The 4s put paid to another teams chances of title glory on Saturday when Old Manorians left the Riverside with only one of the three points they needed to keep hopes alive of a title. 2-0 up inside 2 minutes and 3-0 up inside 20 minutes Manorians had seemed all but sewn on to take the 3 points bcak to Wembley. However, Meads had other ideas and with renewed fighting spirit and a great record since christmas to keep in tact they fought their way back to 3-3 and should have sealed the victory in the last minute when a golden opportunity to win the game was missed, more on that later...
The game could not have got off to a worse start when a ball over the top saw Jake coming out of his goal and Sam retreating to his goal. Their striker poked the ball and the ball somehow escaped Jake and rolled under/over his foot and into the back of the net. Meads kick off and immediately the ball is back in the hands of Manorians and their striker hits the bouncing ball from fully 35 yards and over Jake into the goal, 2-0 inside 2 minutes.
Meads began to settle down and started getting the ball out wide where they began to get joy as Manorians full backs were straying a long way from thier centre backs and balls between the two were easily found. Some crosses from the wings created some half chances but these chances were either blocked or went wide. Sam, wandering forward in search of a goal fired 2 shots from the edge of the box, one well struck going narrowly wide of the top corner. Then the game seemed to be sealed when the ref gave a pen against Andy for a challenge on their winger. It was hard to tell either way, but Andy was adament he got a touch. The pen was duly dispatched and it was 3-0.
Despite the scoreline Meads had started to get a foothold in proceedings and looked likely to get a goal. The goal came when a nice cross from Rory was somehow controlled by Roni with his head before firing the ball in from close range. Despite Meads asserting themselves on the opposition, Manorians were still dangerous going forward and another lob was going in before Jon hooked the ball clear to keep Meads in it.
The 2nd goal was to come in somewhat fortuitous circumstances but was well finished by Roni. A hoof clear by Andy was misjudged by the centre back and as the the ball squirted under his foot, Roni latched on to it, hustled his way into the box and fired a left footed shot past the keeper, 3-2 and right back in the game.
Half time came with Meads right on top and looking to win the game. The half began poorly for both teams with neither flowing as they would like. Meads were perhaps playing the ball a bit too centrally rather than playing the ball into the areas that had given them joy in the first half. Manorians were getting frustrated and they let the ref know in no uncertain terms, often berating him for the smallest of decisions. This only played into Meads hands as they were on the recieving end of some fortunate decisions on the back of Manorians petulance.
Meads had few real chances to get the equaliser and the game was drifting towards an unsatisfactory conclusion for the hosts when the goal finally came. There is much conjecture as to the real aim of Rory when he lofted the ball delicately into the area from the left side of the box. The ball sailed prefectly over the keepers head and into the far corner of the net and Rory turned, arms aloft, looking for the admiration of his adoring fans. I can only say that I thought it was a cross, and as Eric succintly put, "if you were shooting, what the f**k were you doin? There were 5 men in the box". Rory is trying to claim it, others doubt the validity of that claim, it is a debate that is sure to rumble on.
Manorians were to become incensed further when the ref turned down a solid shout for a pen and as the game stuttered to a scrappy end the frustration of Manorians was evident. They would have been livid had Meads got the winner at the very death. A free kick in the middle of the park was played over the top quickly by Kev into Matts path and he hit the ball crisply along the floor to hat trick hunter Roni who had beaten the defender to the ball. All he had to do was direct the ball inside the post with the keeper at his front post but he unfortunately could only find the side netting with the goal, his hattrick, and the 3 points in his grasp. It remained a man of the match performance from the big man for his two earlier goals and general work and persistence during the game.
A draw and another sign of the 4s improved spirit as a group, being able to come back from 3-0 down with nothing left to play for is a great result. One game left in two weeks time, a win and the 4s can look back on a superb 2011, if only the end of2010 had been the same we would be talking about a title challenge.
