Ladies 1s
L1s had a tough home game against Basildon. I can’t really remember the order of things but they did happen:
Philippa Leguen De Lacroix passed to me, I passed it to Izzy who struck to put us 1-0 up.
Katherine Abbie returned and promptly fell over.
Mog came out of her D and sweeper keepered the ball away. Amazing.
Claire Shrimpie Boyling’s knuckles took a rapping.
They broke and came back to 1-1.
Lucy Butcher had some interesting half time moves.
I dropped a bottle of ketchup and broke a glass.
MoM Lucy Butcher
DoD Shrimpie and Kathy but Shrimpie
See you all at the social!
Ladies 2s
As the newly voted in L2’s DOD (reasons including my backward roll, agro and not passing!), it’s up to me to reflect on our jaunt to Havering….
Initial observations that a Forest walkover could be possible soon changed after 5 minutes. Probably also after I politely told one of their players that there was no need to tell me where to go when I was merely trying to get to the ball before her…..just so happens my shoulders are bigger! Soon after that they popped one in and then there was another before half time.
We came out with a slightly different strategy in the 2nd half and saw Penalty Corner after Penalty Corner being awarded to us, but we (I!) just didn’t seem to find the net. Unfortunately they did a better job than I at finding the net at the other end on a Penalty Corner half way through the 2nd half. Nicky Haden-Homer did a sterling job at keeping the oppo at bay when their through balls went….well, through our midfield. Nicky Vg, Emily Mulville and Kirsten Geekie conquered in midfield and on more than one (two, three) occasion(s) I failed to find the back of the net after my best Bolt impressions up the pitch! I left it to Sarah Todd to ping one in just before the final whistle….I need to go to Forward School!
MOM was a joint effort between Nicky Haden-Homer and myself – let’s hope my baking skills for next week are better than my scoring skills! (EDIT!): Final score – 3:1 to Havering.
Ladies 3s
Ladies 3s were at home to (a very young) Chelmsford 5s today. It was a good start with Forest battling hard and some impressive movement up the pitch. After a couple of great tries we managed to put a goal away thanks to Jane and a slight fumble from the Chelmsford keeper. Chelmsford came back fighting and managed to get a flick fairly soon after this. Despite Martha’s best effort they scored and we went into half time 1-1.
The second half was more of the same with some great chances for us but unfortunately not being able to convert any of them. Final score 1-1. Good game and a well-deserved point.
Ladies 4s
Ladies 4s travelled to a surprisingly warm and sunny Braintree this morning to play against Braintree L3s. We lost 0-2. The game was hugely competitive having to make full use of our solid defence. The mids did a great job getting the ball to the forwards and up into the the oppo’s D but unfortunately their defence was pretty solid too and we weren’t able to finish. That being said we played well and fought hard until the end.
(Mom to follow later, still collecting votes.)
Ladies 5s
Ladies 5 had to concede our game against East London ladies’ 7 yesterday, but today we had a friendly game instead with East London, and mixed up our teams and had the joy of Minty and Kim joining us after their 3’s match. So in the end 10 aside, no goalies. East London won 2-1 in a very balenced match. We fought hard and didn’t give up, and Georgina B was a star for her use of the drag back and turn to win the ball SO many times. I hope our coach noticed! Special mention hoes to Claire H in her first game for WFHC, she did SO well. Thankyou ladies, as always an enjoyable part of my weekend, great game. Claire C
Men’s 1s
D1-1
Men’s 2s
As we descended upon Lee Valley there was palpable apprehension in the air. Would Immy turn up on time? Would we win against a side even lower down the league than us?
We were playing bottom of the league; we simply had to get a point. After a frantic start we entered half time 3 – 0 up. Jonathan Jones hit the soapbox with a rally of any given Sunday proportions but it was left to Chris Clarke “when I played for the 1s” to motivate and bring us together.
We immediately conceded 2.
Thank god for a p flick and a further goal from Kristis Bubnelis securing his hat trick
4-2
Men’s 3s
The men’s 3s travelled to the coast to face Clacton on warm sunny day. The first half was very even and end to end both with teams trying to get the first goal. Steve was called into action and made some great saves, one error led to Clacton grabbing a goal, it stayed 1-0 at halftime.
In the second half we kept pressing to get an equaliser, we were producing some good attacking moves but couldn’t grab a goal. We didn’t have any subs but we kept fighting till the final whistle to try and get something from the game, unfortunately we couldn’t and it stayed 1-0 at full time.
MOM goes to Neil, Zain and Eebbaa for stepping up from the 5s to play for us today, all three of them played great.
Men’s 4s
Mens 4s entertained Rochford on Saturday with regular skipper Gary Joy playing for the 5s leaving me in charge of the team for the day.
From the pushback Frank played it to Oli who launched an aerial to Nadeem; his shot was saved but rebounded to Horace who slotted home. About 20 seconds gone, 1-0 Forest. Within 10 minutes we’d added another 2, however some sloppy play from the back and in midfield gifted Rochford a lifeline back into the game and, despite adding another to the tally, the half time scoreline was a somewhat precarious looking 4-2 when we really should have been out of sight.
Half time team talk focussed on the age old cliche of letting the ball do the work, i.e. not trying to dribble past 5 players all the time (especially not in our own D) and not giving away cheap possession in dangerous areas as we had been doing.
Is fair to say that in the 2nd half we responded well to this and stopped trying to be masters of our own demise, adding a further 5 without reply leaving the final score 9-2.
Goal scorers: Horace (x3), Nadeem (x2), Oli, Frank, Josh and myself.
MOTM – Horace (the 3rd 4s player to bag a hat trick this season!)
Special shout out to Josh and Tom who stepped up to the 4s and didn’t look at all out of place. Also big thanks to Gary and Ben S for playing 5s allowing their players to move up ensuring the 3s, 4s and 5s all had at least 11 available.
Men’s 5s
The 5’s travelled to Havering on the back of 3 draws, the 5’s started the game on the front foot and dominated the first half but couldn’t find the goal there play deserved. So went into the break 0-0.
The 5’s continued to dominate in the second half and we’re creating chances on a regular basis, the 5’s did take the lead after Owen Doody hit the ball into the D, which lead to a couple of efforts on goal before Mick smashed home (sorry tickled home). The 5’s continued to push for a second, but it was Havering who had the best chance, they left a player up field who had a one on one with keeper Shaun Crowe, who was quick to close the player down to prevent the goal.
The chances continue to come and the pick of them was from George Fernandez, who pick up the ball near the half way line and drove into the D after beating 3 players but couldn’t get the ball past the keeper for a goal his run deserved.
The second goal did come, after being awarded a number of short corners in a row, which kept on getting blocked, the captain played a short injection to Rhys which confused the Havering defence (and some of the 5’s).Rhys then played the ball a crossed the top of the D to Aamir who smashed home with the ball going in of both posts.
The game finished with a 2-0 win for the 5’s
Great result and effort shown by all, thank you to Gary Joy and Ben Summers for stepping down to play 5’s this weekend after the issues with the men’s section. Also a mention needs to go to Neil Berkeley , Zain Rashid and Eebbaa Elfneh who all stepped up to play 3’s so all men’s teams had at least 11 players for there games.
MOM: Ben Summers – solid at the back and past on his experience to the younger players
POP: Gary Joy– I’ll say no more
Scorers
Mick Lane
Aamir Sultan
Otters
A disappointing result for the Otters at an under-strength Southend as goals from Bryan and Emran got us back into a match we largely trailed through defensive errors. A late disallowed goal from Haider denied us a point, but with the bulk of possession and a succession of short corners, it was a game we should have won.
Scorers: Bryan McDonald, Emran Raja.
Mixed
“Invincibility lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the attack.” Sun Tzu, wise words and something that Forest knew they would need to do in a game against a very strong East London team (fielding mostly 1st XI players). With a few last minute drop outs not helping the squad, a mixed bunch of swain and ingénue took to the Lee Valley for a Sunday afternoon match.
“The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.” Sun Tzu. Forest started the game looking for a solid platform from which to absorb pressure and counter attack. Unfortunately the enemy numbers were too great a siege of orange and plagued the Forest D. A somewhat one sided first half saw East London with much of the possession, but a determined defence and rock in Goal kept the damage minimal. Slightly disappointed to go into the half 4-0 down, but believing we had weathered a serious storm.
“If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near.” Sun Tzu. Indeed Forest started the second half knowing that the legs were tiring and that concentration may be lacking. However the continued determination of all and the mental stamina, wore on the East London players frustrating them and causing mistakes. Forest attacking swiftly on the counter created several half chances. However despite the resolution another goal conceded and a 5-0 finish.
“The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.” Sun Tzu. And so it was a Forest mental win, not reflected in the score sheet but in the hearts and minds of those who knew the size of the task faced.
Mom: “mother” Sarah Todd, playing a level reminiscent of her national league days, she dominated her D and thwarted many of the East London attacks, even though she claimed she couldn’t see most of the time.
Pop: “invisible” Joe Russo, probably still in Clacton, as we don’t remember seeing you much!
Well done team!
