report6-10-01

A wonder goal from Jon Ellis and a spectacular hat-trick from Matty Carmody sealed a comfortable victory for Upney Royal Oak F.C.

lAfter weeks of debate as to who should partner Steve Silk up front, Jon Ellis was given his chance to prove that "he got more game" than his attacking rival Kelvin Nash who was unavailable for selection due to work commitments. The team was also boosted by the return of Matty Carmody after a two week break, who took his tally to four goals in two games to top the goal scoring chart.

The gods must have been smiling on Ellis this sunny Saturday morning, as he managed to get himself and the battered Vauxhall Astra to the ground on time, for the first time this season. However, the game did not start too well for Upney, as early pressure from the long kick caught the defence too high up the pitch and therefore exposed to the pace of the Bees strikers. During the first twenty minutes, Trotter was called upon to race from his line to thwart dangerous attacks which he did so well on a number of occassions.

As the half wore on, the Upney defence started to drop deeper and was able to minimise danger to the exposed final third and start attacking the Bees midfield. Good attacking play down the left and right flanks from Hurry & Carmody, and Railton & Talbot respectively allowed Upney to impose themselves on the game and trouble the Bees goal with numerous attacks. The central midfield pairing of Gutridge and Mickey Carmody revelled in the extra space in the centre of the pitch; both players having good efforts at goal and playing incisive through balls to Ellis who was an able and willing runner. As in previous games, Steve Silk was able to drop off slightly deeper from the front line to link up well between the midfield and attack, and flick on any aerial balls into the path of Ellis who was enjoying a fair degree of success up on his own.

The pace of Matty Carmody down the left flank created an outlet for any balls to be played over the top, and this route led to the first goal of the game. A long ball from defence was well controlled and after setting himself up dispatched a strong finish into the bottom corner of the net. Meanwhile, the game continued to have an undercurrent of aggression, with plenty of colourful language from both sides - Dave Garrod being booked earlier in the game for such a misdemeanour. However, this didn't distract the Upney team who continued to play well, and built upon their lead with a second goal for Matty Carmody. After good play from Talbot down the right wing, he cut inside, beating one player and slipped the ball through to Jon Ellis who took it into the box and played an inviting ball to the back post which Matty calmly slotted home. After another shaky start it seemed that Upney were on their way to another victory, the greatest danger coming from the referee who threatened to abandon the game if the swearing wasn't toned down in the second half. Thankfully the team let their feet do the talking; Jon Ellis later producing a fourth goal which was pure poetry.

The game was made safe ten minutes after half-time, as a well worked short corner from Matty Carmody found Mickey who managed to totally mistime the ball, (later claimed to be a dummy). The ball however found its way through to Steve Silk on the far post, who gratefully accepted the mistake and swept the ball past the keeper and into the back of the net. With the game secure, Ryan Silk was brought on for Gutridge to shore up the midfield and managed to secure the prize for "Quickest booking of the season" within five minutes of entering the field of play. As a Bees midfielder attempted to break forward, he was unceremoniously hacked down by a clumsy and shockingly late lunge which brought gasps from the supporters and players alike. Ryan however, managed to redeem himself to some extent with an audacious attempted lob from the half way line, which missed the goal by inches. The Upney defence continued to break down the few attacks that came their way; Silk and Garrod developing their central defensive partnership well, both solid in the tackle and dominant in the aerial challenges, with Railton and Hurry patrolling the flanks and getting forward well to start new attacks.

Finally Ellis' hard work paid off, and after a number of chances scored his first goal for the team - and what a goal it was! A lobbed ball was played up field which left Jon with only one more defender to beat. He took the ball in the air, chested it over the floundering defender into space and unleashed an unstoppable volley, giving the keeper no chance. Even Nash had nothing but praise for the goal saying, "To be fair, I thought he would f**k it up and fall over or something...but hats off to him he stayed on his feet and scored a great goal". The euphoria of the strike had a negative effect on the defence though, as a lapse in concentration allowed Bees to score a consolation goal after a mix up in defence. Any doubts about the result though were put to rest by Matty's third goal. A quickly taken free kick by Trotter on the edge of the Upney penalty box sent him clear as the Bees defence were left napping. Again he controlled well, taking the ball towards goal before calmly lifting the ball over the on-rushing keeper for his hat-trick.

Man Of The Match:         Matty Carmody - Superb hat-trick performance
Goal Of The Match:         Jon Ellis - Gazza's goal vs Scotland, Euro '96 - need I say more
Special Mention:               Ryan Silk - booked within five minutes!