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After collecting their first silverware of the season winning the Konami cup in midweek, the Geese returned to Goffs Lane to play their first home game for over a month. Today’s Cabbie was early, Chris Wicks not putting his clock back received the earliest taxi of the season, turning up at half eight, but of course he has got an incredibly large neck. After a good run on the road picking up Victories in the league and cup, it was decided that the Geese would revert back to a 4-4-2 formation to accommodate for the smaller pitch. Craig Norris was chosen to play off Paul Dodd up front whilst Cedrone’s return meant that Jimmy Musk was rested after a tireless performance against AC Milan. The Geese are also without long-term casualty Lee Ellebeck; meaning that the option of Martin Jol’s big man little man is still out of the question. The Geese knew the game ahead of them was going to be tough, The Accies sitting fourth in the table were clearly able to hold their own and win games. This week both Dodd brothers were on time, getting up extra early to tidy up their Scalextric track they spent all evening building together happily.
Surprisingly to some the Geese started slowly, maybe not as sharp after a weeks break. Passes were going astray and no one was able to find the easy ball. It’s a Goose thing, from one week to another the approach to games change, this week’s preparation was better than the cup game, but the performance was much slower, it just needs one person to act as the catalyst to set everyone off, the time of this changes. The first half saw the Accies have a few chances, but the better ones fell to the Geese. The Accies were proving very difficult to break down and in the early stages only an individual Paul Dodd effort worried the defence, his shot was parried for a corner after rounding two defenders. But pressure increased as time went on, long Matt Cully throws and corners bombarded the Accies box whilst two long-range strikes from both Peter Enefer and Neil Dodd just whistled over the bar. Another chance saw Craig Norris’s glancing header just miss the near post after a great cross from Chris Cedrone.
Just when it seemed the first half was to end goalless, a well-worked move ended up at Paul Dodd’s feet only for him to be bundled over in the box. Referee Ian Andrews pointed to the spot. Despite every effort from the Accies to suggest Dodd dived, it was clear to most that he was caught by a clumsy challenge. Luckily the Geese don’t watch videos of Arsenal, we take our penalties in the spirit of the game and allow them to be taken by the player who has been brought down. Sure enough Paul Dodd stepped up, and as the goalkeeper prematurely swayed right, Paul placed it into the bottom left, putting the Geese 1-0 ahead. This relaxed the fans whose nerves seemed to settle. Jenny Belsey offered more knitting garments of high quality and Jan Wicks had knitted Rory a hat and scarf to keep him up with the latest fashion. At half time, Paul Cully’s return meant the return of our leader, a clear overview of the first forty-five minutes were discussed, and a proposed plan for the second half was laid out in the minds of the players as they bit into oranges.
The second half was brighter, the slow tempo being Paul Cully’s main concern with the first half. Sure enough the Geese came out of their farmyard quicker, as the next goal was to prove vital for either side. Improvements were made mentally and therefore physically, passes now found their targets and the distribution in the final third was better. Pressure continued, and eventually Neil Dodd, whose perfect timing met a long Matt Cully throw, headed the ball into the top left hand corner. Though the crowd shouted for Speedos, Neil was content with a Robbie Keane celebration, Rob Cully and Andy Perry shouting at the worms. Fortunately the dismal description for this goal can be boosted by Tony Cedrone’s capturing of the incident, the video clip truly does it justice.
More passing and pressure from right to left saw a ball passed to Enefer on the edge of the box, he drove into the box and struck a shot that deflected off a defender and into the corner of the net. Enefer worked hard through out and thoroughly deserved a goal to round off his home debut. At 3-0 it was time to rest legs, our Sicilian tyrant Tony Vullo had a frustrating game marking arguably the Accies best player on the day, but V-man done his job, he paid the bills, and put food on the table for his family. Chris Wicks replaced him, slotting into centre back and versatile plumber Steve Adamson tapped into his skills at left back to stop the opposition flooding that channel. On the other flank Ad Cas, continued to put into practice the new-found-knowledge from the new book he is reading- “how to defend, standing up.” He was sticking to his new ways, only sliding once, into the brook, as he searched for Mars.
Soon after, Paul Dodd retrieved a corner from the far side, as it was launched over everyone in the box. Dodd wrong footed the defender that came out to meet him, and swung in a cross with his left foot to the back post. Sure enough Cedrone crept in from the right side and was there to head in off the top of his head into the net for the fourth. This will go down as the angriest celebration so far, snarling at Castiglione, telling him that his Nonna’s Tiramisu is far superior to anything his family has ever made in the kitchen. James Musk replaced Chris Cedrone, not pushing him any further in his first game back, Jimmy switched to the left swapping with Matt Cully who moved to the right.
At this stage it was fair to say the back four were exceptional, all the way along, as was the midfield unit working hard to break down attacks quickly. Brett Norris replaced Matt Cully on the right wing using the final substitution allocated. The Geese carved out another few chances, with Steve Adamson going close, just overrunning his mazy run. With three minutes to go it looked like the Geese were to earn their first clean sheet of the season, but all credit to the Accies who never gave up, and did worry the Geese with chances from corners and set pieces throughout the half. A late run saw the ball skip through the Goose defence, and a ball hit low at Iron Rob Cully spun off his glove and trickled in off the post. Freddy from Crystals wasn’t unhappy with Robert’s effort to save the ball, he picked him up, wiped him down and re-Velcro’d his gloves for him. The final score ended 4-1.
Pino Packer spoke to Gaffer Paul Cully at the final whistle, “Firstly I thought the referee was excellent today, he kept on top of the game and our players respected that. The Accies came here and proved hard to break down; we expected that, they are a good footballing team. I was pleased because although today won’t be seen as the greatest performance ever, everyone played well and done the job expected of them. The goal, what can I say? Apart from that we were faultless, Steve Adamson solid as ever, Peter Enefer also Outstanding. But Yeh Neal Dodd everybody, hard to believe he hasn’t played for two years, we’re just glad he is now. Yeh she was knotted you see, things stick to her so she had to be shaved, funny looking critter now but we love her all the same, tidy and trimmed, no-one to blame.” (see bottom)
Ratings - R Cully 7, A Castiglione 7, S Adamson 9, N Dodd 9, T Vullo 7 (C Wicks 7), C Cedrone 8 (J Musk 7), P Enefer 9, A Perry 8, M Cully 7 (B Norris 7), C Norris 8, P Dodd 8. Subs not used - D Perry, C Belsey
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