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ASB v Hampton & Richmond
| Date |
Opponent |
Venue |
Competition |
Season |
Result |
Goals For |
Goals Against |
| Fri 18th Apr 2008 |
Hampton & Richmond |
Osterley Sports Club |
League |
07/08 |
won |
8 |
1 |
| Match Report |
"He's the white Les Ferdinand!" - Tina
Owing to a last minute change of venue, we found ourselves in the
unfamiliar surroundings of the Osterley Sports Club for our third
game this season against Hampton & Richmond. The first encounter had
been a one-sided affair in ASB's favour, but in the second match
Hampton gained revenge and managed to prolong ASB's cup jinx by
winning on penalties. With the wind firmly at our backs and the
temperature far colder than it had any right to be, we lined up
against Hampton for the final time.
Woody
Zack Orv Tina Slouch
James Eddie Ken JJ
Brendon Sharkey
After last week's nightmare, a good start was required and that was
precisely what we got. With only a couple of minutes on the clock,
Zack advanced down the right and sent a perfectly weighted ball
through to Sharkey who blasted the ball home to make it 1-0 – a
superb finish and just what we needed.
ASB's ideal start got even better with the second goal arriving
shortly afterwards. A quick interchange of passes on the left between
Eddie and Ken saw JJ running towards the Hampton area. He played a
quick one-two with Sharkey before jinking between two players and
scoring from a lovely placed finish under the advancing keeper.
At 2-0 and with the strong wind against them, Hampton were struggling
to clear their lines and were unable to hold on to the ball long
enough to mount any meaningful attacks of their own, leading to ASB
being dominant in possession. A third ASB goal seemed inevitable and
duly arrived when Eddie broke into space on the left and his whipped
in cross eluded everyone except an alert Sharkey who arrived late at
the far post to nod the ball in.
Brendon was having an impressive debut, showing pace and excellent
off the ball movement and also demonstrating an impressive ability to
jump early and hang in the air, which he used to good effect at a
couple of set-pieces. More good play on the right involving Eddie and
Zack led to the fourth ASB goal with Brendon receiving the ball
inside the box. He turned and quickly and sent in a low cross that
caught the Hampton right back snoozing, allowing Sharkey to nip in
and complete a 15 minute hat-trick with a first time finish.
ASB were now in total control of the match, forcing Hampton to sit
deep and giving the defence an opportunity to play keep-ball at the
back with Eddie and Ken dropping deep to receive the ball and set up
attacks. All too often the Hampton players found themselves chasing
shadows with Eddie seemingly being everywhere, playing inch-perfect
25 yard passes with no more than a casual flick of his boot. James
was the chief beneficiary of Eddie's accuracy and found himself in on
goal on several occasions with only a lack of composure preventing
him from scoring his first goals for ASB.
Having gone four up in such a short space of time, after about half
an hour ASB eased off a little. Hampton were now working harder too
and tried to press forward for the first time with their number 10
and 6 showing good attacking intent, however, Tina and Orv ensured
that their attacks were snuffed out well before they had a sight at
Woody's goal. As the 45 minute mark grew closer, it appeared that 4-0
would be the half-time score but Sharkey had other ideas, making a
run from the left touchline. He beat his man wide on the left,
continued his run towards the area and crossed low for Brendon who
made a late run in front of the keeper and flicked the ball into the
net for his first ASB goal. Juzza blew up for half time shortly
afterwards with the score at 5-0.
With such a commanding lead, Inga rang the changes during the
interval and the team for the second half looked like this:
Rob
Nick Orv Tina Slouch
Brian Ken Eddie Immy
Dave Scouse Steve
Inga's changes had an almost immediate effect - within the first 5
minutes Immy went on one of his mazy runs, slipped a through ball to
Brian who let the ball run across him, drew the keeper forward and
casually stroked it into the far corner with the outside of his right
foot to make it number six.
ASB continued to dominate despite playing against the wind in this
half, largely due to our refusal to hit the ball long from back to
front, enabling us to have long spells of possession and build
attacks slowly. Hampton's tactic of only playing one up front gave
plenty of opportunity for the ASB defence to play keep-ball and pass
the ball out of defence to the flanks where Brian and Immy were
terrorising their full backs - Immy had a shot well saved and Brian
saw a well struck shot turned onto the bar. Hampton's ambitions
seemed focused solely on damage limitation as they got bodies behind
the ball and looked to deny ASB space in the final third, which meant
that although their number 10 showed good attacking intent, all too
often his runs petered out due to a lack of support, much to his
obvious frustration.
ASB's seventh goal came following another spell of sustained
possession. Brian slipped the ball to Nick on the right who beat his man,
raced into the area and as the Hampton defenders tried to close him
down, he sent a deep cross to the far post giving an unmarked Scouse
Steve the easiest of chances, tapping into an empty net.
ASB continued to attack and the chances continued to flow - Ken fired
over from Brian's cross with the goal at his mercy and Dave's
acrobatic volley clipped the top of the bar. Ken and Eddie were both
content to sit deep and direct the patient build up before unleashing
the killer pass and this approach brought ASB their final goal - a
high swirling ball into the area caught the wind and was half cleared
to Dave's feet just before they were taken out from under him by two
Hampton players. Juzza pointed to the spot and although the Hampton
keeper guessed the right way, Ken's penalty was too powerfully struck
leading to a deserved first ASB goal for him and 8-0 to ASB.
Aside from a couple of catches Rob had about as much to do in goal as
Woody had in the first half, however, he was beaten late on in
bizarre fashion. A hopeful punt into the box from the Hampton number
10 was on its way harmlessly through to Rob who called for the ball.
Orv, however, was committed to making a clearance, and caught in two
minds, the ball spun off his foot and trickled into the corner of the
net giving Hampton a most unlikely way on to the score sheet.
The game drew to a close without any further incidents of note and
Juzza's whistle ended the match at 8–1, a much improved ASB
performance from last week. |
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