A bright start, playing towards their home end; the attack looked sharp, the defence was solid and midfield was smooth as Granny’s gravy - Browning & Stock (ah, Bisto!) combining well. Indeed, Stock probed the Ox defence all night like a surgeon performing an endoscopy. Purches’ pace made up for Elliott’s absence, but several players slipped throughout the game after the earlier downpour. One Purches slip almost let in the forward, but he recovered & managed to tackle the ball against the opponent for a goal kick. Purches had already hit a long-range effort from a worked corner just over, and in general the team looked as if it was enjoying itself. Narada was sprightly & recovered well when he made mistakes, & later began to link well with Thomas. Mossie was alert, mostly to back-headers & the like from his defenders. The right back slipped between Narada & Browning, & headed for goal, but Broadhurst made a great tackle in the area.
Then the moment we’d been waiting for. As Stock moved beyond the centre-circle, from my position I could see the ball he should play. And he did: pass of the season – weighted perfectly inside the left-back for O’Connor to run onto, first-time low cross, & SupaFletch in space just half-volleyed it past the stunned ‘keeper. 0-1, 24 mins – magnificent; we were all a-quiver as the shot arrowed into the net. "Shall we sing a song for you" to the quiet Ox home fans. YoungerFletch rebuffed the home team’s riposte with a real libero display. Mossie went too far back for a cross & dropped the ball but Purches cleared. Narada tackled superbly – again for a goal kick. Gradually he’s learning how to defend.
All this time, Hayter had been looking powder-puff compared to SupaFletch, but then a mis-kick saw SupaFletch offside but intelligently moving to a passive position allowing Hayter to run on & slot the ball into the corner. 0-2, 34 mins; this was magic! Soon it was even better; O’Connor, Purches & Stock made neat triangles on the right until Stock dropped deeper, took a pass, pushed it into the area for Purches to run into the inside-right position & thump it home left-footed first time. 0-3, 38 mins. Dreamland! There must’ve been 20-odd passes in the overall move. Cheers for Chukki as news came in of his 2 goals for Hereford against Northampton, & sniggers on news of Melligan’s goal for Kidderminster. Enough; Stock put in SupaFletch who slammed it against the ‘keeper, & Thomas was tearing their right back to shreds, running onto Narada’s chips. We had to wonder how much the opponents were a reserve side; this was sheer domination. Half time 0-3 & utterly deserved.
Significant changes for Ox at half time; oldies Robinson at left back, & Oldfield in the 3rd quarter of the pitch, made a big difference. Ox attack was more coherent & insistent, & we had less room on the flanks. They even managed 6 passes & a cross, but SupaFletch put Thomas in with a headflick. Thomas stumbled but still retained the ball; his cross was blocked. Their big forward then managed to put the ball over our bar from inside the 6-yard box; pressure was straining our defence. Mossie punched out well, then they stole round the back but the cross led to a forward’s toe-poke to Mossie. A right-wing throw & back-header saw a header over Mossie who’d come but not collected; 1-3, 61 mins. Uh-oh. Stock tried to zigzag through, then we developed another flowing move. Hayter went through with great control & went down, but no pen. O’Connor went through on the left; surely that was a back-pass? Stock again showed great skill, ending with a 20-yard left footer just wide. Elliott replaced the increasingly ineffectual Thomas on 69, but didn’t make too much impression other than holding the ball up better on that side. Narada played SupaFletch into space; he shot against the ‘keeper, O’Connor did likewise from the rebound, & SupaFletch hit the ‘keeper off that rebound, the ball going for a corner.
However, too many gaps were appearing; Mossie made a great push away from an excellent turn & shot, & it was largely Ox incompetence in front of goal that it wasn’t 2-3. We all cheered Feeney & SupaFletch as they swapped on 81, but Feeney isn’t the same target man as SupaFletch & never had a decent run. At least he’s back. Hayter did well again on the right; this was as good as he’s played. Then Browning went up to defend a corner beyond our right-hand post; penalty for handball. This was one black spot – Browning is occasionally a liability, perhaps why Gills released him. Mossie had no chance with the spot-kick; 2-3, 87 mins. It was typically frantic from then. A back-header saw Mossie slip & YoungerFletch clear off the 6-yard line. Mossie went walkies, trying to out-Barthez the forwards, missed the clearance but was covered. 3 mins added time; late corner to Ox but no probs. Great cheers at the final whistle.
Just think how poor we were at the Vetch 2 months ago; what a transformation. Is the SO’D a good manager?
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AFCB (4-4-2): Moss, Purches, Broadhurst, C.Fletcher, Narada; O’Connor, Browning, Stock, Thomas (Elliott, 69); S.Fletcher (Feeney, 81), Hayter.
Unused subs: Bloomfield, Foyewa, Stewart
Thanks to Gordon & Graham for the lifts.
Peter Wicks, Greenford