Open O45 vs Eastcote O45

An unfortunate yet enjoyable watch for those who came to support the over 45s today. Whilst the team came out losing, spirits remained high after a fantastic performance from the most experienced players of the club.

Before the match, concerns were raised early on, as the gaffer and club president FT had opted to put himself at the back with 2s captain jack Russell. This will become a point of interest once we get into the game.

Which was underway! Harpenden looked good from the start, attacking well, skilfully beating men and holding the opposition back. It was looking so promising that Jack had ended up inside Eastcote’s D after a particularly promising attack. Luckily as the ball went out of play, he had time to run back to his position before we could be punished for it. Steve was proving a magic playmaker, using his vision to spot some perfect passes, but unfortunately Harpenden could make nothing come from them.

And then they won a short. And with one good strike of the ball Harpenden were down a goal. On the plus side, Henry had just arrived, and was waiting behind the goal to cross safely, so got a front row seat to this scene. Shortly after this, FT decided to follow in Jack’s footsteps and careered up the pitch, into the oppo’s D, in attempts to level the scoring. Unlike Jack, he walked back to his position. With Harpenden a man overboard, Eastcote looked likely to score again, but Clarky came through with a world class save, to prevent them from putting us two behind. Alongside Clarky, Sam was at the top of his defensive game, halting attackers in their tracks with his stunning reverse picks.

Harpenden were still pushing for that goal, a couple of great efforts being sent towards goal, such as JB’s stunning hit, eliciting an incredible save from the goalkeeper. And then we let another go, 2-0. This is where things started to get nasty, but not for Harpenden. The opposition were, for some unknown reason, furious. They were lashing out towards their own teammates, our players and, foolishly, the umpires. General G and Nish despite having a great officiating performance prior to this, began to have to get involved a lot more with Anish holding his ground well when a player got his stick entangled with Skills’ and proceeded to hurl it to the floor in attempts to win a foul. You can’t pull the wool over these umpire’s eyes that easily.

To finish off the half, a nasty shove in the back resulted in Skills going down, with what looked to be a painful injury. The sideline reacted frantically, Coley - who had self appointed himself the manager -  was desperately trying to rally one of the troops to take Skills’ place. However it was all futile, as he pushed through, making it to the end of the half.

After an enthusiastic and inspiring team talk from el presidente, the team was raring to go, we were still in this after all. Skills ran off his injury, and was intricately beating his marker. He combined nicely with Singer to keep that midfield controlled. Over on the sidelines, Vijay had pulled out the haribo - all be it slightly late - giving everyone, mostly the supporters, some energy.

3-0.

Shortly after their third, Eastcote attacked again, creating a two on one in which they were destined to score. But Clarky cleaned out the attacker, leaving us still in this game. Following this, George had activated his super hearing, and from halfway across the pitch, picked up on the profound language aimed towards Anish, subsequently issuing a green card - well in general.

With tensions rising further, mainly on the other team still, someone got fed up with Skills’’ skills and smashed their stick into his, earning himself a yellow. This was the turning point. With a two man advantage, Harpenden managed to make it 3-1, with FT firing a ball into the D, deflected upwards off a defenders stick, straight into the path of the Veteran Irish poacher, producing a sensational volley to give Harpenden a lifeline. 

Singer and Steeley had turned it up a notch now, the ball almost glued to their sticks, drawing out fouls at every possible opportunity. Nashy and Eddie were equally effective on the wings, applying pressure and causing Eastcote’s defence to have to work overtime to deal with them. This was all spurred into action by the tactical masterclass of Coley and Brindy, although it was mainly Brindy, commanding everyone and causing us to look incredibly dangerous.

However the oppo broke away again, a three on two this time, the ball was squared and ready to be fired into an open net. But Clarky stepped up once again, the shot that was trickling towards the goal line dragged out by Alan in a last ditch save. It was clear that we were determined to stay in this game

Shit it’s 4-1. 

From a position where we looked like coming back, it now looked pretty bleak. Well this is a familiar sight in the 2s, so regular members of the squad, such as Ade and JB were not despondent. They continued to push through, working tirelessly to stop the already unjust scoreline from growing. Hugh was still bombarding the flanks with his skill, and Eddie’s defensive acumen prevented any more coming our way.

And with that, the game ended. But heads weren’t dropped, as it was still a great day out for everyone, each member of the team playing incredibly well, but it was just one of those days. All I can say is, at least we lose gracefully, as I can’t imagine how Eastcote would’ve behaved if they started losing, based on their attitudes today.