The 4s registered one of their three required wins to stay up against a solid Birkbeck team who had come to the Riverside looking to capitalise on Meads' point deduction to take the runners up spot. Having scored after only a couple of minutes, they must have thought that they were on for an easy day but a brace from the big man Jon Sellars pulled meads back in the first half and despite some nervy moments, Meads held on to take all three points.
The game started terribly for Meads when after a couple of minutes a flick on was helped past Jake by their captain to give Birkbeck the early lead. Chasing the game was not the ideal thing for Meads to be doing on Saturday when it transpired that quite a few of the players had had a couple of drinks the night before to say the least (one player woke up on a bus in croydon at 6!), although to his credit he had a good game.
Meads really struggled in the early stages, with no fluency to their play and the midfield being bypassed too easily with Birkbeck playing a direct style of play. With the early struggles Meads had to find an outlet and this was provided by Rash, who quickly realised that he could destroy his full back with ease. With Rash providing a quality outlet, Meads began to benefit from some better territory and possession and the midfield three began to find the spaces to exploit.
After a shaky start Meads found their rhythm and after 25 minutes, Meads were the dominant team. Their equaliser came after another good run down the right from Rash was cut off and Meads won a corner. The ball in from Owen was one of his worst all season as it went low and bounced a couple of times before it got to the front post, but it put the keeper in two minds; the ball ricocheted off the post and through his legs and all of a sudden the ball was loose in the six yard box. Rich tried to back heel it in but only found a small touch before eventually, after what seemed like a eternity, Jon back heeled it in from a couple of yards and Meads were level.
Only about 5 minutes later and Meads were in front. Another run from the rampaging Rash ended in him squaring the ball across the box; George could not quite get to the ball but Dan, who had come on for the injured Rich, was there with what seemed like tap in. Unfortunately he was slightly off balance when the ball came to him and he could only scuff the shot and the ball was cleared for another corner. This time Owen made no mistake with his delivery as he floated one beautifully to the back post and Jon was there to dominate his defender and power his header against the ground before it bounced into the roof of the net. 2-1 Meads at half time.
The 2nd half was the complete opposite to the 1st; Meads were in complete control for the first 15 minutes before falling apart in the last half hour with some truly grassroots football on display (ie sh*t). Owen had a couple of well struck shots that went just wide, one was a great strike that went 6 inches over the top corner. For the first twenty minutes Meads had plenty of chances without creating any golden opporunties.
Then the game changed when tempers started to flare. Jake went down in truly comical fashion having been nudged by their left back. Jake's fall was slow as his arms spread, most players thinking he probably regretted it on the way down; jake was booked for diving I think in the end. Their striker had been annoying everyone all day and as Jake ran out to kick the ball he smashed it into his back and their striker nearly scored but Jon was on hand to cover. To be fair to Jake he was not all temper in the 2nd half, he pulled off a couple of really good saves, a one on one and his hands were quality all day; he just happened to lose it as well!!!
The game was seen out with some scary moments but Meads hung on and claimed their second win on the bounce. Rash was deservedly named MOM for the way he destroyed his full back and provided an outlet all game. Jon also deserves a mention for another quality display at the back backed up by a couple of goals.
