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04/02/2010
- FDFC Men
// Fulham DFC 8 - 0 Nottingham DFC
Sunday 31st January 2010
EDF (England Deaf Football) Cup Quarter
Final
Fulham Deaf FC v Nottingham Deaf FC
After
a very disappointing postponement of the league match on the day before, this
game was very much in doubt. Thankfully, the FFC groundsman relented and FDFC
were able to welcome the Nottingham Deaf team to MotspurPark
for the first time in their history.
Vorster,
who broke the highest appearance record in gaining his 152nd appearance,
had to be drafted in goal due to Robert's shoulder injury and with other
goalkeepers unavailable. The back three consisted of McDougall, Captain Evans
and Harding (who claimed his 49th appearance for FDFC- one away from
50!), while Bovino was named as the anchor man behind Burns and Gregory with
both Hogan and Monksfield playing on the flanks. Ailey and Willis were tasked
with scoring the goals to take FDFC through into the semi-finals.
Al-Sarraf,
the Gaffer, offered his usual simple advice- keep the ball throughout, ensure
the first touch was good, to keep the ball moving to create chances and to
ensure a clean sheet (just to save on the washing costs). GB Manager Phillip
Gardner, the referee for this game, got the game underway shortly after 1.30pm.
Fulham totally controlled the first 15 minutes, spraying the ball around the
pitch, switching play and creating chances at will, but Nottingham
goalie Ian Wright did well to keep us at bay for the 20 minutes it took for us
to score. Eventually, the floodgates opened, with Ailey popping up to tuck a
simple side footed chance home to take his goal scoring record to
9 consecutive games in a row!
A
few minutes later, Ailey
popped up with another goal from close range to put FDFC further ahead. Gregory
then atoned for his season of misses by putting his shooting boots on to slot
in a simple third after good build-up play from midfield. Ailey then hammered
in the fourth and to celebrate his 4th hat-trick of the season.
Willis had worked very hard
in closing the opposition back four down, and got his just reward by receiving
a simple pass, beating three defenders and firing a shot goalwards, only to see
it cannon off the crossbar. Undeterred, Willis quickly snapped up the rebound
and nodded in FDFC's fifth of the game with a simple header.
Nottingham's misery continued
when Gregory delayed his shot enough for a sliding tackle from a Nottingham defender beat Ian Wright in goal and nestled
into the back of the net. All onlookers agreed the finish was far better than
any of Gregory's goals so far this season!
The scoreline was 6-0 when Gardner blew for
half-time. The scoreline could have been greater than it was, if it was not for
misses from Hogan, Burns, Gregory, Willis, Bovino and Monksfield, who couldn't
find a way past an inspired Wright in goal. The Gaffer complained and applied
his usual rule of doubling goals to state that FDFC should have been winning
12-0 at half time! The bemused team were wondering whether or not the beers
from a party the night before had taken their toll on the Gaffer.
During the half time talk,
the Gaffer wasn't pleased with the first touch and the quality passing in the
first half and urged the players to improve on this in the second half.
FDFC
continued to apply a lot of pressure on Nottingham
by keeping the ball and spraying it around the pitch. However, several chances
went begging, the worst culprit being Hogan. The constant misses didn't please
the FDFC dugout! (and especially not the Gaffer, who reached for his boots not
long after to show the young 'uns how it was supposed to be done)
Hogan
then scored a simple goal and Willis fired in his second by capitalising on a
shot from Bovino which had not been fully parried away by Wright. Monksfield
came close to opening his FDFC account with an excellent run into the heart of
the Nottingham defence, before releasing a
curled effort which unluckily came off the upright with Wright well beaten.
The
Gaffer, who had come on for Harding in a desperate bid to hold on to his
appearance record by tying Vorster, attempted to score his first goal for FDFC
from a free kick, but the magic had clearly gone from his boots as the weak
effort fell into Wright's hands in the Nottingham goal. The elusive first goal
for FDFC proved to be, well, elusive still for the Gaffer.
There
was time for one more act of heroism from Wright, as he excellently saved
Ailey's confident penalty to keep the score down to 8-0 at the end.
The
full time whistle soon blew and FDFC were through to the semi-finals of the EDF
Cup. The Gaffer named Eoin Burns as Man of the Match for his work rate and
enthusiasm in central midfield, and showing strong ball retention by keeping
his passing simple throughout the match.
FDFC are looking forward to a league match
against Nutfield next week in a bid to gain three more valuable points to keep
the pressure on AFC Cubo.
Final score Fulham Deaf FC 8 - 0 Nottingham
Deaf (HT 6 - 0)
FDFC Line-up :- Vorster, Harding (Al-Sarraf
75), Evans, McDougall, Hogan, Burns, Bovino, Gregory, Monksfield, Willis and
Ailey.
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