MATCH REPORT   21

8th February 2003

1st Team       John Warner    0  -  1    Bengeo Trinity    ( Divisional Cup )   Line up  -  I O'Shea, L Murton, G Murton, P Annis, J Pearson, S Ferro, I Fordham, M Blanch, Dan Beech                    R Sharpe, C Casali        Subs    -    J Cappalonga, Darren Beech M.O.M. - 1st  Max Blanch  2nd  Carlo Casali  3rd   Gary Murton Goal Scorers -   After the fiasco of looking through the Yellow Pages for players the previous week, Matt & Barry were confident that a near full side would be available. This proved the case. Although still missing a few regulars, the players available meant a strong line-out and some good substitutes. One particular player who did not show was 'Gianfranco Rudolph', who at the grand old age of 42 felt he should give the younger players a run in the team. The real reason being pre match nerves, spending most of Saturday morning on 'The Throne'. This weeks game started better from John Warner's perspective, with the players pressurising Bengeo early on. Despite this pressure, the team could not seem to find the killer ball and no real chances were made. Around the 20 minute mark came a warning to John Warner as a series of free kicks and corners allowed Bengeo to relieve the pressure and when the ball sailed over to the far post, it should have been 1 - 0 to Bengeo with a free header being spurned. Again Max Blanch blessed the team with his presence and again he proved to be a 'Trojan' in the midfield, winning 95% of his aerial battles and chasing every ball in the vicinity like a 'Bull Terrier' hunts its favourite toy. This eventually led to several good chances being created by John Warner. The first coming when Max released Danny Beech on the right, running on the ball at pace, Danny hit a sweet right foot howitzer. Unfortunately, like his lovelife it showed promise, but tailed off! The next chance arrived after some good build up play allowed Carlo to spin away from his man and release a good shot, but the Bengeo keeper was positioned well and pulled off a fine save. This move had been practiced by Carlo several times in 'Faces' nightclub the previous Friday. The Final chance of the half fell to Jim & Rob, but it turned out to be too many cooks as they ran in on goal hand in hand, only for Jim to put a left foot shot wide, but Jim & Rob are now much closer. With the second half mirroring the first, it seemed more evident that one goal was likely to win the game. Despite consistent pressure, no chances were created due to poor final balls, John Warner had ran out of ideas. Clearly frustrated by this and after making a poor pass, Max's temperment faltered and like Red Indians losing their chief, John Warners midfield domination slipped. In the 75th minute, a poor defensive decision by Paul Annis, led to him bringing down a Bengeo player in the box. A clear penalty, which they coverted. Soon after, some poor refereeing decisions were made, when two clear penalty claims were turned down, one where the keeper was actually bear hugging Danny Beech and the other when Carlo's legs were scooped away from him turning away from goal. What with that and the ball crossing the Bengeo goal line, but no goal given, it was clear that it was not going to be John Warner's day. Makes the fact that Bengeo had already filled in the player card and given the Referee a score of Eight increasingly suspicious! 'A' Team       John Warner 'A'    1  -  3    Deaconsfield   Line up  -  M Southall, A Gray, D Cooke, A Smith, R Djemal, S Benbow, S Montgomery, S Francis, G McClair                     A Collins, S Radia        Subs   -    S Thomas M.O.M. - 1st  Steve Montgomery  2nd  Simon Benbow  3rd   Gary McClair Goal Scorers  -   Alex Collins The match versus Deaconsfield was the first game since the Reserve team folded, so the ‘A’ team had the services of 5 Reserve players. With this amount of new players the ‘A’ team manager had to experiment with a new formation, but with experienced players in all departments of the team it was a balanced outfit that started the game. For the first 20 minutes slick one and two touch football and one-two’s had Deaconsfield chasing the game but with a goalie with a long kick it soon became obvious which route they were going to take during the game! Another long ball over the top and with a marginal offside decision not being given, a Deaconsfield player pounced on the ball to score, 0-1. Still, the ‘A’ team picked themselves up from this set back and started pushing forward again and soon had the Deaconsfield goalie making 3 or 4 saves and defenders clearing hastily from attacks. From a quick throw out by keeper Martin Southall to Steve Montgomery steaming down the left wing, he looked up and picked out Simon Benbow steaming down the right wing with a lovely flighted ball, the ball was taken in stride by Simon who went past a Deaconsfield player and played a perfectly weighted ball to the running Alex Collins who side stepped their keeper and knocked into the net to equalise, 1-1. For the last 15 minutes of the first half Deaconsfield were unable to pressure the ‘A’ teams goal. The half time team talk was mainly about keeping on playing to feet and give the wide players as much of the ball as possible and support the front two at every opportunity. The second half was only 10 minutes old when after a coming together of Alex Gray and a Deaconsfield player, it resulted in Alex hurting his back and Deaconsfield scoring their second, 1-2. Spencer Thomas now coming on for the injured Alex Gray the ‘A’ Team changed to a back 3 with Dave Cooke moving into midfield and Steve Francis joining Alex Collins and Sunil Radia up front for the final twenty minutes in an effort to reduce the deficit. From another fine build up, Simon hassled a Deaconsfield player in his own penalty box, flicked the ball over him and lobbed the on-coming keeper for the ball to drop down on the goal line, at the same time as this happened 2 'A' team players and a Deaconsfield player tumbled into the net in an attempt on the ball only to pull the goal net off the cross bar and the ball bounced through the gap between the cross bar and net. The only person not to see the goal was the ref who gave a goalkick! Even some of their supporters thought it was a goal. Time and time again the ‘A’ team split open Deaconsfield only to be denied by some quick flagging by their Assistant Referee and some clumsy challenges on ‘A’ team players. This resulted in tempers fraying a bit but the ‘A’ team managed to keep their discipline and kept on pressing forward in an effort to get at least a point from the game. And as is the case with a team pressing forward a quick break resulted in Deaconsfield playing neat football and leaving their forward clear in the box to knock in their third goal, 1-3.

MATCH REPORT   20

25th January 2003

1st Team       John Warner    2  -  1    Westmill   Line up  -  I O'Shea, L Murton, P Annis, R Djemal, Dan Beech, D Cook, S Ferro, J Pearson, I Fordham                    C Casali, R Sharpe        Subs    -    M Blanch, A Smith M.O.M. - 1st  Dave Cook  2nd  Rob Djemal  3rd   Ian Fordham Goal Scorers -   Ian Fordham, Jim Pearson After a disappointing result against Broxbourne the previous week, Manager Matt O' Dea and new assistant Barry (Sven) Walpole were looking for a lot more spirit and fight from their players. Yet despite counting 14 players on the Thursday night, several players were missing due to holidays, Injuries, suspensions and worst of all, last minute calls with poor excuses. So this left Just nine Players 20 Minutes before kick-off. This proved too much for Matt O' Dea who had to retire to his Taxi for tantric breathing exercises. Thus Barry Walpole & Darren Rowley had to flick through the player list and try to assemble a team. Quick discussions with Martin Southall by Barry Walpole led to the call up of two A' Team players, Sunil & Dave. Also a quick call to Max Blanch, who done the club proud by getting out of bed and Andy Smith for going sub and running the line. With Rob Sharpe also turning up (eventually) a team was finally assembled. With such a shambolic lead up to the game it was obvious that it was likely to affect the team and this proved the case as Westmill had most of the early play although not really looking dangerous on the final ball. With a several changes and new faces the team looked out of shape and was giving too much respect to their opposition. Yet still, it took a mix up in John Warner's defence to allow Westmill to break the deadlock in the 25th minute, despite this, it was good to see no arguing and the team continued to battle. It was around this time that Lee Murton took a nasty blow to the head and had to be replaced. On the battlefield stepped ' Maximus Pitbulis Blanchicus', with Dave Cook switching to his preferred defensive role and Max into centre midfield. Max's entry seemed to lift the team and the last 5 minutes saw close efforts from Rob Djemal, Jim and Max. Some good work was also be done by Dummy peach with some exquisite wing play reminiscant of George Best. At halftime, despite being 1 - 0 down, John Warner were definitely on top. After a team talk from Matt & Barry pleading for more of the same they went out for the 2nd half. Again a great fighting spirit through the whole team led to many opportunities and a free kick being awarded on the edge of the Westmill box. Ian Fordham was nominated and soon it was apparent why he had not been seen out at a club or a pub for several years. Ian's continual viewing of David Beckham's Video had paid off! A beautiful curl around the wall and John Warner were level on the 65th minute. It was a very nervous last 25 minutes with Westmill coming back in the game, but With Rob Djemal marshalling at the back, Max, Sav and Fordy Battling hard in the middle, great work from Jim Pearson on the left, Rob Sharpe and Carlo tormenting the Westmill back line and a Fat Osh 'in the sticks' , often soil testing, the team held out. With just minutes to go Carlo was tripped in the box and a penalty was awarded, up stepped Carlo and...... with a long run-up unleashed a shot which was never going to trouble the keeper but dealt a serious blow to the worm population around the six yard box. Obviously put off by the screaming of dying worms, the keeper fumbled and Jim Pearson sealed a great 2nd half performance with a poacher's rebound goal. A nervous last few minutes could have been avoided when Max sent Fordy through on goal with a delicious ball. Unfortunately Fordy had swapped his David Beckham Predators for Gabby (his Ex's) Moccasins and the ball tamely fell to the Westmill Keeper. At the final whistle a great all All round team performance was rewarded with a good win.

MATCH REPORT   19

18th January 2003

1st Team       Broxbourne Badgers    4  -  1    John Warner 'A' Team       Ware Lions    10  -  0    John Warner 'A'   Line up  -  M Southall, S Thomas, D Cooke, R Djemal, A Payne, S Radia, S Montgomery, G McClair, S Benbow                    A Collins, S Summers        Subs    -    M.O.M. - 1st  Steve Summers  2nd  Dave Cooke  3rd   Simon Benbow Goal Scorers -   On a pitch that resembled a farmer’s field the game versus Ware Lions started quite frantically. Boosted by the return of Andy Payne and the addition of Rob Djemal and Steve Montgomery from the Reserves, the A-team matched Ware attack for attack and were unfortunate not to take the lead when a good movement resulted in a long range shot from Alex Collins which was taken by the Ware keeper low down to his left. Then after 35 minutes with the score still 0-0 the A-Team suffered two injuries which were to have major repercussions in the course of this game. Monty made a saving tackle on a Ware player who left his foot in and he suffered a very nasty kick on the inside of his right knee and had to be helped off the pitch unable to continue. Then Martin Southall in goal twisted his knee badly in making a save in a congested penalty box. After treatment he decided to play on until half time and see then how bad his injury was. Moments later Ware scored two goals in a minute to stamp their dominance on the game. After withholding 10 more minutes of pressure another goal for Ware gave them a 3-0 lead at half time. Martin, unable to walk or kick properly was substituted by Downzy who found himself immediately in the action saving the A’s on two occasions, but was unlucky minutes later with a long range shot that flew into the top right hand corner of the net. Then from a corner, a towering header from a Ware defender again flew into the net. Regrouping and a tactical third substitution altered the play for a while and the A-Team got the upper hand for the first time in the game as Alex, Steve S, Simon and Sunil all had chances to score but were unlucky with their efforts. Spencer started to torment the right back and caused all sorts of problems for him which resulted in another couple of chances to score which were squandered. Then a third major blow occurred when Rob Djemal made a last ditch tackle to deny a Ware goal resulted in him injuring his hip and being unable to carry on. Having used the allowed three subs the A-Team were forced to finish the game with only 10 players. Coupled to this injuries picked during the game to Gary McClair and Spencer Thomas meant that the A-Team only had 8 fit players for the remainder. When Ware realised this they woke up and scored another 6 goals in the last 20 minutes as the formation was changed in an attempt to limit the damage

MATCH REPORT   18

11th January 2003

1st Team       Knebworth    3  -  4    John Warner     ( a.e.t )     Divisional Cup 1st Round   Line up  -  I O'Shea, L Murton, G Murton, G Thomas, J Pearson, S Ferro, G Ellis, P Annis, C Casali                    R Sharpe, Dan Beech        Subs    -    Steve Rudolph M.O.M. - 1st  Carlo casali  2nd  Ian O'Shea  3rd   Rob Sharpe Goal Scorers -   Carlo Casali 3, Rob Sharpe Up against top of the table Knebworth the team were still short of some key players, plus Matt was away tucked up in bed with a stomach virus. The team went one up after just 5 minutes, Carlo connecting after a good corner from Rob Sharpe. But 5 minutes later Knebworth equalised after a mix up in the defence, a corner kick swerving straight in with no one clearing the damn thing. Knebworth went 2-1 up after a mix up down the left side, someone tried one of his customary back heels and it backfired ! But the team drew level on 25 minutes after Gary T closed down a defender to steal the ball and let Carlo in for his second which he took well. Ten minutes later the team took a lead into half-time, this time Carlo stealing the ball off a lax bit of defending from Knebworth to set Rob Sharpe off for the team's third goal. Knebworth applied a lot of pressure in the second half and came close many times to equalising, but it wasnt until the 82nd minute that the break through came to send the game into extra time. With both teams exhausted after 90 minutes of football, both teams were cautious and passed the ball around with no immediate effect on getting a result. It took a great one two between Rob Sharpe and Carlo casali to put the team in front, Carlo taking it around the keeper to then chip two defenders lining up on the goal line. Great result for the team considering the shortage of players, their opponents, and Matt being away. Reserve Team       NO GAME 'A' Team       NO GAME

MATCH REPORT   17

4th January 2003

1st Team       NO GAME Reserve Team       NO GAME 'A' Team       Thundridge    3  -  2    John Warner 'A' ( a.e.t. )    Divisional Cup 1st Round   Line up  -  M Southall, M Ridley, D Cooke, G McClair, A Payne, S Radia, R Ackerman, S Benbow, S Summers                    J Cappalonga, A Collins        Subs   -    T Coull, G Moss, K Benbow M.O.M. - 1st  Dave Cooke  2nd  Martin Southall  3rd   Andy Payne Goal Scorers  -   Joe Cappalonga 2 On a bitterly cold day the 'A' team manager had the opportunity to experiment with a different line up for this cup match. He rested a few players, but then before kick off a couple more pulled out so a few frantic phone calls and Joe Cappalonga from the first team arrived to help out. The situation also meant that the manager also named himself as a substitute, hoping not to be required. The game started at a lively pace with Thundridge exerting pressure with their physical stature being used at every opportunity. After holding off Thundridge's first few attacks the 'A' team started passing the ball around and then made their own good couple of chances to score which were unfortunately not taken. A Thundridge corner was not covered properly and one of their players rose to head home their first goal. Within 10 minutes some sloppy play and a static back line allowed Thundridge to score their second. But then the 'A's responded in their normal way by getting first to 50-50 balls and hassling the Thundridge players which rattled them on more than one occasion by giving away needless free kicks. From one of these kicks the ball was played wide and from the resulting cross Joe Cappa got on the end of it and powered home the 'A' team's first goal. All players took on board the half time team talk and everyone agreed this game was there for the winning. From more pressure a slick movement allowed Joe Cappa another chance to score which he took much to the dismay of Thundridge. Then a few nasty tackles on 'A' team players resulted in a few 'handbags at 6 paces' and when a Thundridge player who had been substituted then decided to put his face in our linesman's face to 'question' him, the referee had no option but to book him and ask him to leave the touchline. At this point both teams calmed down and both produced end-to-end football that either team could have won this tie in normal time. Full time came and another encouraging team talk to the players to up their effort for a final 30 minutes which would result in a deserved victory had them fired up for the first period of extra time. An unfortunate collision by a Thundridge player on Martin in goal resulted in a lengthy stoppage to allow him to recover from a nasty bang to the head. Bearing in mind the 'A' team manager had already made a couple of substitutions, his concern was with Martin being able to continue. But he did and produced another couple of great saves to keep the 'A' team in the tie. The first half finished still deadlocked, but soon into the second half a throw in near the touchline by Thundridge took two wicked bounces on the by-now uneven ground over 'A' team defenders and landed at the feet of a Thundridge forward in front of goal who tapped it into the net for their third goal. The 'A' team pressed forward with more urgency to get back in the tie and nearly scored on two occasions but were prevented by goalmouth clearances. Another injury, this time to Gary McClair forced the 'A' team manager to put himself on for the final 5 minutes in an endeavour to claw back the deficit. But ultimately it was not enough and the referee blew for full time with the 'A' team still pressing forward. Another good all-round team performance which saw them the stronger side only just failed to bring the rewards it so richly deserved in this game.

MATCH REPORT   16

21st December 2002

1st Team       John Warner    2  -  0    Greenbury Utd   Line up  -  I O'Shea, L Murton, G Murton, G Thomas, J Pearson, S Ferro, S Rudolph, P Annis, J Cappalonga                    S Chapman, Dan Beech        Subs    -    M.O.M. - 1st  Gary Thomas  2nd  Jim Pearson  3rd   Paul Annis Goal Scorers -   Paul Annis, Danny Beech The team were let down by Gary Ellis just before kick off and with Gary Murton arriving late from work the team started with ten players. But they managed to hang on until Gary turned up with 30 minutes gone in the game and then started to get on top. Coming out of the break the pressure told with a fine goal from Paul Annis, his first for the club. The team continued to pressure Greenbury and the game was made safe 15 minutes from time after a fine move saw Danny Beech fire home. A good result considering the team were short of players again. Barry Walpole did a fine job deputising for a working Matt O'Dea. Reserve Team       Old Mulletians    1  -  4    John Warner Res.   Line up  -  S Letts, A Gray, R Djemal, A Smith, D Coomes, I Fordham, M Ridley, S Radia, S Montgomery                    A Payne, M Deville,        Subs   -    S Francis M.O.M. - 1st  Mark Deville  2nd  Matt Ridley  3rd   Andy Payne Goal Scorers  -   Mark Deville 4 With injuries affecting the team and O'Shea and Cappa still with the first team the Reserves called on three 'A' teamers to help out with their team having no game. Andy Payne, Sunil Radia and Matt Ridley got their first run out for the team and all played well. Facing a side who won 6-1 last week it was going to be a very tough game. The team started well and were ahead after just 20 minutes after a good solo effort from Deville saw him nuts the keeper. Then the team fell asleep for the rest of the half and Old Mulletians equalised on 38 minutes through some very slack defending. A good old rollicking from manager Gerry Brislin and moving Monty inside for Coomes changed the face of the game. Coomes had a lot of possesion on the left side and Monty started to win the headers in the middle. This pressure showed with Deville netting his second on 60 minutes. Axeman came on for Monty in the middle of the park on 70 minutes and his fresh legs gave Deville more opportunity to roam free. This paid off on 75 minutes with Deville getting his hatrick, again another fine solo effort. Mark finished off the game ten minutes from time netting his fourth after some good work from Andy Payne who was certainly making it easier for him up front. All in all a good game. The 'A' team manager should be proud of his players and also a little worried about losing them ! 'A' Team       NO GAME

MATCH REPORT   15

14th December 2002

1st Team       John Warner    0  -  3    Knebworth Line up  -  I O'Shea, L Murton, S Rudolph, P Annis, J Pearson, S Ferro, I Fordham, J Cappalonga, Dan Beech                     M Deville, S Chapman        Subs    -    R Sharpe, R Djemal, A Smith M.O.M. - 1st   Ian Fordham  2nd   Rob Sharpe  3rd   Sav Ferro Goal Scorers -   The first team were short of players an hour before kick off so in line with McMullen rules the reserves had to call their game off, a shame really as the 'A' team weren't playing but weren't told until very late which meant most of the 'A' team players had arranged other things. Mark Deville and Ian Fordham started with Rob Djemal and Andy Smith as subs. Matt was a few short mainly through injuries and a few work commitments. The game started off quite frantic, Knebworth obviously up to beat a side they hadn't had any success against and mostly to get revenge for their cup final defeat by the first team 2 seasons ago. The early pressure showed with some terrible defending at Knebworth's first corner resulting in an unmarked player having an easy tap in. This woke the team up straight away and after some great efforts from Deville and Fordham the game was fairly even. Coming out of the break 1-0 down some early pressure resulted in Rudy giving away a silly penalty after a deliberately handball. O'Shea went the right way but couldn't quite get enough glove on the ball. Rob Djemal came on for Jimbo with Rudy moving into the centre of the park. Tex came on for an injured O'Shea who sustained a thigh strain. With a reserve goalkeeper between the sticks it was always going to be hard to keep a third out. Tex did really well but couldn't keep a close range header out with ten minutes to go. Reserve Team       NO GAME 'A' Team       NO GAME