26/11/2016 – Report – Little Oakley FC “A” versus Tiptree Park FC
ANDREAS CARTER ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE
DIVISION TWO
LITTLE OAKLEY FC “A”: 1.
TIPTREE PARK FC: 2.
Date: Saturday 26th November 2016. Venue: War Memorial Ground, Little Oakley
A trip to Little Oakley’s, War Memorial Ground took my fancy on Saturday, the young home “A” team acquitted themselves very well last season and occupy a mid-table position so far this season and they I’m sure welcomed the chance to play on the clubs main pitch. Tiptree Park FC, on the other hand are riding high this season, undefeated in seven league games so far and after bringing in several experienced players they sit comfortably behind another resurgent team, Great Bentley FC, albeit with games in hand.
On a still but bright but cold afternoon the match official for this Division Two game was Colchester based Lee Miller assisted by volunteer club linesmen.
Little Oakley FC “A” kicked off but visiting captain Quinney launched the first shot of the game only to hit defender Baxter this after good approach play involving Newcombe down the right side. Kelliher conceded the first free kick of the game when twice trying to tackle the often elusive Johnson whose movement can be a joy to watch provided he involves his team mates and much of his teams play was threaded through him in midfield. With five minutes gone play was certainly lively with both teams attacking, Smith drove forward from his wing-back berth hitting a rising shot off Rayner for the first corner to the home team. Hinks took this corner, left footed, in-swinging but was somehow headed over by Boyne from just under the cross-bar at the far post with Hinks then having to chase back to stop a surging run down the right side, from his own half by Rayner. Keeper Ward had to advance to the edge of his penalty area to kick clear as Short threatened then his team put together a penetrating move out of defence, started by Quinney, then Newcombe with Driver just stopped by Boyne with Short taking up the running in the other direction only to be stopped by Teran at the expense of a corner. Hinks, once again took the corner kick with Boyne challenging for the ball with Baxter firing over from six yards when well placed.
As play remained even through the quarter of an hour mark a move started from a throw-in by Coppin found Galvin whose cross found the head of Kelliher but keeper Warnes collected comfortably, with the same keeper forced to punch clear from an effort by Quinney. The first goal duly followed when Johnson won the ball on the left side, he moved inside through midfield before passing wide to Button whose first time cross was delightfully headed home at the far post by JOE KNIGHT. The youth of Little Oakley continued to push forward whereas the physically bigger and taller team of Tiptree Park always looked a threat, they just needed the final ball to be true because they always looked capable of scoring. A strong run forward by Palmer saw him beat three players but run out of space on the pitch and Johnson showed some foot trickery dragging the ball round first one then two then three defenders to reach the penalty area where keeper Ward was on hand to clear. Newcombe and Driver linked up to work the ball past two defenders and into the penalty area with Driver just rolling the ball wide of the far post.
Coppin found Newcombe on the right and from his cross Warnes collected as Driver threatened and at the other end a poor clearance from Ward fell to Knight who tried his luck from close to the half-way line. Knight was then guilty of losing the ball which allowed Galvin the chance to run at the retreating home defence but he only managed to send his lobbed effort wide of the goal. Farthing made a good recovery to stop Driver after missing his first tackle but the away pressure was mounting and on thirty-five minutes Tiptree Park equalised. A corner taken by Driver was attacked by Rayner, inside the six yard box and with the home team failing to clear Kelliher sent in a low shot that the unfortunate JOE KNIGHT toe-poked into his own net for an own goal. Knight and Kelliher attempted to win a high ball, both with their feet but no free-kick was given with play continuing with Short providing a cross for Knight to head wide and as the half closed Kelliher was cautioned for dissent when no free-kick was given when Galvin was seemingly upended by Baxter.
HALF-TIME: 1 – 1
Tiptree Park restarted the second half with neither team making any changes and the end to end pattern of play resumed in a game that either team could win, it was still that close! A corner from Driver was punched clear by Warnes and a lobbed effort from Quinney was headed off his goal line by Smith whilst Knight flashed a shot wide as the home attacked through Johnson. On fifty-two minutes the injured Baxter was replaced by Savage for Little Oakley with Palmer resorting to a defensive position and when his team-mate Knight drifted past two defenders and the advancing keeper only a desperate goal-line by Teran saved the day for the visitors. Galvin was correctly flagged for off-side despite Warnes advancing well outside his penalty area but the home team were playing a high line from defence and still spraying the ball wide to either Short or Hinks who both have pace. Johnson and Quinney had a head on head discussion, stupid really as the game had been played in a good spirit and did not warrant un-needed attention. Once diffused Quinney drove forward to test Warnes with a rasping drive that the keeper parried and with Quinney following up to cross Warnes collected the ball almost off the head of Driver.
A fine corner kick taken by Knight should have been buried in the back of the net but it somehow eluded three home players and all the Tiptree defenders as it bounced through to the far side which allowed time for Tiptree to replace Kelliher with Pomphrett whose first touch and pass looked to have set Galvin through until the linesman flag was raised, correctly, I might add, for off-side. On sixty-seven minutes, Little Oakley replaced Short with Caudill but he had little time to acclimatise to this fast game when the visitors took the lead. Quinney played an intelligent ball into space to the right hand side of the penalty area where the evergreen CARL DRIVER evaded his marker to chip a delightful effort over the head of keeper, Warnes and into the back of the net, sort of goal he has been scoring for many years and a worthy winning goal, as it turned out. A challenging run by Knight met resistance from Pomphrett then Reynolds who was cautioned for dissent before Wilson was replaced by Vilaser with Palmer striking a free-kick straight to keeper Ward.
The persistence of Pomphrett earned a corner after which Driver was replaced by Sutton and Knight was eventually cautioned for persistent infringement of the rules, some people never learn! A quick free-kick taken by Johnson almost put the home side through until Teran intervened at the expense of a corner, good job somebody was still wide awake for the visitors! Reynolds made a fine tackle to deny Boyne who had stayed forward and when Teran was hauled down by Knight, already cautioned, he was perhaps mightily thankful that the referee did not caution him again!
FULL TIME: 1 – 2
Well, I expected a close game and we had one, undefeated Tiptree Park FC stroll on but their acting Manager, admitted to me later in the bar, that they had been forced to raise their game against youthful opposition whom they rated as the best team they had played this season, so Little Oakley FC “A” should take heart from that comment. This game was extremely close from start to finish as chances came and went at both ends with no lack of commitment by any player, nor tackles shirked.
For Little Oakley FC “A” numerous players caught the eye showing their ability to play in the style the club epitomises so I’ll not mention them by name this week whereas for Tiptree Park FC, Driver was sharp up-front and scored an excellent goal but Galvin, Newcombe and Quinney are the midfield generals who dictate play, however the alertness and strong defending by Victor Teran gets my Man of the Match selection this week, often the last defender but by reading the pattern of play he was in the right place to stop any home attacks saving one “lost cause” on the line in a never-say-die piece of defending.
Teams:
LITTLE OAKLEY FC “A”: Colours: Blue & Black Shirts, Black Shorts & Black Socks
Aaron Warnes., Tom Farthing., Matthew Smith., Jamie Baxter., Callum Boyne., Michael Palmer., Elliot Johnson (C)., Darryl Hinks., Joe Knight., Lewis Button., Charlton Short.
Assistant Manager: Paul Bertram
Used Substitutes: Josh Caudill., Alan Savage
Unused Substitutes: Callum Mallet.
TIPTREE PARK FC: Colours: Red Shirts, White Shorts and Red Socks.
Chris Ward., Ben Reynolds., Victor Teran., Benjamin Rayner., Matthew Coppin., David Quinney (C)., Robert Kelliher., Gavin Newcombe., Carl Driver., Peter Wilson., Leighton Galvin.
Acting Manager: David Pomphrett.
Used Substitutes: David Pomphrett., David Castro Vilaser., Lee Sutton.
Referee: Lee MILLER (Colchester)
Man of the Match: Victor TERAN (TIPTREE PARK FC)
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Request to Club / Fixture Secretaries
This season the fixtures, results, referees and “kick-off” times will be shown automatically on “The FA Full-Time / The Whole Game System” ( http://full-time.thefa.com ) but would all Club / Fixture Secretaries please advice any agreed changes, as required, to Alison Willmore ( mjw1947@sky.com ) especially for evening games and for those matches being played under floodlights etc.
KO is 2:00pm in: November, December & January
KO is 2:30pm in: February
KO is 3:00pm from: March to end of season
Cup Matches:
Kick-Off times for ESBFL cup matches, are generally 30 minutes earlier than those shown above but check competition rules beforehand.
Kick-Off times for Essex County Football Association cup matches are published on the ECFA web-site.
( www.essexfa.com/competitions/county-cups )
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