Friday 9 November 2007

And the Beavers viewpoint:

The following report comes from the Hampton and Richmond Borough supporters' team website:


Sat 20th Oct 2007
League
BeaversFC
7
Johan Percherin (2)
Dan Rae (5)
Dulwich Hamlet
0


A bright sunny day at Imber Court which saw a bit of an Internet Football Association love in. As well as our own game vs Dulwich Hamlet on the next pitch Kingstonian were playing hosts to AFC Wimbledon (4-4 draw). Dulwich, resplendant in their pink and blue shirts, were a much changed team from the one that beat us 10-2 at the end of last season. We have also changed our line-up somewhat since that day - and you can see the improvement as our players begin to play as a team more frequently. We actually had a squad of 19 players present - which seeing as we started the day with 16 was strange in it's own way. Of the 19 players though only 16 were used as Keith J kindly volunteered to ref the whole game and Dave Rees ran the line. Both did an excellent job and the management team are grateful to them both. Paul D also suggested he didn't play to rest his calf injury and then promptly went and ran a few laps of the Imber Court field !! Boss Jamie had decided to try a different formation (5-4-1) in an effort to make us solid at the start and prevent our problem of conceding early goals. The first action of the game actually saw Dulwich having a goal disallowed for offside. The flag had been raised for the first ball into the box but the players carried on until the ball hit the net. Only then was the lino's decision noticed and a free kick to the Beavers correctly awarded - but it did seem to wake us up. We took hold of midfield and started creating chances. The first went to Danny H who hit a powerful cross shot. Shortly afterwards a short corner routine saw Michael nearly get on the end of the cross and Danny H following up just knocking the ball over the bar. As we dominated Dan broke down the left, beat the full back but was forced wide by the keeper. Dan was able to pull the ball back to Chris, but with the keeper out of position Chris's shot just went wide. Our next chance fell to Nick. DJ, whose delivery from corners and free-kicks was superb throughout, knocked in a corner and Nick's powerful header was cleared off the line. Dan had a shot from distance that went just wide and then he had a free kick on target, well held by the keeper, after Johan had been fouled. It was still 0-0 though and in a rare Dulwich Hamlet break they had a shot which just went over the bar. We finally got in front when our defence broke up a Dulwich attack which allowed Dan and Danny H to break at pace. A quick exchange of passes saw the ball at Dan's feet and he poked the ball home for a 1-0 lead. That was nearly doubled when Danny H just flicked the ball over the bar from another free-kick. Dulwich had a great chance to equalise when DJ was penalised for pushing and a penalty was awarded against us. Adam dived to his right but was able to get a strong left hand to the ball - even better he was up quickly to smother the 2nd ball and the resulting goalmouth scramble ended up with a Dulwich player hitting the ball wide of the target. Dulwich pressed forward again, this time winning a corner. The outswinging ball was met on the half-volley by the Hamlet player, but this time over the bar. Beavers then began to step up a gear...Dan had a great header from a corner which was blocked by a defender. Then the 2nd goal came - Nick and Dan won the ball in midfield and slipped the ball forward to Johan who had his back to goal. A bit of French flair and he slipped past two defenders before burying the ball past the keeper into the top corner. 2-0. Dulwich were still looking useful going forward - they had a header which went just wide and on a counter attack had two forward players onto one - but Martin stood strong and cut out the danger. Another DJ corner saw a spectacular overhead effort from Dan on target - but well held by the keeper. Nick sent in a cross, which Johan got a touch onto Danny H who fired just wide. Even Jamie nearly got on the scoresheet as his cross (don't let him tell you it was a shot) bounced past the keeper but a defender was on hand to block. Danny H nearly got to the loose ball but the keeper bravely dived back to claim. As half-time approached we finally fot the 3rd goal our 1st half performance deserved when Dan was fouled on the edge of the box. DJ delivered a quality ball again, and though this was cleared Jamie flicked the ball to Dan who curled the ball into the top corner for a 3-0 scoreline. H-T Beavers FC 3 Dulwich Hamlet 0 Second half substitutions saw Jon, Alfie, Joe and David B on for DJ, Gibbo, Chris and Danny H. Johan, who was excellent in the lone role up front, again caused the Dulwich defence problems with his pace and trickery. The first real action saw Johan try his luck from distance, just hitting the ball wide. Dulwich hit back with a chance from a free-kick, a free header just going wide. Johan though pretty much settled the game on our next attack when he tried his luck from distance and his shot just had enough pace to beat the keeper.4-0. Joe was displaying some skill down the right hand side and one cross was just cut out by the keeper with Beavers players lining up to finish the move off. Dan then scored a replica goal to the one Johan had just scored with a shot from distance just evading the keepers dive, therefore completing the first ever hatrick from a Beavers FC player.5-0. Dan wasn't satisfied with that as he continued to torment the tiring Dulwich defenders. Moving forward he tried to play a one-two with Alfie but got a lucky break off one of the defenders and was able to poke the ball home.6-0. Further substitutions saw Mark come on for Jamie - and Danny H, Chris and DJ came back on for Johan, Nick and Martin. Joe continued to show some fancy footwork but just couldn't finish the chances he got on the end of. Dan chalked up his 5th and our 7th with a smartly taken strike.7-0. Dan thought he had scored a double hatrick when he stroked the ball home from a ball Joe had pulled back from the byline. However the goal was disallowed when the ball was adjudged out of play before being cut back. Adam had to palm away a rare Dulwich shot as they went for a consolation goal. They were often leaving two or three players up front through a desire to get a goal and because they were dog tired. The defence though were determined to keep a clean sheet and Jon and Mark made a couple of superb tackles to ensure that was achieved. As we went in search of further goals chances fell to Dan, who fired just over the bar, and Joe who had an effort just pushed onto the post. Joe was further frustrated when he had a header cleared off the line and Dan's follow up was deflected over the bar. DJ delivered another great corner which Michael just failed to connect with and Dan had another effort saved after Joe had set him up after another fine bit of wing play. The final piece of action saw DJ intercept the ball near the halfway line - move forward and then strike a curling shot just beyond the far post, with the keeper beaten. F-T Beavers FC 7 Dulwich Hamlet 0 Beavers Man of the Match; Dan - but this was a fine squad performance Team Line Up Adam; DJ, Jamie H, Martin, Michael, Gibbo; Chris, Nick, Danny H, Dan; Johan Used Subs; Alfie, Mark, David B, Joe, Jon Unused Subs; Keith J, Dave R, Paul D

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Fair assesment