Abberley Vale travelled to Star 07 for a Minor cup second round tie. A fully available squad to choose from meant some tough choices for Vale head coach Mr. Bingo, although a slight knock in the warm up meant that Guy ‘big gay’ Davies had to watch the game from the bench.
Vale were slow to get going and were punished for giving Star too much room as the Star front man had time to ute his chip to perfection leaving Ormerod only able to watch the ball sail into the back of the net. Things went from bad to worse as Vale found themselves 2-0 down almost straight from the restart as the front man managed to shrug off some tight defending from Silk and fire into the far corner.
This second goal seemed to do the trick for Vale as they lost that Sunday morning feeling and started to play football, but was it to be too late? Fez and Silk soon took control at the back and were now getting the better of the through balls, with fez in particular looking impressive with some challenges even Cannavaro would have been proud of.
With Vale putting passes together they were looking dangerous and when a corner was won they saw an opportunity to get back into the game so up went the mighty giraffe that is William Henry Silk. With the corner whipped in Silk leapt like a salmon and thrust his head goal wards only to find the defenders elbow. The Vale bench feared the worst as he did not get up for a good few minutes. Vale were down to ten men as Silk had slowly staggered off the side for treatment from the Physio Matthew ‘Rick’ Hale.
If Vale had any thoughts of containing until they had the full 11 back on the pitch, Sam did not share them, as he curled in a rocket of a cross from 5 yards off the touch line that was met by a sublime diving header from Matt Simpson. Maybe we do play better without Silk?
From this moment on Star were always second best as vale went from strength to strength. The second half told the same story as wave after wave of attack was being created by the quick passing and fast movement of the ever present midfield string of L. Bridgewater, C. Bridgewater, Simmo and Sam. Even Gerry showed that age was no barrier as he rolled back the years to dance through the Star midfield on more than one occasion. Craig Pickering had a superb game up front showing the movement, pace, skill and touch that justifies Manchester United’s interest in him (Big Boss Bingo apparently turning down an 18m offer earlier in the week).
However on this magnificent cup day Vale found themselves up against arguably the best keeper in the league as he made a succession of saves to keep them at bay. Vale may feel hard done by but the performance will give them confidence going into the next league game. Hopefully by then Gay will have recovered from the knock that kept him out of the game and Silk will have pushed his eye back into its socket (that will teach him to sneeze).
M.D.O
Back room staff –
Head Coach – Bingo
Assistant Coach – Pascy
Assistant Coach – Ginge
Goalkeeper coach - Tompson
Physio – Rick
Choir boys – Az and Deano
