Match Review: SCC Firsts vs Casuals FC

• DF Jahan Rezai
• MD Anthony Garreau
• ST Liam Shotton
• -- Mike Hemmingway
• -- Tyler Drake
• -- Chris Meyer
• -- Lorchan Little
• -- Dan Rowands
• -- Owen Monaghan
• -- Adam Bowden
• -- Steven Angelov

• GK Ronnie Smollett
• -- Dominic O'Shea
• -- Maurice Goerges
• -- Mo Yasin
• -- Chris Lund

Not a good day.

With 10 league title between them both in the last 11 years, this game against the Casuals has always been very competitive and a fixture both teams have a lot of desire to do well in. The game didn’t quite go as planned with the Casuals scoring from the penalty spot in the opening 5 minutes. The score line got even worse soon after when the Casuals striker was given too much space and finished well into the bottom corner. 2-0 at half time but SCC thought they could still get back into the game. The second half started and SCC had some half chances but couldn’t find the back of the net. Casuals then went 3-0 up with a great finish from 25 yards who beat Angelov in the SCC goal. SCC managed to get a goal back after some good work from Dom. The game was over as a contest when Angelov ran out to pick the ball up but then forgot he was a GK, he realized he wasn’t a striker also when he tried to kick the ball and missed it. The Casuals striker duly took advantage of this and scored the easiest goal he will probably ever score in his life. A collective performance that wasn’t good enough for SCC today, however Casuals were well organized and determined throughout and deserved the 3 points.

• Frazer Young DF
• Mark Stead DF
• Greg Ryan DF
• Will Patz MD
• Kazuki Sato-Brennan ST
• Paul Cowie --
• Lee Burgess --
• Jake Taylor --
• Harry Blakey --
• Patrick McMullen --
• Douglas Palmstedt --

• Dave Pellowe DF
• Sam Hallam MD
• Tom Lees --
• Alistair Wood --
• Dan Munns --

Routine Win

On what was a humid Saturday afternoon, the Casuals broke their duck against SCC. I'm reliably informed it's been too long since we did one over SCC. Given the downpour in the morning, the pitch had held up remarkably well especially after the rugger buggers had been using it as their warm up pitch. The game had barely begun before Casuals had won a penalty. Lee, probably playing at 80% fitness after his ankle knock, chased after a ball into the box heading away from goal and was clipped by the SCC defender. It seemed like a strange challenge to make given the circumstances, but all the same a penno was awarded. Cowie and Pat were slobbering at the mouth to put cup final penalty misses behind them but gaffer Will pulled rank and duly slotted into the corner. 1-0 Casuals with only a minute or so gone. What followed was a bit scrappier. SCC started to get on the ball more and carved out a few chances. One in particular caused a bit of a scare when their number 10 lobbed a half volley over Harry only to see it bounce off the bar. Casuals were working hard to try and make things difficult with everyone putting in a shift especially Pat who had to keep tracking their number 5 who kept pushing on their right wing. Amongst the battling in midfield Will managed to pick up a yellow just to provide solid evidence that it was actually him who scored a goal and not some body double. Casuals managed to soak up the pressure reasonably well and kept trying to break away and make chances. Lee and Jake kept running up top and were rewarded shortly before the end of the half. Lee managed to bring the ball down from a defensive splitting pass from Dogge, got half a yard on the defender before smashing a finish past the goalie. A quality finish and just what was needed before half time. 2-0 at the break and things were looking good. At the break the gaffer said to keep things going but to try and have a bit more composure on the ball. With 5 subs to come on, there were plenty of fresh legs to throw into the mix but the next goal was going to be crucial. The manner in which it came was more surprising than a Chelsea executive wanting to pay money to resign David Luiz. Will collected the ball on his chest before unleashing a cheeky volleyed lob over the keeper into the back of the net 3-0 and the Casuals boys are smiling. Will on a hatrick of goals rather than yellow cards for a change. It was time to ring a few changes, Frazer who had a good game at the back alongside Steady came off for Dave, Tom went up top to replace Lee who looks to be developing a good partnership with Jake and also Munnsy coming on Dogge. SCC continued to battle and Casuals had to keep working hard to try and keep their chances restricted. Eventually, they managed to pop with a goal at the back post when the number 19 volleyed in a ball that just couldn't get cleared. 3-1 and the game was not over yet. A couple more subs saw Sam make his debut as he came on for Pat and Ali came on for Greg who had managed to keep things relatively tight at the back. Both teams continued to put in a shift and Harry made some good saves to keep things a bit more comfortable for Casuals. The game was put to bed when a ball over the top from Dave enticed the SCC keeper out who was either beaten to it by Tom or missed it completely. Tom rounded him to walk the ball into the net. Not a bad way to net your first Casuals goal. Both sides clearly wanted to win this one and it was a good game played in the right spirit. The slick surface led to some hard tackles from both sides going in but nothing with any real malice and all in all a hard fought game. It was nice to finally lay the ghost to rest and continue with some forward momentum after a reasonable start to the season. I'm sure both sides will be looking forward to the return fixture. MOM: Casuals - Another great team performance this week with so many good performances to pick from but it's hard to look past Will with his two goals, his workmate and class in the critical third.