Yew Tree V's OHAFC

In blustery conditions OHAFC started pushing right from the whistle. Within 5 minutes Old House had pushed ahead when Simon Charles slid the ball across the face of the goal and Dan Sheldon tucked it home. Guy Taylor tested his luck soon after with a long shot from the half-way line that just skimmed the crossbar. Charles then added another 20 minutes in. A goal-kick from Old House keeper Chris Staite bounced right through the mid-field and Charles chased it. The keeper fumbled the ball and Charles calmly finished. Yew Tree saw their first real chance of the game with 10 minutes of the half left. A good cross in front of the goal, but their strikers couldn't get onto the end of it. Old House soon replied and Richard Batty saw a good opportunity with a great run down the right and a shot from wide that just sailed over the goal. Another fumble by the keeper 5 minutes later and a lucky bounce off Nathan Roberts' head saw Guy Homer run in and finish for his third goal of the season. Seconds later, another push from Old House saw Sheldon get his second of the game from a rebound, for the half to finish 4 - 0 to Old House.

Kicking against the wind in the second half made the game much more difficult. OHAFC kept pushing but only managed one goal this half, when a shot was stopped by a Yew Tree player's arm and a penalty was awarded. Sheldon calmly converted for his hat-trick. Roberts went close, but his header beat the keeper and the bar. Yew Tree had one more chance near full-time, but couldn't keep it on target and the ball bounced off the post.

A deserved victory, but the scoreline could have been more if we had continued to push in the second half. With only 3 games left of the season the table is extremely close. If we win all 3 the possibility of 5th place, but lose all 3 and we languish in 9th. The two games over the coming fortnight against the two teams close to us will be the real deciders. Can we continue today's good performance and keep the consistency to the end of the season? Imagine finishing in 5th despite the average season we have had?