Tardan Stallions Match 5: Stats and Facts

Tardan Stallions vs Captain Courageous
Played 12pm Tuesday 30th November 2004
Venue: Westwood Old Astro 1

A fortuitously timed challenge meant the Stallions were almost at full strength, with just Daniel Baker being missed through injury and Daryl Jackson missing through lectures. Nathaniel Christopher stood in for Daniel in goals. After a slightly lacklustre start, the Stallions quickly realised the opposition were as bad as they were, but failed to capitalise on this in the opening period. Both keepers were untroubled for long spells, until an untidy bit of passing from the Stallions lost possession. This, combined with some basic defensive problems and an elementary mistake from the keeper, gifted an easy chance, and the opposition were able to put the ball in the net. However, the home support never wavered, and they got behind the team. This made a marked improvement to their game, and they started to pass and tackle with a fervour seldom seen before. Midway through the first half, despite his seeming inability to stand, David Pickles managed to dispossess the opposition with the ball breaking the Mark Hadris who launched the Stallions into a counter attack. His ball forward to Stephen Pond saw him play a delightful one two with Owen Bellamy that left him 1 on 1 with the keeper, and he calmly slotted it through the keepers legs into the back of the net. It was his fifth goal in as many games. The game really started to swing in the Stallions favour, and the opposition never looked likely to score for the rest of the half. A hospital roll out by the oppositions' keeper gave Stephen a chance to increase his tally, but the keeper scrambled it round the post. The last ten minutes of the half saw the Stallions entrenched in the oppositions' penalty area, winning corner after corner, or kick ins. Sadly, they weren't able to profit from this intense pressure, with the corners sailing inches past outstretched feet and inches over ducked heads, and they came in at the break with the score at 1–1.

After a rousing half time talk, the Stallions took to the pitch for the second half. Some changes had been made by the manager Daniel Baker. As David Pickles was having some trouble with his footwear, it was decided he should swap for Nathaniel Christopher in goals. Mark Hadris had pulled up with a muscle strain, so Daniel O'Flynn came on, making his debut. Right from the kick off, the Stallions were creating chances with Stephen Pond and Nathaniel Christopher linking up nicely for an attack almost from the kick off. Nathaniel then recalled he should have been in defence, where he was shortly needed to be fully alert to overt several Captain Courageous attacks, a team playing with renewed vigour. A Daniel O’Flynn burst down the wing saw him play a cheeky one two with Stephen Pond putting him through on the keeper. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a desperate last ditch tackle narrowly prevented him getting his shot off. Despite Owen Bellamy marshalling the defence excellently, a few fine saves where needed from David Pickles who was looking very calm and collected in goals to prevent the Stallions from going behind for the second time in the match. This spell of play was clearly concerning for the Stallions manager who was pacing up the touchline barking out orders to his team. It soon became apparent that changes would be needed, with Daniel Baker opting to rest Stephen Pond and bring Mark Hadris back on to shore up the midfield area. The change immediately paid dividends after a Nathaniel Christopher hoof up the line was won by Mark Hadris, who beat his man, and then with a cheeky little flick up volleyed his shot expertly into the bottom left of the goal, sneaking the ball between the goalkeeper and the near post. The terraces erupted, but the Stallions knew the game wasn't won yet. However, as the opposition began to tire, their passes became sloppy, they stayed on the ball too long, and they started to feel the backlash. With a long ball tactic increasingly being adopted by both sides the game became stretched and Daniel O’Flynn, still short of match fitness from his twisted ligament injury, was pulled off by Daniel Baker for a rejuvenated Stephen Pond. The taste of victory hung heavy in the air, and the Stallions went up a gear. Some pressure on the defence by Nathaniel Christopher paid off, with Stephen Pond being able to pick up the ball in a very dangerous position. An absolute bullet from him megged the keeper, and it was 3–1. From thereon in, it was just a matter of containing the opposition, who opted to go gung-ho. They got nothing for their troubles, and the match ended 3–1. At this point, some people report seeing Elvis and Lord Lucan ride by on Shergar. But the even more incredible had happen: the Stallions had won!

Starting Line Up:
Nathaniel Christopher
David Pickles
Owen Bellamy
Mark Hadris [c]
Stephen Pond

Substitutes:
Daniel O'Flynn

Goal Scorers:
Stephen Pond (2)
Mark Hadris (1)

Man of the Match:
Owen Bellamy – A rock in the middle of defence, upon which their attacking ship foundered, to use a sailing analogy

Attendance 2:
Debbie Simcock
Katie Moreton

In the Dugout:
Daniel Baker

: 30 Nov 2004 15:07 |  Tags: Match Reports |  Comments (13) |  Report a problem