Frustration At The Top As Old Meads 'Throw Away' Another Two Points

Amateur Football Combination Premier Division: Old Meadonians 2 Enfield Old Grammarians 2

In his post match briefing, although satisfied with the honest endeavour of his players, Old Meadonians’ manager Rory Vermeulen expressed his frustration at the way the team managed to throw away two valuable points in an eighty eighth minute aberration at Riverside Lands on Saturday. In fact, in a season which has thrown up no outstanding team in the league, Meads have now donated four of the eight points which lowly Enfield have garnered thus far and consequences could have been worse if results around them had not fallen kindly.

A chill blustery wind did not help either side play other than sporadic football. With their rep side striker Peter Eguae convalescing on the bench for most of the match it was left to the hosts’ two unrelated Smiths, Leon and Kevin, renewing their combination for the first time this season, to relieve constant pressure by mounting intermittent raids in which the latter was unluckily just over on two occasions. However, against the wind in the first half, Meads were well satisfied to turn round only one down, thanks to a stellar performance from keeper Shannon Toyne who made two match-winning saves.

He was given no chance for the visitors’ goal, scored on the half hour, when a wind assisted punt by the visiting goalie caught the hosts’ match rusty centre-backs, Alastair McCombe and Dan Salanson, both just back from injury, flat footed. The second half saw Meads asking most of the questions and there seemed to be only one answer when they equalised on fifty-five minutes. Leon Smith set Dwayne Rhone free on the left and he outflanked the defence and when it looked as if he had run out of space and would have to cut the ball back he produced a magnificent narrow angle rising shot which went in off the underside of the bar. Meads looked to have salvaged the situation when on seventy minutes midfielder Will Gerrish crashed in a twenty five yard volley as the ball came out from a blocked shot.

The hosts then saw two other chances to put the game beyond doubt spurned before, as the ref was on the point of blowing for full time, the ball was lost in mid-field for lack of support, fed down the right and the cross converted from ten yards for the visitors’ equaliser. Vermeulen did manage to crack a smile when told that Albert Adomah, Meads’ top scorer the season before last, had that very afternoon scored two for Barnet, to bring his total to three in his first four games for the league two side. He suggested that his boys only needed a fifth of Adomah’s confidence to make all the difference.

Team: Toyne, McCombe, Palmer, Salanson, Glover, Hugh Jones, Quinn, (Lovell), Gerrish, Rhone, K. Smith, (Eguae), L. Smith.

March 4, 2008