Biting off more than you can Chew

Barely Athletic 1 - 1 Chew Magna (4-2 on penalties)

                         Kieran
Dave H    Danny        Batts    John T
Allan          Scott        Chris    Mike
                 Adam        Gareth

Subs: Al G, Bob, Ian G

Chris suggested that his version of the match report would start with “It was a dark and stormy night”, but actually Barely Athletic continued their cup defence in bright sunshine. The stormy wind was in place however, with powerful gusts blowing left to right across the pitch which would test the judgement of both teams.

With five first-team regulars missing (Paul, Paul, Sam, Rich and Jim) there was unnerving space in the dressing room before the match. The depleted team expected a tough challenge today...

Barely began with high-tempo pressing as Scott, Chris, Gareth, Allen and Adam combined to force mistakes from the normally assured Chew defenders. Mike's long throws and Kieran’s long kicking cause some consternation as well, but the Gegenpress isn't a long-term option and Chew started to get into the game as the half went on.

Kieran was the busier of the keepers in the first half but was only stretched when pulling out a full-length dive to thwart a one-on-one. John T and Dave H saw a lot of the ball and needed to be solid to keep their wingers at bay. Then Al’s delayed bus finally arrived and Mike subbed himself off before Al was even changed. Meanwhile Danny and John had time for a hilarious running-away-from-the-ball mix-up and Scott had a brace of rasping shots collected by the keeper.

At the break Ian came on for Danny to provide fewer step-overs, but many more trademark last-ditch sliding tackles.

The second half became increasingly bad-tempered, with a lot of complaining, more foul throw-ins than we saw all last season, and an ongoing war of words between Gareth and almost everyone. On today’s evidence some may be tempted to call Chew's central midfielders cloggers but I’m sure they were just frustrated at their inability to get near Scot as he hared around the midfield winning challenges in a most Loftus-like way.

Chris was struggling with the remains of flu but managed to keep up with the pace throughout the second half. Twenty minutes in he surged into the box to finish Barely’s slickest move after Al and Gareth had exchanged passes.

The lead was short lived though, with a suspiciously offside-looking striker getting in behind Barely’s rear guard and spanking it into the corner of the net.

Mike rang the changes, hurling himself and Bob into the fray and Barely weren't going to fold. Collecting possession from another long goal kick Gareth found space and threaded the ball through to Adam, who beat one man, rounded the Keeper and resisted the temptation to kneel and head the ball over the line, only to discover the linesman's flag unjustly chalking his goal off. Then the same thing happened at the other end, although that guy was clearly miles offside and funny-looking.

The second half proceeded with Mike winning more headers then any player reasonably should, Ian diving into more last ditch tackles, Batts haring down the wing, some spectacularly wayward shooting (it was the wind, alright?) and Kieran taking the sweeper-keeper motif a little too far when jinking between two attackers as they bore down on him...

The last ten minutes saw some desperate defending, the highlight of which was from a free-kick on the edge of the D - as Kieran leapt to palm the top-corner-bound shot past the post.

And then it was penalties.

1:0 – Chris started things by sending the keeper the wrong way and calmly rolling the ball into the net.
1:1 – Chew respond with one that Kieran gets a hand to but can't keep out.
2:1 – Scot copies Chris exactly.
2:2 – Chew reply with an excellent low, hard shot that Kieran can’t get near.
3:2 – Kieran steps up to slot his own penalty home with aplomb.
3:2 – Then, with an arm thrust out at a surprising angle, he manages to reach a powerful shot and Barely have the advantage!
3:2 – Gareth swaggers up to the spot and blasts it over the bar – advantage over…
3:2 – But Kieran spots the nerves of the next Chew player, and stands up tall to parry the straight-down-the-middle shot and take the advantage again!
4:2 – And Adam thumps the last kick of the game off the goalie’s glove and into the net!

And with that Barely tucked into the delicious treats provided by Mike (veggie sausage rolls and pork pies) and Bats (fairy cakes) and headed to the bar with some mutterings about getting away with robbery...

The man-of-the-match award was won by seven clear votes. Congratulations Kieran!