Colts v Stoneleigh - 1 Mar 03

Colts v Oakway - 8 Mar 03

Colts v Epsom - 15 Mar 03

Red Face Day (Nearly)

Colts 5 - Epsom 3

The Colts seemed to have taken Comic Relief rather too seriously during the first period of this 'game of two halves' - one of their most inept performances during the opening 30 minutes was followed by a 5 goal bonanza in the second half, leaving the poor Eagles bamboozled and despondent.

The game started brightly enough, with Alfie volleying straight at the keeper after 1 minute. But on 2 minutes, the Eagles had a corner which led to a high looping shot which an out-of-sorts Grant fumbled and ended up in the back of the net. 1-0 and there was more Eagles pressure to come.

The Epsom side attacked relentlessly, hitting the bar on 7 minutes, their forwards running riot through some startled Colts' defending. Colts won a corner which was saved, only to see Epsom storm up the pitch and put away their second.

Grant came off suffering from a cold on 13 minutes and a brave Toby sprinted on to get between the sticks.

Things picked up for the Colts on 19 minutes, with Greg leading a good build up. Ben shot accurately and the ball rebounded off a defender to Steven who also shot - again the ball ricocheted to Alex, who had his header saved.

On 22 minutes, an Epsom corner was well defended with a great clearing header from Donald. A minute later, Toby had to scramble away another Epsom attack and things were looking bad again. A small taster of what was to follow in the second half came when Steven screamed down the right and cut the defence apart with a telling cross to Gregg - agonizingly, Gregg just missed the ball as it skimmed across the goal line.

On 24 minutes, Epsom broke down the left and it looked like they were clear; Toby sprinted out and bundled the attacker to the ground - it looked like a clear penalty as the referee pointed to the spot - no-one had noticed the elderly linesman, flag held high for off-side, who had saved the Colts' bacon.

Toby came to the rescue again, saving on 27 minutes, and then both Alfie and Ben were narrowly denied just before the whistle went for half time.

The Colts came off to a Halfacre-Harangue that rattled the windows in nearby Effingham. The crowd felt that there was a lot more to see in the second half though and the mood was cautiously optimistic.

The folly of this was clear from the re-start, as the Eagles streamed down the pitch - Toby rushed to block and narrowed the angle enough to see the shot hit the post and be cleared away.

The tide turned on 2 minutes when Steven exploded down the left, careering into the box and burying the ball in the back of the net to make it 1-2 - Game On?

The Yellow Wave started to roll and there was incessant pressure - Greg, Gregg, Alfie and Josh all playing well - Sam had replaced Ben, and came very close to scoring his debut goal.

On 6 minutes, Toby was forced to make another good save, and his long clearance led to another Colts' attack - as the Eagles tried to clear, Donald made a robust tackle and pumped the ball back into the area. In the ensuing scramble, Steven put the ball away - 2-2 and a victory looked like a real prospect.

For 30 seconds it did anyway - the Eagles streamed back down the pitch to catch the Colts' defence napping and take the lead on 8 minutes - 2-3.

On 9 minutes, the Colts sent a volley of shots into the Eagles' goal - all were saved, and then Steven attempted a bicycle kick which connected but was saved.

Sam broke down the right from and ever-reliable Scott pass and did well to win a corner. Josh had his attempt from the corner saved.

Alex played well throughout and one of his clearing headers found Gregg on the left after 15 minutes - again he streamed into an attack, and again won a corner, which was eventually cleared.

Toby had to make several great saves, but Scott, Donald and Nathan had started to make some really great tackles during the second half. On 17 minutes, Scott made a great covering tackle to stop an very threatening attack, and on 18 minutes, Toby had to scramble the ball away to stop a certain goal.

On 19 minutes, Bookham were awarded a free kick about 25 metres from the goal. Steven lined up to take it, and as he took a 10 metre run-up, the crowd could sense something special - they were right - the ball shot off his left foot and twisted and tuned into the back of the net - WHAT A SCREAMER - and Colts were back on level terms at 3-3.

One minute later, super poacher Alfie really clipped Eagles' wings by scoring a great goal down the right. - 4-3 - the Colts were in the lead at last.

Eagles attacked relentlessly for the last 5 minutes with Scott and Nathan making match saving tackles on 25 and 26 minutes respectively.

On 29 minutes, Gregg delivered the coup-de-grace as he sprinted down the left and rocketed a shot into the roof of the net.

It may not have been pretty - it may have made the coach VERY angry, but it was a victory - and there was plenty of good stuff to build our hopes for next week.

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Colts v Stoneleigh - 08 Mar 03

Stonewalled

Colts 3 - Stoneleigh 3

This was the match of 2003 - a war of attrition against a tough and often brutal Stoneleigh team, fresh off a victory against the mighty Ashtead. The confident Stoneleigh came up against a determined and skilful herd of Colts who tackled, attacked and ran themselves to a standstill, forcing a draw against all the odds.

The game started with a lot of Stoneleigh pressure, but great work by Steven and Greg led to a goalkeeping mess up and Gregg was able to shoot on goal, missing narrowly.

Stoneleigh were playing the offside trap against Steven - this is never a good idea, and he hit the after-burners for the first time on 7 minutes only to have his left footed shot saved by an excellent keeper.

Disaster struck on 16 minutes as Stoneleigh raced down the right wing, crossed accurately, allowing them to hammer the ball into the net - 0-1, and the Colts had plenty to do.

Colts came straight back and Greg lobbed a shot on 17 minutes which was well saved. Josh and Alfie were working hard to supply the rampaging forwards, while the defensive line-up of Donald (tigerish tackling and clearing throughout), Nathan (tireless work to clear the ball), Jack (continual running to quash the break through) and Scott (man of the match) did a great job of keeping the ever pressing Stoneleigh contained.

On 20 minutes, Ben (sporting a very dodgy Mohican) fed Steven at full speed in the box. He was brought down from behind by a desperate defender and the ref pointed to the spot. Steven took the penalty himself - the ball rocketed into the left hand corner to make it 1-1 - this was beginning to look like a classic encounter.

On 21 minutes, Grant was forced to save off the line, and then on 24 minutes, Gregg had a goal controversially disallowed for offside. On 29 minutes, Toby came on for the excellent Josh, and the half ended at 1-1 - the tension for the crowd was only broken by the promise of hot coffee (most of us needed something stronger!!!)

The second half began with Ben coming off (his hairdresser needed to do some work), being replaced by Sam, and Alfie being relieved by Josh.

On 2 minutes, Steven broke through the offside trap and sped towards goal, only to have is effort stopped. On 4 minutes, Grant saved from a Stoneleigh corner, but the resulting secondary kick ended up with a great lob towards goal which Grant got a big hand to, but ended up in the back of the net.

On 7 minutes, Gregg broke through, and yet again had his shot saved. The crowd's hearts were in their mouths on 9 minutes when Stoneleigh shot over the bar. On 14 minutes, Toby did well to win the ball, take a throw-in and free Gregg up in the box - in the move of the game, Gregg spun the defender, stretched across the goal, and stuck the ball into the left hand side of the goal - a defender touched it on the way in, but it was very much Gregg's goal. 2-2 and everything to play for.

Straight from the re-start, Stoneleigh sped down the left, and pushed the ball past Grant into the net to make it 3-2 - the samba-ing crowd were silenced for the third time of the morning. On 23 minutes, things looked even worse, when Grant at full stretch pushed the ball into the path of an oncoming attacker who put the ball in the back of the Bookham net - but the elderly linesman's flag was up and the ref disallowed the goal - could we, would we score an equalizer?

Steven broke through on 24 minutes, but he had his shot saved yet again - but on 27 minutes, he blitzed through again, and this time there was no stopping him - his shot rocketed into the back of the net, and the Colts went mad.

The last three minutes were the longest in your correspondent's life as Stoneleigh pressed for the winner - but the defence held firm and the match finished in a massively deserved draw.

Next week Bookham B await - and they will not be sleeping much this week.

Colts v Oakway Sports - 01 Mar 03

Forest of Goals for Oakway

Colts 2 - Oakway 5

The story of this match was epitomised in the opening seconds - an Oakway blitzkrieg - Bookham standing in a trance - and the ball nestling in the back of the net. Throughout the game, the Colts often looked good, but their occasional lapses allowed a frisky Oakway team to score breakaway goals.

So the boys were down after only 30 seconds, but stormed back through the incomparable Gregg to make it 1-1 after only 2 minutes. Good work here from Sam, Greg and Steven to make sure Gregg got his shot off.

After 7 minutes, Oakway attacked down the right, and Grant narrowed the angle to force a miss. Colts came straight back with Greg down the left forcing a great save from the Oakway keeper.

Nathan and Scott defended well and Josh looked good in midfield, playing well with a lively Alfie to provide from the centre of the field. Donald looked tigerish as he swept across the defensive line, and Alex continued to impress with a robust performance, now enhanced by power throw-ins.

After 13 minutes, Greg sprinted down the left and crossed with pin-point accuracy - neither Gregg or Sam could get the necessary touch though and it went out for a goal kick. The counter attack was brilliantly broken down by Donald on 14 minutes.

On 20 minutes, Greg was injured, but bravely stood up, shook himself off, and spearheaded the next attack into the box. On 23 minutes, the same left hand penetrating run and cross ended without a goal - this time it was Steven who was unlucky.

On 28 minutes Gregg barn-stormed into the left hand side of the box and hit a wicked looping shot towards the goal - only a brilliant save from the Oakway keeper denied him a much deserved second.

The half finished as it had begun, with an Oakway breakaway which was scrambled off the line by Scott, Grant and Donald.

The second half began with Josh, Sam and Scott coming off and Toby, Jack and Ben coming on. The new formation started perkily with Toby, Ben, Greg, Gregg and Steven combining nicely.

On 7 minutes, Ben got the ball on the left of the box and crossed to the head of a marauding Alex - the keeper was forced to make a good save.

On 8 minutes, Oakway were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box, and an unlucky Grant was able to get a solid hand on the ball, but just could not keep it out - he banged his head on the post as he flew across the goal mouth (enquiries with Epsom County Council confirm that the post is not badly damaged). 2-1 to Oakway and things were not looking good.

Greg broke down the right on 15 minutes, and Steven was unlucky to have his shot stopped. Oakway broke again on 17 minutes and scored to make it 3-1. Scott came on to bolster the defence, but Oakway attacked again and scored - total disaster was looking the Colts in the face - 4-1 and still 13 minutes to go.

The fight back was brave though, and Bookham won a free kick on the edge of the box on 21 minutes. Steven curled it in low and hard causing the goal keeper to spill the ball - uber-poacher Alfie was there to knock it in - 4-2 - could this be another Bookham comeback?

Oakway snuffed out all hope though through their continued attacking - Jack cleared off the line on 26 minutes, before they scored their final goal on 28 minutes. 5-2 as the whistle blew.

Not a vintage Bookham performance by any means - but the attackers were looking sharper at the end of the match and you can't help but feel that next week will be a goal bonanza - COME ON YOU YELLOWS!!!!!

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