Red: Richard N, Richard P, Gerald, Ed, Jim N, Kevin, Oz, James, Jeremy, James C, Daniel
White: Rob, Darren, Matt, John G + 7 others.
I personally don’t recall much from the first half, it all seemed to be happening down the right with Gerald, Ed, and Jim N combining well down the wing. Most of whites attacks seemed to be down that side too. James seemed to be all over the pitch, a true engine involved in defense, midfield (linking with a solid Richard P) and attack, hitting a post in the process. Jeremy kept a clean sheet, a fingertip save being the highlight, with good defensive support from Richard N & James C (our only height) and a vocal Kevin.
White came out with a spring in their step in the second half and the early pressure paid off with Rob taking advantage of Red’s half-time goalkeeper change and looping a fine shot over the stretching Richard N. Red didn’t buckle though and equalised soon after with Oz receiving the ball at the top of the area, turning around a defender and hitting a left-footer low into the far corner. The joy was short-lived as white (with John G (G for midfield General) activating his gravitational pull mechanism, sucking in the ball from every direction and distributing accordingly whilst implementing his opposition deflector shield which meant we couldn’t (or just didn’t bother to) get anyway near him to challenge for the ball) immediately pulling another one back and soon after a long range low shot from the left channel made it three. That was a very long sentence with a very long bracket, does it even make sense? James C and Darren had a clash of heads sometime around here but both got up to respectful clap from both teams. With 15 minutes to go, Red got a corner and a fortuitous richocet off a defender in the six yard box put the ball into the path of Daniel who stroked home his first ever 11-a-side goal. Whoopie-lah! The game became more stretched with breaks happening for both teams but the Red comeback wasn’t to be. However, having not played an 11-a-side match for over a year, it was a very repectable performance. Great turn out too, thank you for your sterling efforts.
Final score: White 3 – 2 Red
- Darren, Rob, Matt – thank you very much for generously playing for the other side. In doing so, you have joined the illustrious Charity Club, a small but select group of Peckham Commoners FC who have kindly donated their services to the opposition. Membership Fellows include: Kevin, Richard N, Scott (retired) & myself. Welcome.
- John G – thank you very much for organising the pitch and pass on our thanks to your team for a good, clean game. I don’t recall a single foul!
- The previous 11-a-side: Yet again my stats come to the fore! It was on Sunday 18th January 2009, 4-2 to us.