A Bet’s A Bet
Western Athletic 2 GPR 4
In 2024, the GPR WhatsApp group has felt more like a weather report than a football team. With games few and far between, it makes it all the more special to slog out a win against a good team, and the boys duly delivered this weekend against Western Athletic. It was yet another mark of progression for the lads, who should be very proud of a performance that went the distance against a dangerous side.
The day started somewhat precariously, with Bart, my ride, struggling to wake up between the clocks changing and jet lag from a long holiday in the Philippines. The stiff morning breeze was a welcome tonic to the hangover searing itself into my brain, and the panicked feeling of missing the meet time did the rest. Little did I know, this was to be the least stressful part of my morning.
Bleary eyed, we made it onto the pitch and got into the warmup. GPR has a habit of performing as the league table would expect - beating teams beneath us and losing to teams above. Western, therefore, who were a point behind with two games in hand, presented an interesting scenario. The nerves weren’t helped when, less than ten minutes in, a quality cross-field pass was latched onto by the opposition winger, who sprinted through with intent and placed it past Jack. The wings quickly became the target for both teams, as the slow pitch and packed midfield turned into a trench. Both sides were keen to win the physical duels at the beginning, and the importance of the fixture was plain for all to see. It was, as someone said at the end, “a proper boxing match”.
Lucky for us, we have our very own knockout specialist in Rory. A seamless through ball from Robin down the channel was ready to be scooped up by the goalie, but the star striker’s feet were too nimble and he plucked the ball out of his outstretched hands. From there, it was a simple finish. Shortly afterwards, a quick break from a free kick caught the opposition off guard, and Yannick played a perfectly measured chip to see Rory in again, and this time he did his trademark rounding of the keeper to put the Salads in front.
Both teams were having good passages of play. Luke was pushing forward our left hand side with promising attacking runs. Some quick passing in midfield and searching for the out-ball in Jeff and Prince were threatening to continue the scoring, the former making run after run down the left flank in search of a goal. When Oli found the ball in space on the halfway line, he danced his way towards the penalty area and it looked as if Jeff might be in on goal, only for Oli to cut it to Rory. He turned, looked for the chance, shifted the ball, cut again and then drilled it into the corner past two players to secure yet another hat-trick in his recent scoring form. All three midfielders had bagged an assist, and we went into the break feeling confident.
Going into the second half with a two goal cushion can create a dangerous mentality, caught somewhere between risking complacency and growing nerves. As a new club, we have struggled at times to cope with new situations, and this was yet another first: winning in a pretty even fixture. No one could doubt Western’s quality, and the threat they possessed. But the defence had done well to marshall the threat, Yannick providing the perfect cover in the middle of the park. Jack had been excellent in dealing with the rest, giving a fine display of sweeper keeping and shot stopping to ensure we held them at arm’s length.
We soon found out what happened if we didn’t stay sharp. A loose pass was intercepted by their striker in plenty of space, and some quick interplay ended in a shot too fast for Jack to prevent, bringing the game back to a single score. Western had their tails up, and began committing more and more men forward in an effort to equalise. Alan and Julian had a monstrous second half, making clearance after clearance as we dug deeper into our half to staunch the opposition attack. There were a few heart-in-mouth moments, mostly missed clearances and even an ‘own-cross’ into our box, something that caused me to close my eyes and pray. Their winger had one effort, blocked off the line by Bart. The striker followed up, only to be denied by Julian. Then everyone sort of piled in and just got rid of the danger, somehow still ahead.
The game was on a knife’s edge. We had our breaks too. Jeff’s pace against a fractured defence almost found him joy, and with a better pitch surface he would have surely had more luck. On one occasion, he squared the ball to Prince, and both he and the keeper missed a chance to connect to the ball. Racing to recover, Prince hit it first time, only to watch his effort slam into the side netting. It felt like a matter of time before another goal was coming, and, mercifully, with just minutes to go, Jeff drew a foul in the penalty area that was dispatched with ease by Rory to secure the win.
This weekend’s performance was by far the most excruciating, hard-fought win we’ve had this season. Western were a very good team and we’ll be under no illusions come the return fixture in a fortnight. But the win also ensured that we have won 5 of our last 6, and have gone 3 on the trot. Over Christmas, Marcus and I made a promise to the lads that in the event, we’d get a tattoo in celebration. In truth, neither of us thought we’d have to pay up so soon, but a deal’s a deal and as we’re now in the top 3 I’m having no complaints. The lads should be dead proud. And as always, it was great to see more full debuts - this time for newcomers Tim, Tommy and Jordan. Roll on the Salads!!
MOTM 🤌 = Rory. Both Jack and Alan could have easily nabbed this if not for Rory’s goal scoring prowess. But honestly, it was a great team performance all round.
DOTD 💀 = Duct tape. This one feels a little harsh. It bailed us out of a shirt number crisis and fixed Robin’s mangled boot. There were some votes for Jack for his spectacular tuck and roll into the mud, but I’m not having that.
