The first weekend of advent, or should I say adversity, brought gifts of goals, a point and a cup win for the two black and gold teams on show.
The outlook for Saturdays matches looked bleak as Captains struggled to put 11’s together from injury hit squads already threadbare from the festive holiday casualties. However the 1st and 4th teams stepped up to represent the Club.
The 1st XI, attempting to emulate their AFA Cup winning 2011/12 season, travelled away to Old Manorians in the 2nd round. The first half went smoothly for the Old Garch and we came close a few times building on a dominating performance from Blair and Lytton in the middle of the park. Felix was getting a lot of joy down the left flank but it was Steve Edwards who broke the deadlock with a low effort after Manorians failed to clear a corner. Despite excellent work from Demi and Matt Brown up front the pressure mounted in the second half. However the opposition were thwarted by a resilient centre back pairing of Joe Sheppard and Steve Edwards and with ten minutes on the clock Demi rounded the keeper to finish off a 2-0 win and take the OG’S into the 3rd round of the AFA Cup.
The 4th XI, yet to pick up a point after five games, hosted a top versus bottom clash against an Alexandra Park side that had won each of their ten matches in all competitions this season including at 8-1 victory in the reverse of this fixture. An even first half saw the scores level at 1-1 courtesy of an Alkins drive. Minutes after the restart Pierre attempted an audacious strike from 40 yards, which had less chance of success than one of his theatrical performances, struck a defender and looped into the far corner of the net. The boys were pegged back once more at 2-2 but another own goal via a Ben Owen free kick followed by a Pablo Marks effort, which resulted in the flying winger being crunched by the opposition keeper and subsequently injured, made it 4-2 to the OG’s. A penalty made it 4-3 and in the dying seconds Akomfrah, deputising in between the sticks, made clear that his skills are with his feet, not his hands, and dropped a looping header from his own defender, Dan, into his own net. Special mention to Adam Tyson for receiving only one yellow card on his break from charity work. The match ended 4-4 giving the 4’s an unexpected point lifting them off the foot of the table.
Coming up…
OG’s Pub Quiz, 19.30 at The White Lion. All welcome, details on our Facebook page.
OG’s do good: Volunteering at Stonehouse Soup Kitchen in Hackney. If you are interested in volunteering or donating please get in touch.
OG’s White Christmas: At the White Lion. Details coming soon.