Amateur Football Combination Premier Division

Old Meadonians 0 Old Parmiterians 0

Old Meadonians rekindled their appetite for the end of season fray with three more aphorisms to go along-side coach Paul Rumley’s power, pace and passion mantra.

These additions to the Rumley coaching vocabulary, supplied by ‘The Youngsters’, were sauce, spice and relish and were to be added to Saturday’s mix after the ‘Old Guard’ had ground down the visitors, Old Parmiterians, who, only a week ago, had stuck three past a jaded Meads to put the cat among their pigeons.

However, since one of Rumley’s ‘P’s’ and possibly Meads’ most potent weapon this season, pace, has been removed from their locker for the remainder of the season by injury to strikers, Ed Glover, leading scorer, Craig Jones, and former eleven second 100 metre man, Peter Eguae, it was vital for the raw pace and authority on the ball of Matt Allen and Jeusy Netto to be available for strategic injection.

Meads’ other precocious talent, eighteen year old Ryan Bright played for seventy distinguished minutes. The truth of the matter was that, whilst the visitors are safe, the same can’t be said for Meads and thus the latter were the more focussed and showed it by laying siege for the duration.

Consequently, although the chances weren’t thick and fast, there were four or five before half time, notably Kevin Quinn’s header and Bright’s volley which both skimmed the bar and then the ever eager Quinn had his poached goal mysteriously disallowed when the ball fell to him after a Jack Costello free-kick was blocked.

During the first half, reserve keeper, Tim Lee, dealt confidently with all that came his way without being forced to make a single death defying save and carried on in the same vein throughout the proceedings. The hosts reaped their ample reward in the second half, the first coming on the hour when John Shea, pushed into central mid-field from his customary role in the back four, carved his way thirty yards through the visitors’ defence and dropped a pin-point lobbed pass in front of Costello who slotted a left foot shot into the bottom corner.

From that point on Meads’ youngsters created havoc in the visitors’ defence and with double inevitability Meads’ second came ten minutes on with Costello’s corner being headed back across the goal by Andy Thompson for Quinn to head home. Meads’ third was a classic: Sub Matt Allen was released down the right, drew a not very appreciative gathering of Parmiterians around him, teased them, worked himself space and delivered a text-book cross for Costello to get up, hang in the air and head home with aplomb. John Shea and Jack Costello were named joint MoM.

Squad: Lee, Mace, McCombe, Thomson, Quinn, Bright, Shea, Chapman, Brennan, Costello, Netto, Allen, N. Jones.

May 1, 2013