Men's 3rd XI vs Old Williamsonians 7 Development

Words:           Fin Munson

Oppo:             Old Williamsonian 7 (Development), Away

Final Score:    W 5-0

Goalscorers:  Rob Macer, Alex Austerberry (3), Aron Walker.

This week, the Ville faced bottom of the table outfit Old Williamsonians 7s in a rainy Rochester, with the dreaded pushback time of 1630. This week, we were lining up with a slim team of 11, without substitutes who we so often use to deliver an additional explosive punch. But this didn’t faze us. After a brief warm up thanks to the previous match overrunning, we faced our equally youthful opponents.

The ball was very much played from end to end in the first half, however all of Ville’s efforts seemed to fizzle out, as did our opponent’s. But soon, the Ville pushed up once again, and, coming in from a wide attack, the ball found Macer, who duly slotted home to make it 1-0. In the first half, the Ville also received many a short corner, however these proved fruitless.

At half time, Aron gave a slightly tired Cliftonville side a much-needed team talk. We simply weren’t the lethal side we usually are; however, this motivation gave us the energy we needed. Going into the second half, Ville looked much more deadly, with Fin, Ed and Archie at the back kickstarting many an attack. Notably, Kit in attacking midfield had an exceptional game, creating play after play with dogged determination, aided by the ever-skillful Aron and Ollie. Not long into the half, Alex managed to gymnastically leap to a stray ball at the far post and smash it past the keeper to make it 2-0 to the visitors. With the Ville now firmly in gear, they were straight out of the blocks after the restart, with a series of great link-up play from Fin, to Aron, to Kit, and finally to Alex who, with signature clinical ability, slotted it home for a brace.

With unrelenting determination, the Ville’s wingers Elliot and Macer managed to set up Asa and Alex up to exceptionally, but it often proved not enough. A succession of Ville short corners continued in the same vein. Yet, we kept going, and Aron managed to strike one home after a series of rebounds, to make it 4 for the visiting side. However, our opposition kept us humble, with a few probing runs deep into our final quarter, however the steadfast defence duly doused these attacks, prolonging Martin’s game-long streak of no ball contact. In the conclusion of the match, Alex, unhappy with just a brace, managed to find a loose ball to slot home his hattrick, and the fifth for the guest side, and the match ended with this very comfortable scoreline.

Despite our lack of subs and the unfavourable weather, the Ville maintained their winning streak and look towards Knole Park!

SQUAD:

·        Aron Walker (Capt), Alex Austerberry, Martin Bates, Ed Burt, Asa Foster-Troy, Elliott Gandy, Rob Macer, Fin Munson, Kit Perdeaux, Archie Sellwood-Adams, Ollie Todd, Henry Whiteley.