Oxhey Utd v St Albans
(11th Sept)
Following a few pre-season friendlies, the opening match of the new league campaign away at Oxhey Utd didn’t begin too well, as a slip up at the back allowed Oxhey to score virtually straight from the kick-off. West’s slow start to the match continued soon after when another error at the back made it 2-0 to Oxhey.
West then
began to make an impression with Scott and Carl linking well together up
front. In the absence from injury of last seasons player of the year, George Figg, it was down to Tom and Ryan in the middle of the park to get control
back after the poor start, and along with Charlie R and Matt Peckham, they
started to produce some good football. Charlie R and Tom in particular were
putting some great balls though to the front two, however some great play by
the Oxhey goalkeeper meant that chances were not being turned into goals.
As half time approached, an injury to Matt led to Elliott Jay’s arrival on the right of midfield, followed almost immediately by Myles Smith at left back, with Stuart Cole pushing up into midfield. It was this combination that led to a goal as a Stuart cross was played on by Elliott for Scott to score from close range. The first half ended with West being 2-1 down, but having picked up the tempo they were now putting Oxhey under constant pressure.
The second half began cruelly with a Scott ‘goal’ being disallowed for
offside following good work from Tom Weaver. West however, were continuing
to play well with Charlie C and Jamie in central defence containing any
pressure from Oxhey through the middle, while Joe and Miles were limiting
their attacks down the wings.
There was a short period where the teams shape went a little awry following
an injury that put an end to Jamie’s game, however some excellent
interventions from Charlie C ended a couple of dangerous moments. They soon
got back to business with good work from Charlie R and Tom leading to
scoring opportunities, however it was Oxhey who found the net again from the
penalty spot to make
the final score 3-1.
Although West started slowly, and with most players fitness yet to reach 100%, they played well, while some of the link up play was very good. If it hadn’t been for a couple of sloppy errors early on, and some excellent Oxhey goalkeeping, the score would have been much closer and a draw would not have been unfair to either side.
Final Score: Oxhey Utd 3-1 St Albans
Joint man of the match: Scott, Tom, Charlie C