Report

This Saturday saw our final game of the season against Staines Lammas. It was meant to be a home game, but cricket appears more important than football so our goals were gone. This meant we had to play at Onslow Rec. No-one told the referee who turned up to Sutherland Park and had to get picked up by Franksy. Although it turns out the Referee had been left several messages on his voicemail.

The team had a strong look to it with Steve F in goal; in defence were Toby, Wilf, Jim and Kipper. Midfield had Kingy, Mike, Steve S and Chris T, and upfront were last year’s dynamic duo of Bill and Steve M. On the bench were Elliot, James, Liam and Andy.

Kipper lost the toss and we had to play downhill in the first half, but we made a lightning start as an early chance saw Steve M blaze over the bar after Bill had slipped. Within 5 minutes we were 2 goals up, the first came from a Kingy free kick on the wing, he curled it over and Steve M got in front of his defender to score from 6 yards out. The second goal came after Bill went on a mazy run, he was blocked tackled just outside the area, but the ball bounced nicely to Steve M. He looked up and hit a first time left foot curler; it arced over the keeper and into the top corner of the goal.

Staines were rattled by this, and Burpham kept coming looking for more goals. Kingy was on fire and his dead balls were causing no ends of problems for the Staines defence. A cross found Jim 6 yards out but his header was saved by the keeper. Minutes later we won a free kick 25 yards out. Kingy lined it up but it just dipped too late and shaved the bar.

Staines were still dangerous with a ball over the top and they created their first chance through this method. A goal mouth scrambled ensued, but ultimately it was saved well by Steve.

Burpham were straight back down the other end as Steve S found Chris T in the middle of the park, he played a lofted ball over to the right hand side of the area where Bill met it sweetly on the volley. It just went wide and we stayed at 2-0.

Steve F was called into action again as Staines worked the ball upfield, it ended up centrally 20 yards from goal. The Staines player smashed it goalwards but Steve was behind it all the way and gathered it comfortably.

Some good work down our right led to our next chance as Toby and Kingy interchanged passes, this led to Toby crossing the ball where Steve S tried an overhead kick.

The final chance of the half fell to Staines as they won a corner on our right, the ball was swung in and it was heading for the top corner until Steve got a fingertip on the ball, pushing it onto the far post. The subsequent cross was hit over and we went into half time 2-0 up.

The half-time team talk consisted of the fact Staines would come at us from kick off and playing downhill they would have the upper hand, so we needed to keep the first 10 minutes tight.

So with these wise words in our ears, Burpham promptly chose to ignore them! The first 10 minutes of the half was some of our craziest but most creative football of the season. 5 goals were scored by both teams in that short period as every attack seemed to lead to a goal.

Staines started the action with a shot straight from kick off which Steve gathered comfortably. Then their young striker went on a mazy dribble into our box, just as he got into the area his touch let him down and he over hit it. Steve was out quickly and smothered up the ball.

Within seconds we were on the attack as Bill picked up the ball in middle of the park, he turned and ran at Staines, who were backing off him. Toby provided support down the right, and a nice one two saw Bill in on goal. He rounded the keeper and made it 3-0. Almost from kick off we had another goal as Steve F got the ball, he lumped it upfield where Steve M flicked it onto Bill. Bill looked up and realised he was 30 yards from goal with no-one around him, so he just ran. As the keeper came out to narrow the angle Bill slotted it nicely under his body and we were 4-0 up.

Elliot then came on for Kingy and slotted in at right wing.

Staines now had to push on since they had a title to try and win, and so they threw more and more players forward. This paid off very quickly as a cross from our left was won by their striker in the box, his header was going in until Steve palmed it around is left hand post. From the resulting corner Staines got the ball into the centre of the area. It was smashed right footed by a Staines player and cannoned in off the cross bar. 4-1 to Burpham.

At this point the wise thing to do would be to shut up shop and hang on to what we had, but today wasn’t going to be one of those days. Burpham managed to open the 4 goal cushion again as a great ball by Kipper down the left set Bill away, just outside the box Bill looked up and squared it. Steve S was running in and scored from 8 yards out. 5-1.

Chris M on the sidelines was trying desperately to get his message across to play a bit deeper and have a holding midfielder, but no-one seemed to want to listen. Within minutes it was 5-2 as a low ball was hit into the box, the Staines striker met it well and hit it goalwards. Steve F got down brilliantly to parry it away, but it fell to another Staines player who tapped it into an empty net from 3 yards.

It was nearly 5-3 as Staines hit on the break and the striker bore down on goal, as Steve came out to narrow the angle the striker lobbed him. It bounced wide and we kept our 3 goal advantage.

Steve M was resisting buying everyone a drink for a hat-trick as two good chances went begging. The first saw Bill break down the left and hit a lovely through ball to Steve M. Rather than take it on he stepped over it instead, this meant it fell to Toby who was running down the right. Toby took it on and then crossed it back to Steve, who smashed it into the net. The celebrations were short lived though as the linesman put his flag up for offside.

Shortly after Chris T found Steve M just outside the area, Steve looked up and tried to lob the keeper, it was nearly perfect but it cannoned off the crossbar and was cleared to safety.

James then came on for Bill and went upfront.

Our resistance was breached again when Staines won the ball in midfield, they broke through and slotted the ball under Steve as he rushed out to narrow the angle. 5-3 and danger was on the cards.

Liam then came on for Steve M.

With the clock running down Staines were getting more forward, almost playing with just 2 at the back. This over commitment cost them as a high ball into the box was gathered by Steve. He looked right and bowled it out to Toby. Toby decided to go on a run and motored down the right; with few players to oppose him he just kept going, dribbling round players when needed. Eventually he came face to face with the keeper, sold him a dummy and tapped it in to an empty net. 6-3 to Burpham.

This pretty much killed the game off, and Staines lost heart as the time ticked away.

MoM – Everyone played brilliantly today with lots of contenders for MoM. The manager gave it to Jim though; he was at the heart of the defence and had to battle hard for 45 minutes as the ball kept coming back to us down the hill. He marshalled everyone and talked throughout.