beautiful move, Seb to Alan who scores, 2-0.
16: More Onslow pressure from two corners both well taken by Harry.
18: Adam's shot is parried by the keeper and Daniel follows up, just wide.
22: Another Onslow corner, Seb controls the ball and beats the keeper with a shot into the left corner of the goal, 3-0.
28: A rare counter attack from Feltham but Tom saves well.
29: Harry is denied a goal by a super save by their keeper.
30: Adam has a shot go over the bar.
35: Alan rounds the keeper but the ball won't go in.
37: A speculative long shot goes high into the net and puts Feltham back in with a chance, 3-1
40: Tom saves well as Feltham's confidence is up.
42: Tom makes another very brave diving save to deny Feltham, and with this their fightback is over.
48: More Onslow pressure and Alan finds a way through to score his second of the match, 4-1.
50: With Ollie F doing well as centre back I have the chance to give Oliver Cose a run up front, something I have wanted to do for a long time. Oliver shoots but it is just wide.
52: Harry sees his shot well saved.
53: Ditto !
55: Ditto !!
58: Oliver Cose takes possession of the ball outside the box, rounds the keeper beautifully and scores his first goal of the season, 5-1.
59: Feltham counter attack from the break and force a fine save from Tom.
60: Harry has a fine shot well saved, Adam shoots and the keeper saves again.
61: Haytham supplies a great pass to Adam who converts and gets his second goal, 6-1.
Final score is 6-1 to Onslow. Well done boys, this was a fine performance. Despite the scoreline Feltham did not give up and their keeper made a number of fine saves to stop us going into double figures.
Man of the Match is Harry for a consitently strong performance, but for their keeper's heroics Harry would have had a hat trick.
50/50 winner is Tom who kept Feltham at bay with some brave saves when they threatened to get back into the game.
Everyone deserved a medal for their performance, it was a great team effort, especially as we lost Ben to an injury so early, and JC was also carrying a back injury. Hope you are recovered Ben/JC. Well done too to Aidan who controlled the right side of our half, Michael at the back, and Connor on the left. Daniel played his usual captain's game and held the left back position well.
THE TEAM:
Tom Giles
Aidan Service
Oliver Cose (1 goal:58mins)
Oliver Falkner
Michael Anderson
Daniel Wallis (capt)
Ben Harding
Alan Mcfadden (2 goals:15,48mins)
Jonathan Curtis
Connor Hill
Adam Cooney (2 goals: 2,61mins)
HaythamWhitear
Harry Trussler
SebPillinger( 1 goal: 22 mins)
So this then was my last game in charge and it was as enjoyable any of them over the last three and a half years. Thank you very much to all, good luck to Steve, I shall still help out at training if I don't get in the way, and I shall try to restain myself from getting too carried away on the touchlines !!
Chris Cooney.
Last Season (2006-2007) Match Reports
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