Barnes Eagles 4 AFC Wimbledon Youth 3
West Surrey Premier Elite - Sunday 23 April 2006
Against mediocre opposition, AFC Youth were two-nil up and cruising on the stroke of half-time, and then they threw both the match and the league title away with a series of uncharacteristic defensive blunders. Not wishing to take anything away from Barnes because they battled throughout the whole game and never gave up, but they certainly rode their luck and were favoured by the small pitch and the bounce of the ball on numerous occasions. AFC Youth were at full strength, but usual regulars Sam King, Scott Fullerton and Timi da Silva spent the first half on the bench.
The visitors started strongly, and within two minutes they were a goal ahead. A great run down the left by Charlie Dennis took him into the penalty area, and as he was about to shoot some eight yards from goal, a defender arrived alongside to kick the ball into his own net. Three minutes later Troy Murray beat the advancing keeper to a long ball over the top, and then looked to have scored with a very clever chip, but Barnes luckily escaped when the ball bounced right in front of the goal, and then went over the bar and onto the top of the net. It was all AFC Youth with the ball going from player to player as they swept down the field. Any Barnes breakways were easily contained by the fleet-footed AFC defence. On 20 minutes a superb passing move from one end of the pitch to the other left Troy Murray in space, and he scored with a crisp shot from inside the penalty area. The whole of the AFC back line were playing well, especially Charlie Dennis. In the midfield Tee-Jay Ryan was winning the ball consistently, and Sonny Russell, Troy Murray and Paul Nicholls were very prominent in attack. Despite all this domination, there were no further goals. Barnes defended well and in numbers, and as is often the case with AFC Youth, the opposition keeper decides to rise to the occasion and perform heriocs. The Barnes keeper made a fantastic save under his own cross bar, when Sonny Russell towered above everyone to send a powerful header towards the top left-hand corner of the goal. There quickly followed another brilliant save from a stinging shot delivered from just outside the penalty area. Then it all went horribly wrong when Barnes pulled a goal back in injury time against the run of play. James Snishko needing only to put the ball out, lost possession when dribbling about by the left corner flag. To be fair he was put under pressure by a pass back from the AFC Youth midfield, but when the ball was crossed into the box, a Barnes forward shot first time in the far corner of the net. An undeserved goal really, considering that until this lapse, Barnes had made zero impact on the visiting defence.
AFC Youth started the second half with Sam King and Timi da Silva replacing Jack Malin and William Taylor respectively. Within a minute the Barnes equalised when a fairly tame long-range shot skidded through Nick Greaves' hands for a very soft goal. The exchanges were fairly even with neither side able to make inroads towards goal, and then on 50 minutes Barnes scored a bizarre and somewhat controversial third goal. A high punt from midfield sailed over the advancing AFC Youth back line, and a Barnes forward standing just outside the penalty area, stuck out his foot rather hopefully, and toed the ball over the stranded Nick Greaves and into the net. A freak goal, but was it offside? Well, when the ball was received by the goalscorer he was a yard offside, but when the ball was played from midfield the goalscorer was not goalside of the advancing second-last defender. Sorry fellas, this is the way I saw it looking across the line while listening for when the ball was kicked :-(. It was also the opinion offered by the referee as he approached me at the insistence of the stunned defence. Wrong decision or not, Law 11 states that offside is "in the opinion of the referee", and so rightly or wrongly, if the referee thinks it is offside, then it's offside. This signalled the changes for AFC Youth as they threw caution to the winds, put three up front, and sent on Jack Malin at right back in a three-man defence. Barnes now came under severe pressure and defended resolutely in numbers, but of course, they were now more dangerous than before on the break. During a period of sustained pressure several shots were blocked in the Barnes goalmouth. How the ball was kept out I do not know, but the wayward shooting coupled with excellent defending kept Barnes ahead. A corner was forced onto 70 minutes and Paul Nicholls crossed for Sonny Russell to head home the equaliser from close range. Within three minutes Barnes were back in front. A corner was cleared out to the right, from where a firm cross was quickly delivered into the path of an incoming Barnes player, who chested the ball into the net, unchallenged, from eight yards. Another soft goal with hardly a defender in sight. AFC Youth now went on all-out attack, but the shooting was wayward, and moreover, the pitch was too small for Timi da Silva to run at the home defence to any effect. The fates really favoured Barnes when a 20-yard thunderbolt from Sonny Russell beat the keeper all ends up and struck the underside of the bar. Timi da Silva following up should have scored, but showed no composure when blasting over the bar from only six yards. Barnes did threaten by breaking into the AFC half, but Jack Malin, James Snishko and Charlie Dennis had the speed, stamina and positional awareness to prevent any serious attempts on goal. Jack Malin then went up front to join the other forwards for the last five minutes, but despite all the pressure on the Barnes goal, the hosts held out for a well-earned and admirable victory.
For forty minutes AFC Youth completely dominated this match and were two-nil up and coasting, but lost the game due to a combination of defensive errors, poor finishing, a controversial decision, tenacious opponents, and absolutely no luck at all. Sonny Russell was the best player on the field, and there were good performances from Jack Malin, James Snishko, Charlie Dennis, Tee-Jay Ryan and Troy Murray. The second half saw lots of positional changes and substitutions, and despite herculean attempts to secure a result, the second-half team performance was below par, and moreover, there was no rub of the green throughout the entire game.
Reporter's man of the match: Sonny Russell
Team: Nick Greaves; Matthew O'Brien, Jack Malin, James Snishko, Charlie Dennis; Paul Nicholls, Tee-Jay Ryan, Luke Ewing, William Taylor; Troy Murray, Sonny Russell. Sub: Scott Fullerton, Timi da Silva, Sam King.