This week marked the 13th anniversary of Roy Evans stepping down from his position of joint manager with Gerard Houllier
at Liverpool.
Houllier's passion for all things red and his success in overseeing France's World Cup triumph as technical director did
nothing but bode well for the future.
But as the new season got underway, uncertainty over who the players would answer to began to affect performances on
the pitch and with the campaign less than four months old Evans made the decision to step down.
This is the 2nd time at Meads that i have had the pleasure of dual managers, two years ago in the 5ths Gareth Hurley and
MJ were the dynamic duo. Gareth leading the team on the pitch (taking all the penalties, free kicks etc) and MJ watching
and analysing the teams performance from the sidelines before providing key tactical tweaks and inspirational advice such
as “Play better”.
This season Meads 7ths have followed the LFC joint management plan of a foreign looking, Gallic named (Lionel Scurville)
sharing the trials and tribulations of management with a more locallyâ€ÂÂmonikered gent (Rob Williams)
Can this duo transform the team that escaped relegation last term only on the final day of the season into one that is
challenging at the top of the league and battling for cups? Surpirisingly the evidence so far is yes!
This week we came back from the setback of an early goal to beat the previously undefeated Old Thorntonians 2â€ÂÂ1 in a
scrappy and niggly match that will probably have done nothing for our spirit of football mark but i suppose that is the price
to pay for regularly turning over the oppo.
The 7th’s started very slowly as due to many late arrivals causing disruption to the starting eleven. I know some of you that
have played in the same team as me will find this hard to believe but i was running slightly late and arrived at the pitch two
minutes before kick off fully expecting to start from the bench. A quick head count though proved i was the 11th man to
arrive at the pitch for the 7ths (beating the French half of our management duo by 10 minutes) so it was straight into
action.
The referee had apparently advised all the players beforehand that any holding at all will be punished and about 4 minutes
in he was true to his word as he penalised Jack for having his arms around a Thorntonians attacker. Penalty!
Our Irish joint manager had a 100% save rate on penalties he had faced this season but this was not to continue as he
managed to make the 2nd worst attempt at saving a penalty that the match would see. Rob decided to jump over the
poorly struck penalty and into a massive muddy puddle so there we were, one nil down, our keeper soaked wet through
and looking for a foothold in the match.
Thorntonians stayed on top for the remainder of the 1st half but crucially failed to add to their lead despite plenty of clear
cut chances, Mead remaining strangely underwhelming and creating little worthy of note in front of goal. Jack did somehow
manage to hit a back post volley away from goal on the 6 yard line but that was about all we had to offer.
The first half was noteworthy for Le Boss making a surprising two minute cameo in central midfield when Ben had to change
his boots, the most surprising thing about it was he wouldn't come off when Ben was ready to return! Sauntering through
midfield in the white boots of a teenager, smashing left foot volleys from 35 yards and generally confusing us all.
At halftime Bobby DePotatoe put his foot down and reâ€ÂÂjigged the team to great effect with Meads 7ths streaming forward
at every opportunity. The first goal was a wonderful strike from Dave, controlling a difficult ball from Ringo before hitting a
controlled right footed strike across the goalkeeper into the far corner. At this point Meads were rampant and Thorntonians
tried to kick their way back into the game. Free kick after free kick was won in the attacking half and the pressure soon told
when from an inswinging Danny Piper delivery one of the oppo’s defender was penalised for holding Jack. The referee was
quite harsh awarding the penalties for both teams but he was consistent throughout the game so we can't ask for anything
more at this level.
Following Omars aberration from the penalty spot the week before we were looking around thinking who can step up when
Ben advised us that he was the nominated vice penalty taker for the team and duly stepped up. The best thing i can say
about Bens penalty is that it hit the target but the oppositions keeper should have thrown his hat on it, luckily he had been
watching our goalkeepers effort for the 1st half penalty and decided he had to lower the bar even further by simply
collapsing basically and the ball dribbled past him.
To be honest we then held on pretty comfortably to win apart from one moment when Mr Whelan took a complete air shot
to a through ball and the centre forward was clean through on our keeper. Rob redeemed himself with a great stop with his
foot and the ball bounced away to safety. Luckily MJ had made his way over to our pitch by this point so he could tell Mr
Whelan exactly how he had missed his clearance and how he should do it next time.
So a great win and onwards to Essex this week for the first round of the cup, we were the beaten finalist last year and the
novelty of playing with linesmen was quite good so we want another strong showing again this year.
