Match reports

Red: Kevin, JP, James, Jeremy
Yellow: Matt, Darren, Colin, Daniel

4-a-side. Hmmm, dodgy team selection methinks with Red pulling away to a 10-5 lead at half time. However in a bid to preserve some pride, Yellow burst out of the second half and pulled it back to within one goal at 13-12 and just when they were about to equalise, Red pumped in a couple more and yellow couldn’t get close again, especially as Matt pulled up with cramp for the last 15 minutes. Everyone scored. Welcome back Colin. Comedy shot from James from the back of his head. Heroic slide from Daniel to block a shot from Kevin only to see the ball deflect back off the striker over his still sliding form into the goal. Funny goal from Matt: well in his own half tries to pass up the pitch to Darren in the box. JP attempts to block but the ball only scraps his studs and rolls tamely past keeper James into the net. Nice to have a fence to stop the ball rolling miles away.
Final score: Yellow 18 – 16 Red 

Stat man Dan says: 18-16 is the highest combined tally of goals (34) this year. You have to go back to 2009 to find a higher combined scoreline, 19-19 (38) on February 15th. But that’s also beaten by the 25-15 (40) final score on July 20th 2008. However, in first place on August 31st 2008, the score at the final whistle was 24-18, an incredible 42 goals in one match.

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.

Red (4):  James, Ahmet, JP, Daniel

Yellow (5):  Jeremy, Kevin, Gerald, Oz, Richard P

Yellow 8-3 up at the break. Red made a passionate comeback including a ‘goal-of-the-season’ contender from JP but it wasn’t to be.

Final Score: Yellow 13 – 11 Red

A mixture or yes’s, maybe’s and surprises turning up but JP is rapidly becoming the phantom ‘yes’ man.
Same reason as last time sir?

4-a-side

Red: Oz, Ahmet, Richard P, Daniel
Yellow: Richard N, Jeremy, Kevin, John G (substituted at half-time due to injury, replaced by Andrew)

Red went into the break 5-3 up even after Daniel squandered a hatful of chances to increase the lead. He didn’t improve in the second half and let the aforementioned hatful of goals in.
Torrid and calamatous, I have nothing else to say.

Final score: Yellow 11 – 8 Red

Match abandoned – only two people signed up (Oz, Kevin)

Cracking game – 10 definites, 7 turn up (boo! Though Oz and Kev injuries good reasons!) JACK makes an appearance, 7 turns into 6 when Mrs Richard Piper hurts her back, young Robbie, bursting with energy and knee-high white socks wants a game, not while it’s 3 vs 3…….  

So Red Jack, Scarlet Rich N & Crimson James

vs

Yellow JP, Egg-yolk Gerald and Jaundice Ed

After 10 mins it’s 3-1 to yellow…. Then Mr Richard Piper returns with his children and we’re on to 4 vs 4 – your Robbie joins the yellow team and off we go…… 

Yellow gradually start to dominate, the youngster has far too much energy and skill, and bounds after the missed shots behind the goals, dammit, I remember when I used to do that.  Red don’t lose touch though (included a cracking volley by Norman from a James throw-in just as his child and missus arrive to watch) and it’s a very hard fought 4-2 at half time.

As so often, a change of ends, change of fortune, Reds fight back after some sweeping attacking football and doughty defending and take the lead for the first time 7-6 with only some high class volleys from JP able to breach the goal… frantic with 5 mins left, yellow-Ed scores the winning goal to get the lead back 8-7 before Red equalize with another good move.  Final Score: 8-8. Cracking.

Yellow (4): Kevin, Daniel, Richard N, James

Red: Jim M, Jim N, Oz, Ed, Paul

Yes indeedy, after spending 73 weeks on the injury list Paul returns for his first game since March 1st 2009. Yes, I know you’re impressed by that kind of information. The game started off, much like Paul, a little tentatively and while yellow pinged off a few early shots they only got on the scoresheet after Daniel missed a sitter but was quickest to react to the rebound and cheekily back-heeled the ball through Jim N’s legs. Said keeper came out and promptly equalised. Daniel then got a 5 minute hatrick amongst a flurry of goals for both teams – all the sixes. Jim N then decided to streak across the pitch in the style of a badly cordinated dancing clubber dressed as a roman emperor and yellow took advanage to score an easy goal and went in 8-6 up at the break. Red came out with a little more oompf and made the allegedly 20% fit extra man count with Paul finding his shooting boots to bury a handful of those shots you may well recall from yesteryear – tastier than Morrison’s half price sausages and with Oz popping up at some point to nicely head in a corner, they pulled away to lead 14-9. An attempted fightback by yellow got them to within three goals at 15-12 but they were thwarted by such things as James and Richard N tackling each other in front of their own goal and some random ladies cheering reds and heckling yellow from the cheap seats and they sank quickly in the final 10 minutes. A titanic victory for Red.

Final Score: Red 19-12 Yellow

Red: Darren, John, JP, Kevin, Oz, Richard P, Tom (winners)

Yellow: Ahmet, Jeremy, James, Jim M, Matt, Richard N, Stuart (losers)

Facscinating game, 7-a-side with each team leading on numerous occasions. Matt scored. Against the odds Reds were victorious and it felt very good. Good game, good game as Bruce Forsyth would say. Hard game. It was a good honest game, lots of space, lots of running. Red had a lot of opportunities to build on a two-goal cushion but didn’t; clinical finishing and a very good fightback by yellow (who were two goals down at half time) broke red hearts. Interestingly the very slight slope seems to make a massive difference, running on the slight uphill with weary second half legs perhaps but the team going downhill won each half and ultimately the game. Can you tell by the contradictions that this is an amalgamation of various reports?

Final score Red: 7-5 Yellow (the winning colour/actual score may not be accurate – see below)

In my absence this Sunday i’d just like it to be known that between the five or six people who forwarded me their reports on the match, I was given the following hotch-potch information:

• four differing final scores (8-6,7-5, 6-5, 6-4)
• both red and yellow apparently won which means some people couldn’t recall what colour bib they wore
• only two could remember the full line up of their or the other team.

I’d therefore like to give myself a pat on the back for completing full and accurate report each and every week.

Yellow: Oz, Richard P, Richard N, Ed, John, Steve

Red: Daniel, James, Jeremy, Stuart, Kevin, Jim N

6-a-side, I like it, I like it, yes I do.  Hmmm, a weird one. 20 minutes of good passing by both teams but no goals followed by a hard-to-describe rest of the game. Reds didn’t take their chances early on and then didn’t get any more as yellow closed down and defended impeccably. John broke the deadlock from a tight angle, Red got one back, yellow picked up another and then got a third with a deflection off Daniel going through James’ legs. Oz and John passed and held the ball well, Jim N did a Larry Grayson, Kevin fell over, Ed did a multiple running stepover not actually realising the ball was under him and Jim N is a butcher in the present Morrisons advert offering sausages at half price this week.

Final score: Yellow 5-1 Red