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  VERY BAD NEWS -- OLD OWENS CRIED OFF TODAY'S GAME AT 11.30am THIS MORNING  

WEST WICKHAM   v   OLD OWENS    (Monday 5th May) -- OFF

 

WICKHAM ARE CHAMPIONS  --- a  2 - 1 victory at Nottsborough on Saturday brought the Championship Trophy back to West Wickham.

 

WONDERFUL “ONE EYED” WAITEY WINS IT FOR WICKHAM

 

What a performance by all 14 players at Nottsborough – a 2 – 1 victory secured the first Senior Division One championship for The Bluebloods since 1990/91 – Old Owens needed to win at Wilsonians to keep their dream alive but a 2 – 2 draw scuppered their ambitions. We were up for this game from the first whistle and we started in a confident vein – the midfield trio of Currie, Wadey and Askew set the tone with a high work rate and some determined tackling which gave Wickham the upper hand in the first 15 minutes and we took the lead with a tremendous goal from Matt King. He collected a through ball and judged the bounce perfectly to smash a fierce drive into the net from just outside the area – the Nottsborough keeper had no chance of saving it and, had he got near it, he may have ended up in the back of the net alongside the ball. As usual, the home side were not daunted and they gradually worked their way into the game with some clever play from Ewin and Stavri but the main threat came from Swindle, who always seems to play well against us – skipper Rolfe set him up for some dangerous forays down the right flank and Chrissy Rose had to be at his best to keep him in check. The battle between Alec Ewin and Adam Freeman is nearly always the key to these big games and the Wickham captain was in top form – he gave the Nottsborough striker little or nothing, which is a feat in itself, and Nick Stavri carried the bigger threat – his ball control is excellent and he kept our defence on their toes without being able to deliver a killer ball.  Jon Waite was working hard up front but lost his right contact lens after 30 minutes and called for a white stick --- after one valiant chase into the Nottsborough box his momentum carried him on to the adjoining pitch and he played 5 minutes in that game until Connor was sent to retrieve him. Eventually, after much faffing and running back and forward to the dressing room (which was miles away) Connor and Freeo Senior managed to find a spare lens and Waitey’s vision was restored.

 

At half time I was confident that we could win the game if we could weather the inevitable period when the opposition would dominate. Nottsborough continued to play controlled football and Stavri was proving a real handful and he levelled the scores when he twisted and turned on the left side of the penalty box and squeezed his shot past the diving Owlett into the right hand corner of the net. This heralded a panicky ten minutes for the Wickham rearguard and tempers started to fray – fortunately some strong words from Gibbo restored sanity but Nottsborough were clearly on top and we had a lucky escape when, a somewhat rattled skipper, headed a dangerous cross against his own cross bar with keeper Owlett stranded. Rolfe then had a goal bound header cleared off the line by the ever vigilant Rose and we had survived two narrow escapes.  Games often turn on moments like these but the strength and determination of Wadey and Askew made sure that the damage was minimal. Matt King had to leave the field after 60 minutes with a back injury and PJ, the old warhorse, was introduced into the fray, with instructions to calm proceedings down. The substitution came at a dangerous time as, we were on the back foot, but there is nothing like an old head in a game like this and Jennings knew his job and did it well. Stavri left the field with what looked like a thigh strain but maybe one or two crunching tackles from Simmonds had slowed his momentum. Elliott replaced him, and he is another dangerous player, particularly in the air, but you need to be better than “good” to win aerial battles against Gibson, Freeman, Simmonds and Currie. This is where the Wickham strength lies ---- we have only conceded 16 goals in 19 games this season and it was the same last season when we only let in 17 in 20 games. Mark Owlett’s keeping has again been top quality and he is, undoubtedly, the best keeper in the SAL, whatever anybody else thinks. The home side kept trying but Jay Askew was running the show in the middle and his link with Chris Rose was creating panic in the tiring Nottsborough defence. Both Waite and Askew were off target with headers from Rose’s crosses and we clawed back the advantage as the half proceeded. Ashley Everett, who had done every well defensively was replaced by James Owlett with fifteen minutes left with instructions to run at the Nottsborough defence at every opportunity. There was no point in us sitting on a point when we had the chance to take all three and Jon Waite almost gave us the lead on a couple of occasions but he was thwarted by some last ditch tackling. Waitey never gives up and he got his reward in the 80th minute when he controlled the ball in the box, turned the last man, and put the ball into the bottom right hand corner. This was a tremendous piece of poaching by Waitey, who was struggling with his ankle again and he was almost immediately replaced by Marcus Elliott who has not played for the First Team since 17th November 2007. There was only seven minutes left but referee Phil Cook added on a further six minutes --- sometimes this can be a frantic, nervous period but not on this occasion --- the experience of Paul Jennings was matched by the much less experienced James Owlett and Marcus Elliott – they kept the ball intelligently and  Rose and Askew joined in and prevented Nottsborough from getting possession. I was never looking at my watch calling for the whistle because it was obvious that the players were in full control and enjoying themselves. We played extremely well in the last 20 minutes after weathering a panicky period when Nottsborough were unlucky not to take a lead.

 

The news that Old Wilsonians had held our nearest rivals Old Owens to a draw meant that we were Champions --- I don’t think that anybody would dispute that West Wickham are worthy of the title and it was fitting that we should win it at the ground of last years Champions. I think that Nottsborough, Owens and Wickham and, probably, Old Salesians could all play at a much higher level and still win things and the standard of football this season in the SAL has been well worth watching. Thanks to the officials who did a good job but it was the players who made their job easy on the day – there was hardly a foul in the game and the behaviour of both teams was exemplary.

 

Thanks to our supporters who turn up every week to add that extra ingredient – we hope that we entertained you --- and there is still one game to go. This will be a BIG GAME --- I do not want to even think about finishing the season on a losing note – we will play Old Owens at Corkscrew Hill on Monday 5th May at 3pm and I expect to field a full side. Good luck to the boys who are representing the SAL in the Carlsberg Cup Final next Saturday – I trust that you will win and be ready for an all action Monday afternoon.

 

Man of the Match went to “One Eyed” Waitey, who has now score 18 goals in 25 games --- enough said. Everybody did their job on Saturday – nobody shirked any issues (which is normal) – we showed both maturity and awareness as the game progressed and this is a step forward for the team. Except for three players, we have a young squad and they are improving all the time – the only disappointment this season was not winning the AFA Cup again but next year we will have it back.

 

RESULTS    --  SATURDAY 12th April 2008

FIRST TEAM     6     v     BROOMFIELD     1
Matt King 3 Jon Waite
James Gibson Mike McCarthy

RESERVES     5     v     EBOGS     1
Greg Brown 2  James Owlett 2
Jon Laidley

THREES     2     v     HSBC     3
Ian Fieldwick Paul Jolly

FOURS     4     v     WINCHMORE HILL     0
Tom Pardon2 Chris Eadon 2

 

West Wickham 1st     2     v   Alleyns   1

Another win for Wickham on Wednesday night on a pitch which resembled Southport beach. We started indifferently, which is a nicer word than turgidly, but gradually settled own and won a penalty when Ash Everett was poleaxed in the box and up stepped Chris Rose to put us ahead. Ash was enjoying himself and chipped a superb ball across the six yard box to give Chris a second goal. We looked comfortable as the half drew to a close but lost Ben David with a knee injury just before the break. Alleyns, who moaned and groaned almost as much as Actonians, were then awarded a dire penalty -- the award was the result of constant pressure on the referee -- nobody knew what the award was for -- the home side converted and were back in the game.

The second half was end to end, Alleyns threatened up to the last third but then ran out of ideas -- Currie was outstanding in midfield and Wadey and Askew created some fine scoring chances but their keeper made three terrific saves. The game ended 2- 1 to Wickham but in truth it could have been 5 - 0 --- Alleyns are in a bit of trouble but I think, and hope, that they will get out of it -- they have a crunch game on Saturday against Winchmore Hill and a victory would send The Hill down (in my opinion). We go to Broomfield on Saturday and this will be a very difficult game -- although they have lost their last 2 games Broomfield are a good side, particularly at home and we need to win to keep the pressure on Old Owens and Nottsborough.

RESULTS--SATURDAY 5th APRIL 2008

FIRST TEAM         1    v       OLD SALESIANS      0        Kent/Surrey Cup Final

James Gibson                              

THIRD TEAM        7      v         Bank of England          1

Paul Jolly 2  Scott  Holmes  Jon Laidley  Sam Truman  Steve Jones   Stu D;Urso    

FOURTH TEAM      1    v       Civil Service            1      

SIXTH TEAM        7    v            Merton               1

Marcus Elliott 4  Adrian Gentles 2  Scott Saville

 

RESULTS -- SATURDAY 29th MARCH 2008

  RESERVES    2   v    NOTTSBOROUGH   1 

Greg Brown   Jon Laidley                                                                        
                                                                                        

 THREES     2     v      OLD SALESIANS    0 

Scott Holmes  Paul Jolly                                                          
                                                                                              

 FOURS   2     v      WINCHMORE HILL     4

Rob Guppy  Chris Eadon                                                         

 SIXES    5    v    CIVIL SERVICE         1

Ash Everett Marcus Elliott Adrian Gentles                           

Paul Blakeney  Geoff Boadu                                                  

 

CLUB DINNER will be held AT THE CLUBHOUSE on SATURDAY 26th APRIL at 7pm.

Please make sure that you attend this uproarious event -- ticket details will be issued soon -- put the date in your diary. All the individual and team awards will be presented on the night so will Managers start to collect votes for their Player of the Season.                                                                                   

 

RESULTS  -- SATURDAY 15th MARCH 2008

FIRST TEAM  0     v    OLD ACTONIANS     0

 RESERVES   2     v      EAST BARNET OG     3   
Andy Foster 2                                                                                             

THREES               1     v     CARSHALTON    3   
Paul Jolly                                                                                                   

 FOURS    0     v     OLD ACTONIANS   4           

FIVES    3       v     KEW           1                       
Colin Roberts 2  Geoff Airey                                                                   

                                  

                                RESULTS -- SATURDAY 1st March 2008

RESERVES    0    v      OLD OWENS          0

THREES         2    v      BROOMFIELD       0
Jon Laidley Scott Holmes

FOURS            0    v      OLD OWENS           3

FIVES              0    v     OLD WILSONIANS  1

REVIEW -- SATURDAY 23rd FEBRUARY 2008
The First Team badly under performed in their Kent/Surrey Semi Final against Nottsborough at Kingston University but still, somehow, managed to reach the final. We squandered a two goal lead given to us by Jon Waite and Adam Wadey but survived to extra time with the score at 2 - 2. We improved in extra time but were then struck down by bad injuries to Waite, Everett and Currie. No further goals meant a "penalty shoot out" with only seven fit players, as we had to leave one out as Nottsborough had a man, unluckily, sent off. Our penalty taking matched our overall performance -- below our normal standard -- but, thanks to keeper Mark Owlett and some poor pens we won 3 - 2 with Chris Rose, Jay Askew and Ross Simmonds scoring (I wont mention that Freeo, Brutus and Cuzza missed).

The Reserves are still in with a chance of retaining their title with a 2 - 1 win over HSBC at Corkscrew Hill via an own goal and one from Ollie Waite. They MUST win all their five remaining games and hope that their challengers slip up -- and I have seen this happen many times. 

The Fours are, apparently, playing quite well but are just not scoring and the score line of 1 - 0 to Old Actonians illustrates this point. They have only scored 3 times in their last four games and we hope to change that this week at Broomfield.

The Sixes should have beaten Old Actonians but let a one goal lead slip and had to thank Lee Tobin for securing a 2 - 2 draw with a last minute strike to add to the one scored by Barney Farmer. Missed chances cost them 2vital points although we are still top and should, at least, be promoted.

REVIEW -- SATURDAY 16th FEBRUARY 2008
A good weekend for the three teams that are top of their respective tables with two wins and a hard fought away draw. The First Team put a hesitant first half performance behind them and came out with all guns blazing in the second period to beat Civil Service 3 - 1. Chris Rose gave us an early lead from close range but the visitors were level within a minute with a smart move and finish which gave The Owl no chance. But Ash Everett and Ben David provided pin point crosses for Jonny Waite to score twice in quick succession. Waitey also hit the bar with a fine header and we could  easily have scored six or seven.

The Reserves surprisingly lost 4 - 1 at Old Actonians after being level at 1 -1 at the break. Skipper Steve Foster was very disappointed at the lack of fighting spirit shown in the second half and this is very unlike a West Wickham side. Richard John scored our goal. 

The Fours went down fighting 2-0 to the top side Winchmore Hill and while they can still technically win the League they will have to rely on those ahead of them to lose a few.

The Fives keep on rolling -- Matt Waite notched at BB Eagles and this was a point won rather than 2 points lost as the Eagles are one of the best sides in the division. We now have only 3 games left -- they are all at home and they are against the bottom 3 sides -- let's win all three games and take the title in style. Stevie Salter will make sure that there is no complacency.

The Sixes steamrollered Old Wilsonians 9 - 2 and it could and should have been a lot more. Adrian Gentles and Geoff Boadu scored two each and the other Peckham Posse added three of the others via Emrah, Lee Tobin and Bobby Sullivan while Barney Farmer and an own goal completed the rout. They are in a good position ahead of Kew who have four games in hand with a nine point gap but we have to play Kew at home which will be a big game and could decide the title.

RESULTS -- SATURDAY 16th FEBRUARY 2008

FIRST TEAM     3    v  CIVIL SERVICE   1
Chris Rose  Jon Waite 2

RESERVES        1    v   ACTONIANS           4
Richard John

FOURS               0     v   WINCHMORE HILL  2

FIVES                 1    v    BB EAGLES                1
Matt Waite

SIXES                 9    v    OLD WILSONIANS     2
Adrian Gentles 2
Geoff Boadu 2
Bobby Sullivan
Lee Tobin  Emrah
Barney Farmer OG

 


Saturday 9th February Review

Disappointingly the Reserves went out of the Kent/Surrey Intermediate Cup in their semi final game with HAC -- THE GAME WAS DECIDED WITH THE LAST KICK OF THE 90 MINUTES WHEN OUR VISITORS SCORED THE ONLY GOAL OF THE GAME AND WE WISH THEM WELL IN THE FINAL.

The First Team came back from Winchmore Hill with all 3 points after a very hard fought 1 - 0 victory in a game spoiled a bit by erratic refereeing. Games at the Paulin Ground are always hard fought -- the first half was one way traffic but the ref evened the game up by sending off Brutus for a dive -- he couldn't dive if he tried -- this was a ludicrous decision as he was clearly fouled while racing into the area. Still justice was done when Ash Everett scored but we had to battle hard in the last 20 to retain our lead.

The Threes are having a bad run and were hammered 4 - 0 at old Westminster Citz while the Fours played poorly and lost 2 - 1 at home to Civil Service -- Tom Pardon got our goal. However, the Fives continued to score goals for fun getting eight against HSBC -- I think that four players each scored 2 (Teaguey, Stu Naish, Dave Adams and Geoff Aierey) -- but I also heard that Matt" One foot " Waite also scored -- so confusion reigns.

The One's. Fives and Sixes are all still top of the table but there is a long way to go.

 

Man United Babes rocked by West Wickham Under 11's

This morning's game between West Wickham Under 11's and the Manchester United Babes ended in a tremendous victory for Peter Hart's charges. The odds were stacked against the Bluebloods in this Remembrance game in honour of those who died in the Munich Disaster in 1958. To avert any crowd congestion in the area and prevent a clash with this afternoon's big Semi Final for WW Reserves, the police asked us to kick off at 7.30am. The day got off to a bad start for the Mancs who decided not to risk the skies and travelled down by Luxury Coach -- unfortunately, the coach driver Georgie Pigstock, misjudged the width of the Corkscrew Hill entrance and got the coach wedged between the hedges and nobody could get out of the vehicle for 45 minutes until The Shoe arrived and dragged them out by tractor. 

The Mancs were captained by a lad called Edward Duncans -- and I say "lad" advisedly, as he was five foot ten and weighed about 12 stone -- up against his marker, Ollie, who is no bigger than 3foot ten and weighs about 3 stone, this looked the biggest mismatch since the Ricky Hatton fight. To be fair to Ollie, he wasn't phased but the sight of the GAMS (Girlfriends and Mums) getting off the coach took poor Ollie's breath away. The oldest was no more than 25 and they looked the business -- regaled in leather micro- mini skirts and long Jimmy Choo boots they were showing enough cleavage to make any player dribble.

"The pitch looks a bit bumpy" said their Manager Matt Frisbee but nobody took any notice of him. "What do Mancs know about football" said Jed " they should take a look at their own pitch, it's rubbish." I suppose the sagging cross bars at McAndrews are unusual and the goalmouths are are worse than Ground Zero but it suits Wickham's style and you could see that the Mancs were not impressed.

"Watch out for that Bobby Carlton" said Manager Hart in his team talk.
"Who is he?" said Joe.
"He's the bald kid with that funny strand of hair combed across his head" said Hart.

The first 30 minutes was a little bit one sided and the only time we got in their half was when we won the toss and kicked off. However, nature came to our rescue in the form of the "wild West wind" -- now everybody who frequents West Wickham FC knows that on Saturday a beautiful sunny, mild morning is always followed by gale force winds in the afternoon. This morning it was all so different -- the wind changed it's mind and howled into the faces of the Mancs and the other Ollie, Matt and Tom had no trouble in keeping the score sheet blank. Poor old Bobby Carlton was hampered by the wind blowing what was left of his hair over his eyes so his shooting was all over the place. 

The cold wind played havoc with the GAMS -- they were soon sporting goose pimples on their thighs and cleavages and even Dave the Barman said he felt nauseous. Needless to say their Moschino handbags were filled with cans of lager and meat pies and they were soon bevied.

I felt sorry for Matt Frisbee -- there was no half time tea, oranges or anything else to cheer him up and his boys looked decidedly edgy and we had a 20 minute interval to allow the wind to change round. The second half was carnage -- our side that recently lost 10 - 0 and 10 - 1 to Croydon A, were not going to let a bunch of northern tripe- hounds beat them and we tore into the tackle. Goals from Sam the Man, Jumping Jack Flash, Connor and Guy gave us an unassailable lead. It didn't seem to bother the GAMS who were lying unconscious by the swings.

Well by now (its 10am) the Frisbee Babes will be on their way back to Manchester to watch the Derby game -- the boys were very well behaved and took their defeat in in good grace BUT can we rely on the Manchester fans to behave in an appropriate manner tomorrow afternoon and remember The Babes with the respect that their talent and sportsmanship deserve????

FIXTURES    SATURDAY  9th  February 2008

 FIRST TEAM         1     v        WINCHMORE HILL   (A)        0
Everett


 RESERVES             0     v       HAC    (H)        1
     

 THREES               0        v       OLD WESTMINSTER CITZ     (A)     4

 FOURS                  1       v       CIVIL SERVICE    (H)           2
Pardon

     
 FIVES                   8       v       HSBC   (H)               1
Geoff Airey 2   Stu Naish
Dave Adams 2 Matt Waite
Andy Teague 2
SIXES                   NO FIXTURE

All games now kick off at 2.30pm EXCEPT  CUP GAMES.

 

WEEKEND REVIEW --- SATURDAY  2nd FEBRUARY 2008

Well done to all the players who turned out on Saturday – we were really struggling in all six sides so to win four, draw one and lose one was a great effort. I had a strong feeling that we would do well this Saturday – past experiences indicate that when the chips are down players pull something extra out and the atmosphere in the First Team dressing room was excellent – no doubt it was the same in the dressing rooms of the other five sides. No big speeches were necessary we all knew that losing was not on the agenda as losing would severely dent all our Championship hopes. Club skipper Adam Freeman played while only half fit, Jonny Waite was there on the line ready to help if needed despite being unfit, Pagey came along to watch and ended up as sub for the Ones at the age of (about) 43 while Dave Cross played for the Threes despite being far from fit and Paul Freeman was in a poor state in the Fives game but notched twice.

The First Team squad was without Currie, Elliott, Williams, Scarborough , Jon Waite, Jay Askew, Rob Guppy and James Taylor and introduced Tommy Williams as our only fit sub against Alleyns who had only lost once so far this season. There was a quiet determination about the squad though – we know that we have been under performing and we were determined to put matters right and we played very well in the first 30 minutes making many chances which we were unable to convert. We looked much livelier in midfield with The Weasel quickly getting control of the ball and Brutus and Ben adding much needed energy. True we only won the game with the next to last kick of the 90 minutes via Chris Rose after sterling work by Brutus – but we were much the better side and deserved the 3 points.

  The Reserves have hit a purple patch and with their resources stretched, they beat the league leaders Carshalton by a single Ollie Waite goal. Make no mistake this was a big win and sets us up for next week’s semi final in the Kent/Surrey Intermediate Cup at Corkscrew Hill against the Honourable Artillery Company --- kick off at 2pm.. Also we are not giving up hope of retaining our League title – we need to win all our games but we are good enough – put the effort in at training boys and we can win something – I will be disappointed if the whole squad isn’t at training in the remaining weeks of the season.

  The Threes game started late due to traffic problems and finished in the dark when Sam Truman was injured and the game was delayed for 30 minutes. Sam fell on his head and we were worried about his neck but thankfully he is ok after being x rayed. The game ended with a 4 – 1 win for top side, Kew – Mark Pettyfer getting our goal. At  2 – 1 we had chances to level the scores but the game was severely disrupted and the score line flattered the visitors who are a decent side. Many thanks to the ref for his handling of Sam’s injury and for the understanding and behaviour of the very young Kew side.

  The Fours were on the road at Alexandra Park and got a point via two goals from Stevie X which gets him off the Non Scorers List – James Dunne scored for the Sixes in their 5 – 2 win at Polytechnic. They were down 2 – 0 at half time but an own goal and one from Emrah put us back in the lead then Emrah’s mate Chris got two more – happy days. Well done to the Peckham Posse.

  Another fine performance from Salter’s Marauders (the Fives) who slapped Old Westminster Citz by 6 – 4. Paul Freeman scored twice (when did that last happen), Teaguey has found his scoring boots, he got one – Stu Naish got another two but that’s normal – the same comment applies to Geoff Airey who got the other one.

 

In the last five games the Fives have score 23 goals and won all 5 games – the Sixes have score 20 goals and won all five games so congratulations to all the players and, more importantly, to the Managers Steve Salter and Stu Abrey for organising the sides each week. I know that they will keep the pressure up and finish at the top – don’t let anybody relax in their efforts to win silver and make it a big year for the Club.  In the last 5 games the First Team has scored only 5 goals (and six penalties) – however, we have kept 3 clean sheets which shows how important a strong defence is.

 

The Ones, Fives and Sixes all head their respective tables this morning and the battle is on to retain those positions --  the Reserves are in second spot – and the Fours are in third spot --- for sure it was a big, big effort at the weekend and we must keep this positive attitude for the next 2 months and give 100% at all times – leave the ale until Saturday night when the points are in the bag. The injury list stretches to more than 40 players so let's hope that some of these players are back in action this coming Saturday.

 

CONGATULATIONS TO   STUART NAISH --- Stu reached 20 League goals for the FIVES --- CAN HE DOUBLE HIS TALLY??? If he does we will win the League – give it a go Stu.

 

RESULTS   SATURDAY  2nd February 2008

 FIRST TEAM        1       v       ALLEYNS           0
Chris Rose

 RESERVES           1       v       CARSHALTON   0
Ollie Waite      

 THREES                 1      v       KEW                     4
Mark Pettyfer

 FOURS                   2      v        ALEXANDRA PARK        2
Steve Xenophontes 2
     
 FIVES                      6     v       OLD WESTMINSTER CITZ      4
Stuart Naish 2
Paul Freeman 2
Geoff Airey 
Andy Teague

SIXES                      5     v        POLYTECHNIC     2
Emrah   OG
James Dunne
Chris 2

All games now kick off at 2.30pm.

 

RESULTS --- SATURDAY  26th JANUARY 2008

 FIRST TEAM  0       v     BANK OF ENGLAND   0   KENT/SURREY CUP QUARTER FINAL
WON  6 - 5 penalties
Currie Rose Gibson Askew Everett  Simmonds
Mark Owlett saved four kicks 
             

RESERVES     4        v      OLD OWENS               0
Ben David 2  Richard John
Greg Brown

THREES          0       v       CARSHALTON             4

FOURS             2        v      OLD ACTONIANS       1 
Simon McGough
Phil Slaney       

FIVES               3       v      POLYTECHNIC            1
Andy Teague 2
Stu Naish 

SIXES               3         v      OLD ACTONIANS      0
Bobby Sullivan 2
Aaron Jones      

All games kick off at 2pm except First Team.      

RESULTS   ------   SATURDAY 19th JANUARY 2008

FIRST TEAM     1     v     POLYTECHNIC     1
Ashley Everett              

RESERVES    (A)     v     OLD ACTONIANS          postponed

THREES         (A)     v      WESTMINSTER CITZ     postponed  

FOURS                     2      v     POLYTECHNIC                 4  
Phil Slaney  Nick Beck

FIVES                       4      v     CIVIL SERVICE                 1
Geoff Airey 3  Matt Eagle

SIXES                      5     v     POLYTECHNIC                    1
Geoff Boadu  Adrian Gentles
Emrah Hassan Lee Tobin
Greg Parsons

 

 

FIRST TEAM SELF- DESTRUCTS  IN AFA CUP.
The holders of the AFA Cup generously gave their visitors Nottsborough three goals -- in return Nottsborough gave us one back and then Rob Guppy scored a stunner to make the final score 3 - 2 in favour of the visitors. This was a game that we should have won but our calamitous defensive errors, when we had fought back to lead 2 - 1, cost us dearly and we wish Nottsborough "Good Luck" for the rest of the competition -- they certainly had it yesterday but they also played some very good football.

FOURS ALSO OUT IN A THRILLER
Harry Charilaou's team can count themselves unlucky as they went out of the AFA Minor Cup with the last kick of extra time at Weirside Rangers. We were rescued in the 90 minutes by an 89th minute penalty by skipper Chris Jones that levelled the scores at 1 - 1. We had our chances in extra time but conceded a goal at the death to lose 2 - 1. A great effort though by a very young side.

SENIOR DIVISION ONE -- ANALYSIS AT HALF WAY
An exciting second of the season is now under weigh and the ultimate League winners will, almost certainly, have to wait until the very end of the season before they can claim the spoils. At the moment Nottsborough and West Wickham head the table with 16 points -- both have played nine games. Old Wilsonians are bottom with 5points BUT they have only played four games and if they were to win their 5 games in hand they would be top by four points. Old Owens have only played 5 games and they have eight points so winning their games in hand of the leaders would also put them on 20 points (4 points ahead of the leaders). Four sides have lost only one game so far -- West Wickham, Alleyns, Old Owens and Old Wilsonians and the only sides that look unlikely to be in the final shake up are Old Actonians and Broomfield. However, both of these are good sides and Actonians are the only side to beat us so far.

I cannot remember the last time that the championship was so intriguing -- there is very little between all the eleven sides and almost all the games so far have been close run affairs. Thirty four of the eighty eight games have ended in draws which is 38.6%. Compare this statistic with what happened last season -- there were only 26 draws (11.8%) and Nottsborough won the league with 50 points -- the previous season there were 54 draws and Old Owens won the league with 43 points.. It's unlikely that the draw % will stay at 38.6% but if it did then there would be 84 draws It appears that the League could be won with as little as 40 points and maybe less and who knows -- goal difference may come into the equation.

However, we can get some respite from the league battle in the next 3 weeks as we are involved in two Cup games which, for us, is a secondary consideration. We entertain our friends from Nottsborough this Saturday and Bank of England in two weeks time and this will give us a chance to, hopefully, clear up our injury list. We are still without Mark Owlett, Marcus Elliott, Ollie Waite, Ben David, James Williams and Ben Scarborough while James Taylor has returned to University. Both Sam Kemp and Paul Barham are on their way back after illness and injury and they should be ok for the League run in. Saturday's team against Nottsborough will include only five of the players that played in the winning side against them last season in the AFA Cup but this will give a chance for the younger players to make a claim for a First Team place in the near future.

RESULTS ---  SATURDAY 12th JANUARY 2008

First Team   2      v    Nottsborough            3
Ashley Everett   Rob Guppy

Reserves       1     v     Old Esthameians      2                 
Tommy Williams

Threes                 v      Broomfield                           POSTPONED

Fours            1     v      Weirside Rangers    2    After extra time
Chris Jones pen

Sixes             5     v      Civil Service            2 
Joe Ivory 2  Colin Roberts  
Lee Tobin  Geoff Boadu                       

 

 

RESULTS ---- SATURDAY 5th JANUARY 2008

WEST WICKHAM    1     v    BROOMFIELD           0
Jon Waite

RESERVES                4     v    REIGATIANS FIRST    0
Matt King 3  Paul Jennings

THREES                     2    v    CROUCH END              5
Darren Martin  Stu D'Urso

FOURS                       4    v    CROUCH END               1
Phil Slaney  Tom Pardon
Jack Stevens Simon McGough

FIVES                       5    v      CARSHALTON              1
Stu Naish 3 Dave Beaumont
Andy Teague

SIXES --- abandoned.

 

SATURDAY  29th DECEMBER 2007

WEST WICKHAM  2   v   OLD WILSONIANS  2 
An excellent afternoons entertainment saw Wickham fight back from a 2 - 0 deficit to earn a draw. Old Wilsonians will be disappointed that they couldn't hold on to their advantage but they scored from 2 free kicks (one a penalty) and Mark Owlett had only one save to make. At the other end their keeper made at least three top quality saves -- 2 from Ash Everett which looked certain goals and absorbed our constant second half pressure. It was a very enjoyable day and the game was watched by a crowd of over 70 people -- the bar was lively after the game and everybody enjoyed themselves so thanks to our hosts for their hospitality. Jon Waite, who played while only half fit, got both our goals and could still win the Golden Boot. Rob Guppy made his First Team debut and did very well. Match Report to follow on First Team page.

UNDERS  3     v    OVERS  3    v  ABREY 3
 The Unders, as expected, triumphed in a penalty shoot out by 5 - 4 --- ref Stu Abrey did his best by allowing the Overs to play with 12 men for 30 minutes and awarding a goal that was nowhere near the goal line. At this stage we were up 3 - 1 and the game was out of reach but The Abri gave them hope -- he then ruled out 3 perfectly good goals for us but none of the Unders complained. The game ended 3 - 3 as the oppo scored via The Weasel and Bingo and a farcical "goal" that never was. The trophy winner was pre- destined and Sam Kemp duly collected the James Collins Cup -- goals came from Rob Guppy (plus 2 disallowed), Chris Rose and Steve Jones while Greg Brown also scored only for the Abri to rule it illegal.

The penalty shoot out was great entertainment and all 20 of the Unders wanted the honour of winning an excellent game. Cuzza got us off on the right foot (nobody except me noticed that he took the pen with his left foot instead of his right), Steve Jones easily converted as did Chris Rose but Kingo, Neil Owlett and Brutus levelled the scores Rob Guppy stepped up and it was 4 - 3 to the Unders -- up steps Rockin Boy and we knew that the game was over. Wooly Bully saved the kick with ease and it was up to Gibbo to keep them in contention which he did. We had one kick left to win the Cup and Richie John had already claimed the fifth kick (despite Chris Jones, Greg Palmer and Tommy Williams all wanting the kick) -- Rich strolled up and sent the keeper the wrong way.

A big thank you to everybody who turned up to support the James Collins Cup day -- thanks to Jenny for presenting the Cup to Sam Kemp -- to Dave the Barman for organising the food and drink -- to Rat and  GB for turning out their side and competing very well -- to all those who gave Raffle Prizes (made about £205).

If anybody has a Charity that is close to their family please contact me, as Jenny Collins wants the funds to go to a worthy cause of our choice.

It was good to remember James again - as the Rat said -- he was a top bloke -- always smiling, always willing to help, always giving 100%. Roll on next year.

UNDERS
Adam Newman/ Nick Bull
Sam Truman/ Chris Jones
Joe Kemp/ Rich John
Ross Simmonds/ Joe Ivory
Tommy Williams/Chris Ross
Sam Kemp/ Greg Brown
Stu D'Urso/ Greg Palmer
Ryan Burt/ Neil Currie
Kent Osborn/ Steve Jones
Rob Guppy/James Taylor

I haven't shown the Overs team as they are all well known players but just look above and you will see the huge potential that we have with young players -- many of them in their first year with the club.

 

21st DECEMBER 2007  -- RESERVES  3  v  OLD WILSONIANS  0

Rob Guppy forces the Wilsonians keeper to fish the ball out of the net twice -- one a cunning lob, the other a clinical drive after a penalty box dribble. Waitey also scored from an excellent run by Rob. We hit the bar several times and the visitors also struck wood -- but they should have struck gold when Tookey gave away another penalty but the taker scuffed his shot and it went, harmlessly and slowly wide of the right hand post. Both sides played some good football but Wickham were well on top for most of the game -- the side contained four seventeen year olds and is probably the youngest Reserves side that we have fielded for many a year. Referee --the Right Honourable Derek Horner refused to give us a penalty -- even old Ernie saw it and had to be restrained from running on to the playing area to give Mr Horner his spectacles. It didn't make any difference to the result and Derek had a good game on the whole.

 

REVIEW -- SATURDAY 15th DECEMBER 2007

Despite being under severe pressure for players, the club had a good weekend all things considered --- 3 wins and 2 draws.

  A quick resume of the First Team game --- a 1 – 1 draw with Old Salesians looks bad on paper but nobody should let their head go down – I take some responsibility as I said at half time that they were the worst team that we had played this season. We should have been, at least, 3 goals ahead as we had played very well but in the second half we gave away a duff goal by being asleep and then couldn’t quite pick up the pieces. An injury to Ollie (he score for us) didn’t help but Old Salesians proved that their League position is justified and we were holding on at the end when we should have been out of sight. We need to convert a higher ratio of our chances – we made lots of them but on another day we will score 6 or 7. So lets concentrate on Winchmore Hill next week – they lost – we didn’t. We were all very disappointed at not winning this game and to be truthful we have not really been at our best for some weeks – several players are performing below their normal standard but the effort is going in and results will improve in the coming weeks. Every game will be a “cup final” because everybody wants to beat West Wickham but we have a strong squad and we will repel all boarders.

  Pride of place, again, goes to the Fours – lead by Chris Jones they won 5 – 3 at Old Parkonians in the SAL Cup and go into the Quarter Final with a home draw. They travelled away for the second week running with only 11 and came back victorious with goals from Phil Slaney 2, Simon McGough, Ryan Burt and Tom Pardon. Andy Siggers showed true Wickham spirit by dropping down a side and driving the boys to a famous win. Keep it going guys – it would be a tremendous feat if you could win this trophy. The rest of the club salute you.

  The Reserves also had a much changed squad for their trip to table topping Winchmore Hill – Kingo was adjudged to have fouled inside the area when our boys swear it was outside and they scored the penalty --- but not before the diving Foster tipped the kick onto the far post – the ball rebounded towards the other post when Fozzie prone on the ground managed to head it upwards where it struck the cross bar and ricocheted fiercely onto the other post. The ball came to rest on the goal line and Fozzie, in his haste to clear it, smacked it into the back of the net. Bad luck Skip. In the second half we improved our performance significantly and Rob Guppy, making his debut equalised with a cool finish. We were denied a penalty when the ref missed a handball and we were disappointed not to take all 3 points. Ben Precious twisted his ankle after 5 minutes which didn’t help the cause but Wayne Aris did a good job as his deputy. You may spot some poetic licence in this report.

  The Threes won again 1 – 0 with a blinder from Paul Blakeney, against HSBC, in a game that looked messy and by all accounts was messy. I did see one bizarre incident when their keeper went down like a bag of cement and the ball went under him and struck the inside of the post – Jon Laidley was unable to get his foot to it and it squirmed along the line and was cleared. Scottie was injured again so no change their.

  The Salter boys (aka The Fives) won 5 – 3 at Old Wilsonians with 2 from James Owlett, 2 from Stu Naish and one from Matt Eagle. A good result when we played without a keeper for the second week and Manager Salter has now let in 9 goals in two games – keep up the good work Steve. They are now top of the table with 19 goal difference so we should be challenging for honours this season.

   

SATURDAY SUMMARY -- 8th DECEMBER 2007

Ones,Threes and Fours -- all away games -- were cancelled due to waterlogged pitches but the two home games went ahead and groundsman Dave Buck had the pitches in excellent condition bearing in mind the heavy rain of the previous 2 days. The Reserves attracted a decent crowd and turned in an excellent performance to beat a good Civil Service side 3 - 0. They dominated the game from start to finish and. perhaps, a three goal margin did not do them justice. Goals came from Mike "Weasel" McCarthy, Ollie Waite and Jon Laidley. Jon is now in double figures with 10 all in the League and is launching a strong challenge for the Golden Boot. The side featured three seventeen year olds and they all did extremely well which bodes well for the future.

The Sixes won 2 - 1 with a last minute goal by substitute Brutus (back from injury) after Gary Blakeney (yes Gary Blakeney) had put us ahead. Old Wilsonians fought back strongly and equalised before half time but just when it seemed that they had ridden the storm we scored from a free kick which was undefended -- and the ball was calmly slotted into the vacant net. It proves the point that arguing with the referee is futile and often costly.

The Fives went out of the AFA Cup at Albanian -- losing 6 - 4 after leading 3 - 1 at half time. The details will follow. Goals came from the usual sources -- Stu Naish two and one each for James and Stu Owlett.

FIRST TEAM GAME v OLD WILSONIANS CONFIRMED FOR SAT 29th DECEMBER 2007.
AT OLD WILSON'S GROUND AT HAYES HILL --- KICK OFF 1.30pm. PUT THIS DATE IN YOUR DIARY.

 

THE GOLDEN BOOT update Monday 10th December.
 The current leader James Owlett scored again to take his total to 17 -- three ahead of Tom Pardon 14 both Stu Naish 2 and one from Stu Owlett keep them well in the hunt and both have 13. Close behind is Jon Laidley with 10. Geoff Boadu and Darren Martin have 9. Don't rule out Jon Waite and Marcus Elliott who are both on 8. Both Waitey and Darren have scored in each of the last four games so they are right in form.

SATURDAY  8th DECEMBER 2007 -- FIXTURES

FIRST TEAM  (A)    v   POLYTECHNIC           postponed

    
RESERVES     (H)    v    CIVIL SERVICE          Won 3 - 0
Mike McCarthy, Ollie Waite,  Jon Laidley.

THREES         (A)     v    BROOMFIELD            postponed

FOURS           (A)      v    OLD PARKONIANS   postponed
SAL CUP  

FIVES             (A)     v     ALBANIAN                   Lost 6 - 4
AFA CUP

SIXES             (H)     v     OLD WILSONIANS     Won 2 - 1
Blakeney G  Brutus  

 

 

FIRST TEAM GO INTO THE NEXT ROUND OF THE AFA CUP
with a 3 - 0 win over a determined Leyton County side who put up a great fight. Goals came from Ashley Everett and two from Jon Waite.

SATURDAY  1st DECEMBER 2007 -- FIXTURES

FIRST TEAM  (H)    v   LEYTON COUNTY        Won 3 - 0
Ashley Everett   Jon Waite  2 

    
RESERVES     (A)    v    HSBC                               Won 2 - 1
Ollie Waite  Chris Tookey

THREES         (A)     v    ESTHAMEIANS              Lost 6 - 4
Darren Martin 2  Rob Guppy  Chris Eales 


FOURS           (H)      v    NOTTSBOROUGH        Drew 1 - 1
Tom Pardon

FIVES             (H)     v     BB EAGLES                   Drew 2 - 2
Stu Owlett 2

SIXES             (A)     v     POLYTECHNIC             Postponed      

HAPPY AS LARRY or SICK AS A PARROT

Let’s deal with the HAPPY first – congratulations to Harry and Steve for guiding the Fours and Fives into the next round of the AFA Cup. The Fives were expected to win but the Fours had a very tough task at Old Meadonians the premier club of the AFC League – but the boys came back with an excellent 2 – 0 victory – nobody would guess who scored – yes it’s Tom Pardon and “Raffles”  Martin again. They travelled with 12 men but no goalkeeper --- but they were not deterred and with John Baker pulling the gloves on they took a 1 -0 half time lead and doubled it in the second period. A great effort.

The Fives goals came form Stu Owlett (back after injury) and Dave Adams (back after injury) on their 2 – 0 won over Old Finchleians and Steve’s team, who were below strength, are on a roll at the moment and hopefully will maintain their form and win something this season.

  The Three also did well – after being 2 – 1 down at home to Old Westminster Ctitizens they added three more goals to Dave Cross’s opener from Tim Hollands, Russell Urso and new boy Rob Guppy. It was good that Rob scored on his debut and Russ opened his account but has a long way to go to catch his brother.

The other two games are reported under The Sick as a Parrot section.  How the First Team managed to lose is a mystery – Actonians scored from a deflected free kick and TWO blatantly offside goals. We missed chance after chance but Jay Askew had put us in the lead with his first of the season and we were cruising when two awful goals put us behind at half time. It was like the Alamo in the second half and Jon Waite ’s penalty soon put us level --- then the Parrot was sick all over us – a dire error in defence gave them a chance which was lurching towards the net when a bloke standing offside applied the finishing touch. We then battered them for the last 25 minutes and could have scored four or five with a bit of luck – Gibbo hit the bar and we then had a clear cut penalty – everybody saw their defender knock the ball away with his hand except the ref -- he never saw it – mind you there were about 19 players in their penalty area. These games happen once or twice in the season and we played pretty well at times but Lady Luck was marooned at Acton Town station trying to sort out the chaos there – we needed her at Old Actonians.

  The Reserves had a shocker losing 3 – 0 after missing a penalty – where was Brutus? I understand a series of expensive errors helped Weirside Rangers to go through – disappointing as we had just started to improve our performances and by all accounts we didn't play badly.  

 

 

WEST WICKHAM AWARDED the FA CHARTER STANDARD
The club has been awarded the FA CHARTER STANDARD which is a prestigious award recognising that the club is managed to the high standards that Football Association requires. We will now press on with our plans to improve our football facilities and attract new members to our thriving Senior, Junior and Nursery sections. We plan to introduce Ladies football in the near future as soon as the club refurbishment is complete. New dressing rooms, with dedicated showers, are required and improved training areas and pitch improvements are high on our agenda. A big thank you to John Uwins, the general club Chairman, who spearheaded the drive to win this award -- thanks also to all those members of the  Junior Section who played a big part in our success.

SATURDAY  24th NOVEMBER 2007 -- FIXTURES

FIRST TEAM  (A)    v    OLD ACTONIANS        SAL             Lost 2 -3
Jay Askew Jon Waite (pen)
    
RESERVES     (H)    v     WEIRSIDE RANGERS   AFA CUP   Lost 0 - 3

THREES         (H)     v     OLD WEST CITZ          SAL              Won 4 - 2
Dave Cross  Russ D'Urso  Rob Guppy  Tim Hollands

FOURS           (A)      v     OLD MEADONIANS    AFA CUP     Won 2 - 0
Tom Pardon  Darren Martin

FIVES             (H)     v      OLD FINCHLEIANS     AFA CUP     Won 2 - 0
Stu Owlett  Dave Adams
           

 

SATURDAY 17th NOVEMBER 2007 -- RESULTS

FIRST TEAM  (A)    v    OLD WEST CITZ         WON 3 - 1  Cup
Waite J  David  Elliott      
RESERVES     (H)    v    OLD ACTONIANS      WON 4 - 0
Wadey  Kemp J   Osborn  Laidley
THREES         (A)     v     OLD LATYMERIANS LOST 3 - 0 Cup
FOURS           (H)      v    CIVIL SERVICE          WON 4 - 0
Martin 2  Pardon  Slaney
FIVES             (A)     v     HSBC                           WON 2 - 1
Owlett J  Owlett S
SIXES             (H)     v     WINCHMORE HILL   LOST 5 - 1 Cup
Morris

 

Saturday 17th November 2007

The Fours pulled off another big win on Saturday defeating Civil Service 4 – 0 with two goals from Darren Martin who seems to score for whichever team he plays for – one from Tom Pardon and the other from Phil “Haircut” Slaney (his first of the season). The Fours are certainly pulling together and most of them were seen analysing their victory in the bar afterwards – it’s a very long time since I saw the Fours demonstrating such togetherness. Well done boys and well done Harry C. Steve said that he will ring you this afternoon for some guidance on Wednesday.

  The Reserves also hit four against Old Actonians without reply – goals came from an Adam Wadey penalty and a Jon Laidley deflection but there was much debate about the other two – the goals were credited to Kent Osborn and Joe Kemp but Tommy Williams, Billy Newman and John Williams all claimed credit for these 2 goals. However, it was clear to me that these boys were just jumping on the band wagon. Well done to the Bear Boys.

The First Team went to Old Westminster Citizens expecting a tough encounter in the Kent/Surrey Senior Cup – we got off to a bad start when Everett and Elliott had their usual problem with the trains and arrived 35 minutes late. We were on course for a 12.30 arrival at Mitcham when I received a frantic call from skipper Freeman to announce that there was no toilet paper at the ground and could I call at a supermarket to buy some. Cuzza said that Waitrose did the best bog rolls but Ashley disagreed and wanted to go to Superdrug – it was getting late and Connor said “Just use the Sun.” Luckily I was running out of petrol and the sight of a Shell garage relieved the tension – most of the pumps were out of order so we had to wait while time slipped by – Cuzza raced in and came back with two packets of nasal tissues and explained that there had been an early morning “run” on toilet paper and they were sold out. Some ancient gentleman had pulled up at the pump next to me and narrowly avoided taking off the passenger door and almost causing Cuzza to use the tissues before we could rescue Freeo. Then we hit road works and eventually arrived at 12.50pm from an 11.30am meet ---- not the best of preparation for a Cup game.

  The skipper (who had caused most of the trouble) was asked to play centre midfield as “penance” with Gibbo returning to the defensive unit and Sam Kemp retaining the right wing back slot. The home side started the game at a high tempo and won most of the 50: 50 balls – we seemed to be asleep most of the time and some of our defensive work was either too hurried or too sloppy but give Westminster credit for applying early pressure. The pressure eventually told when Simmonds made his second back pass to keeper Owlett but it only reached their centre forward who gleefully put the ball into the back of our net. I use the word ”net” advisedly --- the goal net must have been knitted by somebody from the blind school – you could have sieved bulldogs through it. The home side deserved to be ahead but Wickham broke away straight from the kick off Ben David sent Chris Rose through but the final shot cleared the bar and ended up on Mitcham Common. However, the goal was a wake up call and we rolled our sleeves up and attacked non stop for the next 15 minutes. Ben David sent in some excellent corners and Jon Waite came close to converting two of them and their goal was blessed with a big slice of luck but it couldn’t last and Marcus Elliott converted a low cross from David to equalise the scores at half time. We had already lost Kemp with a knee injury and his replacement Everett had looked quite dangerous on the right flank but in summary – this was a poor half for the Bluebloods but the equaliser came at a critical point and I never had any doubt about the outcome.

  The home side kept flying into tackles like the Leeds side of the 60’s and stoppages were abundant – Freeman reverted to marker for Simmonds and Greg Palmer came on in central midfield – this move paid immediate dividends when his pass inside their full back released Elliott and his cross was smashed into the net by David. Their keeper did well to save a long range shot from Elliott and their defence was subjected to constant pressure and their substitute came on with what appeared to be the sole intention of crippling somebody – Palmer was having none of it and he found his name in the book after a fierce challenge was deemed excessive by the ref. Neil Owlett replaced a back to form Jay Askew but he soon felt the force of yet another late tackle as did Everett and another booking resulted for a Citizen’s defender. Gibbo was then poleaxed but while he was down a cross from the right wing was converted by Jon Waite – the home side complained that we should have kicked the ball out of play so Gibbo could be stretchered off but by now they had lost the plot a bit and to our credit the intimidatory remarks were ignored. There was no time to add any more goals and 3 – 1 flattered OWC – they are down at the bottom of Division Three  but I am sure that they will win more games than they lose as their defence was strong and they competed for every ball.

  Man of the Match went to Cuzza for his outstanding defensive work and for bailing out Freeo – at the other end of the park the combination of Elliott and Waite gave the home side’s defence no peace and we have a formidable array of talent in midfield. Wadey, Scarborough and Williams have yet to appear after injury and several Young Guns are knocking at the door so make sure that you are fit and ready for the challenges ahead. We have set ourselves high standards and these must be maintained. Thanks to the 14 strong squad for their efforts and for our loyal band of seven supporters who turn up at every game – three of them never see a ball kicked as they have their own game.

  The Threes and Sixes went out of their respective cups 3 – 0 at Old Latymerians and 5 – 1 at home to Winchmore Hill. The Sixes were only 2 – 1 in arrears with 45 minutes to go but having missed a penalty the “fell in a hole” at the end against an unbeaten side four divisions above them – congratulations to 16 year old Josh Morris who scored his first goal for the club (this boy has a bright future).

  Salter’s crew won 2 – 1 at HSBC – he complained that the pitch was too flat and even but the Fives overcame the problem of playing on such a surface with goals from the Owlett brothers James and Stu. They are still up at the  top of the league and going very well so well done Steve and the boys. Dave Beaumont made an appearance – let’s hope that he enjoyed himself enough to commit himself to the club that he played for as a Junior.

LATE FIREWORKS DISPLAY FROM WICKHAM

A great set of results for the Bluebloods with only the Sixes losing in a dramatic AFA Cup game against a team 3 divisions higher  -- Alexandra Park are also top of their division and we were leading them 3 – 2 when a calamity in our box gave them an equaliser in the last minute. The visitors scored two in extra time but this was a good effort by The Abris boys. Goals came from Aaron Jones, Jack Stevens and Gary Blakeney – yes, Gary Blakeney.

  The other two Cup games ended in comfortable wins for both the First Team and the Reserves. The Ones won 4 – 0 but it could have been double figures but for an extra – ordinary display by the Old Salopians keeper who kept the game scoreless at half time. How he did it I don’t know – he was only beaten once – by his centre half who, in a panic, crashed the ball against his own cross bar. The first 5 minutes after the interval were crucial and John Waite scored twice and further goals came from Ben David and Marcus Elliott. Cuzza went off injured at half time and Greg Palmer came on and did very well. Greg Brown and Joe Ivory also played their part and didn’t look out of place so the future looks bright.

The Reserves started well when Ollie Waite , with his new hair cut, headed home Ash Everett’s cross and we scored a very similar goal in the second half when Weasel headed home a cross From Adam Wadey. Our  opponents Carshalton seldom threatened our goal and our keepers Mark Owlett and Steve Foster were virtually unemployed.

  The three away sides ALL WON --- top effort. Harry Charilaou ’s Fours continue to amaze us – they travelled to Old Actonians with the bare eleven and won 3 – 1 with goals from Tom Pardon 2 and Darren Martin. Both these boys are good for goals but this was a real team effort and their win pleased me more than any other – good to see Pagey back in the mix – this week he was in goal but where will he be next week?

The Threes went to the Bank of England and came back with 3 points in a 4 – 1 win. Goals came from Manager Scotty, Jon Laidley, Stu D’Urso and Paul Blakeney. Another good effort and Jon Laidley has now scored in all the four games that he has played for the club. Stu is also scoring regularly.

  The Fives came back from Kew with a 3 – 0 win and they are really going great guns and need to keep it up prior to Xmas ready for  a crack at the title. Jumbo Cummings thinks he is a centre forward and scored again from centre back while Stu Naish, another regular scorer, and Barney Farmer completed the scoring.

  These guys opened their account for the season

  JACK STEVENS            GARY BLAKENEY        BARNEY FARMER       
Have you scored yet?

  GOLDEN BOOT
This promises to be an exciting contest with James Owlett still in the lead but Jon Waite is hitting form and Stu Naish, Stu D’Urso, Tom Pardon and Jon Laidley are all knocking them in – Stu Owlett should be back soon to add to the drama. Marcus, Geoff Boadu, Emrah and Ollie are also in the frame along with Kingo. Who will get the wooden spoon? Cuzza, Macca, Tookey, Simmo, PJ? No, I reckon it’s the Year of the Rat.

SATURDAY 3rd November 2007
A good weekend with all the Cup sides progressing and three players scoring hat - tricks. Ollie Waite and Joe Ivory got 3 each in the Reserves 7 - 0 win (Sam Kemp got the other). Jon Laidley got 3 in the Threes 5 - 0 demolition of Crouch End -- Scott Holmes and Andy Siggers got the other two. The Fives hit top form with a 5 - 0 win at Old Alleyns -- Matt Waite playing his first game for 6 months scored two and so did James Owlett and Stuart Naish -- the other came from Andy Newton. Well done to all three sides.

In the League games the First Team let a 1 goal lead, from Matt King, slip and Civil Service struck the woodwork twice in the second period before they deservedly equalised. Most of the other sides in the top division drew and a phenomenal 53.8% of the games have resulted in draws ie 28 out of 52. This indicates that the title will be fiercely contested this season although Wickham still lead the race one point ahead of Nottsborough who were the only side to win at the weekend.

The Fours went down 4 - 1 to a good Old Owens side -- Chris Jones got a consolation goal for us.

The Sixes's scorers were the ones that score every week it seems -- Scott Saville, Geoff Boadu and Emrah Hassan (The Peckham Posse) while Aaron Jones another Peckham lad got the fourth. Thanks to 16 year old Joe Kallas and Josh Morris for turning out at the last minute and playing very well. The game ended 4 - 1 to Wickham.

SATURDAY -- 27th October 2007

WEST WICKHAM   3  v  NOTTSBOROUGH  1
The result of this game was in doubt right up to the 73rd minute when Brutus entered the fray. Adam Freeman had put us ahead after 17 minutes with a glancing header from an Askew free kick. The Manager, of course, took the plaudits for moving the skipper into a more attacking role rather than loitering around with Cuzza , Simmo, Gibbo, Porno and Owletto. We did ok for the first 30 minutes but Nottsborough are too good a side to lie down and they gradually forced their way back into the game and we finished the first half at half time (which is quite normal for us). The second half began not long after the first half finished -- this also seems to happen to us every week. Snail number 3 wins the Big Race -- bad news -- Sievey eats the winner (this is out of sequence but so what)