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OWC FC REVIEW 2008-09
HONOURS
SAL INTERMEDIATE DIVISION 3 CHAMPIONS
SAL JUNIOR DIVISION 2 CHAMPIONS
SAL MINOR DIVISION 5 SOUTH CHAMPIONS
5TH XI OLD BOYS CUP WINNERS
AFA SENIOR NOVETS RUNNERS UP
IAIN HAMILTON TROPHY WINNERS- FOR HOSPITALITY/ SPORTSMANSHIP
SUMMARY
At the start of the season I did not know what to expect. A large influx of new players was evident and after the difficulties of recent seasons it was simply a case of getting the club’s organisation right, improving discipline and getting guys to go out and enjoy their football. Then there I was one fine sunny April afternoon at Mitcham seeing two teams clinch their league titles (2s and 5s) with a third (the 3s) beating their main rivals to seal promotion. Dizzy stuff! It has to be said that all 6 teams where very well run and great credit to all those who either managed or helped to run the sides. I can only recall 1 occasion when one of our teams fielded less than 11 and that was the 6s early in the season at the Bank of England of all places!
In the bar it was great to hear referees say how much they enjoyed the games and given a choice they were electing to come to us. This reflects in our winning of the Iain Hamilton Trophy that is based on the referee’s marks for sportsmanship on the field and post match hospitality. As we have all suspected Bunny Brew has mystical powers! Seriously though what a contrast to recent seasons where we have been known to have the worse discipline in the league.
The SAL dinner proved quite a night with no fewer than 47 club members turning out. The 2s, 3s and 5s collected their league trophies with Lewis going up to get the Iain Hamilton Trophy. The 5s were in fine fettle with their “Bunny’s next to Barwick” chant and Danny O’Sullivan proved to be the Pudding Champion!
It is great to bask in one of the best season’s the club has ever had but let’s make sure we do not rest on our laurels and take the club to another level. Before I finish I must pay tribute to one man who has done more than anyone else to make this success possible. Tunji has drafted in a lot of players and did a fantastic job pre-season and during the season with organising training. Not only that, he arranged the purchase of a number of kits plus training tops. Great club man.
TEAM REVIEWS
1st XI- P20 WON 3 DREW 6 LOST 11 POINTS 15 9th out of 11 Division 3
A disappointing season for the 1st team but we did avoid re-election and the players who represented the 1s could not be faulted for their commitment or attitude. With a number of players either leaving the club or told they could not come back, it was always going to be a testing season. We with or two exceptions we competed well against all sides and we in fact came within two minutes of beating eventual champions Lloyds TSB. We will need an influx of quality next season but these guys are a great set of lads and will serve the club well in whatever team they play for. Player of the Season would have to be skipper Ryan Beelders who put in some tackles that would make a South African prop wince! Lewis enjoyed himself up front towards the end of the season and bagged a few goals. Andy Tkaczyk was injured a lot, Pickles still has no idea how to dress and Dave Bacon showed that it is possible to come from Grimsby and be able to trap a sack of spuds and strike a good ball (sorry Bobby Lad!). Dave Morrison ran Nick Ely close for lack of pace and Dan Fahey was perpetual motion although his miss of the season against Ibis from half a yard lingers in the memory! Other regulars included Kaream Henderson, Lee (can play anywhere as long as it’s up front!) Hall, Jason Bryant and Jim Berry who provided some much needed organisation to our defence in the latter part of the season.
2nd XI- P20, Won 14 Drew 3 Lost 3 Points 45 Champions Div 3
An odd season that started poorly but ended in glory.
Initial signs were not promising. First game away ended in an inglorious defeat at Firs Farm in which the eventual champions started the game against Southgate with 9 men and no keeper. Further embarrassments were to follow, with defeats to a spirited Old Woodhousesians in the Old Boys Cup and an anaemic Old Latymerians side in the league.
However with lots of effort, the odd bit of luck and a huge amount of team work a collection of people within the team and in the club have helped to turn it round. The end result was that a title winning side was formed. A 5-3 win at the Bank of England in October proved to be the starting point. From that point onwards the side matured, grew in confidence and after defeating the pace setters Southgate never looked back.
Many thanks to Chris Malone/Andy Tkaczyk for preseason, Jock/Spinksy/Perrin for advice & organisation, fellow captains & clubmen for their support, Lee Hall, Ryan Beelders, Paul Kennedy for helping out and lastly (and importantly) to the team. A talented motley crew who stuck together through some bad times. Trained hard, bonded well and finally reaped the reward they deserved. Plaudits from referees and the opposition illustrate how well the 2’s played in some matches. The key men know who they are but in truth it has been a group effort and for the most part an enjoyable experience.
3rd XI- P20 WON 12 DREW 4 LOST 4 POINTS 40 CHAMPIONS DIVISION 2
Having been in division 2 for 6 seasons the 3s mounted their first serious tilt at promotion and duly won what was a very tight league. The management team of Wilkes and Higgins (AKA Clough and Taylor) guided the team to glory with 53 year old Sutts still pulling the strings in midfield. Well hamstrings anyway! With two games to go they could have finished anywhere from 1st to 4th but beating Crouch End in their penultimate game clinched promotions (thanks to results elsewhere) and a point was needed at HSBC for the title in the last game. A 3-1 win clinched the deal. Good luck in division 1 next season. Anyone know the way to Winchmore Hill?
4th XI- P18 WON 6 DREW 3 LOST 9 POINTS 21 7TH OUT OF 10 DIVISION 3 SOUTH
Overall a respectable season for the 4s having been relegated the season before. A number of new faces bolstered the side at the start of the season with young Carl Harding proving to be the stand out player. The 4s tended to save their best performances for the top sides in the division and were in fact the only team to beat Alleyns before March. We managed to keep ourselves away from the relegation battle thanks a good draw against Carshalton and a win over champions Actonians in the last game ensured we finished on a high.
We did lose the Thornton twins halfway through the season but we had enough stalwarts to see us through. Alex Michael and Marcus Oppenheim did a great job running the side and they were helped by a core of players who were there week in week out. Marlon Beech was the other half of the twin towers at the back (with Marcus) and the McGinnity brothers proved very effective full backs. Terry Smewing in goal was often man of the match with his usual display of bravery and Peter Miliken and Alex Michael formed the engine room. Carl and Kevin Plummer provided the youth with the tireless Tom Morley up front. We wish Nic Gilham well on his travels and we can all look forward to next season now we know we won’t have to go to Gunnersbury Park!
5th XI- P18 WON 15 DREW 0 LOST 3 POINTS 45 CHAMPIONS DIVISION 5 SOUTH
As you all know; I'm a man of very few words, so I'll keep this brief.... What a quality season! To be honest, it's amazing to look back and see how this season has panned out, particularly given that it started off with 3 defeats in a row - losing all of our pre-season friendlies and shipping 18 goals with only 5 in reply. You should be proud of yourselves, especially you Milney - any human-being demonstrating such consistent length and girth over a season should definitely be very proud! In fairness, we had 2 really difficult seasons leading up to this one. Getting relegated at Christmas the season before last, and following this up with another below par year which saw us narrowly escape back-to-back relegations - I think it's safe to say that going in to this season the only way was up! We lost young Alex Sutton to the 3rd XI who'd been one of our best players in the past, and it was up to the gaffer to strengthen the team in some key areas. In came Craig 'the bomber' Jacket and Steve Harding - the gaffer working some magic in the transfer market and ensuring that Alex's departure wasn't detrimental to the team. We started our league campaign away to West Wickham, and in hindsight this was one of the hardest games of the year. A last minute winner ensured we begun the season with 3 points, and we followed this up with another narrow victory against South Bank, 2-1 the final score and maximum points on the board with a couple gone. Happy days in the league so far, and a 1st round AFA cup game to follow. It's mental to think that it was 8 months ago (October 11th) that we started our AFA cup run, playing Norsemen away. Little did we know at the time that this would be the first game in a 6-match unbeaten course to the final, particularly as this was something that the 5s hadn't achieved since 1951!! We came away from North London with a ticket to the next round, but given the tight nature of our opening results it was clear that the gaffer would have to dabble in the transfer market again if we were to maintain our run. Steve Dicks and Alan Lions were available on a Bosman so they were snapped up, and fortunately for us
they both settled in to the side immediately. We then played 3 more league games (beating South Bank 7-3, Kew 4-3 and tasting defeat for the first time against Merton going down 5-3). Old Bealonians was next up in the 2nd round of the AFA cup, and we ran out 5-3 winners in one of our strongest performances of the season in my opinion. Next up we were entered in to the OBC, and looking back now I'm sure everyone would agreed that this was our game of the season by some distance - overcoming a 2-0 deficit in the dying minutes and then cruising through on penalties after Lee made 2 cracking saves from the
spot. Carshalton next in the 3rd cup competition and a game that we were lucky not to be thumped in. 2-1 it ended but it could have easily been 7. We were now in the middle of a run of 8 consecutive away games with fixtures piling up all over the place due to our successful cup runs. We went to Wilsons and smashed them 5-0 in the league, and followed this up with a 6-0 drubbing of Old Minchendenians in the AFA cup. The next game was Carshalton in the league, a real hard-fought game which could have gone either way, and even after losing Alan Lions to a broken nose we managed to nick it 4-3. Next up was 2 more cup games - a 7-2 obliteration of Old Owens in the OBC and then another shoot-out win in the AFA, beating Old Finchleians. This was followed up by a good win in the league away to
title-contenders HSBC, and then a cracking game in the OBC semi-final (at HOME) against Old Suttonians where we ran out 2-1 winners and booked a place in the final against Glyn Old boys. Also this month was a massive game against Old Actonians with a place in the AFA final up for grabs, and after a couple of postponements due to the whether we played
the game at home and a superb performance saw us book our 2nd cup final
place of the season.
So 2 cup finals in the bag and 2 BIG weekends of drinking to look forward to. Our league form was good and we were picking up points everywhere we went, and we took our good form (one result aside) in to the first cup final against Glyn Old Boys. It was a great day to play football but both teams didn't really start well. Our family and friends had all turned out and after an edgy 90 minutes we finally got our game going and put the game to bed in extra time. Straight out on the hit and miss and it has to be said that it was a great night out! One down and the next final was just around the corner, a very tricky looking game against the holders Civil Service. We travelled to the game in a confident mood, but unfortunately it didn't last long once the game kicked off and after being dominated like Ricky Hatton against Pacquiao we were luck to only lose 4-1. They played a few guys from higher up the club which isn't really in the spirit of the game, but whatever the result it was still a monumental achievement to make it all the way to the final. The run-in saw us play all the top sides, and we knew that we'd have to pull out all the stops if we wanted to secure the league. Stand-out performances include coming back from 3-0 down against Salesians to nick the game 4-3, a demolition job of title-chasers Merton and then a solid win against West Wickham to ensure the trophy came home with us!! An absolutely outstanding season boys, let's do it all again next year!!
Honours:
Top goal scorer: Steve Harding - 42 goals and 7 hatricks. 2nd place
Steve Dicks with 11, 3rd place Jezza with 10
Goal of the season: Josh Faulkner (Free Kick: THE GAME THAT SET THE TONE
FOR THE SEASON)
Players Player: Nathan Morning - Committed, Great Work rate, Solid
improvement.
Managers Player: Stuart Nicholls - Superb Work-rate, runs himself into
the ground and annoyingly good looking. Didn't miss a game.
Club Man of the Year: Wally Hoff - Supporting, always stands, never
really misses a games, match reports
Andy W: Great Leader, always gives 100%, top gent.
Ed- thanks for keeping that brief Lee!!
Click on the link below to catch a report in the AFA Record. There is also a photo of Lee Wright making himself look big (as always) and Andy Wallace looking evidently dizzy as their striker got past him for the umpteenth time!
http://www.amateur-fa.com/News/2009/05/AFARECORDMAY2009-ReadYourCopyOnline.htm
6th XI- P 16 WON 5 DREW 3 LOST 8 POINTS 18 4TH OUT OF 9 DIVISION 6 SOUTH
The sixth eleven had an average season as is shown by the above statistics. The good points were the number of young players introduced such as Kevin Plummer, Abdi, Aaron Booth, Dauya, Mark, Younes, Greenwell, Simon and Gareth. Regular stalwarts were Chris and Mike Tipler, Scott McVeigh, Pat Crawford who were joined for most games by Rob Hayward, Paul D’Souza, Stu Trethewey, Markuu Usitalo and Stefan Ossowski. Seph and Dan Brown always added quality when they played. It was good to welcome back towards the end of the season Carl Nolan and Casual. Jock kept up his playing record by playing two full games and had a couple of cameo performances until late players arrived. Our best performances were probably beating Civil service 6-1 and losing narrowly twice to Old Latymerians, the champions, who only dropped three point all season.
SEASON 2009-2010
A committee meeting took place on Tuesday 23rd June and a number of decisions were taken. Wally Hofacher will double up as Treasurer and Membership Secretary. All forms and fees need to be given to Wally. These will remain £30 with £10 for students. Match fees will remain £6 per game. All sides were good in relation to paying their monies last season. Lets face it £6 for a game of football and a meal in pretty good value!
We are looking at having “duty elevens” at home games next season. With Bunny retiring we will need help from time to time behind the bar as well as sweeping out the changing rooms. The idea is that all teams will take it in turns.
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