Kiwi FC – AFC Cubo

Date: Saturday 14th January, 2012

Starting Line-up: Bushy, Lye, Ingle, Dallamore, Rushall, Jepht, Pickett, Turner (C), Field, May, Neville.

Subs:

Sometimes losing a football match can seem rather like breaking up with a long-term girlfriend (stay with me here). You can do all the right things, work hard, produce great moments and be truly convinced that everything is going to turn out ok. Yes you’ve had some adversity, but who doesn’t? And you’ve come out stronger. You’re certain that you are on the path to something special and then before you know what’s happening someone blows the whistle and tells you it’s all over. You’re devastated, shocked, angry and upset. You need an easy lay to take your mind of it (bottom of the league next week) but this was the big one, and it didn’t turn out as you’d hoped…

And so it was that the baby blue army gathered at a chilly Wandsworth Park to face their destiny, a game against top of the league Kiwi who they’d beaten earlier in the season to start a run of results that had seen Cubo win 4 out of 4. A victory against the New Zealanders would see Cubo a fraction off top spot with a game in hand, defeat would throw them straight back into the mix of four or five teams hunting down second place.

A stirring pre-game speech from Manager Rob Jones left the Cubo boys buzzing, and straight from kick off a through ball from Ingle set Neville free down the left. His early cross was headed clear, but the early intent was highlighted.

Cubo were pressing high up the pitch early on, although finding it hard to get into their normal passing rhythm due to a distinctly sub standard pitch. This suited Kiwi’s direct style of play, and they were taking every opportunity to hit their front men early with long balls, although they were being dealt with admirably by the cemented centre back pairing of Dallamore and Ingle.

Then a ball played out to the left saw Neville draw a foul from the Kiwi right midfielder. An inswinging free kick from the Cubo wide man wasn’t fully attacked by a strangely static Cubo attack, but the ball bounced back out to captain Matt Turner. He “controlled” the ball brilliantly with alternating touches off his chest, shin and thigh as he ran towards the goal line, but somehow saw the ball roll inches past the post from 3 yards.

Next, a break from Kiwi saw their striker pick up the ball in the wide left channel and feed a sumptuous (that’s right) pass across the pitch, evading both Cubo centre backs, into the path of the second striker. Fortunately for Cubo his finish was lacking and Bushy was barely tested.

Cubo rallied and despite the awful pitch were trying to play good football, they were squeezing up the flanks and putting pressure on the Kiwi backline. Paul May in particular making himself known to the Kiwi centre backs by chasing hard into the channels, creating more space for the Cubo midfield three of Lukas, Jeph and Turner.

A ball inside from Neville to Jeph saw the midfielder shoot wide from 25 yards, and then a foul from a kiwi midfielder on a rampaging Turner drew a free kick just to the right of the box, 25 yards out. Lukas stepped up and bent a peach towards the top corner, but the Kiwi keeper showed great athleticism at full stretch and kept it out.

Then the first hammer blow. As another Cubo attack broke down in the kiwi half, the team in all white broke. The rangy centre forward poked the ball beyond Dallamore and was just able to get there before the stretching Cubo centre back, he took a touch and slotted the ball past Bushy. 1-0 Kiwi.

Cubo continued to dominate territory in their search for an equaliser, whilst excellent controlled defending from the back four saw that Kiwi posed no further threat. However, a clear-cut chance couldn’t quite be fashioned, and at half time the baby blues went in 1-0 down.

A confident half time team talk highlighted the team’s belief that this game was far from over and that a goal would surely come. The Cubo boys came out for the second half and again tried their best to get hold of the ball and spread the play wide to the flanks for Neville and Field.

A succession of free kicks were drawn from the frustrated Kiwi boys and balls were being played in, but the chances weren’t quite falling for the attackers. Kiwi weren’t offering much in attack at all, preferring to compete hard in the midfield and defence. Every time the ball was pumped forward it was either headed clear or swept up by the confident Ingle and Dallamore.

Then the killer blow. A corner from Kiwi somehow saw the ball fall directly at the feet of their diminutive (yet tricky) centre forward. He was tightly marked by Ingle and with his back to goal, but produced a backheel through Ingle’s legs and into the net from a couple of yards. A great finish.

Cubo couldn’t believe they were two down, and were clearly downhearted that they hadn’t had such a lucky break of the ball in the opposition box all game despite their efforts. But they didn’t give up. Then, the glimmer of hope. A long ball played into the box from a free kick on the right saw yet another scramble for possession, this time as the ball looped free it was Jeremy Lye who got his head to it and steered it into the bottom corner! 2.1…

With 20 minutes to go Cubo smelt blood and a clearly fearful Kiwi sat deeper and deeper as the Baby blues pressed for the second that their territory and effort had deserved. But just as momentum was gained, a clearance from Kiwi bounced up and struck Lukas in the chest. The ref blew for a handball and the incensed midfield playmaker said something along the lines of, “No I don’t think so ref, it hit my in the chest, don’t be so silly.” The ref didn’t tolerate that sort of filth and brandished a red card. Disaster for Cubo.

However, and they deserve huge credit for this, the tide of the game did not shift now they were a man lighter. The defense were called on more often, but were once again impermeable, with Bushy not needing to make a single save and overall Cubo continued to press hard for the equaliser.

Another ball into the Kiwi box saw May with a slight opening but his right foot shot went over the top. Corner’s from Neville were becoming more frequent, although he lacked some of his usual quality and couldn’t find the Cubo would be headers. Then another bent free kick curled dangerously towards the Kiwi goal but the deflection saw the ball whistle just wide of the post. Another free kick from the right caused pin ball in the Kiwi box once again but this time Neville’s curled shot bent just over the bar.

A final turn and shot from Neville, bent wide from the edge of the box and the ref blew for full time. The Cubo boys had gone down by two goals to one against Kiwi who had pulled away at the top of the league.

Final Score: Kiwi FC 2-1 AFC Cubo 3rd XI

Goal: Geremi Lye

Cubo were left scratching their heads how they hadn’t got anything out of the game and I think even the most hardcore Kiwi supporter had to say that they were hanging on for much of the second half. But hanging on was all they had to do and they will be happy to avenge their defeat earlier in the season.

Cubo will no doubt be back, and carry the anger from this game into the remaining fixtures for the season. They should still be there or thereabouts when all is said and done at the end of the campaign.

Man of the Match: Difficult as the effort shown by the entire team in the second half, especially when going down to ten men, was outstanding. However the winner was James Ingle who put in another dominant display at the back and never looked in trouble the entire game.

Match Report: Henry Neville

Date: Saturday 19^th November 2011, 2pm KO

Starting Line-up: Ash, John, Jonesy, Antonio, Luke , Henners, Lukas, Jimbo, Timmy, Lenny, Billers

Subs: Jeff, Dan Cucos, Bushy

With anticipation feverish before kick-off, both for those new to playing with Jeff and for the arrival of new stash, it was easy to forget we were playing the run-away league leaders, Kiwi. This however was made clear to us upon watching Kiwi’s warm-up, consisting of elaborate and well-rehearsed drills, sprints and a game of touch rugby. The boys in baby blue elected to prance about and stroke the ball to each other, remarking on how nice the pitch was and wondering aloud what ‘stud’ to wear. Classic Cubo.

With Jeff running late, lost and not speaking much English, Cubo kicked off into the sun, the match progressing at a frenetic pace. The Kiwi plan of constantly smashing high balls over the Cubo defence almost paid immediate dividends, and the back line was looking shaky, unsure of how best to deal with the Kiwi direct, fast and aggressive style. The first real chance came from just such an attack, with the Kiwi no. 9 through on goal. Glenn just managed to toe poke the ball away from him before he shot, diverting it onto the post. Calamitous defending from Jonesy (literally 2 minutes after chewing Glenn out for not releasing the ball quick enough), resulted in the no. 9 again going through on goal, and rounding Ash before harmlessly passing it into the side netting. Unfortunately the back line could not hold out under this constant pressure, and Kiwi finally broke the DEAD LOCK after 8 minutes. As Jonesy ran back to make yet another clearance over our heads, he was unceremoniously fouled and tripped up, allowing the Kiwi no 10 to lift the ball around the onrushing Ash to go 1-0 up.

An erroneous call of ‘home’ from Ash to Glenn resulted in a header back to him being intercepted by the no. 9, who cleverly won a penalty from the outstretched keeper. Saving Glenn’s blushes, Ash confidently palmed the penalty away from the aforementioned striker, leaving Jonesy to smash it over the bar from about 6 inches off the line.

Kiwi however had not had it all their own way, with Cubo looking sleek and dangerous on the break. A strong run from Haddon on the left wing saw him sandwiched and brought down between two Kiwis inside the edge of the box, and the referee unerringly pointed to the spot. Billers confidently despatched the penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way. Unfortunately it was to be one of his last contributions, coming off with a dead leg to be replaced by Jeff. Cubo’s second came not long after, after some excellent pressing from Timmy resulted in an unforced error from the Kiwi left back, leaving Lenny to storm through and expertly lob the keeper.

Without Turns present to slag everyone off, the half time team talk was actually a positive experience, and Cubo kicked off the second half in good spirit. The back line was much improved, and Cubo were able to soak up the Kiwi pressure, Antonio and Jimbo impressing on the ground and in the air after Jonesy had been forced off. With the two talented midfielders of Lukas and Jeff now running the show and spreading it wide at every opportunity, Timmy and Henners began to see a lot more of the ball, both comfortably beating their men and whipping in dangerous crosses. One chance from Kiwi saw Cubo clear the ball off the line, and the resulting break through Timmy, Lenny and Lukas nearly saw a goal scored immediately, in some of the best football we’ve played this season. Cubo finally scored their deserved third after some excellent solo work from Jeff, who battered the ball confidently under the Kiwi keeper. The game finished without further incident in either goalmouth, Lukas impressing after a magnificent 60 yard dash to make an important slide tackle.

A good win against a physical and mentally strong side, in an incident packed, chaotic match. The thirds move to third in the table with a game in hand on the leaders. Props also to Ash and the back line for keeping out a New Zealand International, Daniel Ellensjohn off the scoresheet:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ellensohn

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/daniel.ellensohn

Final Score: AFC Cubo 3rd XI 3-1 Kiwi FC

Scorers: Billers (pen), Lenny, Jeff

Man of the Match: Ash – for his penalty save and constant chat to the Kiwi no. 9 who left the field a broken, shell of a man. Props to Jimbo and Henners for playing in 3 different positions, and Lukas and Antonio who were superb throughout.

Match Report: John Glenn