RYMAN PREMIER DIVISION
Att: 257
MAIDENHEAD UNITED – 4 [Dunno! Sorry!]
SUTTON UNITED – 1 [Watson 46]
Match Reporter: Chalmers
After playing out a hard fought draw on Tuesday and earning a slightly fortunate, but deserved point we return the fixture and head over to York Road, and if we fancy it, visit a couple of pubs also.
I know. Us? Pubs? With our reputation?
With Dan away visiting a young lady in Sound of Music country, Chalmers here is mugged into doing this report, so that’s why it’s so late coming online! My apologies.
Just Me, Bob and Gareth appear this week then. As ever we meet in the pub, the real reason for that is I’m good at being late and let’s be honest, any chance for those two to have a pint is a good one! We rendezvous at half eleven in Wimbledon – so we can get to Ealing Broadway in time. As in their wisdom, the train peoples have decided to close Paddington for the weekend. Great move guys!!
Trouble is, Bob and Gareth are in the Hogshead and I’m in the Prince of Wales, where we always meet, or should I say always used to. I missed trips to Basingstoke, Walton etc and didn’t realise they found a pub with better beer! I got a strange text from Gareth asking when I was getting there, so I walked around the pub looking for them……….doh!
Anyway, I finished my pint and joined the others for the train journey. As expected Ealing Broadway was chaotic, they couldn’t organize a piss up in a brewery those BR people!
We finally got to Maidenhead about 1.30 so fly off to the Hobgoblin for a beer and a bit of food, we try get another pint and every single hand pump has gone belly up, was it something we said? I guess they wanted rid of us! Had a quick pint in the Hand and Flower and made our way to the ground.
I’d never been to York Road before and compared to some of the smeg holes we’ve been to it’s not a bad ground. Eddie was out today and was replaced by Tyrone London, nice of him to turn up for us I thought, Craig Brown also made the starting line-up which is deserved after some good performances recently.
We started brightly, Bolty knocked in a dangerous ball, a dodgy header won us a corner and from it Corbett shot just past the front post. We keep the early pressure up, Bailey turns in midfield, Corbett gets the ball to the edge of the box and mishits his cross, but it comes to Bolt who wins another corner, the home keeper drops the corner and Corbett is a yard away and didn’t have a hope of beating the keeper from there.
The Maidenhead strikers Yaku and Allen have bags of pace and start causing havoc. After a free kick into the box Corbs clears the ball for a corner. The resulting corner comes through a crowded penalty are and falls plum for Adrian Allen to nod the home side in front with simple free header into the net.
We try to catch them on the hop after their goal, Corbett was blatantly brought down in the penalty box, how the referee didn’t give it I don’t know, virtually everyone in the ground thought it was. Dan would have been doing his pieces!! We got pegged back a bit, but some good chasing down and strength from Watson wins a ball in the corner and crosses for Corbett, unfortunately, into Barnard’s hands. Brown looked lively, had a good shot just wide and was passing the ball about well.
With their pace going forward Maidenhead were always going to cause us problems, Yaku got the ball on the edge of the area, had a free run across the edge, cuts in and with Tommy closing down, he lobs him with a sweet chip, that settles in the back of the net, not going well and some pretty poor defending. We aren’t looking a bad side going forward at times, Corbett, Watson, Bailey and Brown all having half chances that, on another day might have gone in, one of those days when you think the ball isn’t going to hit the back of the net.
Yaku shows his pace again just before half time, nutmegging a very disappointing London outside the box and beating Tommy with a good strike at the near post. Three down at the break, deservedly so, Maidenhead are taking there chances and we can’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo, Maidenhead are an average defensive side, we should have had something from the first half.
Hanlan comes on for London at half time, half the players were on the pitch when Micky Cook comes out as I was walking past the dressing room to tell him he was coming on, what was I saying about us being disorganized for this match!
To give us a small piece of hope Watson pounced on a poor defensive header to go one on one with the home keeper and slots it through his legs, the optimism didn’t last long sadly, a nice passing move from the home side, the movement flummoxing our back line and the ball was played across the edge of the box again to O’Connor who easily lost his marker and blasted past Tommy from twenty yards with enough time to re-tie his bootlaces. Maidenhead are then oozing confidence and play the ball around with ease, our heads having dropped a little, when we have the ball we seem to be trying to do to much with it, passing it around the edge of the box.
Watson held off a defender and turned well not ten yards from goal but shot wide. Matty Gray knocked a superb ball cross field to Bailey about fifteen yards out, he hit it on the half volley, but was saved well by the keeper.
A frustrating game and four one was a bit harsh on us I think, but we didn’t put the home defence under enough pressure or make the most of our chances and in the end the best team won relatively easily, we have played a lot worse this season.
To cheer ourselves up and bear in mind it was in the name of research and to pass on information to our readers we wandered into the Honey Pot for a drink and …er…well, it was a pretty disappointing experience, Bob wasn’t impressed with having to pay over a tenner for three beers and everyone in there was fully clothed! Which is disappointing when you consider the place is a strippers joint. One lass who was wearing a school uniform did come over for a chat and what can I say, we now know everything there is to know about hairdressing! It seems she wasn’t going to get her kit off and we certainly weren’t going to pay a fortune for another round, so we left.
Gareth wandered off homewards via Victoria and me and Bob headed back to Wimbledon for a quick pint as he had left his scarf in the Hogshead (we had a feeling no one would have stolen it somehow)
Just the five pints later we leave having had a good laugh with the barmaids and sampled more strange beer.
MAN OF THE MATCH : Craig Brown. A close run thing between Corbs and Brown.
ENTERTAINMENT : No mark. (Not that good eh Chalmers?? – Taz)
TEAM : Dunn, London, Brooker, Palmer, Hodges, Gray, Bailey, Corbett, Bolt, Brown, Watson
SUBS : Hanlan. Gray. Honey.
THE REFEREE’S………Again, no comment from Mr C on this one. But I’m sure he mentioned during monday that the guy was a useless twat. Now there’s a shocker!