Date : Monday 7th September 1998
Venue : Coram Fields (where else?)
Scorers: Gary Admans (2)
Things got off to a strange start with all our team arriving before 18:00. Next a lack of shinpads on the part of two of our newcomers was ably dealt with by a swift application of "Gary's Bag" (in new large economy size). Mullis were showing they were new to the league by their keeness i.e. :
Mullis looked the part and their youngsters were showing up well. The LOBs despite their ring rust were matching them in the early part of the game. Mike Claxton was looking steady in defence with some nice interceptions and Callum was holding anything that was coming at him. After 10 minutes disaster struck from a right side corner Mullis whipped a waist high ball across the penalty area. The ball beat Wood on the near post and Peacock reacted too slowly to prevent the Mullis player getting his head down to place it past Callum. 1-0 to Mullis.
LOBs started brightly again and Wood was sent clear down the left. He played a great low ball into Brazell at the near post but from 2 feet out his attempt somehow cleared the crossbar. Mullis came back and profited from our misfortune. At least 4 attempts on our goal were smothered or blocked but we were unable to clear our lines and finally Mullis forced the ball home. 2-0 to Mullis.
Again LOBs managed to put pressure on the Mullis defence which wasn't operating to the level of their midfield and attack. We won a corner on their right and from Haywood's kick the ball somehow made it into the net via Adman's tricep. Luckily the referee saw nothing wrong. 2-1 to Mullis.
Play was now fairly even. Callum couldn't get distance on his goalkicks which kept putting us under pressure and Dave was struggling with his play. Haywood put in one of his trademark slideys to save in our penalty area. From a neat move down the right Admans executed a textbook downward header in the penalty area. Unfortunately in the text books the ball goes in rather than bouncing over the crossbar! From a LOBs throw deep in our own half the ball somehow ended up at the feet of a Mullis player and the ball was put away. 3-1 to Mullis.
HALF-TIME
The excesses of the off-season were now taking their toll as Mullis looked the brighter side. The LOBs were still having chances and were denyed only by the bar. Mullis again took advantage of us being caught on the ball with numbers up field and scored another via a ricochet off Jacobs's body. 4-1 to LOBs.
Then disaster.... Dave, who had been stuggling with the pace all game decided to stop a Mullis attempt on the line - with his hand. Pity it was going to hit the bar! From the resultant penalty Mullis went further ahead and Dave had the dubious distinction of being the first player sent off in LOBs history. 5-1 to Mullis.
Now it was all hands to the pumps. We were very much fighting a rear guard action to keep the score down. To be fair we were still able to cause Mullis some problems (given that their Centre Half got man of the match you can see we weren't too bad). Admans who had a excellent game up front was taking stick from their defence. Upon gaining a free kick on the edge of the area he tried to exact revenge by driving the ball at the offending player. Unfortunately, the miscreant moved and the ball hit another Mullis player who blocked what was still a goalbound effort.
The LOBs were now tiring (at least I was!). Brazell had now dropped to midfield (or was it defence?), but still Mullis were able to catch us twice more as we got caught with not enough players back. Adman's had the final word by catching a Mullis defender ballnapping and cooly slotting home for a deserved second. Final Score 7-2 to Mullis Morgan.
The verdict. Mullis were a good side and look set to go up on that performance. To be fair we had a number of chances that didn't go our way and their early goals were down to half clearances which dropped to the wrong player. The score line flattered them but they deserved to win.
Later reports indicate a stay until after last orders. An impressive performance.
All in all we now beer better than we play!
Reece Peacock ©
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