Amateur Football Combination Premier Division

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Amateur Football Combination Premier Division

Old Meadonians 3 Parkfield 1

The A.F.C. premier division appears to be heading towards the same melting pot as last season as, in almost as many weeks, the leadership has changed hands three times, with the latest incumbents, Honourable Artillery Company, taking precedence by handing out a sound thrashing to the season’s original leaders, Old Suttonians.

It now remains a question of whether Old Meadonians, who toppled last week’s king of the castle, Parkfield with a comfortable-ish 3-1 win over them at Riverside Lands on Saturday, can overcome their most dangerous opponents, themselves, by resisting the temptation to repeat their feat of tamely surrendering eight points in five games.

That may seem a bit of a ‘Gordian’ nut to crack, but post match coach Rory Vermeulen pointed to the absence of a full squad for any game this season while his partner, Paul Rumley pointed to concentration and decision making as key to progress, while adding that the visitors were the best team they’d faced sofar.

For a change it was heartening to see Meads jetting out of the blocks with a second minute goal and thereafter presenting threats from other than striker Craig Jones. A jittery start by the visitors saw the hosts grateful recipients of an unnecessary freekick forty yards out. Quick thinking in concert by Jack Costello and Andy Thompson saw Thompson slipped through the middle to side foot past Parkfield’s stranded keeper, Adam McWeeney.

Ten minutes later it was Costello who again supplied the assist with a diagonal cross which Jones tucked in. It was then that Meads could have taken the game beyond reach as Jones was just over with a dipper from the edge of the area and, not to be left out of things, mid-fielder Will Gerrish had two shots saved by visiting keeper, McWeeney and then full-back Kevin Quinn also had his effort well saved as Parkfield’s in form keeper kept the visitors in the hunt.

In fact it was the visitors who had the final say five minutes before the interval when nimble footwork from striker, Jason Shaw, perhaps anticipating a programme to be seen later on TV, pulled one back for the visitors. However this was only a brief interlude as Parkfield’s push following the break was cut short and Meads once more went back on the attack, redressing the balance ten minutes on with Gerrish putting the finishing touch to Jones’ cross.

The last half hour was one-way traffic with the visitors’ backs pinned to the wall and Meads meriting but not achieving at least another one. In a toss up between Will Gerrish and Lawrie Pointer for the MoM award Pointer just shaded it and more post match news is that the hamstring injury sustained by centre-back Ali McCombe will only take two weeks to mend.

Squad: Robinson, Shea, Pointer, McCombe, Quinn, Costello, Gerrish, Thompson, Mace, Eguae, C. Jones, Mantel, Graham, Glover.

 

 

October 17, 2012