Newman 2, Davies, Guzewich (at last)
13/12/2009
So this was different, over 40's only in this match, in the appropriately if slightly inconsiderately named Senior Cup. Some say this is veterans football in its purest form, the way it should, what makes Britain great and all that.
I had to scramble around a bit to get a squad together and we ended up with 12 on the day, which I was a bit worried about until Solebay turned up with only the bare 11. Psychological advantage to us.
Having given them the once over as you do as they disembarked their mini bus I decided we definitely had the edge in physical prowess, things were looking good.
New signing Jonny Earl was in the starting line up and by the state of his boots he had played a bit before and it was great to have last years player of the season Cushy back after a freak street dancing injury had kept him out since the beginning of the season.
It was nice to have Chris Manley back in the centre of defence with myself, Kitty and Coxy making up the back four. Midfield looked particulary strong with Gazza Davies on the right, Nige and Jonny in the middle and Cushy on the left. Up front we had a new youthful looking over forty pairing of Guzzy and Steve Newman, in a sort of Torres and Gerard setup. Big Ken Rooney provided a potent option on the bench.
First Half
The first 25 minutes or so were reasonably tight, although we were never really under any real pressure, creating and missing a few chances. We managed a few long range shots which were quite frankly rubbish.
Then we made a well deserved break through. Some good work down the right found stand in striker/attacking midfielder Steve Newman who fooled the keeper into thinking he was going to cross and instead powered in a shot at the near post. A piece of masterful deception.
Steve then made way for Big Kev who immediately linked up with Guzzy, their awareness of each others positioning is amazing to watch. At any given moment Guzzy knows exactly where Kev is, it's quite uncanny.
Before long it was 2-0. At last Guzzy managed to get a shot on target - the first one this year I think, which the keeper did well to save, but the ball broke free and quick as a dog can lick a dish Gazza D pounced to poke the ball into the net.
Before the half ended we were treated to another sublime piece of skill from the reportoire of Big Ken Rooney. Guzzy without even looking (uncanny I know), slipped a defence splitting ball through to Kev. He was in the clear with nothing but 40 yards of clear air between him and the Solebay goalkeeper. Of course we all expected Kev to simply take the ball in his stride and burst into the box at pace and go round the keeper and tuck the ball away for 3-0. Oh no, that would have been far too easy for our Kev, who unknowingly to the rest of us had already spotted that the keeper had strayed marginally off his line and therefore instead tried the most audacious chip from distance which only just cleared the bar. I know Kev has a wonder goal in him and sooner or later we are going to see it.
Half Time, 2-0.
The second half pretty much followed the same pattern as the first. It felt as though we were in control for most of the half, however Solebay did have a few moments which required a few desperate clearances from Kitty and Chris Manley and a couple of excellent saves from our keeper Ian Doy.
I was especially pleased for Ian as it turned out that it was 10 years to the day that Ian first took part in the gay pride march, which I know he is very proud of, as we discovered later when he showed off his 10 year anniversary pants.
However soon the game was over as a contest, after the Solebay keeper miskicked and presented Guzzy with an open goal which he duly took with a decent finish to make it 3-0 and then some great work by Gazza D found Steve Newman on the edge of the box and his first time effort flew into the net past an unsuspecting keeper who I think was expecting a cross. A piece of masterful deception.
Full Time, 4-0.
Ratings
Doy(8) - some great saves, really consistent kicking, dodgy pants
Cox(7) - nice and steady, looked after his ageing winger well
Walters(7) - solid and confident with the ball at his feet, showed good pace at times
Manley*(8) - epitomy of none shall pass in more ways than one
Kitson(8) - his best game of the season so far
Davies(7) - usual high flying dynamic wing play, poachers goal
Death(6) - not at his best, but a good solid performance, lacked discipline at times
Earl(8) - a great debut, could be a real asset to the squad
Cushion(7) - great to have him back, usual tireless work rate
Guzewich**(5) - at last a goal
Newman(8) - best performance of the season, couple of nice goals
Blazer(7) - put in a good shift and nearly scored a wonder goal
* managers man of the match
** 2 points deducted to 'shandygate' incident in Ali's
Overall Team Rating (8)
A very enjoyable game, we competed well, played some good stuff going forward, took our chances, defended excellently and thoroughly deserved our victory. Looking forward to the next round, I think we could do well in this cup with a number of 'seniors' to return to bolster the squad.
Jem
Head Coach Director of Football Manager
Norwich Hotspur
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