Saints 2 KNOBS 2 - match report by Gavin

‘Should have won’ said Dave, ‘I can’t believe we lost’ thought Chris G but most of were happy that we sneaked a draw in a rather feisty encounter on a cold Sunday morning in St. Albans. After a late withdrawal from Matt, the big decision for stand-in manager Chairman Al was, who should play up front with the people’s champion Dave ‘shimmy, shimmy’ Jordan? Who knows what happened on Friday night but Ron’s team sheet never lies and it was true, Dave was about to have his moment in the sun.

On arriving, confusion over strips meant that we had to wear bibs. Bully wasn’t happy. Not only would the talent scouts not be able to see the Number 4 on his back, Mr Groundsman clearly looked at him when stating that some players might struggle to fit into them. At this point it might be worth noting that if there is an epidemic of young girls collapsing in the changing areas at St. Albans School, the finger should clearly point towards Twiggy and his early morning movements. Strewth!

As for the game? Well…we started off well but after a poor decision by the ref, we soon found ourselves a goal down. John Boyle tracking back, tackled their left midfielder but the ref deemed it a foul. Was this a sign to come? From the free-kick, the Saints took the lead…can’t remember how but it was annoying. We soon stormed back into the game. A marvellous run from Richard (he informs me, he ran from well inside our half, beating 13 players along the way) saw him get to the by-line where he promptly squared it. Our own little ‘fox in the box’ John Boyle tucked it home with aplomb. Where was Dave when this happened? Taking defenders away apparently. He was the pivot point in our well-oiled machine! Soon we were getting to grips with the game, creating a few chances and putting pressure on from corners. Chris Wilson worked tirelessly in the middle and had a great game. It wasn’t long before we took the lead. A nifty turn from Gavin, saw a cheeky nutmeg and then a dive and then the cry – ‘penalty!’ – up stepped Bully to whack it home with his usual efficiency. 2-1. We breezed through the rest of the half with some nice attacking play and some stout defending, with Roy causing complaints, which always warms the cockles of his fellow team mates hearts. Changes were made at half-term. Brendan and Twiggy coming on and Alistair and Gavin going off…these were the start of the rolling substitutions. Did this upset our rhythm or did the Saints just play better in the second half? Probably the latter. It was a siege of corners and crosses fired into the box. Trevor held out superbly, with one fine save coming from a one-on-one opportunity. Finally they broke through from a free-kick that rebounded off Trevor’s chest into the path of their own ‘fox in the box’ who tucked it away quite nicely. 2-2 and that was the way the match would end. We only had two chances in the second half, John blasting over after some good work down the right and Phil had a free-kick hit into a wall. We were living off scraps up front. Poor old Dave – this was to be his moment but alas it turned out he was ‘limited’. They should have won really – Twiggy gave away a clear penalty (although Roy said it wasn’t a foul – the bloke could still stand up!) but their ref decided it was just on the edge of the box. Thank goodness for that.

Food was nice – overcooked pasta and Bolognese. Good turnout and it was interesting to see that Chris W. has a greater presence on the pitch than he does at the bar. Onto Ware – Where? WARE!!! Oh…forget it.