Meads Firing On All Cylinders

Amateur Football Alliance Middlesex & Essex Senior Cup Result: Old Garchonians 1 Old Meadonians 4

Yet another scalp belonging to a club from the top division of the vaunted Southern Amateur League, Old Garchonians, is hanging, proudly displayed, from the belt of Old Meadonians, after they treated their hosts to a taste of ruthless but legal conflict with a four one trouncing at Edmonton on Saturday in the A.F.A. Middlesex and Essex Senior Cup to take them into the quarter finals.

This was Meads firing on all cylinders empowered after last week’s ten nil hammering of a woefully depleted UCL had given them an insatiable and unappeasable appetite for glory. From the start, with Jones and Wilson making hay behind both full backs, it was the pace of Ed Glover that enabled him to tear holes through the middle, backed up by Bright, Cain and Timmins eager to get on the ball in midfield.

The hosts had little to offer in opposition as Chapman and Money masterfully marshalled their defence to allow Meads’ full backs Bertram and Reading the freedom to join in and bolster support to the front runners, thus penning Garches deep in their own territory. At this point, however, the visitors needed to brush up on their end game: the first goal refused to materialise as final passes were narrowly astray and when Meads did break through, while chances were not exactly spurned, first Glover’s header skimmed the bar and then Jones and Wilson were just wide from just inside the area. Now Sod’s Law took a hand when the somnolent hosts stirred themselves to mount a lone raid, were awarded a free-kick just outside the box, for the fickle hand of fate to fan the ball unerringly into the top corner and give Meads a sobering halftime.

HT 1-0

This goal was enough of a cold douche for manager Luke Graham to have a receptive and alert audience to ingest and act on his instructions, to keep playing and cash in on the chances which were bound to follow. Thus, it was resolute Meads who took a firm grip from the start of the second half. Such was the surge from deep within the team that it succeeded in galvanising the midfield for Charlie Cain to burst out of his right side domain onto the left, challenged the home centre back to single combat, beat him and calmly cushion volleyed the ball past the onrushing goalie. Two minutes later Meads were ahead as Money headed in Cain’s in-swinging corner. Now it was one way traffic as, on the hour came the best goal of the game and season, according to Graham’s post match briefing. The ripple effect of Meads’ instant switching of the point of attack by passing the ball across the back four, disrupted the opposing defence. Left back Damian Reading then played the ball into midfield and, not content with staying at home, ran onto the fruitful result of an interim wall pass between Cain and Bertram to sweep the ball to the edge of the area, beat a lone defender with his first touch and score from a narrow angle, sending the visiting fans into raptures. Cain wrapped the game up with a rasping penalty but was edged out of the MoM award by Aidan Chapman whose marshalling of Meads’ defence had allowed those around him, including a grateful Cain himself, to benefit from the freedom they reaped from his organisational abilities. His domination of Meads’ airspace was icing on the cake.

Squad: Squad: Marshall, Bertram, Reading, Money, Chapman (C), Timmins, Cain, Bright, Jones (Vitrotti), Wilson, Glover.

December 4, 2018