Match Report

A (not so) long time ago on a football pitch far far-n- borough way…….

Farn-Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

And so after 17 weeks or 119 days or 2’856 hours which ever way you look at it is was a bloody long time!!! The moment had finally reached us, the day that would be etched into history FOREVER. This was to be one the 20th centuries defining moments, right up there with the break-up of the Soviet Union, Apartheid, the fall of the Berlin Wall and women's right to vote (later to be named April fools day!) Yes this was the Day that FOBGFC Vets decided to go down the Jordan (Real name Katie Price) and Peter Andre route and see if they could coexist as two separate forces both Hungry for success and world domination and most importantly attention.

We arrived at the clubhouse bright and breezy to learn that the “Older” Vets team were short in terms of numbers. Now whether this was due to injuries or holidays nobody really knows, although Saga & Derby and Jones are literally giving them away at the moment!!!

After introducing ourselves to our fellow teammates and establishing what positions we all played in for the very first time (thanks Toby) we lined up as far as I can remember as the following…

Gary Rosslee
Paul Garrett
Ben Jones
Danny Saines
Matt Wright
George Kleanthous
Robin Lipscomb
Rich Davies
Neil Connelly
Pete Harvey
Paul Tanton

Darren Mace
Andy Harrold

True to form Lloyds played their usual game, when they didn’t have possession they were closing our players down very quickly, and when they did have the ball they were feeding their 2 front men at every opportunity who did cause us no end of trouble all game.

The first real chance of the game fell to the “athletically” built Lloyds winger who took a speculative shot but the sounds of ‘I’ll go’ muffled out the actual sound of the crossbar which had just been rattled!!!

We defended valiantly for 45 minutes due to grit and determination, and sometimes genuine good luck. Yours truly spilled a regulation shot but was able to save the rebound and then rely on an excellent goal line clearance.

We took the lead with an excellent worked goal, some great work down the wing by the shrinking man that is Pete Harvey who crossed the ball for Paul Tanton who opened his body up and redirect the ball back across the on looking Lloyds goalkeeper. We went in 1-0 up at half time and full of spirits, and on a real high.

The second half went by without too much action in the first 10 minutes and then Lloyds had an attack which was thwarted by yours truly and that actually went on to set up our second goal which was clinically finished off by Pete Harvey. At this stage my OPTA facts were through the roof, a clean sheet, a few good saves and even an assist! Even though we defended resolutely without the assistance of a midfield Lloyds managed to get the lifeline they were after with 10 minutes to go, their ever dangerous forward finishing at the near post.

Although our heads dropped we thought were on our way to our first victory as a team and possibly the first victory for the Vets team recorded over Lloyds but their referee who had maybe spent some time learning his trade at the Old Trafford school of time, class of 90-98 (minutes’ that is) had other ideas. Lloyds swung in a corner which should have been the last kick of the game; in fact 3 of their players had showered and were on their second pint when the ref gave a penalty, ok the handball by Darren Mace may have been blatant but the F/T whistle should have gone way before. They scored the resulting penalty and we subsequently drew 2-2

On a brighter note we had held the strongest team we are likely to face this season in our opening game a huge credit to all the lads minus the midfield, you know who you are! And a big thank you to Andy Harrold who came on at the last ten minutes to help out and had a belter of a Game with a Banks like clearance in the dying moments of the game.

The only sour point to the game was the early injury to Rob (Sick note) Lipscomb who I believe is sidelined for a minimum of 8 weeks, I’m not sure what the returns policy is at Sports Direct but I’m sure you may get your money back for the nice new boots you recently purchased!

I didn’t hang around to see who got the MOM award, but it would have been a close contest between PG, Andy or myself.

Roll on Sunday against the Gas men from Croydon!!