OTFC IIIs v Reigatians IVs (H)

7th November 2015

OTFC IIIs 5 - 4 Reigatians IV

OTFC IIIs 5-4 Reigatians IVs
Langford 3
Reynaud
OG

OTFC IIIs secured a place in the next cup round and their first season victory over Old Regatians in a highly contended game of football. Despite the bad weather conditions, the pitch at Grist Memorial grounds looked perfect.

Tiffs presented a strong squad with Laurence ´the cat´ Hinton in goal, a solid defence with Ed Whitehouse, Dan Hogg, Chris Harris and Resan Santhakumar, a versatile midfield of Nico Telfer, Baptiste Reynaud, Ben Williams and Israel ´the pace´Nagore, along with and Aaron ´the killer´ Langford along with Guillermo ‘the GG’ Guimera up front.

However, the home team looked unsettled on the pitch during the first ten minutes and the opposition took the lead thanks to a free kick from the left-hand side of the goal.

This did not intimidate the locals however, who, driven by Nagore’s boost, gained control of the ball and the game. Tiffs tiki-taka begun in the midfield and the equaliser was close … when, around the 20th minute, Langford volleyed home a brilliant cross from outside the area from Telfer to tie the game. With 1-1 on the score, Tiffs continued attacking the opposition´s goal ruthlessly. Then, Langford ´the killer´ picked up a long pass from Nagore on the right, got rid of the defender with subtle touch and chipped the ball over the keeper to score his second goal of the day. Tiffs siege continued throughout the rest of the game and the first half ended with a convincing 3-1 thanks to a superb free kick from Reynaud just before the end.

But, this is Old Tiffinians and we do love a bit of drama in our games… Although the local team kept the pressure on the midfield, the opposition created some chances with some dangerous counter-attacks. Tiffs lost control of the game during some tumultuous minutes and conceded a goal that uplifted the opposition (3-2).

Fortunately, not long after the goal, a cross-shot from Reynaud was deflected by a defender and into the net to give Tiffs a comfortable lead back again (4-2). Anyhow, as mentioned previously, we do enjoy some drama, and the locals conceded two more goals with five minutes left before the end of the game (4-4). Victory, once again, was slipping through our fingers.

Nevertheless, Aaron had other plans and fired home a late free kick to claim his hat trick and secure the victory for the Old Tiffinians. In the end, Tiffs showed character and strength to overcome all the difficulties with a great performance. Another glorious day of football at Grist’s for OTFC.

Ed Whitehouse deservedly won MOTM.