Report

Perhaps this was a match to far for Wandsworth Boro Vets as we struggled to get any fluency into our game & against modest opposition & it took the fact that we went a goal down before we started to play. Having stressed before the game that we should keep the ball & use the wide open spaces to move the opposition round but for some reason people were not listening & giving the ball away all to frequently. I was shouting myself hoarse trying to get that point across. Despite this we were restricting the opposition & in the whole game they only had two shots on target the first of which came from the penalty spot. Barry Laker was harshly penalised for handball & once all the arguments had subsided their best player (Charlie) slotted home to the right of Plumtree. This proved the catalyst to get us to start playing as we can do & for the next fifteen minutes we played some excellent football. Laker got the first with a towering header out-jumping Johnston & guiding the ball into the far corner. Remmer got our second following up as the keeper pushed a shot out & Brooks got our third looping a header over their keeper from a JD cross. Some sense of normality at half time.

With the opposition losing a couple of players & looking for a player I volunteered to guest for them but I don't think that had anything to do with them keeping a clean sheet in the second half. Boro completely dominated in terms of possession & creation of chances with Donegan & Stevenson sending in a stream of crosses from the left but with Johnson, Laker (twice), Murphy & Brooks all missing presentable chances somehow Kew hung on & even managed to get into the Boro half but with JD & Axelson getting stuck in there was no way through. Still more Wandsworth pressure brought no further goals & when Axelson was penalised for some tussling at a rare Kew corner they had another penalty. With Charlie opting to go for the other corner Plum pulled off a great save low down to his left. There was just time for Simon & I to swap sides so I could get an appearance for the club.

So although a win to continue the great run we have been on since January this was not quite the finish i had anticipated. Still a record of 18 wins, 2 draws & five defeats was not bad for a a season that promised much at the start. Thanks to everyone who played this season. & to those who took turns to ref. Yesterday that task was done by Richard Chambers with the aid of Callum Laker running the line. Thanks also to Vince Cibardo & Patrick Laker for coming along to support - just sorry we could not match the goal fest of the previous week. Hope to see most of you at the club dinner & roll on 2012-13