Keens Park Rangers Reserves 0 Windlesham Reserves 3
Goals: you are joking
Man of the match: Adam East
The unseasonable sunshine provided scant comfort for what was a deserved defeat in ‘a cup’. The ressies, playing in what is a recognizable league, may not be involved in as many as the first team but getting a ‘by’ straight into the quarter final was clearly more than they deserved – on this performance at least.
Anyway, the ressies did get off to a decent start. Caretaker co-manager H’s impassioned team talk (or was it the advantage of playing downhill with the sun on their backs) seemed to have sunk in but for all the territorial advantage the only chance of note in the opening moments was a Charlie Pocock corner that hit the post.
The oppo were not exactly setting the world on fire either but their infrequent attacks always looked more threatening. As it was they scored a soft goal from a corner of their own which was put away unchallenged at the far post.
The ressies did have one more chance in the first half however after some good play for Ryan ‘Midgers’ Midgley along the touchline led to a free shot on goal for Jonathan O’Shea. Sadly O’Shea placed the ball over the bar into the adjoining school and, in what proved to be one of the more interesting aspects of the day, H and bar manager Chainey eschewed the opportunity to utilise the clubs new ladder in retrieving it.
Arguably, the scoreline did not reflect the play of the first half but, overall, the final score did for the second half was dire. Granted the sun in their eyes hindered the defenders, but the midfield and attackers had no such excuse and they couldn’t trap a bag of cement or play a pass if their lives depended on it.
As it was the highlights were a booking for man of the match Adam East and one thunderous, but entirely fair, tackle from Charlie Pocock that harked of the 1970s – at least for those of us old enough to remember ‘The Big Match’ on a Sunday. Oh yeah Windlesham scored two more but to dwell on that would be address ‘football’ and we can’t have that.
So, in a nutshell, we’ll not get that 90 minutes back and not would want to so it was most pleasant to forget such matters and celebrate Easty’s birthday in London village where the assembled throng were reunited with absentee manager James Nixon (who appeared to have flown home from Brazil in a suit??). His play has been missed so he’d better have been doing more than ‘keepy uppy’ on the beach.
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