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2009 Pre-Season
Just an update on the official start to our 2009 season – which saw quite few debuts in the gold and green...including the much awaited return of Troy Bingham from wherever he’s been hiding out. I can’t give much commentary on the game but can only say the lads showed character by all accounts coming from 0-1 down to comfortably cruise to a 4-1 win, after manager Peter Vink made some telling substitutions...enough said! The squad comprised of Brent De Villiers (GK), Chrissy D, Taffy D, Ant King, Craig Mc, Brett Mc, Barry Ebs, Gary Noss, Red Slogrove, Evin Windelburg, Troy Bangham, Chomp Benson, Coady, Dean O Brien & Grant Funnel.
Game 1 –FCB vs Dumpy Bend The 2009 season kicked-off last Wednesday night with a bang – with FC Burrough taking on a much more mature Dumpy Bend team at Fairfield Park. The youngsters came out firing and when Chrissie Davies found Red on the far post unmarked by Greg Edwards, the writing was on the wall. Our MOTM duly lashed the ball passed a hapless Derek Dixon in goals – what a volley. It wasn’t long and the FCB lads were all over Dumpies like a rash, and when Grifbox tapped in from 5 yards out, it seemed like a damage limitation exercise for the old blokes. Not to be, Dumpies came out firing in the second half courtesy of some inspired changes from coach Les Riddle, and pulled one back shortly after the break. FCB managed to hold out on the night and start the 2009 campaign on a winning note...final score FCB 2 – Dumpy Bend 1...a good away win. The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig Harper (Homer ) 2. Noel Parsonage 3. Steven Burns (Burnsie) 4. Brett Macintyre 5. Craig Macintyre 6. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 7. Barry Ebing (Ebs) 8. Ant King 9. Shawn De Beer (Jaws) 10. Mike Slogrove (Red) (MOTM) 11. Gary Nossiter (Noss) 12. Ali Baird 13. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 14. Wayne Davies (Taffy) 15. Chris Davies (El-Capitan) 16. Graham Coad (Coady) 17. Evin Windelberg Player of Year (after 1 game) 1st Red - 3 points Golden Boot (after 1 game) Joint 1st Red & Grifbox – 1 goal Other scores – Hillary 4 Win 1 Soon 1
Game 2 –Ashley vs FCB On a cold night in Ashley, a few brave FCB lads ventured out onto the Baseball ground to face an Ashley team marshalled by none other than Craig Simpson. It didn’t take us long to prove that the new crop of Burrough boys travel well, even if only up the M7 towards Pinetown. On 5 minutes we opened the scoring when goal-a-game Grifbox found himself in some space whilst scavenging inside the penalty area to beat the Ashley keeper...1-nil. On 10 minutes Coady also made some space in the area, danced past 1 defender and calmly picked his spot in the opposite corner...2-nil. The lads went into the huddle 2 goals up and feeling rather buoyant. The second half saw the gates open after about 10 minutes of to-ing and fro-ing, when Captain Chrissie (and MOTM) went on a mazy run from left back, taking on 5 Ashley players and letting fly from 40 yards out to see the ball nestle in the top corner...3-nil. Then it was Eb’s turn to shoot from outside the area, which saw the keeper dive over it and the ball trickled into the net...4-nil. In the dying moments of the match Burnsie smashed a volley from a weakly cleared corner and the ball dipped ferociously under the bar to hammer the final nail into the Ashley coffin...final score 5-0, and the unbeaten run continues...bring on the Blues from PMB next week... The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig Harper (Homer ) 2. Steven Burns (Burnsie) 3. Brett Macintyre 4. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 5. Barry Ebing (Ebs) 6. Brent De Villiers 7. Gary Nossiter (Noss) 8. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 9. Wayne Davies (Taffy) 10. Chris Davies (El-Capitan) & (MOTM) 11. Graham Coad (Coady) 12. Evin Windelberg Player of Year (after 2 games) 1st Chrissie - 4 points Golden Boot (after 2 games) 1st Grifbox – 2 goals Other scores – BOB 4 Win 1 Soon 0 Dumpy Bend 0 Chiltern 1
Game 3 –FCB vs Blues (PMB) You would be forgiven for thinking that playing curtain raiser to last nights main event at the Theatre of Dreams would inspire the Burrough lads to produce a sparkling performance. And for the first 10 minutes of the match we had the seasoned campaigners from sleepy hollow firmly on the back foot as we brushed the ball around artistically. It wasn’t long before we were on the score board, Grifbox’s defence splitting pass sent our revamped strike force in Burnsie (manager’s pick at centre-forward) on his way. He outpaced the Blues defence and picked his spot with a powerful shot from the edge of the area that burst through the net...1-0 and looking confident. From then on things seemed to even up on the pitch as the Blues came more into it, after making a few positional changes of their own and put us under pressure for the remainder of the first half. After the break they continued their dominance of possession although they never really created any meaningful chances. In the end it took an heroic performance at the back from the Davies brothers (particularly Taffy who earned the MOTM) to thwart Blues and keep the points at Fairfield Park...final score FCB 1 Blues 0. Three games gone and the boys remain unbeaten, lets just say the cabinet maker at the Black Door has gone to source material for the inevitable! Next week Highway at Fairfield Park kick-off at 20h15... The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig Harper (Homer ) 2. Steven Burns (Burnsie) 3. Brett Macintyre 4. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 5. Brent De Villiers 6. Gary Nossiter (Noss) 7. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 8. Wayne Davies (Taffy) (MOTM) 9. Chris Davies (El-Capitan) 10. Graham Coad (Coady) 11. Evin Windelberg 12. Noel Parsonage 13. Mike Slogrove (Red) 14. Ant King Player of Year (after 3 games) Joint 1st Chrissie & Taffy - 5 points Golden Boot (after 3 games) Joint 1st Grifbox & Burnsie – 2 goals Other scores – BOB 1 Hillary 1 Win 1 Soon 2 Highway 1
Game 4 –FCB vs Highway If you go back into the annals of FC Burrough (or just check the website - http://www.fcburrough.co.cc ) you’ll see we’ve never had it easy against this bunch of battlers, and last night wasn’t going to be any different. It was our biggest squad assembled this season and saw big Dean O’Brien make his full FCB debut, albeit from the bench. The lads started in a sluggish mood like a heavy weight boxer drawing his opponent out in the early exchanges. But then a flurry of punches late on in the first half led to the knockout blow, when Doug White (our MOTM from the Bluff) let fly, between deep breaths, from the edge of the area, and the keeper could only get 9 fingers onto it and palm it into the net...1-nil. After our half time briefing came a plethora of changes which saw the Gold and Green machine almost rejuvenate itself and set-up camp in the oppositions half, but try as we might we couldn’t get the ball over Highway’s goal line. Praise must be heaped on our defensive unit, including Homer, who were solid for the entire match and laid foundation for the lads in front of them to try all sorts of things. For the record the final score was 1-nil to FCB (just in case Shaun Catterick has any queries from Down under?) and the unbeaten sequence continues...I can hear the cabinet makers hammering... next week bring on Godfrey Wheeler’s Win 1 Soon who are on a 2 match unbeaten run of their own, although you don’t normally mention the words “run” and “Dumpy Bend” in the same sentence... The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig Harper (Homer ) 2. Steven Burns (Burnsie) 3. Craig Macintyre 4. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 5. Brent De Villiers 6. Gary Nossiter (Noss) 7. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 8. Wayne Davies (Taffy) 9. Chris Davies (El-Capitan) 10. Graham Coad (Coady) 11. Evin Windelberg 12. Shaun White (MOTM) 13. Mike Slogrove (Red) 14. Ant King 15. Dean O’Brien 23. Peter Vink (Jan – our player number 23) Player of Year (after 4 games) Joint 1st Chrissie & Taffy - 6 points Golden Boot (after 4 games) Joint 1st Grifbox & Burnsie – 2 goals Other scores – Win 1 Soon 3 Dumpy Bend 0
Game 5 –FCB vs Win 1 Soon The Gold and Green machine arrived last night knowing that we would have to fight to keep our 100% record in tact. And fight we nearly did...The game itself was quite a frustrating encounter in that some brilliant football was mixed in with a number of ridiculous errors which was nevertheless entertaining for the Fairfield Park faithful. FCB spurned a number of chances in the first half, as Eric “Eez” Kinsey kept us out with the tidy display between Win 1 Soon’s posts. Half-time couldn’t have come soon enough with tempers flaring and both teams cancelling each other out with some fine defensive displays. The second half seemed to ignite right from the kick off with Win 1 Soon taking the lead after Chris Luyt slip one past Homer the Cat...0-1. The reply was swift with FCB levelling matters after Grifbox found Ebs (MOTM) at the far post and his looping header nestled gently into the top corner of the net...1-1. Smelling blood the lads went on to the offensive with some end to end football, and it wasn’t long before another cross from the left found Ebs unmarked in the area where he nodded home from outside the 6 yard box past a scrambling “Eez”...2-1. With the points seemingly in the bag the FCB lads closed ranks for the remainder of the game to deny the opposition even a sniff of a chance. At the final whistle scores were 2-1 and the record reads played 5 won 5 – 11 goals for 2 goals against – 15 league points...it couldn’t be better! Next week the Chiltern team from Westville North enter our territory, can they stop the Gold and Green Machine? Watch the press for details... The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig Harper (Homer ) 2. Steven Burns (Burnsie) 3. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 4. Brent De Villiers 5. Gary Nossiter (Noss) 6. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 7. Wayne Davies (Taffy) 8. Chris Davies (El-Capitan) 9. Graham Coad (Coady) 10. Evin Windelberg 11. Barry Ebing (Ebs) (MOTM) 12. Mike Slogrove (Red) 13. Ant King 23. Peter Vink (Jan – our player number 23) 24. Shaun Howard Player of Year (after 5 games) Joint 1st Ebs, Chrissie & Taffy - 7 points Golden Boot (after 5 games) 1st Ebs – 3 goals, Joint 2nd Grifbox & Burnsie – 2 goals Other scores – Hillary 2 Blues 0 Wigan 1 Man Utd 2 Our charity drive for the Malvern Children’s Home almost got going with a few people bringing in food for the home. This is something we want to keep going throughout the season, so please lads keep the parcels coming...
Game 6 –FCB vs Chiltern The Chiltern lads rolled into Fortress Fairfield and set-up camp on the verandah outside the changing rooms – perhaps to try gain the inside track on Burrough strategy, but it was to no avail because we never had one to start with. Being our first encounter with the team from Westville North we were in the strategic wilderness on how to play this, but we stuck to our tried and tested formula and got on with the job with one noticeable absentee – Chris “Archie” Davies – our current team captain – who managed to admit himself to hospital with a gash to the head and severe concussion after running and jumping into an arch in his own home...hope he recovers fully for the remainder of the season. Back to the game – we knocked the ball around quite efficiently in the first half with our defence standing firm and not allowing the opposition into our final third...Grifbox came close on a couple occasions and Ebs shot high and wide after creating some space in Chiltern’s area just before halftime – both teams went into the break without troubling the scorers. After an intense discussion and some performance enhancing sweets FCB came out looking a bit flat, but within 10 minutes the drugs...correction sweets, kicked in an Ebs once again made space just outside the area to tap home...1-0. Being content with the score line we sat back and soaked up everything Chiltern had to offer and tried to catch them on the counter, but just couldn’t capitalise. With 3 minutes remaining Chiltern threw one last effort at us, and after a corner was cleared by FCB it was spread wide again and the second cross, which was Chiltern first and only chance of the match, was headed home by one of their strikers (looked like Arsenal’s big John Hartson)...1-1. We kicked off with 2 minutes remaining and fashioned 2 more clear cut chances, both one on ones with their keeper but on both occasions Ebs put the ball wide, the second chip may end in an FCB lawsuit after the ball ended causing havoc in the Fairfield parking lot...final score 1-1 and Chiltern manage to pry away 2 precious point from the Fortress. After the match it seemed as if somebody had died in our changing room with the opposition celebrating what seemed like winning the World Cup! Anyway after 2 or so beers we moved on to our next assignment, Hillary, a derby of note... The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig Harper (Homer ) 2. Steven Burns (Burnsie) (El-Capitan) 3. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 4. Brent De Villiers 5. Gary Nossiter (Noss) (MOTM) 6. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 7. Wayne Davies (Taffy) 8. Brett Mcintyre 9. Graham Coad (Coady) 10. Evin Windelberg (MOTM) 11. Barry Ebing (Ebs) 12. Mike Slogrove (Red) 13. Ant King 23. Peter Vink (Jan – our player number 23) 24. Shaun Howard Player of Year (after 6 games) Joint 1st Ebs, Evin, Noss & Taffy - 8 points Golden Boot (after 6 games) 1st Ebs – 4 goals, Joint 2nd Grifbox & Burnsie – 2 goals Other scores – Hillary 1 Highway 2 Man Utd 0 Arsenal 0 (Title remains under lock and key at Old Trafford in a congested cabinet)
Game 7 –FCB vs BOB Conditions were perfect for what was to be the match of the season thus far at Fairfield Park, the last 2 unbeaten teams in the league, and it lived up to its billing with end to end football, albeit in slow motion. The FCB lads took a few minutes to warm up (and a few Hansa-rades) and then kicked into action laying siege on BOB’s goalmouth early in the match. We missed plenty and were thwarted by BOB’s keeper, Eddie “Bones” Jones, who had a blinder between the sticks. As luck would have it, it took one chance and BOB were in front, when FCB failed to clear from BOB’s first corner of the match and the ball was whipped back over by Noel Parsonage (Ex-FCB – now playing for BOB) and was bundled in by a BOB player. Homer’s first touch was to take the ball out of the net...0-1. What was good to see was that the heads never dropped and from the kick-off we were back on attack, and within a few minutes had restored parity when Grifbox kept his head and pushed a telling ball through to Deano (our MOTM – in fact he was the best player on the park by a mile) on the edge of the area and his snap shot nestled into the corner of the net giving Bones no chance...1-1. Half time came and went and both teams had the share of opportunities, with tempers flaring in shear frustration, but referee Mark Birkholtz kept things calm throughout. It was the referee who had the final say denying FCB the winner with 10 minutes to go when Deano latch onto a back heel with Bones at sea (for once) and side footed the ball into the net, but alas referee Birkholtz blew for offside. So the final score remained 1-1 and BOB had pillaged a point from Fortress Fairfield, with Captain Burnsie accumulating more draws than Tony Hart. Nevertheless onto next week where the lads face a double header with Hillary on Monday and a resurgent Dumpy Bend on Wednesday, it’s definitely crunch time as we turn for home...keep watching! The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig Harper (Homer ) 2. Steven Burns (Burnsie) (El-Capitan) 3. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 4. Brent De Villiers 5. Gary Nossiter (Noss) 6. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 7. Wayne Davies (Taffy) 8. Brett Mcintyre 9. Graham Coad (Coady) 10. Evin Windelberg 11. Barry Ebing (Ebs) 12. Mike Slogrove (Red) 13. Ant King 14. Dean O Brien (MOTM) 23. Peter Vink (Jan – our player number 23) 24. Shaun Howard (Elton) Player of Year (after 7 games) Joint 1st Ebs, Evin, Noss & Taffy - 9 points Golden Boot (after 7 games) 1st Ebs – 4 goals, Joint 2nd Grifbox & Burnsie – 2 goals Other scores – Chiltern 2 Hillary 0 (TBC?) Highway 1 Dumpy Bend 1 W-1-Soon 5 Ashley 1
Game 8 –FCB vs Hillary On a bitterly cold Burrough evening we set out on our final assignment in the first round of our league program with our unbeaten record very much in tact. It was a game we knew we had to win to stay on top of the pile and that urgency showed from the first whistle, carving out some neat chances with Dean O Brien looking the most threatening. But try as we might we couldn’t get onto the scoreboard! Throughout the first half we put our big squad to use, continually making changes, but just couldn’t get the right combinations and came under some pressure towards the latter part of the half with Hillary showing off their slick passing. A few more changes were made at half time with some of the FCB boys feeling the pace, and in the first 10 minutes of the next period we seemed to lose shape altogether. This afforded Hillary acres of space in midfield where they ran us ragged, but were seemingly ineffective upfront, so we thought? We were wrong! In a matter of 2 minutes we found ourselves 2 goals down with Hillary making good with 2 breakaway runs, leaving Homer with absolutely no chance on both occasions...0-2. With 15 minutes to go our unbeaten record at stake and the team looking very weary the lads in defence made some telling calls (actually Taffy made the call!) going man on man at the back. This paid dividends almost immediately with Evin finding Redbulls unmarked in the area, he brought the ball down with his bottom lip and calmly rolled it into the corner...1-2. The fight back was on with the lads tails now up we pushed forward and with 7 minutes to go Brett Mac threaded a ball through to Byron Duncan (MOTM on deboo!) and after rounding the defender his powerful drive couldn’t be held and ended up in the net...2-2. With 2 more points up for grabs we continued the onslaught but just ran out of time and in the end settled for a hard fought draw and kept our record in order after a full round of matches. Unfortunately even though we have won 5 matches and drawn 3 we still find ourselves 2 points adrift in second place, but with 8 more matches to go our destiny is still firmly in our grip. With Wednesday’s game against Dumpy Bend pushed out to Monday 22nd June, we await the Cup draw to see if we have a fixture on the 17th June... The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig Harper (Homer ) 2. Steven Burns (Burnsie) 3. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 4. Brent De Villiers 5. Gary Nossiter (Noss) 6. Chris Davies (El-Capitan) 7. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 8. Wayne Davies (Taffy) 9. Brett Mcintyre 10. Graham Coad (Coady) 11. Evin Windelberg 12. Craig Mcintyre 13. Mike Slogrove (Red) 14. Byron Duncan (MOTM) 15. Dean O Brien 23. Peter Vink (Jan – our player number 23) Player of Year (after 8 games) Joint 1st Evin, Noss & Taffy - 10 points Golden Boot (after 8 games) 1st Ebs – 4 goals, Joint 2nd Grifbox & Burnsie – 2 goals Other scores – Aus 159-9 lost to Sri Lanka 160/4 (19 overs) by 6 poles – sorry Ricky!
Game 9 –FCB vs Dumpy Bend The call to play this game came late on Tuesday night, when the old folk (Dumpy Bend) decided they wanted to play this fixture early on a Wednesday evening. FCB duly obliged and a battalion of our finest troops were called up (actually via SMS) to do duty. To our surprise they had included a few younger player in their squad (under 45’s), so we expected a run for our money, and in the first half of the game we certainly got that! It didn’t take long for the gold and green machine to get onto the scoreboard when Grifbox found some space in the Dumpy Bend area and an almost intentional freshie sent the Dumpy Bend defence the wrong way (shades of Rodney Terblanche going for a hot dog whilst marking Lawrence Chelin!) and with his second bite of the cherry made no mistake in finding the top right corner of the net...1-0. The old guys proceeded to dig in, with the likes of Les Riddle, Nolan Openshaw and Derek Dixon (Dix-0-4) proving a tough nut to crack. We’ve actually contacted the Guinness Book of Records to include Dixie as the longest distance a person has ever limped – he limped for the whole game, but funny enough he stopped limping after a few minutes in the Black Door. Anyway back to the football, and at half time with FCB still holding a slender advantage the mood in the camp was....nice. Changes were made and some stern words were spoken at the break, terms like “goal difference” were bandied about, but was this premature? At the start of the second half it seemed as though the old blokes would scupper any attempt by FCB to increase the lead, but with Burnsie and Taffy (our joint MOTMs) standing firm at the back we had an excellent platform to launch wave after wave of attack. It eventually took a training ground move to pry them open. Redbulls crossed from a corner to the near post were Noss flicked on into the area. The ball landed at Coady’s feet and he made no mistake with his first touch of the game...2-0. With Dumpy Bend now wobbling at the knees, and Dixie still limping, Redbulls slung in another cross to the far post which hit Ebs on the head and nestled into the bottom corner of the net (to be fair to Ebs, he rose like a double sponge cake and nodded in a great goal to the crowds delight) ...3-0. Dumpy Bend had now accepted their fate and were simply playing for time and praying for the final whistle, but FCB weren’t finished yet. Another ball was thrown into the area and in the ensuing scramble Redbulls managed to toe poke it through a hapless defender’s legs and into the net...4-0 and the final whistle sounded and we all walked off to the sheds, except Dixie, who limped off. The lads can now look forward to a well earned rest, with our next match only scheduled for 1st of July versus Ashley at Fortress Fairfield. The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig Harper (Homer ) 2. Steven Burns (Burnsie) (MOTM) 3. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 4. Brent De Villiers 5. Gary Nossiter (Noss) 6. Chris Davies (El-Capitan) 7. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 8. Wayne Davies (Taffy) (MOTM) 9. Brett Mcintyre 10. Graham Coad (Coady) 11. Evin Windelberg 12. Craig Mcintyre (Tube) 13. Mike Slogrove (Red) 14. Barry Ebing (Ebs) 15. Ant King 16. Alistair Baird 23. Peter Vink (Jan – player number 23) 24. Shaun Howard (Elton – player number 24) Player of Year (after 9 games) 1st Taffy – 13 points, Joint 2nd Evin, Noss & Burnsie - 11 points Golden Boot (after 9 games) 1st Ebs – 5 goals, 2nd Grifbox – 3 goals Other scores – (Confederation Cup) Bafana Bafana 2 - NZ All Whites 0 – bring us the cup!
Game 10 –FCB vs Ashley On Wednesday night most of the lads turned up for what was to be a goal feast for the only unbeaten team in the league, specially after Hillary had done us a massive favour by downing BOB (Brettonwood Old Boys) 2-0 the week before. Unfortunately the opposition did the honourable thing and failed to pitch, perhaps the writing was on the wall for the Ashley team, who have been handed out beating after beating consistently this year. Effectively it means we get the points, but without the goal difference, which would put us in second place, a point behind BOB, with a game in hand. Next week we have a home and away Cup fixture versus Highway, so our focus has changed for the time being... No caps presented for this weeks fixture... Player of Year (after 10 games) 1st Taffy – 13 points, Joint 2nd Evin, Noss & Burnsie - 11 points Golden Boot (after 10 games) 1st Ebs – 5 goals, 2nd Grifbox – 3 goals
Game 11 –FCB vs Blues (PMB) The FCB bus left Escombe Town early on Wednesday evening for the long trek up the N3 with the lads all fresh and chomping at the bit. We had a purpose, to maintain our unbeaten record in 2009 and to do the big fella (Burnsie) proud in his absence. The plan was to keep it simple, with a Wicksy team talk going something like – “ win this one and we’ll win the league!” After kitting up in the intimidating green and gold, and going through the mandatory Sedgwick’s warm-up (see picture attached), the lads ran through the tunnel into the icy Maritzburg air, something that we never quite recovered from. As hard as Homer, our stand-in captain, and our faithful support base tried to rouse us from our slumber, the further we seemed to slip back. The first half almost seemed to go by in a blur, and if it wasn’t for some resolute defending from Taffy (the first Welshman to master the Riverdance on the edge of the penalty area and our MOTM) we would surely have found ourselves behind at the break. The second half rolled on with both teams not even troubling the scorers, and the FCB lads almost looked as though they had slipped out of neutral and into reverse. And then it happened, a Blues striker found space on the edge of our area, and about five minutes too, and made no mistake in picking his spot with a ferocious volley that Homer the Cat couldn’t even lay a finger on...0-1 and the Green and Gold machine had dug a hole for themselves with just 15 or so minutes to go. With pride at stake, we soldiered on and managed to go up a few gears and started pressing the Blues defence, forcing their keeper to make some telling stops. And from an ensuing corner Redbulls swung in a vicious cross which the keeper could only parry into the near post top corner...1-1 and FCB were back in the tie with a few minutes to go. We continued putting pressure on the opposition but once again left it too late to take home all three points, and had to settle for a share of the spoils. And even though the fans (our local PMB base plus the travelling fan – Jan Vink) were venting their frustrations as they passed through the turnstiles on their way to the pub, we couldn’t help but think – “what a good point that was away from home considering the foreign conditions and the condition of our squad”. And after warming down with another bottle of Sedgwick’s in hand, we settled down to the familiar post-match function, and to cast our minds to next week when we hit the road again in the hope of putting our league campaign firmly back on track when we face the Highwaymen in Hillcrest again. The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig Harper (Homer ) (El-Capitan) 2. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 3. Gary Nossiter (Noss) 4. Dean O Brien 5. Craig McIntyre 6. Wayne Davies (Taffy) (MOTM) 7. Brett McIntyre 8. Graham Coad (Coady) 9. Evin Windelberg 10. Mike Slogrove (Red) 11. Barry Ebing (Ebs) 12. Ant King 13. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 14. Alistair Baird 23. Peter Vink (Jan, Jan, Jan... – player number 23) Player of Year (after 13 games) 1st Taffy – 18 points, Joint 2nd Evin, Noss & Homer - 14 points Golden Boot (after 13 games) 1st Ebs – 7 goals, Joint 2nd Grifbox & Redbulls – 3 goals Other scores last night, Win-1-Soon 1 Highway 1 Dumpy Bend v BOB postponed Liverpool 0 FC St Gallen 0
Game 12 –FCB vs Highway It was all too familiar, even the team talk was the same as last week. To quote Denis Wicks’s speech on the first game of every season “ Win this one and we’ll win the league”, how true these words appear now, particularly at this stage of the season. Nevertheless we started pretty well, with the defence looking rock solid with the Davies brothers dictating the direction of play at will. The midfield looked good too, with the McIntyre brothers looking menacing, especially Brett who comfortably earned the MOTM award, in an area that he bossed. But again we didn’t create enough clear cut chances for our strikers, and when we did, we were disappointing in front of goal. This is a part of our game that needs remedying, but as the game progressed, and things got a little more desperate, we seemed to get worse. Our touches were poor and our passing reverted to the long ball approach which was extremely wayward. The second half yielded very little too, as the Highwaymen seemed to grow in stature, and even forced a save out of Homer the Magnificent (in between KFC Rounders!). And although we had the lion’s share of chances, it seemed the we were destined to remain goalless and unable to break the stalemate. The final score – 0-0, and with our championship hopes teetering on the brink of destruction, we need to look to the positives – FCB are still unbeaten and we’re still in the cup, and Wicksie’s speech is now very appropriate, for every game. I must also add that there were a few B.O.B players at the Black Door who were all but celebrating what seemed to be the winning of the league – a little premature (Noel, please remind them to not get complacent now). The race is not over yet and hopefully it goes down to the wire with a little matter of B.O.B versus FCB at Radford Gardens in the final league match of the season – really exciting stuff! The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig Harper (Homer ) 2. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 3. Gary Nossiter (Noss) 4. Craig McIntyre (Tube) 5. Brent De Villiers 6. Wayne Davies (Taffy) 7. Brett McIntyre (MOTM) 8. Graham Coad (Coady) 9. Evin Windelberg 10. Mike Slogrove (Red) 11. Barry Ebing (Ebs) 12. Ant King 13. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 14. Chris Davies (El-Capitan) 24. Shaun Howard (Elton) Can you believe that Dave Perry pitched – albeit with 5 minutes of the match remaining – is he making a comeback or what! Player of Year (after 14 games) 1st Taffy – 19 points, Joint 2nd Evin, Noss & Homer - 15 points Golden Boot (after 14 games) 1st Ebs – 7 goals, Joint 2nd Grifbox & Redbulls – 3 goals Other scores last night (& last week), Win-1-Soon 1 Dumpy Bend 0 Hillary 1 Ashley 2 (even with Simmo playing!) Rapid Vienna 1 Liverpool 0 (a village team in Austria!) Man United 2 (Owen , Macheda) Malaysia 0 (a country in Asia!)
Game 13 –FCB vs Win–1-Soon Game number 13 – lucky for some, unlucky for others – and reflecting back that’s exactly how it went! It was also Elton’s managerial debut so the tension could be cut with a knife. He had pulled out all the stops in recruiting the biggest squad assembled this season, including back-up staff, he even managed to get Jaws onto the park and Burnsie on the sideline. But his inexperience showed as he failed to whip up a pre-match frenzy and get the lads pumped up for action. As a result we never really got out of the starting blocks and at times were happy to be just a little better than the opposition – who were living up to their name without their talisman Godfrey “Wheels” Wheeler on the park. It took the lads nearly the whole half before they finally had something to chirp about. Our main contributor to the cause, Evin Windelberg, had a few chances to unlock the oppositions defence, but even our resident locksmith couldn’t pry it open, with both shots flying wide of the target. But after an enterprising exchange of passes between Evin (our MOTM on the night) and Brent De Villiers, they put Dean O’Brien away and he elegantly chipped the ball over the advancing Eric “Eez” Kinsey...1-0. At least we had something to comfort us going into half time, albeit a false sense of security. In the second period we continued to frustrate, with Coach Elton starting to pull out what was left of his hair. Deano nearly doubled his tally, but this time Eez was up to the challenge. Graeme Coad could also have put the game beyond the opposition, but his accurate header was cleared off the line by a strategically placed defender. Then the game was turned onto it’s head, as Win-1-Soon brought on the master playmaker, Wheels. It took him a minute or so to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, playing some probing through balls for his attackers to run onto, although the FCB defence was equal to the challenge. But then it happened, the “coupe de grace”, Wheels collected the ball (I think he was standing inside the Black Door at the time!) and unleashed a hell of a shot towards the Sarnia Road goal where Homer cut a lonely figure. It swerved and dipped and spun and ended up in the net – the goal of century - we had been sucker punched! 1-1 with only 5 minutes to go and nothing in the tank. Then when all looked lost (or drawn) the tables turned again – a long throw from Deano into the area landed at the feet of Craig McIntyre who firmly volleyed the ball towards the opposition goal and in the ensuing confusion the ball nestled into the corner of the net, right on the final whistle and our sequence of draws was broken. Next week our focus changes to cup football when we travel to PMB, the home of the once mighty Blues, on Monday night, and then host the same team on Wednesday at Fortress Fairfield in the return fixture – win this and we’re going to Wembley (probably more like Ashley’s Russell Street ground) – so hold thumbs! The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig Harper (Homer ) 2. Dean O’Brien (Deano) 3. Gary Nossiter (Noss) 4. Craig McIntyre (Tube) 5. Brent De Villiers 6. Wayne Davies (Taffy) 7. Brett McIntyre 8. Graham Coad (Coady) 9. Evin Windelberg (MOTM) 10. Mike Slogrove (Red) 11. Barry Ebing (Ebs) 12. Ant King 13. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 14. Chris Davies (El-Capitan) 15. Shawn De Beer (Jaws) – can you Adam n Eve it!!! Manager. Shaun Howard (Elton) (on deboo) 23. Peter Vink (Jan, Jan, Jan – Elton’s assistant) Player of Year (after 15 games) 1st Taffy – 20 points, 2nd Evin – 18 points & Joint 3rd - Noss & Homer - 16 points Golden Boot (after 15 games) 1st Ebs – 7 goals, Joint 2nd Grifbox, Deano & Redbulls – 3 goals Other scores last night (& last week), BOB 0 Ashley 2 (without the imposing figure of Simmo!)
Game 14 –FCB vs Chiltern The FC Burrough show rolled into a blustery Chiltern Park on Wednesday evening to exhibit their finest wares in a football sense. Coach Elton has been shaping his squad since his managerial debut a few weeks ago, and again was showing what a smart Alec (not quite Fergie though!) he is, with his “horses for courses” selection policy. The coach had no option but to beef up his squad with some fresh new signings which were much needed after losing the likes of Doug “Purple Sword” White to Mbabane Highlanders on a free, Gilly Millard to the Kalgoorlie Diggers for a case of Fosters Lite and Noel Parsonage to BOB, our fiercest rivals across the Ducasse Park river, for an undisclosed fee. Though the pre-match feeling was that the lads from Westville North were more than capable of their fair share of upsets, specially on the postage stamp they call home, and being the business end of the season, things started out pretty tense. It took the lads less than 10 minutes to open the account, when Harry Davidson linked up with Shawn De Beer in the Chiltern penalty area and keeping his cool, Jaws picked his spot...1-0. The lads meant business, and were immediately on the attack from the kick-off and within 5 minutes had doubled the score line, when Brett McIntyre blasted home from outside the area...2-0. Once again we maintained the pressure from the restart and after a fine Shane Griffin cross from the right, which their keeper could only parry to Barry Ebing. Ebs made no mistake with an open net at his mercy...3-0, and we could hear the sluice gates creaking. With the red cape now waiving in front of us, we went for the kill, and after another fine cross from the right hand side found Byron Duncan unmarked in the area, the score was 4, as he rose to pick his spot...4-0. With only a few minutes to half time you could have been forgiven for thinking that the FCB lads would settle for the 4-0 score line and start preparing their second half assault with a gale force wind at their backs, but that was not to be. Grifbox, our MOTM on the night, received a gift on the edge of the area and duly obliged with a scorching volley that nearly burst the net...5-0, what a first half display! In typical fashion coach Elton was still not satisfied, being the hard task master he is, and he tweaked his line-up a little bit to keep the squad fresh. It looked like it may have done the trick early on when Wayne Davies was given time and space inside the oppositions area and calmly slotted the ball past a now de-motivated Chiltern keeper...6-0. The lads persevered for the rest of match – which was unfairly called short by referee George Mitchley by atleast 10 minutes – something that hopefully won’t come back to haunt us when the counting up is being done. But alas we never added to our impressive tally, the feeling is that the wind played a big part in our undoing in the second half. Nevertheless it was a great result away from home, and keeps the championship dream firmly alive in what promised to be a nail biting finish to the season. So onto the crunch match next Wednesday against a Hillary outfit that are always tough to play against, bearing in mind this is also a dress rehearsal to the cup final! The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 2. Gary Nossiter (Noss) 3. Craig McIntyre (Tube) 4. Brent De Villiers 5. Wayne Davies (Taffy) 6. Brett McIntyre 7. Graham Coad (Coady) 8. Evin Windelberg 9. Byron Duncan (Buzz) 10. Harry Davidson 11. Barry Ebing (Ebs) 12. Ant King 13. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) (MOTM) 14. Chris Davies (El-Capitan) 15. Shawn De Beer (Jaws) Manager. Shaun Howard (Elton) 23. Homer, Red, Burnsie, Ali Baird & Lee Withers (all in supporting role!) Player of Year (after 18 games) 1st Taffy – 23 points, 2nd Evin – 21 points Golden Boot (after 18 games) 1st Ebs – 8 goals, 2nd Grifbox – 4 goals Other scores this week, Dumpy Bend 2 Ashley 1 (Simmo must be back for Ashley?) Hillary 1 Highway 1 BOB 8 Blues 1 (TBC?)
Game 15 – FCB vs Hillary This game was touted as a dress rehearsal to the cup final, with both teams scheduled to go head to head on the 5th September, so there was always going to be quite a bit at stake to see who could gain ascendancy before the big day. To be honest the Hillary boys arrived at the game in dribs and drabs and never really inspired confidence in each other before kick off, perhaps this was a ploy not to show their hand until cup final day? On the other hand the Burrough lads came out in full force and it was visible how keen they were to get in the change room and get the business done, after all we had a league title to chase too. Coach Elton put out a really strong starting line up, with Steven Burns making a welcome return to the fray – picture attached - and he slotted in as if he’d never been away. In the first half we played with a 40 knot gale at our backs, and kept Hillary hemmed into their own half, peppering their goal throughout. Their keeper did well to keep us out for the first 20 minutes, but when Shane Griffin deftly lobbed a ball to Byron Duncan inside the area, things heated up as Buzz spun the defence and bent the ball into the top corner with the outside of his right boot...1-0. With our tails up and enjoying 95% territory, with the assistance of the wind, we pressed on and probably should have buried Hillary in the first half, but their dogged defence kept them alive as they held on in the hope of enjoying the reversal of conditions in the second period. At half time, with all to play for, coach Elton laid down the law and with an unchanged team decided to tactically smother Hillary and with that the effects of the gale force winds and greasy surface. For this purpose Brent McIntyre was employed to boss the midfield, and boss it he did – earning the MOTM award on an evening where the entire team sparkled. The FCB lads came out inspired by the talk and adapted superbly to the reversal in conditions to look even more comfortable playing into the head wind. It wasn’t long before the ball landed at Grifbox’s feet just to the right of the area and making no fuss at all he obliged by burying the ball in the net with a fearsome drive...2-0. And the Hillary heads seemed to dip a bit, although we must be reminded that they were probably holding the cards close to their chests, but the Burrough juggernaut didn’t relent adding insult to injury when a cross from the right found Buzz in the middle and his header nestled neatly in the corner of the net...3-0. The final nail was hammered in, when not long after the restart Barry Ebing lined up another chance, and his drive could only be parried into the net by a hapless Hillary keeper...4-0, and the job was emphatically done. This demolition of a Hillary team that has never been so comprehensively torn apart, was as much a surprise as it was an indication of what we’ve been saying our FCB team is capable of, and it set up an enthralling encounter for the title next Wednesday when we travel to Radford Gardens for the league decider – get you tickets from Computicket soon! The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Michael Bulley (RedBulls) 2. Craig McIntyre (Tube) 3. Brent De Villiers 4. Wayne Davies (Taffy) 5. Brett McIntyre (MOTM) 6. Evin Windelberg 7. Byron Duncan (Buzz) 8. Harry Davidson 9. Barry Ebing (Ebs) 10. Ant King 11. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 12. Chris Davies (El-Capitan) 13. Steven Burns (Burnsie) Manager. Shaun Howard (Elton) 24. Vinkie (Jan, Jan, Jan), Homer, Red, Ali Baird & Lee Withers (all in supporting role!) A big thank you to Chrissie Whittle & Montclair Tattersall’s for their casual kit sponsor, hopefully this will be ready for our 5th September outing. We would also like to thank Shamoo & Dutchie for their sponsorship, it’s always good to have an overseas interest and the currency always helps – shot! Player of Year (after 19 games) 1st Taffy – 24 points, 2nd Evin – 22 points Golden Boot (after 19 games) 1st Ebs – 10 goals, 2nd Grifbox – 5 goals Other scores this week, Dumpy Bend 1 Blues 1 (Simmo must be back for Ashley?) BOB 2 Highway 1 Win 1 Soon v Chiltern (W1S given a walkover after half Chiltern teams FTP)
Game 16 – BOB vs FCB With the words of the Black Eyed Peas playing over and over in my head...”I got a feeling, that tonight’s going to be a good night” , and it certainly was set up for that, for both teams on the night, everything to win and everything to lose, the stage was set! The Burrough lads, brimming with enthusiasm, all pitched up early eager to put the green and gold on and shine for their faithful support base, some of whom had come from as far afield as London to watch them play. It must be noted that this was a BOB team that had only lost 2 league matches in the entire season, and more often than not was on the winning end of most encounters, and even a draw on the night would put them firmly in control of their own destiny with 1 more game to go. The FCB lads were all too aware of the situation, knowing that only a win would suffice, and that was evident in the way we started, going for the jugular from the first whistle. It didn’t take long for us to get on the score sheet, when with our first set piece, Byron Duncan’s corner deep to the far post found Barry Ebing, who leapt like a salmon during mating season, to nod home in style...1-0, just what the Doctor (not Shaun Barnard!) ordered. We kept up our momentum from the restart, with BOB also coming close from their next set piece, and only some calm goalkeeping from Brent De Villiers kept our noses in front. It was turning into a breathtaking heavyweight clash, with both teams slugging it out, and some end to end football, even Coach Elton was panting on the sideline with a less than comfortable lead. And with a little more than 5 minutes to go before the damager could get the lads in a huddle, Craig McIntyre, the epitome of composure, fired in a cross from the right hand side and Buzz somehow got onto the end of it, giving BOB goalkeeper, Eddie “Bones” Jones no chance...2-0, and Elton’s pulse rate dropped down a gear or two. The referee, Godfrey Wheeler, funnily enough an Ex-FCB lad himself, blew the half-time whistle and Elton gathered up the troops for his sermon. To sum up, he was almost satisfied with the result, but felt a few players could offer even more, and threatened them with the arsenal (not the Gunners!) of players sitting on his bench. It took only 5 minutes into the second half before he played his first trump card, bringing on hardened veteran Dean O’Brien to lead the line upfront. Deano rewarded his coach by spinning the BOB defence and unleashing a sublime finish that left Bones grasping the air...3-0, and the engraver had started firing up his machine. It must be said that BOB never stopped trying, with Ex-FCB player Noel Parsonage and their West African import working tirelessly all night long, but they simply couldn’t break down the resolute FCB defence. On the whole all the FCB lads shone under the dull Radford Gardens lights, but 2 players have to be singled out for their impact on the match, both Byron Duncan and Brett McIntyre shared the MOTM award on the evening. And when Godfrey Wheeler blew the final whistle, the job was done and the Hansa-rades started flowing to the extended version of Queen’s “We are the Champions”, FC Burrough had their first major title in the bag and the tale of the tape reads played 16 won 11 drawn 5 goals for 36 goals against 8 (all conceded by Homer!) for a winning tally of 38 points. And now we move our focus to Saturday 5th September, where we’ll be taking on Errol De Wet’s Hillary team in our quest to secure a rare league and cup double. The following players earned caps for FC Burrough last night; 1. Craig McIntyre (Tube) 2. Brent De Villiers 3. Wayne Davies (Taffy) 4. Brett McIntyre (MOTM) 5. Evin Windelberg 6. Byron Duncan (Buzz) (MOTM) 7. Harry Davidson 8. Barry Ebing (Ebs) 9. Ant King 10. Shane Griffin (Grifbox) 11. Chris Davies (El-Capitan) 12. Steven Burns (Burnsie) 13. Dean O’Brien (Deano) 14. Shawn De Beer (Jaws) 15. Lee Withers Manager. Shaun Howard (Elton) 25. Vinkie (Jan, Jan, Jan), Homer, Red, Ali Baird & RedBulls (and a whole host of supporters who made the journey up Sarnia Road!) Player of Year (after 20 games) 1st Taffy – 25 points, 2nd Evin – 23 points Golden Boot (after 20 games) 1st Ebs – 11 goals (from 18 starts), 2nd Grifbox – 5 goals Other scores from this week, Liverpool 1 Aston Villa 3 (sorry Tube – couldn’t resist it!) Dumpy Bend 1 Highway 1 |
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