Current Boots: An old pair of Mercurials that are on their last legs.
Club: GLORIOUS NEWCASTLE UNITED
Football Hero: GLORIOUS (boring) ALAN SHEARER
Best moment in a Baby Blue shirt: Every time we play a team on a big, flat pitch. We become mid-90’s NUFC (see below).
Unfortunately Harry elected to ignore winning the golden espadrille for finishing as the 1st XI top goalscorer in 2014 – 15… surely a defining moment in any striker’s career. I hope the trophy (below) is adorning the mantelpiece?
Worst moment in a Baby Blue shirt: Being clean through on goal away to Yateley, getting hacked down and knocked for 10 metres off some 18 stone bruiser, and the referee waved play on. I lost my shit completely, in fact I’m still seething.
Biggest Clown in the Club: Toss up between Pogo’s humour and Pykey’s ability to forget things.
Nomination for the ‘’He’s got a red card in him….Award’’(dished out to players who show a particular ability to attract the warranted / unwarranted attention of referees): Oli Perkins loves an aggressive 30 seconds of screaming at the opposition and the ref, ideally at the same time.
Best Champ Man/Football Manager attribute: (HT’s 1st answer…) Movement, I’m a busy bastard. (HT’s 2nd answer two months later having thought about it for a while…) The Step Over – do not underestimate the power of the step over.
Worst Champ Man/Football Manager attribute: My forward heading is disgraceful, not bad at a flick on though.
Starting line-up: Gaz Stewart, Ryan Shedwick, Jonny Patterson, Marcus Torr, Pete Woodhead, Elliot Connolley, Chris Pyke, Martin Ansell, Tom Simmons, Oli Perkins (C), Harry Tulip
Subs: Alan Clarke, Oli Watkins, Luke Arnold
The Baby Blue Army arrived in leafy Cobham with a strong squad to face Surrey Elite league leaders Balham FC in a match-up that had previously been postponed due to torrential rain. Thankfully on this occasion the pitch at Cobham FC was ripe for a decent encounter.
Balham have been in terrific form this season maintaining an attractive and adaptable brand of possession football whilst scoring goals for fun. The youthful side emphatically dispatched Warlingham 9-0 the weekend before serving as an unnecessary reminder of the task ahead of the Cubans.
Cubo Manager Ben McGeown was unable to fulfill managerial and administrative duties on the day, instead pre-match battle cries were led by a combination of Watkins – Stewart – Perkins – Tulip – Shedders and anyone else who had something to say.
As with earlier fixtures, Balham’s chief threat was to come from pace on the wing – two wingers with gas to spare were supported by full-backs who continually bombed on.
Left-back Jonny Patterson dealt admirably with his opposite number although he did pick up a first half booking for a late tackle on the right winger who had earlier demonstrated the mismatch in pace by arriving first to a ball in the channel despite Popo having a good 15 yards head start!
At right-back, Shedders showed his experience to keep a lid on his opposite number who for one reason or another had a particularly short fuse on the day. The winger cleaned Shedders out after five minutes to receive an early yellow and was arguably lucky to stay on the pitch later in the game having kicked the ball away in frustration on two occasions once the ref’s whistle had gone.
Perkins, Tulip and Simmons took it in turns to track runs from a Balham defence keen to create overloads in the wide areas. Meanwhile the ever feisty Pyke was ably assisted by Ansell and El to win the first and second ball in the middle of the park, and to maintain pressure and disrupt the Balham skipper and deep lying play-maker who so often dictates play for the team.
In truth, 45 minutes of graft from the Cubans largely kept a lid on Balham. There was little to trouble the Cubo keeper Stewart aside from a speculative free-kick from the left hand channel which clipped the top of bar and some half chances that were spurned by a combination of wayward finishing from the usually prolific French striker and determined defending from centre back pairing Marcus and Pete.
The same levels of commitment were called for at the break and this was delivered in a breathless second 45 minutes with chances a plenty for both sides.
A little over five minutes into the half, Tulip lofted a lovely cross-field ball from the left wing to the far right of the penalty area to find Simmons in space 18 yards from goal. Simmo calmly took the ball on his chest and proceeded to lash a volley into the far top corner, the outstretched keeper just managing to touch the ball before it hit the back of the net. Take a bow Simmo! A sublime effort best illustrated by this goal from Argentine Maxi Rodriguez in the 2006 World Cup…
The goal spurred Balham into life, a sense of urgency returning to their play.
From here on out goalkeeper Stewart was to have a big say in proceedings through his general presence – taking crosses under pressure and commanding his box – but more importantly making three or more fine saves, one at point blank from 8 yards, when conceding seemed inevitable.
GK Gaz Stewart – Man of The Match
Cubo did well to withstand the pressure, and in doing so there were plenty of combative performances but none more so than Pykey who was clearly up for the contest.
This is not to say that Cubo were without opportunities to extend their lead.
Balham switched formation from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2 with 25 minutes to go further increasing their attacking options but also leaving their back line exposed to a swift counter attack from the Cubo forward line. Tulip and Perkins continued to stretch the Balham defence pulling players into difficult positions, often beating their markers and thus creating chances for themselves and others. The best of these was perhaps late on when a deep cross to the far left was met by a Tulip head which skimmed the outside of the post. In fairness to Harry, he did manage a double step-over before getting his header away.
In the end grit, determination and hard-work from the first minute to last, coupled with some superb keeping and a tremendous finish, saw the boys in baby blue claim the double over a Balham side who are probably the most talented in the league and title favourites. With time Balham will undoubtedly become even better and will continue to court the attention of the professional clubs; there were three heavily clad Brentford boys in the stand, either they were scouts or massive FKW’s.
Man of the match: Gaz Stewart – the big gypsy Welshman kept Cubo in the game with some fantastic stops in the second-half.
View from the Opposition:
The game was a rare one in recent times where a number of good chances created weren’t taken. A lot of that was down to the AFC Cubo keeper who had an outstanding game however Balham left the field of play ruing their profligacy in front of the onion bag. It has to be said the winning goal scored early in the second half was an absolute beauty taken on the chest and volleyed into the far top corner from the edge of the box and credit must be given to Cubo who, when they have a strong team out, as they clearly did for this game, are formidable opponents. Although they came with a game plan that paid dividends Balham were in the ascendency for most of the ninety minutes though and only have themselves to blame for not turning the majority of territory, possession and chances created into goals.
Balham FC Team: Kuklinski, Fenlon, Herbert(capt), Charnock, Haire, Elbekri(capt), Benson, Archard, David, Wocial, Boncoeur Subs: Adebayo, Emmett, Fosse
Starting Line-up: Gaz Stewart, Rufus Shedwick, Jonny Patterson, Pete Woodhead, Marcus Torr, Chris Pyke, Elliot Connolly, Ben McGeown, Oli Perkins, Martin Ansell, Harry Tulip
Subs: Brad Wilkie, Tom Simmons
Cubo returned to winning ways with an important victory over local rivals Tooting Bec thanks to two goals from skipper Oli Perkins.
The boggy surface at Barn Elms made it difficult for both sides to play much football with players struggling to keep their footing at times. Tooting had the first chance of the game when a defensive error put the TBFC winger through on goal but Gaz was quickly off his line to shut down the angle and block to safety.
Cubo took the lead when a peach of a cross from Rufus found an unmarked Perkins in the box and he nodded past the Bec keeper to make it 1-0 Cubo.
The home side looked to press their advantage home with an attacking move reminiscent of Gus Poyet’s belting volley for Chelsea against Sunderland on the opening day of the season many years ago, the only difference here being that the Bec keeper pulled off a fantastic reaction save from Perkins’ volley.
With half time approaching Cubo looked comfortable but some sloppy defending in their own box gave Tooting a late corner and the resultant set-piece was converted at the back post with a towering header by the Bec centre-half.
As is ever the case with fixtures between these two sides the game was finely poised at half time and on a difficult pitch it looked like mistakes would decide this fixture. With the pitch deteriorating it was Tooting who took the second half initiative and only further good keeping from Gaz prevented them taking the lead.
However, against the run of play the home side took the lead again. Pressure on the Tooting defence from Shedders, for some reason finding himself the highest Cubo player up the pitch, gifted the ball to Harry Tulip who drew the defender before weighting a pass to Oli Perkins who clinically fired home at the near post to make it 2-1 Cubo.
With time running out Bec were reduced to pumping the ball long but Woodhead and Torr were dominating the aerial exchanges and Cubo were able to celebrate a very valuable 3 points.
Goals: Oli Perkins x2
Man of the match: Oli Perkins / Chris Pyke – a joint award this week with Oli rightly taking the plaudits for his two goals and all round performance. Pykey on the other hand was a rock in the midfield, and his tenacity in the tackle was key to Cubo dominating this area of the pitch.
Forget respective league and cup glory. Arnie and Bennie Mac are really only going about their Saturday managerial business to compete for the highest honour available, that of ‘AFC Cubo Manager of the Year’.
Off the pitch December saw the Cubans take over the Boat House in Putney for the annual Christmas tear up and both Manager’s worked hard to ensure that no player felt awkward the next day. Cubo Boys woke up across the length and breadth of London with the same thought. “WTF happened last night… ah well…at least I wasn’t in as bad a shape as Ben or Arnie”. Truly selfless leaders.
On the pitch, December was a record breaking month for the 1’s, just not the kind of records that one wants to acquire; on 28 December the Club recorded it’s heaviest ever defeat, an eye watering 11-0 loss away at the hands of Horsley FC. In fairness, the game was played three days after Christmas. With the vast majority of the squad dispersed around the country we played one of the best sides in the league with a bare 11 players and no Goalkeeper.
Unfortunately the rest of the month was no prettier, mainly due to poor availability, needless to say the statistics of played 4 – won 1 – lost 3 – scored 2 – conceded 20 – is not easy reading. After the highs of the undefeated October and November the 1’s need to work hard to start 2016 with a bang.
The 2nd XI were sparred fixtures over the festive period, enjoying their winter break safe in the knowledge that two wins had been secured from the two games played in December. It was great to see former 2’s Gaffa – Hoop Dawg – return to midfield action against Inter Old Boys bagging a goal in the process.
A good month for the 2’s, Arnie’s boys bring him level with Ben in the number of awards won. Game on.
The ‘Player of the Month’ award for each team recognises Cubans performing at the peak of their powers. Awards are decided by the manager of each team.
1st XI POTM for December – Harry Tulip
Bennie Mac says of his Geordie striker…
“In a bad month for the 1’s the Stepover King and Chairman of the Balham FC Supporters Club still managed to put in consistently high quality performances, even in the defeats to Merrow and Project Clapham, doing everything other than score a goal. If he develops the ability to kick the ball instead of the ground when he’s through on goal he’ll be a hell of a player…..”
“The Winchester warrior has shaken off his early season Wedding shackles and further cemented his place in the Cubo midfield. Like a fine wine, Salty keeps on getting better with age; anchoring the midfield and providing protection to the back four. With plaudits like this, the club are keen to lock down a new 2 year contract extension in January. Watch this space!”
Starting line-up: Gaz Stewart, Brad Wilkie, Jimmy Ingle, Marcus Torr, Jonny Patterson, Elliot Connolly, Chris Pyke, Ben McGeown, Tom Simmons, Oli Perkins, Harry Tulip
Subs: Martin Shardlow, Dave Wall, Martin Ansell, Oli Watkins
Goal: Martin Ansell (pen)
Xmas is the season of giving and Cubo showed their festive side as they gifted Project Clapham 3 points with a lacklustre performance at Barn Elms.
Whilst the poor condition of the pitch, particularly in the centre of the park, did not help the hosts they were a yard off the pace throughout against an in-form Clapham who showed why they are mounting a credible title challenge this year.
An even start to the game was punctuated by goal that came from what should have been an easily defendable situation. A contested throw in was launched down the line where the tricky Clapham centre forward, who gave Cubo problems all game, shrugged off the challenge of Torr before squaring to the Clapham right winger who bundled it home to make it 1-0.
With neither side able to build any type of momentum on the tricky surface this was not one for the purists with both sides having to play the pitch as much as each other. Of the two sides it was Clapham who looked the more up for the contest as they dominated the second ball and could have extended the lead before the half if it wasn’t for some superb last ditch defending from Torr.
At the other end Cubo’s best moments were coming down the left hand side where Tulip was once again giving a Surrey Elite full back a torrid time. Unfortunately Cubo were unable to make the most of his ability to get to the byline where a combination of not having anyone in the box and solid defending by the Clapham centre halves kept the Cubans at bay.
Cubo knew more was needed from them if they were to get something from the game but unfortunately they were unable to deliver on this as they found themselves two goals down when a kick from the Clapham keeper sailed all the way through to the Cubo box and a mix-up between Gaz and Ingle gifted the Clapham winger a simple finish.
Before Cubo had time to process being two goals down they found themselves a further goal behind when the Clapham number 6, who in fairness dominated the midfield exchanges, was given time to turn and deliver a floated cross to the back post for the right-winger to put beyond Gaz for his second and Clapham’s third.
Changes were made to bring a bit of extra bite to the home side with Martin Shardlow coming on in the centre of the park for Ben McGeown and Wall coming on for Simmo.
The changes brought a bit of extra vim to the home side with Shardlow immediately bringing some extra aggression to the home side and Cubo thought they had grabbed a lifeline when a cross from the left found Wall but the Clapham keeper pulled off a blinding point-blank save to protect his clean-sheet.
With Cubo pushing on they were always going to be vulnerable to the counter attack and this proved to be the case. A break down the left saw Clapham queuing up in the box and the number 9 slammed the ball past Gaz to well and truly put the game to bed.
With the game dead and buried Cubo finally secured a consolation when the ref awarded a spot-kick for a handball in the area which Moisty, making a welcome return from injury, coolly slotted into the top corner.
An extremely disappointing result for the Cubans who would have seen this game as a chance to cement their place in the top five. Unfortunately they were second best across the pitch, failing to match the competitiveness of their opponents or adapt to the attacking threat they faced.
Clapham look like an improved outfit from last year, showing far greater durability in the defensive areas and they will be in the mix for the title if they can keep the side together.
Cubo now face a tricky Xmas/New Years period with away fixtures against Horsley and Balham.
The 2nds ended 2015 on a high (at least on the pitch) with a comfortable victory over perennial rivals Kiwi FC at Fortress Barn Elms.
On a day that had started inauspiciously, with the warm up heartlessly mocked by passing schoolchildren, Cubo showed the kind of form that could realistically translate into a strong promotion push.
Cubo started brightly, with a pressing game that was forcing Kiwi’s midfield and defence into errors. After a vicious effort from Kiwi was pushed away brilliantly by Arnold, Cubo’s endeavour was rewarded. Martin Shardlow’s superb dipping strike from range found the net after good work from Joe Mull. Shardlow’s patented “law of averages” approach to shooting continued throughout the game to varying degrees of success, but his guile and craft behind the striker proved too much for Kiwi at times.
Joe Coffey and Crisp were also providing great balance on either flank, and unsurprisingly it was Coffey that created the second, beating his full back twice with ease before squaring for Pinnington to smash home at the near post.
Pinnington- noticeably less hysterical than in recent weeks- continued to harry and press from the front, ably supported by tireless work from Thethy, Mull and Shardlow.
At the back, Teutonic hardman Gorlitz and Watkins were tighter to their men than Arnold’s goalkeeping jersey, and Golding was providing guile from left back.
Half time came and went with a 2-0 lead and the usual platitudes about keeping it tight and pretending it was 0-0.
With the score cruelly reset, Cubo added another two in quick time. Shardlow won the ball well in midfield before his intended pass to Crisp found Pinnington cantering past the hapless Kiwi defence. He coolly steered it past the keeper from ten yards to give Cubo a disconcertingly large lead.
Incredibly this was increased, as Pinnington burst through the defence and, sensing a scarcely believable hattrick, selfishly struck straight at the goalkeeper. Fortunately Shardlow was in attendance to ram home the bouncing rebound.
4-0 up, Cubo started to defend deep and invite pressure, and this was swiftly punished. A free header from a well worked set piece gave Kiwi hope, before a breakaway effort- not helped by the protestations of half the Cubo side 40 yards away on a throw-in decision- squirmed agonisingly under Arnold.
Credit has to go to Watkins and Gorlitz for steeling their charges under a fairly relentless barrage of pressure that followed. Cubo had chances to extend their lead but, with their eyes on the later prizes in Putney, sportingly preserved the mere two goal lead.
The ‘Player of the Month’ award for each team recognises Cubans performing at the peak of their powers. Awards are decided by the manager of each team.
1st XI POTM for November – Oli Perkins
Bennie Mac says of his Skipper…
“The skipper led by example in November, scoring one and setting up three goals, earning MOTM in the Reigate Priory fixture for a herculean shift leading the line. Most impressive though was his assist for Harry Tulip’s first goal against Tooting, which marked the first time he has passed to his strike partner in the final third. A landmark moment.”
1st XI Player of the Month for November 2015 – Oli Perkins (Arnie Murs presenting the award). pic.twitter.com/KBXywGC4kt
Arnie Murs says of his acquisition from the Continent…
“After being scouted from the German lower leagues, Fred has already made a name for himself in English football. A string of dominating performances have seen Fred establish himself in the 2s backline, and earn a well deserved call up to the 1s. The future looks bright for Cubo’s version of the Kaiser, although the AGM could be a dangerous affair with 4 pints accumulated before the end of November…”
2nd XI Player of the Month for November 2015 – Fred (This may not actually be a photo of our Fred). pic.twitter.com/NWl484GKIb
Forget respective league and cup glory. Arnie and Bennie Mac are really only going about their Saturday managerial business to compete for the highest honour available, that of‘AFC Cubo Manager of the Year’.
Bennie Mac, and the 1st XI, had much the better of November, when compared to the 2nd XI, remaining undefeated with two solid 3-0 wins and one draw.
Bennie Mac 2 – Arnie 1
Ben Mac cruises to November's Manager of the Month award. In other news, Ben and Arnie bloody love Xmas. And cats. pic.twitter.com/piwlVydgc5
AFC Cubo 