Match Report
Match Report - 18 Sep 2016, Clapham Rovers Clapham Rovers beat Sporting Continental
Rovers!
This week sees us pause league action for a week in favour of the start of our cup run. A team from Div 5 are our opponents. Let's not compound last Sunday by slipping on a cup banana skin by taking the match seriously and approaching the game in the right frame of mind.
Rovers 3 - 4 Sporting Continental
Oh God. A match that still sticks in the throat 2 days after it finished. Even now I can't quite believe what transpired particularly as I am the main protagonist in how we contrived to throw the match away. If we have learned anything so far, it is that we are more than capable of competing in this league and we are more than capable of grabbing those points back from our 2 losses so far. A season is not lost in September so let's get our heads up and start dragging it back as soon as possible.
I set the tone for the afternoon by looking like a right spanner and scuffing the ball into my own net, over my head and over Nath and Pybus on the line, from a badly taken corner as I manned the front post. I had aimed to smash the granny out of it by hooking but was beaten by a bobble (although some might say surprised by the ball merely bouncing) as it came towards me. 0-1.
Until that point Sporting Continental had not troubled us too much and the game pattern had been set as a war of midfield attrition which we faced up to quite nicely although without ever playing decent football for long periods of time.
It was however from one rare piece of nice play that we went 1-1. A ball into G on the left hand side was controlled and passed into his new strike partner, Spanish Marv. He turned and laid the ball in behind the full back for Smudger to run onto and rifle into the left hand corner of the net. A wonderful goal.
We then scored another wonderful goal to go 2-1 up with G showing a great striker's instinct. A lovely ball down the line was equally lovely flicked on towards the left hand side of the box where G gave chase and managed to flick the ball past the keeper and into the far corner of the net from a tight angle near the byline. Absolutely delightful.
At half time we spoke about maintaining the aggression and determination which gave us a foothold in the game whilst attempting to play more of the football which carved open Sporting Continental for the goals.
Sadly it was Sporting Continental who got back into the game at 2-2 with a goal where time seemed to stand still. As SC lined a wall up on the edge of the box, an SC attacker stood to the left of the wall looking like a none too subtle decoy begging to receive the ball. Assuming that
Matt Wright had it covered, no one said anything. However the phrase 'never assume, it makes an ass out of u and me," reared it's ugly head as unfortunately he hadn't seen him until it was too late. Too late being the attacker receiving the ball and toe bonking it into the net despite Matt's last ditch challenge. 2-2.
Despite this we managed to get ourselves out of jail again by going 3-2 ahead with another all too rare piece of decent football. Dan Wellman played a great ball inside the left full back for Spanish Marv to run on to and clip into the far corner of the net for another well worked goal.
I then embarrassingly blotted my copy book with another starring role in bollocking up the lead. I felt the Ref throughout the match had been a frustrating mixture of whistle happy, inconsistent and swayed too often by the loudest shout from either side. After missing fouls on both Matt Wright and Smudger, the ball found it's way to the SC left winger who broke strongly into the box. I awkwardly attempted to get my body in the way, made contact with their player and the ref under few appeals this time, gave a pen. I did try to argue my case that it was obstruction and therefore an indirect free kick but the ref sort of looked at me like when you show a cotton reel to a tired cat. Puzzled and sleepy. SC dispatched the pen and I substituted myself 70 minutes too late.
SC then went onto score a 4th to go ahead by slaloming their way through the defence with some nice one twos. I can't really tell you anymore. I was too busy throwing the lino flag on the floor in frustration.
The depleting time and the injustice of it all concentrated the mind and we set about creating chance after chance to steal a point back. Nath had a shot over, G had a header off the bar and Charlie had a free kick pushed out by the keeper all to no avail. Smudger also might've had a penalty, albeit a soft one, had he gone down when under pressure but knowing our luck we'd have missed the resultant one anyway.
MOM. Charlie for an assured and error free performance at the back.
POS
P
W
D
L
F
A
GD
PTS
1
Sporting Continental
2
2
0
0
8
4
4
6
2
Inter Yamam
2
1
1
0
6
4
2
4
3
Clapham Rovers
3
1
0
2
9
6
3
3
4
AFC Balham
2
1
0
1
6
6
0
3
5
Bath Old Boys United
2
1
0
1
4
5
-1
3
6
Brixton Town
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
7
Streatham Stanley
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
8
AFC Morden
2
0
0
2
3
11
-8
0
Marcus Lipton Cup - 1st Round
Albion V Wig Army Clapham Common 4 Ajani Adrien
Battersea Dogs V Wimbledon Town ‘B’ Belair Park 2 Ms Alex Lupano
Clapham Rovers V Westminster Wanderers III Wimbledon Common Ext Alan McNiff
Wheatsheaf Athletic V London Brookes Clapham Common 5 Jim Oakes
Tony Eldridge First Division
AFC Morden V Brixton Town Mollison Drive Peter Kelly
AFC Balham V Streatham Stanley Clapham Common 3 Maurice Newton
Bath Old Boys United V Sporting Continental Clapham Common 6 Timothy Berry
FANTASY FISCAL ROVERS
Surname
First Name
AGGREGATE OWING
Smith
James
57.05
Godwin
Chris
45
Sampson
Les
10
Yousefian
Anthony
10
Keenan
Graeme
10
Hamilton
Archie
5
Sporting Continental 4 - 3 Clapham Rovers Clapham Rovers ()