Meads Outgun Honourable Artillery Company

AFC Premier Division: Honourable Artillery Company 2 Old Meadonians 5

Old Meadonians extended their unbeaten league run to five and their lead at the top of the table to three points. They have one game in hand over their nearest rivals an old protagonists UCL Academicals.

This was achieved with a thorough-going going over administered to the Honourable Artillery Company at the Gunners’ Dulwich Village stronghold on Saturday. There was nothing iffy about Meads’ punitive expedition as the hosts were harried from pillar to corner flag, deprived of the least sight of the visitors’ goal in open play and even their goals were hardly merited as the first came from a momentary lapse of concentration seconds from the halftime whistle, after the visitors had selfishly kept the ball most of the time and when the hosts were allowed to have temporary possession they were hustled off it before they could do any damage.

Their other goal came from one of a series of mysterious free-kicks on the edge of the Gunners’ area donated by a referee seemingly more interested in listening to his own whistle than in adjudication.

Meads’ first was on 25 minutes when Craig Jones crossed from the left and a defender just beat Ed Glover to the ball to stuff his own net. The second followed ten minutes later as Ryan Bright dinked in a short cross from the left and Nick Wilson stooped to deflect the ball over the keeper from ten yards. In the dying minutes before half time a striker galloped through Meads’ gaping middle well into a hefty first half stoppage time and put in his wing-man to beat third choice goalie Tim Castle, who was otherwise rock solid, from an angle.

The second half saw Meads tightening their grip and within minutes Bright fed Glover only for the home keeper to close him down and deflect the ball with his studs. Not to be denied Wilson got the next and ten minutes later left back Charlie Cain capped a fine defensive display by crossing to the right to curl beautifully weighted free-kick into the far top corner from the touch line ten yards from the corner flag.

At this time the hosts’ only chance of keeping in the game was for the ref to produce his ‘deus ex Machina’, which he did, a series of whistle stops mysteriously issued to bring the Gunners within range for direct free-kicks just outside the area. From the third of these the ball thundered against the left hand post cannoned along the goal line and in off the near post.

Although this brought the hosts back with a chance it didn’t do anything to blunt the visitors’ attack. Wilson spearheaded a series of reconnoitres on the right with Bright as his henchman, firstly just going wide of the far post, then putting in three more crosses before with five minutes to go cementing another MoM award by engaging in intricate play with Bright to bore in from the right and with the keeper expecting a cross shot drilling the ball inside the near post. Game, set and nap hand.

October 27, 2016