Match Report

Goals scored
Graham Rix (pen), Gavin Mayo.

Man of the match
Dave Rix.

Team
Stuart Medcraft, Paul Munyard, John Wilson, Dave Rix, Dean Weaving, Chris Vieceli, Terry Bush, Rob Marling, Gavin Mayo, Tony Bush, Graham Rix.

Subs
Dariusz Szymanski, Danny Sarling.

After a long Christmas break Landsdowne faced Essex Royals in their first fixture of 2008. The first time these two sides faced off early in the season saw Landsdowne looking extremely out of sorts and finishing well-beaten. Bruised egos and hurt pride all round would serve as the perfect motivation for winning 3 points today. Two enforced changes were made to the side that faced Fusion, Dave Rix came in for Brian Butler, and Landsdowne welcomed back Dean Weaving to the side in place of the ill Danny Sarling. Dean had been out injured for a couple of months with knee problems, and with Landsdowne short on numbers he was making a timely return.

Landsdowne started the match slowly but managed to keep things tight, restricting Essex Royals to playing in comfortable areas. Always a competitive affair when these two sides meet, little niggles began to appear all over the pitch as the teams cancelled each other out. Royals played some decent football without threatening, while Landsdowne demonstrated some neat and tidy passing in the channels between Dean and Gavin. Graham was managing to get some joy in behind the defence as Landsdowne probed for an opening. The Royals keeper was forced into a couple of saves, though the only time he looked worried was when he caught the draught kicked up by Chris Vieceli’s attempted overhead kick! The score was all square at half-time and was probably a fair reflection of the game.

The half-time message from Pete Smart was to keep working and an opening would come. The boys looked confident, despite the fact that Essex Royals had decided to chuck on their “star” striker at half-time (the very man who scored 5 goals with 5 shots in the early season match against Landsdowne) - With Dave Rix at the back, the chances were that he was either leaving the field goalless or in a box! Landsdowne started the second half as they’d finished the first, pushing for a goal. Several chances fell their way, but they could not find a way past the Royals keeper. More niggles began to flare up, with the world’s oldest looking 16 year old picking a row with veteran Landsdowne striker Tony Bush. Thankfully Tony put the cheeky young herbert back in his place with nothing more than a stern lecture and a clip round the earhole.

The breakthrough came around 15 minutes from the end, with Graham Rix being carelessly being brought down in the box. Graham stepped up confidently and side-footed the ball home low to the keeper’s left. Though he later admitted it wasn’t a great penalty, it was largely irrelevant – the ball went in, who cares how it happened! With the score at 1-0, Essex Royals pushed for an equaliser to no avail as the defence continued to be marshalled superbly by Dave Rix. Royals continued to push but began to look ragged as Landsdowne showed composure in retaining possession. As the final whistle approached, Rob picked up the ball in the middle and held off the challenges of two Royals players and laid the ball off to Graham wide on the left. Graham played the ball on to Tony, who twisted and turned into the box and played a superb cross to the near post which was attacked and met by the head of Gavin Mayo! 2-0, game over!! Gavin celebrated with a very high-pitched (and not at all masculine) cry of “My head!! I used my head!!”. It was a fantastic finish and a well-deserved goal. Landsdowne saw the game out and sealed 3 points, revenge, and second clean sheet in 3 games. With 3 more league games in January, if they can keep the momentum going Landsdowne could find themselves well-placed to attack the top half of the table. Keep it up lads – we’ve got it all to play for!