No . 137
The Trusty Servant
Top Row : James Passmore ( I , 15-20 ); Ben Stevens ( E , 05-10 ); Gabriel Tiplady ( E , 06-11 ); Rollo Quinault ( H , 11-16 ); Alex Dawkins ( G , 02-07 ); Freddie Van Every ( A , 18-23 ); James Essex ( I , 06-11 ). Bottom Row : Hugh Burden ( I , 10-15 ); Lekan Olagunju ( F , 17-19 ) Michael Hodnett ( C , 08-13 ); Gus Morse ( B , 05-10 ); Tom Goulding ( G , 05-10 ).
We were unbeaten in January with wins over Old Rugbeians and Old Harrovians , completing the double over them for the season . A 2-0 defeat against Tonbridgians made our next game against Old Westminsters , who had just handed the Division 1 runaway leaders their first loss , the biggest six pointer in all British football . A single goal from the spot from Mike Hodnett ( C , 08-13 ) was enough to give us all 3 points and effectively relegate the Old Westminsters . We were brought back down to Earth in our next game against the Old Salopians . With some results having gone our way , we needed 3 points from our last two games to guarantee safety . We looked to have sealed all 3 points against Old Radleians when James Essex ( I , 06-11 ) completed his hat-trick to put us 3-2 up with 5 minutes left . However , Radley managed to equalise with the last kick of the game . A crucial point but not the 3 needed to guarantee our survival . Our final game to control our fate was against Johnians who had only 1 league loss all year . In a back-and-forth game , we were trailing 3-2 with 5 minutes left when Alex Dawkins ( G , 02-07 ) decided to score his first goal of the season and it was worth the wait ! With results going our way in a later kick off that day , our Division 1 survival was confirmed . While we didn ’ t manage to have the greatest success on the pitch , the biggest and best story to come from this season was that we had no fewer than a dozen newcomers make appearances for the club this season . The future of this club is well and truly bright . We ’ ve got the foundations in place but we need to keep this momentum going , especially with the re-formation of the 2s . We play our matches in Acton , London . If you ’ re keen to get involved , please email me at oldwykehamistfc @ gmail . com or sign up through our page on the Win Coll Soc website .
More OW Football news
Gordon Baker ( H , 84-89 ) reports some post-match banter following a highlight of the OW Veterans ’ season :
OW Vets 3 – Old Harrovian vets 2 We won ! This may be our first win since Covid . I confess I ’ d stopped keeping score . Until today . Which means we are through to the Vets Plate Final on 28 April . [ Update please , Ed .]
In post-match pub chat :
Their captain : “ You guys had a game plan and you stuck to it .” ( surely , an OWFC first ?!)
My son : “ You had 12 men , Dad …” Me : “ But you saw he tore his achilles and we carried him off , then we were only 11 …”
My son : “ I meant the ref .” Some highlights of the game :
1-0 Mase ’ s first touch meant his second was a 50:50 which he ‘ sure footed ’.
2-0 Slick passing from a throw-in deep in our half all the way up the congested right hand side finds Mase and Tom P falling over themselves to slot home .
3-0 Dispossessing them high up the pitch , this time Mase feeds Marshy all alone on the edge of the box , who settles himself , takes a bad touch , then another , and with their sweeper arriving at pace unleashes into the top right to high fives and the half time whistle .
3-1 Massive momentum shift . We cling on . They have 90 % possession . We are stout , and lucky . Their pacey beefcake ‘ Jack ’ decides enough is enough , runs around the whole of our right flank , cuts in to the edge of the 6-yard box , crosses , the shot is blocked , but the rebound is slotted home .
3-2 We probably defended a dozen corners in the game . Not this one ! ‘ Jack ’ is back , steams in and nods home .
At that point there was still 30 mins on the clock . This passes in a blur of defensive heroics all over . Big ‘ shaat
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