OTFC II vs Shene Old Grammarians III (A)

24th March 2018

Shene Old Grammarians III 4 - 3 OTFC IIs

Autumn conditions. A little wet underfoot. Two teams prepared on the banks of the River Thames. Forget the large kayak race taking place nearby, helicopter cameras had arrived for the massive ACL division 5 clash between Shene Old Grammarians III and OTFC IIs, and boy were they in for a “treat”.

KO happened. It was nice. The game ebbed and flowed. Peake committed a cynical foul and got a yellow card for his troubles. That was also nice. Both teams had chances. One team had more than the other. A lot more. About 10 more give or take. Yet still it remained 0-0.

A free kick conceded. Deflections occurred, one from a wily Shene player and the other from a wily old plumber. 1-0 to Shene.

10 minutes later. A free kick conceded. Deflections occurred. You get the gist. 2-0 to Shene.

10 minutes later. A huge back pass shout from the OTFC players. A free kick conceded. 8 yards from goal. “Lovely to see” was the call from some of the OTFC crowd. 11 men on the line. 2 men in purple convinced one of them was going to screw it up. They didn’t. Just. Forsyth’s exquisite one yard “through ball” was converted by Bettis. 2-1.

Half time was a time to reflect. To compose. Captain Marvellous leading by example. “Boys, get the ball down and play. Have composure on the ball. Come on, let’s get out there.”

KO for the second half. An early ball falls to an open OTFC player at right back. BOOSSSHHH. Get rid. The game continued.

The second half was more competitive, but that didn’t stop Shene from restoring their two goal lead. Two direct corner goal strikes, one of which foxed all in the Tiffs defence. 3-1.

Pressure from Tiffs finally paid off when a bouncing ball in the box fell to season rookie Bonar Whitlock. Top bin. 3-2.

Shortly after, a bouncing ball just on the edge of the box fell to the dazzling right foot of “far from season rookie” Colin Avery. A nice connection sending the ball into the opposite corner of the goal. 3-3. All to play for.

Shene scored again after that and it finished 4-3. It resulted from a set piece. How about that for a crescendo.

Man of the match went to 50p head Bostelmann. We go again.