90% of the game is half mental” – Yogi Berra
We arrived at Bushy Park with a quiet confidence, knowing that Park Celtic were one of the teams in the league that we should be able to deliver a decent performance against. All the preparations and rituals had been solemnly undertaken (we had gone to 10.30am mass and said a prayer to St. Jude for Hopeless Cases). Today, St. Jude was wearing a green and black jersey …
Hugh “Gaffer” Palmer was prepared too with his rousing pre-match speech (executive-coaching beckons) and the boys were ready from the off. The line-up was similar to (but not exactly the same as) the previous week, with John in goals, Tom, Sam, Charlie and Louis across the back and Matt R moving to midfield (and sporting a new aero-dynamic haircut). Oisín and Andy completed the midfield, Luke and Dan played on the wings and Matto completed the configuration up-front. Cian McC, Michael, Conor E and Conor D were on the bench for us.
Some early balls over the heads of the Park Celtic defence were probing and within 4 minutes, Matt “Fast & Furious” Pearson had stuck his first in the back of the net. 1-0!
There was a surge of confidence amongst the boys, with high levels of concentration and focus from the re-start. We took possession again and Oisín went on a great run, beating two defenders before slotting it across to Matto for goal number two – 2-0!
At half-time, the “Gaffer” figured we should consolidate our lead, so Andy, who had play well in midfield, delivering lots of forward ball, switched in to goal for John, who had been fantastic in goals again, and Matto came off in order to avoid the risk of a second yellow and the pressure of just 10 men playing some of the second half. Cian McC came on up front and we recommenced.
After about 10 minutes, Oisín “Lionel Messi” McEvoy (I obviously wasn't writing the match report this week) got possession on the wing and decided to see how far he could get through the defence... defender one, defender two, defender three, slipped to the far post past the (very good) goalie ... gooooaaaalll! 4-0!
The Park Celtic heads were down (a position we have found ourselves in all too often in the past) and we were only challenged once with a long-range shot that hit the crossbar. Andy acquitted himself well in goals, anticipating all of the half-chances that Park Celtic had easily. Conor E and Conor D came on for Luke and Charlie, who both had great games with superb running. Louis had a super solid game in defence but came off injured and Michael came on in his place. Cian McC and Oisín had a surge up the wing, where Cian was doing some great running and centred the ball for Dan – back of the net – 5-0!!
Matt R was amazing in midfield, challenging for every ball and formidable in the air. Sam and Tom both played out of their skins, closing everything down and clearing their lines brilliantly. Up front, Conor D had a great chance that he was just unlucky not to finish and Conor E had another good opportunity that went just awry. But really it did not matter. A huge cheer went up from the gathered hoards of fans as the full-time whistle went – our first (and thoroughly-deserved) victory!!!
