Date Comp Venue Opposition Res Score MOM Scorers                 FUNDAY Friendly Home Hanslope Hornets D 1-1   Liam 18/09/10 Lge Away Hanslope Hornets D 1-1   Liam 02/10/10 Lge Home Heeland Rangers L 3-12 Harry Liam (2), Jacob 16/10/10 Lge Away Leighton Corinthians W 2-6 Gareth Ollie (2), Piers, Gareth, Jack, Johnny.

16/10//10 League

Leighton Corinthians 2 - Great Horwood 6

Scorers:- Ollie x 2, Johnny, Gareth, Jack and Piers

This was our first outing to the unknown Leighton and it was the unknown we were entering as, like the Order of the Phoenix’, Leighton like to keep themselves to themselves (try googling them!!).

It was on the back of one of our worst defeats in the past 4 seasons that we set out this chilly and blustery Saturday morning. The sun was bright and so too were our spirits. The previous defeat wasn’t weighing on our minds… well not much anyway, and after three good training sessions and a much better behaved and focused team, we were looking for our first win of the season.

Things got off well as we settled down to some serious warming up, to the point that Gareth actually stripped down to his shorts, (yes he had some on!!), pre kick off. The omens must have been good, however, Liam was brining into the game a ‘dodgy’ leg as he had been suffering from growing pains all week, (So that’s what the limp was all about. One leg was 2 inches longer than the other, and here’s me thinking it’s some form of new cool rap walk!!).

As the whistle blew, the coaches and the fans waited with baited breath to see what the boys could deliver. The pitch was very small which can play to our advantage sometimes as we do like to play short intricate passes throughout our game. However, the 1 in 3 slope from side to side didn’t help anyone as the boys had to come to terms with adjusting throw-ins and corners depending on which side of the pitch one was playing from.

Anyways where were we, Ah yes the whistle had blown for kick off…..

We urged the boys to attack the ball from the whistle and attack they did. A fleeting movement between Johnny and Harry set off our first attack. We hit the post!!! Was this a good omen?….It remained to be seen 

The game continued in this vein for most of the first half. Total dominance from the Gt Horwood boys. We’d been a little cautious and placed Harry and Piers as wing backs, supporting the defence of Jack and Jacob but wanting them to break forward as much as possible. Jacob and Jack continued to be strong centrally and Finlay, despite some early jitters became a lion in goal. His roar could be heard all over Dunstable Downs as he let the defence know who was in charge!!!

Ollie and Gareth played the ball smoothly up the wings cutting through the Leighton midfield like a knife through butter. Using Johnny ‘Berba’ Garside to direct and thread the ball through meant that Liam was given a number of chances to push the Blue and Blacks ahead. But it was Johnny who led our charge as he jinxed to the left, then the right, then the right again, and then the left and then the left again and the right (I think you know where I am going with this).  GOOOOAAAALLLL

1-0 Horwood, Johnny with a fantastic shot put the Black and Blues in the lead.

We continued to put great pressure on the Leighton defence… Something had to give, and it did… 

It was only a matter of time before Ollie got onto the score sheet. It was fantastic to have him back after injuring himself earlier in the season (and no, I’m not just saying he was injured to deflect from rumours of his clubbing, drinking and dancing in nightclubs until the early hours. He really had broken his thumb).

A beautifully flighted long shot in….  GOOOAAAAAAALLLLL number 2

2-0 and we hadn’t finished just yet as our newly enthroned Captain, ‘Captain Jack’ muscled into the goal scoring scene. Not one to bother about which part of the body the ball should come off, Jack came forward and let rip a scorcher…. And yes it was from his boot….. Smack, right into the back of the net.

3-0 and the half time whistle was yet to blow…. Was there time for 1 more?    ……You betcha!

Gareth had had a magnificent 1^st half, his Dixie Dean runs wowing the crowd as he skipped over one challenge after another. It had to be rewarded with something and it was.

4-0 and again, a beautifully flighted shot, one right out of Ollie’s book of ‘beautifully flighted goals’ Vol. ii.

So half time came and we fuelled up on Mr Del Monte’s citrus delights. (We held back on the extravagance that is Mr Garside and his malted milks until the final whistle). The key thing now was for the boys to remain focused and determined to finish this game off. Could we be looking at our first victory of the season? Only time would tell.

So, the 2^nd half whistle blew and what we feared could happen, did happen, the boys fell asleep! Gareth decided the game on the other pitch was far more interesting than the one he was playing in and a few of the boys thought that the big red fire engine held more importance than that of the game they were in. 

Before we knew it Leighton had got themselves back in the game. Whatever their coaches had said or given them at half time had certainly done the trick as they set off at full pelt determined to win every ball, and every ball they did win. Was I to rue the decision to hold back on the malted milks?

15 minutes into the game and Leighton had valiantly put 2 on the score sheet and were beginning to believe that they could get something out of this game. Confidence seemed to drain from the Horwood boys as their passes became weaker and they began to forget the simple things; keeping goal side, supporting defence from midfield, winning every 50/50 ball, simple throw-ins etc. Were we to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? A phrase used all too often last season.

Poor old Liam’s ‘long leg’ was giving him so much jip in the end we had to take him off. He valiantly staggered, reluctantly to the sideline, on his game he’d have had 3 today but the pain was too much to take.

On came Fraser and a quick shuffle put him up front.

Within seconds the ball was through and off he went with his shock of golden blonde hair hurtling to the corner flag!!! Shoot Fraser, Shoot! Before he knew it he’d over run the ball and put it away for a goal kick. But it was the bolt of lightening we needed as we picked ourselves up from the slumber we had fallen into and began to play our way back in the game. Piers became inspired as he lit the pitch up with his rangy runs and devilish tackling. There were now glimpses of Gt Horwood at their best and it was a joy to witness. Belief run through their veins and into their boots as Ollie stood up to the challenge and again, crafted a beautiful ball through one player and then released that left foot of his to make it 2 for him this one coming from his ‘do it yourself goals kit’ Vol. iii.

5-2 and I think job done. Leighton never gave up and it was great to see them keep their heads up and spirits in tact as they continued to work hard for each other. (We’ve been there so we know how important it is to remain determined and never to give up). They continued to chase every ball and still won most of the dead ball situations (Something we have to work on in training). But there was never going to be enough time for them to pull back and in fact, the longer the game went on, the better some of our players became. The strength and stamina of young Mr Piers ‘Springbok’ Burke saw a solo effort where he brought the ball deep from his own half, lost it, won it back, lost it again, won it back again and finally he remembered that he can shoot…… GGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL and the game was settled at 6-2 to the boys of Gt Horwood.

A win at last, victory being so sweet having had some heavy defeats of late. Hopefully it will bring back to them the understanding that we are only going to get out of this game what we are prepared to put in.

Silly, immature, unfocused behaviour delivers silly results. We have experienced that. However, focus, a determination to win, a desire to do well, discipline and a mature, responsive attitude to training and playing will, like today, deliver results.

Well done to the whole team and let’s work on the easy stuff for future games..

Paul