Voyle Park Rangers

Voyle Park 1; PSL 3

How the mighty have fallen

Splat – the bubble has burst. The kings are dead, long live the new kings. Yes, unbelievable as it may seem, Voyle Park no longer sits upon their throne looking down on the common teams squirming beneath them.

A double whammy this week. A 3 – 1 loss to PSL who were on the same points as us, quickly followed by PSL removing the advantage that our goal difference gave us.

Cry me a river…………

Women folk wailed from the side line as 11 brave souls took to the field that fateful day.  The walking wounded staunchly took up the mantle, filling the gaps left by those faint of heart who couldn’t stomach the fight. 11 brave souls kicked off against the hordes of orange clad killers, thirsting for our kingdom. Even the sun wept as the 11 conceded a first, sensing that the end was nigh.

Rallying, the 11 stood firm despite the early set back. Roused by their jester’s stirring half time talk, hatches were battened and walls backed into. Alas the story of years passed came to haunt the 11 and as foretold by the Oracles, an early second half goal was conceded. The call went up “Be brave my merry men” and gaily they returned to battle.

11 brave souls pressed hard and the population roared as they broke their chains and slotted one straight into the heart of their opponents. Alas the gains were short lived as exhaustion and injury took their toll and the horde sliced them apart once more.

Battered but not beaten, the 11 brave souls rallied and while glory was not theirs, the blood they spilled that day shall be sung about by their descendants for generations to come

Or in other words…….

We lost 3 – 1.

Izaak popped his cherry and scored, FJ had several chances, James made a flying comeback to his football career and Campbell was a dynamo - but the reality was we weren’t quite the best team on the pitch. Another day, with a substitutes and not relying on injured players to keep going, we could have matched these guys but it just wasn’t to be. Thus is sport.

With TA pulling out of the competition – our huge win is being deleted so this will also impact on our standing in the league. The full effects aren’t out yet but it will hurt us.

oM*�_��by

Golden Boot

A new entrant

Steve claims aboard the goal scoring table with a fine goal. Given the crowd, this was well taken.

Lester and Gareth still lead with 6 a piece. FJ is 1 back with Clayton just behind him.

Player of the Day

The years were rolled back

PoD goes to Dave Hill for his work cutting everything off at the back. The clearance of the goal bound ball demonstrated the commitment he showed all game. Chasing down the youngster was also quite a feat for someone of advanced years. The guy was just a rock.

Clayton picks up a couple of points. It’s such an advantage having that hefty kick and long throw tacked onto a good solid defender

Gareth and Norm get a point for attacking quality they bring to the side (and let’s face it - Gareth is entertaining the way he riles the opposition)

Gareth has now opened up a 2 point lead, however as he is away next week, the opportunity is there for Lester and Dave Hall to cut him down to size.

Team Man

Geoff grabs the team man point. He was meant to be at a conference with his family but simply couldn’t keep away. The thought of missing an important game was killing him all week and in the end, his dedication shone through >�s�ݡAv

��ߝ��n^s�f@v

Voyle Park 1, Waldorf Salad 0

A fight to the bitter end

A good hard win this week. The raised tempers reflected how close the game was and it could have gone the other way but we dug in and slowly exerted our class and dominated the second half until the 70^th minute when they started to go all out.

Salad were another side that simply couldn’t cope with our effective use of width. Norm and Geoff own the flanks! Defensively we forced them into nothing more creative than the long ball (surprising since they had a guy who could dazzle with his footwork).

Was it an own goal? The debate raged around the table. Law books were studied, voices became raised, tears flowed and bar stools were thrown. To ensure peace returned, Buda accepted that seeing the ball merely skimmed a head and didn’t deviate from its course, the goal could be awarded to Steve - even though the appropriated bribe offering wasn’t made.

A well taken goal from Steve – rammed into the top of the net, over a very crowded goalmouth. A fair reward for the effort he puts in. A goal created by a great tackle from Clayton, winning the ball when really the defender should have cleared but he simply had no time.

The points were saved when Dave Hill ran back and cleared a ball that was going to go in the net. A decisive smack over the post that showed true commitment (and a touch of stupidity) as he ended up running full tilt into the metal bar at the back of the goal. Lucky he hit it head first so no damage resulted.

It’s not just the points/goals that are different this year. Other major changes that I’m very pleased about are things that I haven’t been involved in:

·         Someone gets kicked in the face (Chris)

·         An own goal gets scored (Gareth)

·         Someone falls over for no reason (Izaak)

·         A noddy runs straight into a metal bar (Dave Hill)

Normally I would have been the victim for all of these…. oh I love this season…..

We also welcomed Izaak and Liam – fit, skilful and young. Both played well and are great additions.

Thanks to Chris for being ref. He had a bit to deal with in the second half he coped well.

Remember guys – we need a ref every week. So far Dave Hill, Cam and Chris have done it – now it’s time that others also stepped up.

I think this week was a good measure for us and shows we can definitely compete with the top teams. Our next two games are against the other top sides but we can go into them knowing if we play well, the points could be there for us.

X�{��lD%

Golden Boot

The goals, they’re a mounting

We’ve already scored nine more league goals than we did in the entire 2014 season. This means that golden boot table is rife with competition and people laying claim to this muck sort after award.

Gareth’s 2 goals to Lester’s 1 has allowed him to catch up and they now both sit on top of the table with 6 goals each.

A hat trick always helps the cause and FJ roars up into third place with a total of 5.

Clayton’s corner goal takes his total to 4 with Norm and Geoff back on 3 each.

m�U�A�T

Player of the day

“he’s strong, he’s tough and bad guys yell enough - when he’s up and at them Atom Ant”

Man of the match goes to our very own Atom Ant impersonator. Gareth controlled everything going forward, ran at the defenders like a man possessed and put through some nice balls. The 2 goals he scored were also pretty sweet.

Runty picks up a couple of points for his dominating play in goal. He is now controlling the entire goal area which when added to his continued shot stopping prowess makes him the complete goal keeping package (albeit a small one).

FJ simply has to get a point for scoring a hat trick. Any mug can score 3 but a hat trick that includes a goal from the touch line and a lob that mastered the air currents to defy physics is special. A good reward for the sheer amount of running that the man does.

Keeping on the trend line of height minimisation awarding, Bob picks up a point for his terrier like role in front of the defence. They simply had no time to set up their attack.

I’ve also thrown a point at Dave Hill (admittedly only because I didn’t have a brick at hand …). A constant safety net at the back.

This means that Gareth sneaks into top spot, one above Lester and Dave Hall.

Team men 

This week it goes to Clayton and Lester who both turned up and played through injuries.

Cam, Chris and Lester top the table with 2 points each.

����

Blood sweat and tears (of joy)

Simply  Awesome

Another big win and Voyle Park Rangers return to their rightful spot at the top of the league table…….

With the wind at our back, the scene was set when Clayton’s inch perfect corner went into the goal without anyone getting a touch on it.

FJ wasn’t to be out down and he wasn’t far off the touch line himself when he slotted his first just inside the near post. Gareth then did something similar from the other side (only he dribbled past 23 defenders to get into that position). Cam’s header was simply a classic strikers goal – a nicely weighted cross from the right met with a good strong header. Mr Cool slotted a penalty, Gareth got another and the wind whisperer FJ grabbed the headlines by scoring a hat trick.

Runty mopped up everything at the back, using his height to tip the ball over the bar, his speed to come out and collect the ball and reach to stop every shot. There was simply no way the opposition could score, another clean sheet was his for the taking, records would be broken – and then the penalty …………

Final score TVP 8, Tetra Pak Vikings 1

It was a far from perfect performance from us but we ran hard to set up scoring opportunities and scrambled well at the back.

The most pleasing thing was when we turned and faced the wind in the second half, they were all over us and scored -  but we went straight back at them and snatched a goal very shortly after. That moment took them right out of the game.

Forgetting the result, the Vikings were again a great team to play against. Winners of the fair play award in 2014, they certainly made a nice change from a couple of the other teams. Another positive was their ref. He did an awesome job for the entire game (and yes it was a penalty so just stop it..)

And just for Chris

2 vikings (Erik the Blue and Rudolph the Red) were about to set off to raid some far away land. Rudolph told Erik to go get a jacket because it was bound to rain. Erik looked up at the sky and told his mate that he was an idiot as there was no sign of rain at all. They argued a bit then Erik’s wife interrupted “go get a jacket - Rudolph the Red knows rain dear”

{“srtt.T��;U

Another 2

Golden Boot

This week’s goal means Lester is now out in front again in the goal scoring stakes with 5. Gareth is 1 back on 4 with Norm, Geoff and Clayton on 3.

Gareth took the opportunity to leap into pole position for the black boot with the first own goal of the season.

Points to Prove

Player of the day

Campbell takes out top honours this week. My sources tell me he was stunning in goal (hopefully the comment was about his goal keeping….)

Steve apparently was pretty good in his come-back match and would have picked up points if he was an ongoing squad member.

Dave Hall picks up the 2 points with Geoff and Lester taking one each.

This means Dave has caught Lester and they share top spot on 6 points. Gareth and Norm are not far off with 6 and 5 respectively.

Team Player 

Team man goes to both Chris and Geoff for holding everyone’s hand while the Baldy Man was away.

Chris and Campbell lead this with twice as many points as their nearest competition (ie they have 2, while 5 others have 1)

Hmmmm

Just a thought - but did anyone else find it odd that Runty misses a couple of weeks claiming some vague rugby commitments , at the same time the ‘keepers in the Under 20 World Cup suddenly start saving penalties left right and centre? 

Coincidence - I think not.

If you’re being paid to coach these guys Runty, I think you should at least be sharing the fees with the club!!!