Pulling up in the car park on Saturday with the rain coming down and the hospitable atmosphere that surrounds the lush pitches of Blakelaw, I think we all knew it was going to be one of those days!! And it was.

The Reserves were playing Oddfellows a well-organised outfit, who battle hard and go in strong. The game started at quite a pace, Oddfellows were up for it, Garnett maybe less so. Oddfellows pressed and attacked our half with pace, effectively testing our defence. Garnett were scrappy for the first fifteen minutes, giving the ball away and not creating much. Oddfellows on the other hand had a string of corners one of which was eventually converted, a near-post flick past debutant keeper Hall leaving him stranded. It definitely was going to be one of those days!

Conditions were worsening, and the rub of the green decisions began to go against the Green and Black. However, midway through the half, the Reserves lifted their game, found composure and started knocking the ball about in a manner to be expected of this Green and Black side. Holmes and Wonders out-battled the midfield. Robinson won challenges and Hopkins was beginning to look more of a threat. Suddenly, a break - a measured through ball found Dawson, the lanky forward, and he was in on goal and converted his chance clinically to make it 1-1. However, disaster struck when Oddfellows went ahead on the break. Garnett were caught out and disorganised at the back, and the striker finished well past Hall. Heads dropped slightly, but the lads remained determined. The rest of the half was muddy and mixed, with both teams coming to terms with conditions and the fact that their opponents were going to be fairly up for it.

In the second half the Reserves began to face an uphill battle as the decisions continued to go against them - and in their frustration perhaps complained more than they should have - in turn this may have contributed as touch and go decisions kept going against them. But, given that the Oddfellows defence, although organised and determined, did not contain practitioners of the offside trap of the ability of Dixon, Bould, Adams and Winterburn, it was perhaps a surprise that Garnett were caught offside on every occasion. Anyway, no team should blame the ref for the result, Garnett had to continue to graft and scrap for another goal. Stevens moved into the centre and started to show his real abilities. Wonders continued to battle like a trooper. Webb and Ossawy tidied up well, Garnett terrier and famous Old Boy Brown came on at right back and showed confidence and good technique. Vast improvements from the first half and we looked like a much more solid outfit, making incisive runs and we played much more as a team. Ossawy converted a header from another quality Hopkins corner leading to a pretty passionate celebration. Come on the boys! We wanted it and if it hadn't been for the ref's whistle Hopkins, Robinson, and Dawson would have almost certainly scored. Oddfellows came back into the game a bit more, now not content just to sit back, one shot just going wide of Hall's post.

However, Stevens nearly earned a hard-fought win when he burst through in the last seconds. Silence from the voluble Oddfellows support…but the cross bar foiled him. Final score of 2-2 was not a bad result considering the pitch and the lack of luck with decisions. When we next meet Oddfellows though on the open spaces of Benson Park we will win. We were the better football team and we dictated the second half of that game. It just wasn't to be. Manager Pollard said, "after a bit of a tepid first half showing, I was delighted with the way the lads responded after the break, and we were inches from a hard-earned win. Still things to improve on though, we've been one down in the last three games, which makes it even harder in this competitive league. And if we can begin to put together performances of effort and composure for the full 90, rather than just spells, then we'll be okay".
Many thanks to Richard Turner for his report.

Team: Hall, M.Pollard (R.Brown), R.Turner, M.Wonders, T.Webb, C.Ossawy 1, J.Stevens MOM, B.Holmes, C.Dawson 1, D.Robinson, G.Hopkins
Sub not used: P.Leandro