Polytechnic 5s: 5

Merton 5s: 0

Chiswick is very quickly becoming known as the 5th teams 2nd home pitch due to our seemingly constant run of matches being held away from our beloved hood. Another venture away, wading through the onslaught of egg-chasers commuting to nearby Twickenham – one would be mistaken to think that surely a little bit of luck was due to come our way. Unfortunately- you would be mistaken. This week saw a heavily depleted 5s take on a mid-tabled Polytechnic team 3 leagues aloft. With the news of man-flu flooding the ranks, a few new faces stepped up to the challenge of continuing our recent successful form. New faces included Noor, Billy Golding, Dave Golding and Alex Quinn who we are grateful for assisting this week.

After a quick warm-up we were game on with heavy pressure being applied by the lean opposition donning the usual red kit. Within a matter of minutes our defence was tested with Sam continuing his recent superman impressions, flying from one side of the goal to the other, keeping attackers at bay. With only 15 minutes played, disaster struck with the Poly winger running through to the side of goal. Realising he was going into a dead-end he felt a sneeze from our bounding Delman and took a tumble in the box, the whistle blew but not to bring back a review of the dramatics witnessed but to give a penalty. First goal conceded. Not to be disheartened Merton started again but a mistake in midfield led to a quick counter attack to goal number 2. This was swiftly followed by a substitution for Merton as Alex Quinn came off with a strain. Another goal followed to end an unfortunate half. The second half saw the team come out looking to reduce the deficit but the makeshift team for the week was telling as a fourth was conceded, despite Sam’s efforts. Further injuries at the back provided a rare opportunity for Dulanje and Ackers to be partnered as our centre-half pairing with the former forgetting his position and scoring from a set piece. A goal, which had it been at the correct side of the pitch, I’m sure Dulanje would have been proud of. This summarised an unfortunate performance, but we look forward now to making amends as we take on their 8th team this week.

Team: Sam Singer-Ripley, Delman Babaker, Josh Fitzgerald Smith, Alex Quinn, Dave Golding, Noor Emad, Richard Gibbs, Aaron Ackerman (c), Dwayne Bedford, Aaron Byrne, Dulanje Richards.

Subs: Kevon Bedford, Billy Golding & Anam Hassan.

Posted in Match Reports 5s