Woking in a Winter Wonderland
Okay, there was no snow, fir trees or strands of tinsel. And the only carol that could be heard was on the touchline of the girls’ pitch fifty metres away. But the man serving refreshments in Reindeerland bore a striking resemblance to Daddy Christmas and there were several bystanders that could easily have been mistaken for, amongst others, Ebenezer M. Scrooge, or in one particularly unfortunate case, his nemesis, Jacob S. Marley. There was also Compo, Clegg & Foggy, but they’re not part of this tale as the seasons in the title don’t quite match.
The first half of this Cotswold League encounter on the seventeenth day of Advent began at a blisteringly slow pace, with the reporter’s quill remaining redundant until the eighteenth minute when the hosts were awarded a penalty. ‘Donner’, said Compo, ‘Blitzen’, uttered Clegg, ‘Something else,’ thought Foggy.
Woking’s centre forward Campbell, a genuinely decent player, dispatched the spot kick and seven minutes later drove in the second to give the hosts a two-goal interval lead. While the visitors created precious little offensively during the first period, defensively they were good - Callum Mclean was in his usual competitive form, with little asked for and nothing expected, while Seb Jones was proving as effective as ever in breaking up the hosts’ attacks and distributing the ball in his customary redoubtable manner.
Blackburn, with two fine interceptions and Lawson, tigerish on the left, combined well with Mclean and Jones to ensure Moroney, freshly returned from his temporary loan spell with The Yellows, didn’t have a real save to make.
The second period began with the visitors displaying far more intensity and purpose, keeping the ball better and beginning to put pressure on the hosts’ back line.
After fifteen minutes of pressing without overly threatening, Blacker won a corner on the left and from Blackburn’s fine delivery, Lawson thumped home a back post header – his first goal of the season. Cue mass celebration.
Minutes later the same player was again in the thick of the action, though at the other end on this occasion – Campbell was already celebrating the completion of his hat trick when he looked up to find Lawson, once more in the right place at the right time, thwarting the impending treble from inside his own six yard box.
The true value of the full back’s intervention became clear with seven minutes left on the clock. With Gloucester still trailing, Clifford moved up front to support Blacker and Santa, having vacated the canteen for a moment or three to rest his aching claus, Wilkes emerged from the midfield throng to level the scores. The poets in the crowd grimaced knowingly, while (almost) the entire Gloucester team engulfed the scorer. As the Woking edition of the Sunday Sport later headlined, ‘Mystery mountain discovered in Brockwood Farm Drive’. Yes, it really was that big.
Afterwards, it was revealed that Liggett’s cross had been cleared as far as Chamberlain, whose return cross was converted by Wilkes at the back stick. ‘Facts,’ said the SS editor. ‘Who needs facts?’
Having engineered the leveller, Chamberlain enhanced his ever-growing reputation yet further within the space of ninety seconds, receiving the ball from Liggett before thrashing a fierce drive over Foster and into the roof of the net. Within point nine of a second, the mountain returned.
Two minutes remained on the watch when the comeback became complete. Lawson’s throw found Blacker who turned his marker to slip his sixth goal in five games beyond Foster to put the final sprinkling of glitter on seven memorable minutes.
Moments after the final whistle, analysts, theorists and photographers alike dissected the first half of the game and compared it to the first few weeks of the season. ‘A microcosm,’ suggested the analyst. ‘Sounds painful,’ frowned the photographer. ‘Only the first bit,’ said the theorist.
The post-match 14-piece Membury-based bucket brought more ruminations and reflections. ‘Remember Dacorum?’ asked someone, ‘when we changed in a stable?’ ‘Yes,’ laughed everyone. ‘Remember Reading?’ inquired another, ‘when they handed out all those gifts?’ ‘Yes,’ shouted Dennis, then, ‘Yes,’ agreed everyone else. ‘Remember Sutton?’ queried a third, ‘Shepherds and Kings?’ It was a bit of a deep observation and beyond most people, but everyone agreed nevertheless. It had been that sort of day.
‘Remember Paul Basford?’ beseeched the final person. But sadly, in this season of goodwill to most men, no-one did.
Happy Christmas.
Gloucester: Moroney; Blackburn, Mclean, Lawson, Blacker, Jones, Liggett, Clifford, Smith, Chamberlain, Wilkes.
The first half of this Cotswold League encounter on the seventeenth day of Advent began at a blisteringly slow pace, with the reporter’s quill remaining redundant until the eighteenth minute when the hosts were awarded a penalty. ‘Donner’, said Compo, ‘Blitzen’, uttered Clegg, ‘Something else,’ thought Foggy.
Woking’s centre forward Campbell, a genuinely decent player, dispatched the spot kick and seven minutes later drove in the second to give the hosts a two-goal interval lead. While the visitors created precious little offensively during the first period, defensively they were good - Callum Mclean was in his usual competitive form, with little asked for and nothing expected, while Seb Jones was proving as effective as ever in breaking up the hosts’ attacks and distributing the ball in his customary redoubtable manner.
Blackburn, with two fine interceptions and Lawson, tigerish on the left, combined well with Mclean and Jones to ensure Moroney, freshly returned from his temporary loan spell with The Yellows, didn’t have a real save to make.
The second period began with the visitors displaying far more intensity and purpose, keeping the ball better and beginning to put pressure on the hosts’ back line.
After fifteen minutes of pressing without overly threatening, Blacker won a corner on the left and from Blackburn’s fine delivery, Lawson thumped home a back post header – his first goal of the season. Cue mass celebration.
Minutes later the same player was again in the thick of the action, though at the other end on this occasion – Campbell was already celebrating the completion of his hat trick when he looked up to find Lawson, once more in the right place at the right time, thwarting the impending treble from inside his own six yard box.
The true value of the full back’s intervention became clear with seven minutes left on the clock. With Gloucester still trailing, Clifford moved up front to support Blacker and Santa, having vacated the canteen for a moment or three to rest his aching claus, Wilkes emerged from the midfield throng to level the scores. The poets in the crowd grimaced knowingly, while (almost) the entire Gloucester team engulfed the scorer. As the Woking edition of the Sunday Sport later headlined, ‘Mystery mountain discovered in Brockwood Farm Drive’. Yes, it really was that big.
Afterwards, it was revealed that Liggett’s cross had been cleared as far as Chamberlain, whose return cross was converted by Wilkes at the back stick. ‘Facts,’ said the SS editor. ‘Who needs facts?’
Having engineered the leveller, Chamberlain enhanced his ever-growing reputation yet further within the space of ninety seconds, receiving the ball from Liggett before thrashing a fierce drive over Foster and into the roof of the net. Within point nine of a second, the mountain returned.
Two minutes remained on the watch when the comeback became complete. Lawson’s throw found Blacker who turned his marker to slip his sixth goal in five games beyond Foster to put the final sprinkling of glitter on seven memorable minutes.
Moments after the final whistle, analysts, theorists and photographers alike dissected the first half of the game and compared it to the first few weeks of the season. ‘A microcosm,’ suggested the analyst. ‘Sounds painful,’ frowned the photographer. ‘Only the first bit,’ said the theorist.
The post-match 14-piece Membury-based bucket brought more ruminations and reflections. ‘Remember Dacorum?’ asked someone, ‘when we changed in a stable?’ ‘Yes,’ laughed everyone. ‘Remember Reading?’ inquired another, ‘when they handed out all those gifts?’ ‘Yes,’ shouted Dennis, then, ‘Yes,’ agreed everyone else. ‘Remember Sutton?’ queried a third, ‘Shepherds and Kings?’ It was a bit of a deep observation and beyond most people, but everyone agreed nevertheless. It had been that sort of day.
‘Remember Paul Basford?’ beseeched the final person. But sadly, in this season of goodwill to most men, no-one did.
Happy Christmas.
Gloucester: Moroney; Blackburn, Mclean, Lawson, Blacker, Jones, Liggett, Clifford, Smith, Chamberlain, Wilkes.
