Match reports

Red (4): Daniel, Kevin, Jeremy, John G
Yellow (4): Ahmet, Oz, Jim N, Tufan

Oz buys new gloves – yay!
And what gloves they are. The first five minutes were an utter shambles. Jeremy takes a low shot. Jim has it covered, crouching down blocking the ball but the slippery gloves don’t grip and it trickles between his legs and in. Hilarious and Red 1-0 up. In response Ahmet goes on a run, one-on-one with Jeremy in goal who stood firm and made himself big. Except he’s standing a metre to the side of the goal. Ahmet notices this and calmly sidefoots in to the empty chasm. But those gloves….a plethora of slips and butterfinger moments filled all those who donned them with dread. Skill eventually made itself visible with Daniel receiving the ball on the left, dribbling around a defender, taking the ball to the goal line and then cutting it back for Jeremy to tap in. The lead restored. Not for long though, Yellow attacked on the break and eventually pulled away to an 8-4 lead at half time.
Red had a hard chat during the break but Daniel didn’t contribute, he was concerned with his hair. And still stewing upon the fact that ‘er indoors puked in his G&T the night before bringing about a premature end to the evening. Speaking of which, may I take this opportunity to congratulate James on his marriage to Kim this week. A “Skål!” from all of us at PCFC. And well done to Kevin, Daniel and Jeremy who all turned up today. Richard N – not so much. Lightweight.
The second half kicked off and Daniel made a spritely dart across the pitch, taking possession on the right this time, dribbling again around the defender towards the goal line. He was selfish this time and shot, the ball going in from a tight angel betwixt keeper and post. The belief for a comeback was there! Then Oz had a suspicious glint in his eye whilst lining up a goal kick and launched a long high ball. Perfect – top corner!
It was better game in the second half with 50% fewer goals than the first and Red regularly closed the gap with a few goals from a multitude of shots, a poor conversion ratio.  Which suited Yellow as they just about stayed ahead. I think everyone scored, which is always nice. Apologies for not recalling more goals. And the first game for ages where astros just didn’t cut it. Have your mouldeds and studs at the ready gentlemen for Autumn is upon us!

Final score: Yellow 10 – 8 Red

Yellow (6): Tufan, John G, Tim, Darren, Kevin, JP
Red (7): Oz, Daniel, Colin, Asif, Ahmet, Ed, Richard P
 
A protracted discussion about teams led to a swap at the last minute and finally starting with Red taking the extra man.
Even sided stuff and a good game unfolded with Ed opening the deadlock. A low cross from the left arrived in the middle and was immediately fed to the right of the area for Ed to fire in back across goal, a nice move and just before half time too. In response just after half time a though ball just evaded Daniel’s defending outstretched leg as well as Ed the keeper and with Darren lurking to take advantage, the threesome became a melée and Darren came out trumps with the ball coming out of the kafuffle and trickling over the line. Ahmet restored the lead – not for the first time going on a dribble with a couple of feints before shooting but this time the show was on target. Yellow equalised with a corner deflecting in off the knee of a defender, calamity. The last ten minutes became and end-to-end effort, both teams trying to make a break. They both aired their frustration too with a couple of rash tackles as the game ticked down – you can’t deny the lack of passion. Nice of Bishop Desmond to turn up in honour of El Capitano’s birthday.  

 Final score: Red 2 – 2 Yellow

Match abandoned as only three (Oz, Daniel, Tim) confirmed.

Red (7): James, Darren, Colin, Tim, + 3 ringers (Stuart, Eric, ? (didn’t catch his name))
Yellow (7): Jeremy, Kevin, Daniel, JP, Oz, Richard N, Jim N

7-a-side including three ringers from the other slack team who clearly can’t be bothered to show up anymore. Dying a death I say.
Anyway….unsurprisingly I don’t recall many specifics. I blame the idiot who gave me sambucas. And red wine. And guinness. And gin. And lager. And cider.
Er….who scored first? I do know that Yellow scored, Oz persisting. And persisting even more down the left towards the goal line and just when you thought the moment had gone he bundled in a shot at a tight angle. Red had scored first but if not they then equalised. In response Jeremy left his defensive position and ran at their defence and sliced it open with a wonderful through ball for Oz to fire in to put Yellow 2-1 up. Daniel then shouted at yellow that a red was unmarked near his goal. Unfortunately for him another player had the ball and fired in past the distracted keeper. Poor. He was released from goal keeping duties shortly afterwards and made amends, latching on to a loose ball and firing in scrappy goal. It really wasn’t that ugly and it was just before half-time, wonderful timing and the lead restored.
The re-start came far too quickly and after a short while the constant threat of the Red attack made an impact. Eric (I think) gaining possession on the left of the area and curling a shot just inside the top far post to restore parity. Yellow heads didn’t dip though and Oz lofted a perfectly weighted cross into the area. It was heading for the far top corner with Tim probably covering it but Daniel rose and with a wonderful deft touch of his head, guided it past the keeper and in at the near post and notch up his 250th goal for Peckham Commoners. Sadly it wasn’t the winning goal. The attacking line of Red was rather effective and they equalised with about 10 minutes to go. Both teams went for the win but there was no glory or spoils to be had. A fair result.

Final score: Red 4-4 Yellow

Red (4): James, Richard N, Richard P, Daniel
Yellow (5): Darren, Colin, Ed, Kevin, Jim N

For the third week in a row the other team wanted us to subsidise their poor attendence and join up. No thanks, we have a loyal and loving team. A little too much loving possibly after Colin minced up with a rather effeminate spotty bag and a copy of Heat in his car.
4 v 5 it was.
The game game kicked off and the after ten minutes the deadlock was broken with Jim running down the wing and crossing low. The ball was going out but then hit a line marker and bounced back in, rolling just out of reach past Daniel in goal for a simple tap in. Fortuitous. Yellow got another soon after with another bit of luck. Can’t quite recall what happened but it wasn’t a skillful assist – I think this is the one where Ed tapped in the loose ball. 2-0 up. Not to be outdone, Red went looking for lady luck and found her. Bad luck though for Richard P who took a shot from Colin in the face. Good luck came though – a rising strike was palmed away by Kevin in goal but sadly rather upwards and backwards over his head and in. 2-1 and no quality to speak of. 2-2 came along with Darren and Daniel having a tussle on the wing with Daniel gaining possession and crossing. A passage of play during which at no point was Daniel balanced and the the only quality was James’s first time finish. Red then went ahead for the first time only for Yellow to equalise. Jim N then fired from half way (’twas a small pitch) with Red backing off and the ball flew low under the diving Richard N. 4-3 to Yellow two minutes before half time, a perfect time to score.
The second half was a little tit-for-tat with both teams taking turns to be in front. Yellow pulled away to a 6-4 lead, one of which came from Kevin who fancied a bit of Jim N’s cake. Red didn’t close down in time and he hit a hard shot from just in front of half way which flew past several players and the keeper. Red didn’t despair with the two goal margin and fought back. Richard N shot, Colin jumped to head away but succeeded in merely skimming the ball and it looped over the keeper and in. Jim N as keeper then dithered in his area so Daniel pounced, gaining possession just near the line, spinning and firing into an empty goal. 7-7.  A couple more goals came and went and then in the last three minutes (with both teams going for the win and several breaks happening for both) the ball was released for James who calmly chipped the ball over Colin. Would it go in? Would it go over? Would it hit the bar? It seemed like an age. Luckily for Red it just went under the bar and Yellow couldn’t find a reply before the whistle. The lead changed hands five times!

Final score: Yellow 8 – 9 Red

A special mention to Jim N’s son who was the best ball boy we’ve ever had, sterling work young chap!

Red (7): JP, James, Daniel, Tim, Darren, Colin, Oz
Yellow (7): ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?

So four confirmed became three because Tim had leak. But then the plumber arrived and Tim didn’t want to watch him so back to four. Then they became seven. Magnificent, game on. But the other team had seven too and without Kieran we couldn’t turn them down. Why did they set up on the slope when the whole of the Rye was free?
A large pitch and proper positions. They had they upper hand from the off but we absorbed the pressure for the first ten minutes, found our feet and then began to match them. Darren was particularly solid in defence and then went on a pass and run move with JP, received it back and shot. Sadly it was saved but only parried into the path of JP who stroked home. Nice. Can’t recall much else – with 7-a-side, the game becomes more organised with proper tactics, discipline & positions. I like writing about our crazy total football.
1-0 at half-time.
We had a bit of a natter but concluded that we were doing okay. Downhill for the second half and they seemed a bit lethargic which made us believe the game was for the taking and we certainly made some chances going forward. This left us a bit open at the back and ten minutes in a quick release down the left was crossed low for a simple tap in from a man who had plenty of time as Daniel was still returning from an attack. Two more goals followed in similar fashion as our frequent breaks (effective runs down the middle or either wing but the final ball was a little poor (as were theirs) and JP in an attacking midfield position was being very tightly marked) left us rather exposed at the back, the tall man distributing well. We had a giggle though. They were strangely quiet, no quips and not a sinlge smile. Perfectly polite but not a ‘fun’ team which left us feeling a bit flat. In summary, not our finest hour but a slighlty harsh scoreline. I guess this is what it feels like to be gazumped.

Final score: Estate Agents 1 – 3 Them

JP, Qu’est-ce c’est un “dragback” en Français?

Yellow (5): Gerald, Colin, JP, Steve, Tim
Red (5): Kevin, Daniel, James, Richard N, Simon

Hot, sunny, firm.

The other team didn’t have enough and clamoured for us to join them but with 5-a-side already there wasn’t going to be any subsidising their lack of attendence. No siree. Especially with JP wanting an easy, clean game and Kieran unable to look him in the eye.

5-a-side then after 5 minutes when Simon (a ringer) asks for a game. Tim returns just over a year after his injury, welcome back sir!
A slow start, really slow. Red kicked off and strolled forward but in no rush to pass. Yellow didn’t seem keen on pressing. It did speed up a bit but not much. JP even tutted to himself when he lost control of the ball under no pressure from anyone and still had plenty of time to gather it back and try again. Yellow notched up two goals after the initial quiet period and Red then pulled two back including a nice header from Simon. This was almost copied by Daniel except for a fingertip reaction save from Steve(!). 2-2 at half time.
Red then went ahead at the beginning of the second half. This was promptly undone by Daniel fumbling a not very testing shot but he made amends shortly afterwards to reinstate the one goal advantage with a large puff which he repeated on every subsequent shot. Even-stevens from then on….3-3, 5-5, 7-7, justice being declared upon every goal. Red always managed to gain an adavantage and yellow pulling it straight back. Colin looked to be in the perfect position to pull Yellow ahead when the ball bounced for him a yard in front of goal after a keeper/defending/attacking melee nearby. However, even though he was facing the right way and had no one between him, the ball and the goal he still managed to allow Richard N to grope his hand around him to grapple the ball away from danger. Amusing. I reckon that’s why Richard N wins the goalkeeping award each year. Jeremy would never have been out of position in the first place ‘cos he’s a good keeper. Mr Norman in comparison, much more entertaining. Tim just avoided an own goal volley but Steve had already deflected one into his own net. It was about 50/50 possession but Red seemed to keep the ball on the ground more while Yellow put in the majority of aerial crosses. And then in the last ten minutes Red took their chances and pulled away to binary bliss. Yellow had no answer and accepted the inevitable as the clock ticked down. A clean and easy game that JP had so desired.

Final score: Yellow 7 – 10 Red

Macfest on Saturday next week – Will you be wheat or will you be chaff?

Sadly this report disappeared during the loss of the website. As three weeks have elapsed since this became apparent, I have forgotten all the happened other than that Ahmet scored the equaliser in the second half. Feel free to add anything if you can recall owt.

No idea of the teams but attendees were:

Ahmet, Colin, Daniel, Darren, Ed, Gerald, James, Jeremy, Jim N, Kevin, Oz, Richard P, Steve

Final score: 1-1

Red (4):  Jeremy, Rich N, Kev, James  (who picked these, 50% of this team are hungover!)

Yellow (5):  Ed, Colin, Mike, Damon, Richard P

First half fine and sunny, firm underfoot, second half some HEAVY showers, proper rain, slippery underfoot

A dubious start, Richie N and James arrive at their normal time of 10.38 – this time complete with hangovers – no-one there…  through the mist, Jeremy!  He was a NO, but managed to get a late license.  We decided on the “build the goals and they will come” approach, sure enough Colin and Mike appeared straightaway to help carry them and before long we have a 9-strong plan.  Hats off to Damon who has a 2 week old baby.

Anyway after the usual, the game starts briskly, two very good saves by Richard P from James and Kev boded (?) well for Red, but Yellow scored a swift 3 goals, details unclear except the third where Jeremy’s positioning abandoned him and guarded his left post rather than the space between.  A couple more good saves from Yellow frustrated the Reds further, but eventually Kev and James make if 3-2 before Yellow pull away to 5-2 with some solid play.  Step forward Jeremy to grab a hat-trick before half time, pick of them a great solo run and outside-of-the-foot finish.   5-5 half time felt right – the rain came down, Kev pit-stops into “wets” (mouldeds).   The same pattern develops, Yellow go 3 goals up, Red pull two back, Yellow get to 10, so do Red….  Skiddy pitch made for more errors and a lot of falling over, couple of comedy goals, Colin decides to leave one that trickles in, amends by scoring with a rather weak misplaced pass, straight into the bottom corner watched by all as time stood still.  Yellow grab a late winner, heartbreak for Red, a good run out, a good workout.  See you next week.

Final score: Yellow 11 – 10 Red

Thank you to James McG for the report.