Our boys’ final league match of 2017 took place this afternoon against All Saints. The boys were looking for a 5th straight league win and confidence was high…

However, the boys quickly realised that this match was going to be an extremely tough challenge. All saints had a very physical team that were capable of competing with us on the ball. Chances were very sparse in the first half, with neither team attempting many shots on target. The comfortable win the boys may have been looking for was going to be hard to get!

Keeper Kamil Skop made an excellent save shortly before half time, as well as defenders Daniel Smith, Francis Westhead and Ruben McNeil continuing their excellent season thanks to excellent tackling and positioning. OLI’s issue was that goal-machine striker Dylan O’Brien wasn’t seeing much of the goal! The half ended 0-0.

After some “hair dryer treatment” from their manager, the 2nd half began. Winger Billy Smith came on to play on his preferred right side, and the boys began to play more positively. The breakthrough was difficult to find though, especially as captain Joe McFarlane-Wells picked up an injury that he was fighting to play through.

Eventually, with about 5 minutes left to play, Zac Abbou threaded a perfect pass to Joe that left him one on one… Joe aimed for the far right corner and the deadlock was broken! Joe’s now scored 1 match in every game, making it 5 for the season! With the score in their favour, OLI were galvanised and looked to increase the margin…

This happened about a minute later as Billy floated a corner in that was met with a stunning volley from number 10 Bobby Mitchell. The volley was on course to fly in for Bobby’s 2nd of the season… just as Jake Jones got the slightest of touches on it to steal the goal! Sorry Bobby.

Just before full-time, another corner was cleared off the line by a defender to deny Jonny Gee a goal… though the clearance smashed into Jake Jone’s side and rebounded up and over the keeper into the net for 3-0! Jake had somehow managed to score with a tackle; it was his 4th of the season.

The match ended there. All Saints were extremely unlucky and came within minutes of salvaging a point, they’ll be tough opponents for any team this season.

MOTM: Joe McFarlane Wells. Recovering from a tough first half, leading his team with heart, and scoring the goal that led to the win. Joe is invaluable to the team and he’s having a great season, well done!