Match Day 1 then of Season 2021-2022, our 16th season as a Club I believe and what a gorgeous September Sunday morning greeted us with our new/old home of the Studley Sports & Social Club looking in fine fettle...
With a squad of 16 assembled and eventually all present it was time to consider our options for the starting 11 as we took on Beoley Village in a league encounter, they themselves heavy in numbers and a few new faces amongst there ranks. Our main focus turned to 3 talking points, Owen or Adam at left back, Derek or Bill in midfield and Stew or Tyler as our centre forward, with Adam looking weary from the night before's antics, Bill just back from injury and Stew hopefully offering a greater physical presence early on myself and Jim decided on 4-3-3 with Whitehead in goal, a back 4 of Rob, Matt, Dave and Owen, in midfield was Derek, Jon and Harry with Williams, Stew and Cuan up top. Our bench then consisted of Adam, Bill, Tyler, Daniel and Ben, with Lee Ewens, Ibby Akhlaq and Chris Hands unavailable it showed our strength in depth and how competitive competition for places will be during the season...
All that said is was over to newly appointed warm up man Derek Harkin to put the players through there paces and have a look at set piece routines with the starting 11 and those who were our main attacking threats, I'm pretty sure we'd covered all bases off the pitch, pre match etc so now it was down to the lads on the pitch now.
This was a big game imo, seasons are built on momentum and we owed Beoley a beating, so the match got underway and you could see right from the off we had the bit between our teeth, it didn't take long on what is a narrow pitch to get a corner and with 2 minutes on the clock Jon sent over a peach of a delivery which I think Rob flicked on at the front post and Cuan Partridge headed over with the goal at his mercy, centre of goal 6 yards out, this was followed by another excellent corner by Jon minutes later and it was Harrys turn to head over. We'd started brightly, Williams down the right impressing, Harry bursting forward to support our attacks but that little bit of composure or quality was missing in the final third as we peppered there goal without really working there keeper in the opening 10 minutes or so. Beoley at this point had offered little in attack, our fullbacks in Rob and Owen snuffed out raids forward and Matt and Dave had very little to do. You felt from pitchside it was a matter of time before we scored but you also knew we needed a goal to reward our good start and boost our confidence about scoring goals. As we entered 15 mins gone or so Beoley started to grow into the game and had a guilt edged chance with one of there few attacks, it was a error by Dave which saw the ball go under his feet and this released a Beoley forward who 35 yards out could of easily ran in on goal but thankfully panic seemed to set in and he ended up shooting from 25 yards out and his effort was so far wide it may of actually gone out for a throw, phew. This did encourage Beoley to come out of there shell though and the long ball over the top caused us the odd concern as we backtracked and had to defend the odd set piece with Whitehead in goal superb for us as each time he came and punched the the ball clear releasing the pressure as we regrouped. As it often is with us it took something scrappy rather than some of the nice exchanges of football to open the scoring for us, we got a throw 20/25 mins in and Harry from 35 yards out lauched the ball goalbound, a phrase I'll use a lot this season I'm sure, the ball bounced in the penalty area taking the slightest of deflections off a Beoley player and ended up in the back of the net to put us 1-0 up. We pressed for a second with Cuan coming infield at times showing nice touches and it was Cuan who had a next best chance as a switch of play saw him clean through but a poor first touch saw him go wider from the goal and hesitation saw the chance come and go, similar with Stewart Rowland once or twice who found good space on the edge of the area but failed to pull the trigger. Beoley continued with there long ball football which still caused us the odd moment of concern and with us dipping in our general display with 35 mins gone we made our first changes as Bill replaced a disgruntled Derek with Bill's extra pace hopefully able to help out and cover those long balls aimed our way and Tyler came on for Stew as we searched for that important second goal. It was Tyler who was next in the action when he chased down a through ball and a Beoley defender grappled Tyler to the ground as he got a effort away at goal but the Ref deemed it fair so no penalty awarded. We did play some good football at times, I recall a great surge forward from Harry late in the first half where he brushed off 2/3 players using his upper body strength but like other moments that final ball when the hard work had been done just failed to materialise. With Jon generally pulling the strings in midfield, Bill now settled into the game and our 2 wide forwards in Cuan and Williams a threat we were the better side but when the half time whistle went a scoreline of 1-0 didn't reflect our better quality and despite knowing we are the better side you worry about our lack of goals in these situations to wrap up the game, all in all though a very good first half display.
A few pointers at half time with Jim keen to see our wide men switch sides, a discussion on who goes where again on set pieces and communicating that when going forward for corners etc and then pats on the back for being the better side, I have real belief in this group of players I just want our dominance at times rewarded more and earlier...
Out for the second half then and no further changes at this point, the old clinche of the next goal is the key ran through my head and it was surely the case here, we get a early second then we could run away with the game, although the sun was now in our backlines eyes I felt we were fine defensively bar a individual error.
As the second half took shape we again showed the greater quality in possession with Owen Lewis and ROB THOMAS always a outlet, fullbacks good on the ball always makes for a better side and tbf we were using them often and they in turn made good decisions in possession as they fed Cuan and Williams out wide, it was certainly those areas that our main threat came from. As we got 10 mins plus into the half we seemed to lose a bit of urgency in our game and certainly composure, to many lose touches or misplaced passes crept in with Harry guilty of a few in a short space of time, it only resulted in the odd break or set piece from Beoley and yet again anything put into our penalty box was headed away or mainly punched away by the dominant Tom Whitehead in goal. With the game drifting I wondered round to Jim to discuss possible changes and maybe Harri Wiley picked up on something as he suddenly showed urgency and with 55/60 mins gone his own throw came back to him and the ball was launched goalwards from 30 yards out, luck on his behalf or poor judgment by there keeper it's hard to say but the ball ended up lopping over there keeper and into the back of the net to finally put us 2-0 up. With the previously discussed changes still in mind we suddenly put together a quality move which saw Jon pick the ball up just inside the box and he weaved past one player before trying to meg the next but the defender got a little something on the ball but thankfully Jon came out with the ball still in his possession and shot from 12 yards out of which there keeper made a fine low save to deny him, as like many times before our fox in the box was ready to pounce though and Richard Tyler did just that diverting the ball into the back of net as it looked more likely to run out for a corner, game over and 3-0. With 20 mins plus left we brought Derek on for Harry and Stew for Tyler, decisions already made before there goals. We were in complete control now and looked strong and organised defensively, another change happened soon after as Adam replaced Owen with Adam Sharp main contribution a awful challenge 2 mins later. Having gone close just minutes before it was Willimas turn to get on the score sheet as Cuan put Jon Pearson through into a good area and once again this time with a low cross/pass he found Tommy Williams who from close range put us 4-0 up with a tidy finish. We made another change as Ben replaced Cuan and a few minutes later Daniel replaced Tommy on the other wing, our final change came with just under 10 mins left as Harry came back on for Jon. We kept at it despite all the changes as Stew missed a sitter from almost on the line, Daniel Rowland had a mixed cameo with the odd good cross but took his eye of the ball when receiving the odd pass, Benjamin James in possession did well keeping things simple but again drifted infield chasing the ball rather than remaining wide and giving us width. With a cleansheet on offer we remained focused defensively as Matthew Rowland vocally encouraged as per, David Lewis playing us out of danger at times, Whitehead again completely dominant in his own penalty box and Billy O'mahoney a rolls royce in possession, Derek ticking us over, grafting and keeping our shape when coming back on. As the Ref blew for fulltime it was job done, a well earned victory on the opening day of the season with a squad that's been together a while now, on and off the pitch it's coming together, 3 points bagged, bogey team put to bed, happy manager...?
As per a big thx to those who helped out on the day, so too Jamie Cantona and Nick Cotton who hopefully will attend many more games as its a real help having him deal with paperwork etc, those who's dad's came down to watch, support us, Ibby and Stuart O'Mahoney who rocked up in the second half, if I missed anyone out I do apologise but all support is greatly appreciated ??
A big shout out to the players also, I may whinge and moan especially during the game but we have a real good group now, we asked them to dig a little bit deeper financially this month to get us moving forward and again over the season to cover running costs and almost to a man that's happened now. Also though to the craic, banter and time given after a game, it's not every team that rock up and support a fellow player who puts on a charity event, fair play to Adam Sharp btw but not only did 4/5 play in the game but another 5/6 of us came down with our kids etc supporting it and showing our will to support the Studley Sports & Social Club by putting money behind the bar, again pretty much to man we stayed after the game Sunday and for many we were there for several hours, top effort and long may it continue...??
As for mine and Jim's MOTM I thought there were 3 maybe 4 contenders, Whitehead in goal faultless, Williams for his quality, industry and goal but we went for JON PEARSON in the end, constant good quality from set pieces, tidy in possession through out, almost a fine solo goal which Tyler converted anyway and 2 assists, in a very competitive area of the side he's gonna have to maintain those standards but a fine start to the season ??
Up next more league action as we move onto Greenlands Pitch 5 and play new side to the league Kemal United, 10.15 am kick off, full details to follow later in the week ??