Westminster Fields derby ends in 6-5 defeat to Longlands

Danny H did a great job to get us a preseason friendly with a Saturday vets team that shares Westminster fields. They play in division 6 of a league and were an unknown quantity. Maybe slightly younger on average than us at first glance.

Danny F emerged into the dressing room with his carefully unironed linen shirt, looking every inch the cosmopolitan European manager so common in the premier league. The illusion was shattered when our 15 man squad diminished to 13 and he was forced to replace the linen with the famous blue of Riverside, which perhaps was more forgiving of his figure. In a first for the team, Ollie was forced to withdraw due to toothache, whereas Matt W feared a recurrence of Covid, close to the 2nd anniversary of his Covid hit wedding. Graham B stepped up to cover for Ollie.

The pitch was looking great, not too hard and a bit of grass on it. There were loads of fox poos which Martin did well to clear a few away before the game. The "ultra" showed up on the side, Neil B was back leading our support. Stevie B turned up to support and was quickly sent away to get his boots. Ollie arrived a bit later looking pained.

We started well, seemingly well matched against Longlands. We moved the ball around well, creating chances and it was no surprise when Stuart hit a piledriver past their keeper. They weren't creating much but looked strong in the air, equalising with a header. We scored quickly again, Jamie bursting past and finishing low and hard. They scored twice again and again Jamie scored taking it to 3-3 at half time.

Their number 16 was showing himself to be a formidable player, big, fast and skillful. It emerged that he was a ringer and started the second half as linesman. We kept going forward and Jamie got a forth with a great shot. We couldn't keep them out and with the no16 back on the pitch they were very threatening, and pulled level at 4-4. The game remained open and Kris got a lovely 5th with a step inside and 25 yard shot over the keeper. Just after this Graham made a brilliant reaction save from a point blank header (with help from the earthen patch) and it seemed like it would be our day. However, with minutes to go a long ball over the top was picked up by the no16 who finished well, and he went on to get another to make it 6-5 with 2 minutes to go. A bit frustrating to lose at the end but it was an enjoyable game.