London Falcons kept themselves in the hunt for promotion with a comprehensive 6-0 against London Athenians on Clapham Common.
Falcons XI: Matt H; Jimmy, Jeff D, Declan, George (c), Kieran; Jim P, Myles, Steff; Will, Stevie
Subs: Jeff J, Jonathan, Matt D
Player of the Match: Jim P
On a day where both sides were needing to battle the elements as well as their opponents, it was the Falcons who soared through the swirling winds to take an early advantage. Pressing the Athenians backline from the outset, the Falcons soon went one up thanks to good work down the left hand side by Stevie and Kieran that found Steff in the box, whose flick on was met by Will, who volleyed in from close range. After a barrage of set pieces, the Falcons finally doubled there lead ten minutes later, with Myles corner finding manager Jimmy at the back post, who deftly dinked the ball home to double the visitors’ advantage.
As the gusts continued to swirl around the exposed Common, judging aerial balls in the wind became harder and harder for Athenians defence to deal with, as the Falcons laid siege to the hosts’ box. It came as no surprise then that another ball into the area brought about the visitors’ third. Player of the Match Jim Pomeroy was a constant thorn in the Athenians’ side throughout the game, and it was his cross in that was misjudged by the defence and allowed Will to latch onto a deflection to make it 3-0 with his head.
Come the second half, the Falcons found themselves battling against the wind and made harder work of consolidating their advantage. Eventually they did break the Athenians’ resolve once more, largely through the industry and guile of Epsom’s answer to Andreas Iniesta, Myles. His surging run through the midfield saw him break down the left wing and send a darting ball into the box which was turned into his own net by the Athenians centre-back. Myles soon had one for himself, as this time he finished off some good work from Jimmy, whose ball in from the right was drilled home to make it 5-0.
The Falcons should have had more, with Will having a couple of moments to forget including a miss from 4 yards and another effort that when into the skies after some nice work to get the shot away. However, Will finally got his hat-trick and the Falcons’ sixth with the last kick of the game. Having dropped into midfield, he pushed forward into the box and took it past the defender to drive home into the bottom-left hand corner from a tight angle.
The win leaves the Falcons in second place with a game in hand on the leaders. The run-in continues next week back at Tooting Bec Common, where we will host Raynes Park Churches B, who we beat 2-1 on the opening day of the season.
If you fancy joining the squad, why not come down to training at Falcon Park, just by Clapham Junction station, where we meet every Wednesday night at 9pm! We play league matches on Saturday afternoons, which means Soccer Special and drinks in the pub afterwards!
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