Menace show no mercy away at Tudor Sports

So, this is my first attempt at writing a match report, so please bear with me as I’m no Adam Carrick!! It was the first away game of 2022 for The Menace and they welcomed back several players into the match day squad. The skipper, Nicky Meta returned to his favoured right wing position, along with Charlie Egleton and Joe Thomas. The former partnering Carrick in central defence for the absent Samuel Boakye, and the latter reclaiming his place back in midfield. Kevin Dance moved back to take the right back position in place of Romaku, who was also unavailable.

The game started brightly, both teams coming out of the blocks fighting, really end to end stuff as the saying goes. Montella came close after 5 minutes flashing a shot wide of the post. In the opening minutes both teams continued to attack, both defences doing their jobs and cancelling eachother out. The warning signs were there for the hosts as Meta came close on 9 minutes. He struck the ball sweetly from the edge of the 18 yard line which saw it flash the wrong side of the keepers right hand post!!

The breakthrough came for the Menace on 14 minutes from a corner. Quick thinking from Montella allowed Meta to take it short, Montella returning the ball to the captain who whipped in a cross to the far post. Egleton rose to meet it, nodding it down to Adam Carrick who tapped home from 6 yards. One from the training ground possibly? The Menace faithful erupted in cheers and applause.

Peckham began to take control and perhaps should’ve been two up five minutes later. A cross from the left from Dowding found Montella who controlled well, turned his marker only to shoot straight at the Tudor goalkeeper. However, Josh Montella made amends on 33 minutes, latching on to a through ball, beating the Tudor defence. He rounded the keeper and smashed the ball into the roof of the empty net, much to the delight of the away support.

On 35 minutes was one of the most bizarre bookings I’ve witnessed. Peckham were awarded a free kick over near the far corner flag, Legg placed the ball ready to launch. Suddenly panic set in from the Menace skipper, as he had lost sight of his son who was watching from the stands. Unbeknownst to him, Jackie (club secretary) had taken said son to the toilet, but the message reached Meta and he began running back into his position on the right wing. All the while Legg was waiting for the panic to disperse, the ref blew his whistle and promptly gave the Menace stopper a yellow card for time wasting!! The pleas from the keeper, his captain, team mates and the bench were ignored by the official.

Play continued and both teams kept searching for goals, and Peckham nearly got their third on 42 minutes. Meta again bringing a decent save low to his left from the Tudor keeper. Half time came, and the Menace went in deservedly on top.

The only changes for the second half saw Meta and Dowding switch wings, and the second half carried on where the first half had finished. Tudor attacking believing they could get back into the game, the Menace attacking to try and put the game out of reach, but neither defence was giving anything away. Gabor will be disappointed that he didn’t hit the target on 51 minutes. Montella headed down to Gabor on the edge of the D but his shot would’ve made any rugby player proud as it sailed high over the Tudor goal.

The game came to an abrupt halt on 55 minutes when Carrick went down with a nasty facial injury. It happened after a Peckham corner, Carrick chasing down the cleared ball only to run toward a stationary Tudor man shielding the ball. Said players elbow caught Carrick full on in his right eye. The referee blew and waved on the Peckham physio, this week, Mary, deputising for the absent Rohan. It became apparent that the injury was serious and Tricia was called away from filming duties to help. Eventually, after 5 minutes of treatment, Carrick was able to walk off, dazed, with blurred vision and a black eye that any boxer would be proud of.

The game resumed on 60 minutes, Hong replacing Carrick but slotting into midfield, and Thomas deputising in central defence. Bangura came on replacing Gabor 3 minutes later as a straight swap up front. Hong hit the Tudor cross bar on 65 with a speculative effort, and the final change saw Black replace Meta on 73 minutes, with Thomas donning the captains armband.

The game was finally put to bed on 75 minutes when Marcus Black sent over a sublime cross from the left. Josh Montella rose and powerfully headed home high into the top left hand corner, with the Tudor goalkeeper rooted to the spot.

Dowding continued to cause the host problems on the right wing, as he had done on the left wing in the first half. He will be disappointed that he didn't get on the score sheet on 81 minutes. A corner from the left beat everyone in the 6 yard box and found Dowding unmarked at the back. His resulting shot sent high and wide! The hosts could quite have easy capitulated but credit to them, they continued to try and deny Legg a clean sheet.

Egleton went into the referees book for a late challenge on 88 minutes, and was warned by the ref that if he continued to protest he would find himself sin binned! After a few more stoppages for injuries, the game entered into added time, and there would be at least 6 minutes! It was then that Egleton received his second yellow, rising to head the ball clear, his elbow caught the face of his opponent. The referee had no hesitation in brandishing the cards, and to be fair it was a harsh booking, Egleton never took his eyes off the ball. One can only think his early shenanigans protesting had already swayed the referees decision, more than the challenge itself.

Eventually after what seemed like about 10 minutes the referee finally blew for full time. The Menace worthy winners in the end and the result keeps them firmly in touch with the league leaders. Any one of them could’ve been crowd King of the Match, but Dowding just edged it. The Menace left the pitch to rapturous applause from the 20 or so Menace faithful. Another great all round performance on the road!!

Menace Life Ain’t Easy.

Team: Legg, Egleton, Hashemi, Carrick, Meta (c), Thomas, Gabor, Barry, Dowding, Montella, Dance
Subs. Hong, Bangura, Black