Old Boys Maintain Pressure on Gore
An excited Gordon Lamont
Due to the long weekend and some Ping Pong, Old Boys were without Reuben, Nick T, Nic P, Ethan D and Andy for this important fixture at Queens Park. Talk before the game was in regards to the recall of Stitcher….apparently he has been inquiring as to when we train, and a night off from the booze on Friday night is evidence that Stitch is taking his axing to Div 2 very seriously. And to his credit, Stitch was at the heart of a solid defensive effort on Saturday, also consisting of Antonio, myself (Gordy), Jacob and Alex in goal who all worked well as a unit and kept QP out for the 90 minutes. The average age of this quintet is a youthful 28.
Queens Park tactics simply revolved around having a solid and intimidating back line with the inclusion of Pearson and Rodger, and then trying to catch out our defence with some attempted long balls. QP came out of the gates flying in the first 10 minutes and dominated the opening exchanges. After a few close calls, a few poor shots from QP, and a couple of free kicks in dangerous positions, we eventually managed to find our feet and start to string a few passes together. QP were certainly being physical, and several members of our midfield went down with knocks in the opening quarter of the game. Once Dix, Barders and Ben started to get some time on the ball and find some space, Old Boys started to ask questions of the QP back line. Unfortunately, often the last pass went begging, a wrong option was taken, or the intimidating factor of Pearson at the back kept us at bay. So, 0-0 at half time was probably a true reflection of the game at this point.
Talk at half time was that this may turn out to be a one goal game, and that we certainly had to avoid any mistakes that may give away the crucial goal. And yes, it was a one goal game, but what a goal it was. Yes, the penalty for all you Div 1 lads that left the team kit for myself to wash, is that you now have to relive the art of how to score a winning goal with a flying header. I may not have had the flight path of a low flying Scott Donaldson jet, but my header certainly left a bulge in the ole onion bag. A Gordy Lamont special from a well placed corner by Turk, well worthy of being the winning goal (enough gloating from me now….)
After our goal, QP instantly threw Pearson up front…..this left a few holes at the back and we started to create a few more serious chances. Perhaps, we should have added to our goal tally in that final 15-20 minutes with Ed, Ben, Finlay, Will and Angus all getting some shots away but not truly testing the keeper. A big thanks to Angus for coming along and helping us out today. You certainly put your body on the line and didn’t look out of place at all.
Overall, there are a few lessons still to be learnt in a tight tussle. Using your body to protect the ball, being more aggressive in those 50-50 exchanges and moving the ball more quickly would all help to lessen the impact of some more physical opponents.
Next up for our Div 1 team is the Charity Cup qualifying game on Wednesday night at the Turf against Waihopai’s Donald Gray squad.
