The Sheffield Academicals travelled to Earl Grey for a potentially tricky away tie against an unpredictable side with one or two useful players. Looking to maintain a great start to the season the Accies had drafted in Bondy and Matt G to bolster the defence with the rock solid Robbo once again taking his place between the sticks; seeking to gain that elusive first clean sheet.
The game started a touch scrappily with a midfield battle developing between Big Si and their 2 central midfielders. Little progress was being made until Stan played a ball inside to Chalky who spread the play to Matt G at right back; he played a ball into Simon who found Dan Kav out wide hugging the touch line. Dan took a touch then swept a deep cross to the back post which the keeper got a flailing finger to but not enough to divert it away from Brian who took it down and blasted it into the roof of the net to open the scoring. Moments later Bondy gathered a ball on the edge of the Accies box and strode forward with it before knocking a ball into Chalky in the centre circle; his first time pass round the corner tore open the Earl defence and gave Daz plenty of time to compose himself as he advanced on the keeper before rifling a shot into the far corner. Great pass and finish for 2-0.
The Earl players started arguing amongst themselves and biting into the tackles. Dan took a bad one to the leg and Chalky also was upended in quick succession. Big Si seemed to be the foil for most of it though and after an attempted slide tackle on their centre midfielder he drew an angry reaction. Their big man did a weird kind of belly flop come body slam as Si was on the floor and then tried to direct 2 or 3 punches to his head, all of which thankfully missed and led to a mini ruck. Swifty grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him off as Stan came steaming in; one or two of their players also got involved and their main protagonist was taking some calming down. Pretty much everyone including the subs and crowd were in the centre circle by now and the ref did really well to keep a lid on things. He issued a yellow to Si for the challenge and a red to the Earl man for violent conduct. Correct decision although Si perhaps got his yellow to balance things out as the challenge wasn’t that bad or malicious.
The game restarted and if it had looked comfortable before now it was even more so with loads of time for the Accies players. Brian was taken clean out after a strong run in the area and Swifty stepped up to take the penalty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him miss one but that’s exactly what happened as it was well struck but nicked the outside of the post. I heard him mumble something about ‘wind’ as we walked off after the game…..
Both Dan and Daz also had decent chances to shoot from the edge of the box, Daz blasting his against the bar and Dan dragging his wide (blaming his dead leg loudly). The Earl had one decent chance as a long free kick was pumped into the box and Bondy just missed it but stranded Robbo, thankfully the ball bounced out for a goal kick. That was their only chance of note and the half drew to a close.
Half time Earl 0 – 2 Accies
The second half kicked off and the Accies immediately went on the attack with Chalky pulling the strings. He released Stan out left who put a great ball up the line for Brian who cut into the box and flashed a ball across the goal which narrowly eluded the onrushing Accies players. Alex came on for the hard working yet slightly winded Swifty and got into the action straight away stretching for a header from a great ball in from Stan that went just over the bar. Bondy and Batts continued to mop everything up and restrict Earl to speculative shots from distance none of which forced Robbo into making a save.
The Accies needed another goal to make it safe and it duly arrived as a corner came in from Brian which the defender at the near post cleared straight back to him. He shaped to cross it to the back post but instead went for the near post which caught the keeper completely by surprise as it struck the base of the post then bounced back over the line off his ankle to make it 3-0. This heralded wave after wave of chances from the Accies. Brian and Stan combined well again down the left and the ball this time was just too far in front of Alex’s outstretched toe. Chalky put a ball over for Dan who pressured the full back into a mistake before clipping a left footed shot which hit the angle of post and bar.
Jamie came on for Daz in a straight switch up front and Trev came on for Matt G at full back. Another attack led to great work in the box from Alex who held off two men before sliding the ball across to Dan Kav who committed his defender before pushing it past him and drawing the second penalty of the game. Brian stepped up confidently for his hat-trick but smacked it high over the bar and into the field at the back as one of their players moaned “that’s £30 tha owes us nob-ed”. Swifty’s role as chief penalty taker probably not in any immediate danger ;-).
Another quality move saw Si, Dan, Chalky and Jamie all involved in a 2 touch move with Jamie sweeping it out wide to a marauding Trevor. Jamie held his run and hit Trevs low cross straight into the near top corner for the goal of the game. The Earl started chopping a bit at Dan and Brian particularly as well as the mandatory stiff challenges on Big Si but the Accies held their composure and continued to press. Dan won a free kick out wide on the edge of the box and found Simon at the far post with the resulting kick, he headed it back across goal but it managed to elude everyone and got hacked clear. With a few minutes to go Stan but a cross into the far post where Dan rose like a salmon above his defender and nodded it back toward goal where Jamie sniffed in to glance it into the far corner to round off a solid performance and a clean sheet.
Full time Earl 0 – 5 Academicals
