Knobs 2 Dun Cow 5

We put our 6 game winning streak (8 unbeaten) on the line against county champs Dun Cow.  We knew this was going to be tough, especially those of us who used to line up against Garston each pre-season for our annual mauling.  Anyone who beat Garston in the cup final was going to be good.

A couple of our steady and solid back 4 were unavailable for various reasons which was not ideal so we had a bit of a reshuffle at the back.  Gavin, carrying a slight hip injury slotted in at right back, a returning Martyn slotted in at centre back.

In hindsight, talking Dun Cow up may not have been a good idea!  Dun Cow were very, very good.  They passed the ball well and quickly but no better than Owens (league Champs) had when they visited us back in December.  Against Owens we dug in and were robbed at the end. From the kick off in this game some players were like rabbits in headlights. Over the past 2 months we have played some great football.  For the first half of this game some of our players just wanted rid of the ball and lumped it away.  Getting it back again was hard! There was very little of the passing football we had been good at recently and not many options for a Knobs player in possession.

The first goal we conceded was “one of those things”.  Tony C who has been in a great spell of form and who made a number of great saves throughout just got it wrong and let the ball through him from a cross shot.  He’d save the next 10 if they were hit at him the same.  Unfortunately a few heads dropped and a few moans started to escape people’s lips.  Not long after, the 2nd Dun Cow goal was scored.  The striker took an early shot through defenders which gave Tony little chance.  We were 2 down in about 15 minutes so this was to be a test of character.

We finally dug in and despite little possession we harried, chased (a lot) and limited the chances.  It looked like we would get to half time at 2-0 down and have a chance to regroup.  Unfortunately Roberto Carlos chose the final minute of the half to Rugby tackle a DC player in our box.  It was a needless challenge and James was keen to point that out to him!  So we trudged off 3-0 down and dispirited.

Half time was memorable!  We had 2 subs (Banksy and Rob H).  Banksy went up top whilst Dave M had a rest.  Rob H returned after a whole season out.  He said he was not fit enough to play in the mid field yet so he was asked to play left back for Roberto.  Roberto clearly still “emotional” after giving away the penalty picked up his stuff and declared he was going home!  This left us all stunned and Greg fearing he’d have to sweep the changing rooms rather than Roberto, went after him to persuade him to come back. 

With Rob eventually slotting in at right back and Gavin at left we kicked off and went straight on the attack.  Silly us.  They countered and despite a miraculous goal line clearance from Gavin they scored from the resulting corner.  2 minutes later it looked like deja vu as again the ball slid of Gavin’s head on the goal line, this time though into his own net.  5-0 with 35 minutes to go.  Oh dear!

We’d talked at half time about wanting the ball and trying to play and it being better giving it away trying to play than punting it away.  The penny seemed to drop despite the score line and we starting keeping the ball for longer, playing some 1-2s and gaining some territory.  We were still working hard when they had the ball and Tony made a couple of great saves but it was much better.  Jono put in a real shift up front.

We made a couple of subs, with Dave M replacing Bully and going to right midfield, Paul moving to the middle.  Roberto (toys back in pram) returned to left back to give Gavin’s hips a rest.
Finally we put a good move together.  We released Dave down the right who using his pace went past his man, slotting a perfectly weighted ball in between the centre backs for Banksy to run onto.  Banksy had no choice but to shoot first time and did so with great accuracy finding the far corner of the goal.

Ten minutes later more Knobs pressure led to a corner.  Our 2 centre backs decided they would wait on the half way line to give our shorter players a chance to score.  The corner came in and looked to be well cleared by Dun Cow.  However it fell to Roberto on our left who sent back a lob from a full 35 yards over the despairing keeper and under the cross bar.  He could have been at home sulking but instead he has a goal he’ll always remember!

And that is how it ended.  If only we hadn’t let in a soft first and a silly penalty it would have looked a respectable score.  We didn’t deserve a draw as they were by far the better team.  But there were many positives. The biggest one was that we are the only team to score more than 1 goal against them all season. Owens, Welwyn, Rickmansworth, Garston didn’t manage that!

Off to the pub.  No opposition turned up and only a few of us.  Instead of the brown stuff we all had bacon sandwiches! (The bacon was brown.)