The Oakside- Redbridge FC v Romford FC

Redbridge Vs Romford

After months of twittering with @TheMotormen and @ADennehey (Adam Dennehey) I chose the derby between Redbridge and Romford FC in the Ryman Division One North to make a trip to the Oakside.

Setting off from Notting Hill it took me an hour to get to the ground, as the central line stops at Barkingside and a 3 minute walk around the station brings you to the ground.

But being a bit early I walked around the area for a bit, looking for a bar/pub to have a pint, watch the unfolding of the Champions League whilst doing my Sudoku, but no pubs in the area near the ground or surrounding the station.

Approaching the leafy area near the Oakside i caught a few snaps through the top fence, the Chairman arrived in his Jaguar (Flash the cash).

The entry fee is £5 plus £1.50 for a match day programme which was impressive.

Into the club house a pint will cost you £3 with a lovely young barmaid (the only way is Essex type of fake tan) but more impressive is the clubhouse is very modern, having been refurbished not too long ago.

I also grabbed a burger, with the food being sold next to the stands and at £2.50 was a good burger.

On to the match:
My first 5 minutes were watched from the bar as i finished my pint, immediately i saw the Centre back completely miss a tackle and luck was on his side when the striker over ran the ball. But his luck immediately ran out as Romford put one over Redbridge with again the battle being lost in the centre of defence.

Through the first half Romford had the best of possession but created very little threat at goal, mainly blasting the ball over the net-less ground, infuriating the ball catching official.

The second half was almost similar to the first, Romford got on the score sheet again halfway through when a lob over the keeper, which everyone thought was going in, came off the post only for Alex Reid, a former Redbridge player to smash it into the back of the net as no Redbridge players opted to run and cover the net.

Redbridge got a penalty when Shane Stamp was pulled back in the area after he had made a good break from the left, Lee Townrow stepped up and converted with a powerful shot.
The final nail was hammered in by Kurt Smith just before the final whistle, when he was fed inside, he took on one defender and with a low shot made it 3-1.

On the team:
Something to desire, the club has a good number of strong players, the style of football was aerial, with hardly any combination passing throughout the match. Centre midfield was nonexistent, the passing and possession of Hyon-Jin Lee usually spelt missed passes or lost possession.

Shane Stamp often ran into trouble, with the option to pass back and ran off available, but not ever used. But he did look good when fed through with his quick pace.

From a team overall, there was no width or central play, going forward the team had no striker and Kevin Mcleod was unavailable, but even if so, the passing was hard to come by, and when it did, Julian Edwards fluffed the one or 2 chances he had.

For Romford there was spells of good possession and communication, they thoroughly deserved the 3 points and goals, they hardly gave Redbridge the time to move the ball.

Redbridge seem to have a good young base, and their academy side does well (from what I read and heard), perhaps the introduction of a few would be beneficial to the first.
My views are also that a bit more tactical and passing work may be needed to achieve a good level of attractive football, but with points needed its imperial to play the route to goal, with Redbridge just about being safe maybe a rethink by the young manager (same age as me) Jody Brown.

The Crowd and overall:
I was happy with the number at the ground, told mostly were Romford supporters, but the crowd Redbridge had was fantastic, they had offered a local Special needs group the chance to attend the match and cheer on The Motormen and what a fantastic group they were, not even with the team 3-1 down they stopped believing. They promised to come back as they had enjoyed their night. And for a lower league club to offer this support was truly amazing.

Overall was an enjoyable night at the Oakside, and should I not be involved in managing next season I shall make a return to the Oakside.

Benfica second string shambles

Benfica have nothing to play for in the league and with a game on Thursday away to PSV in the return leg, it was another chance for Jorge Jesus (from the stands) to swap the entire starting 11 and throw in Benfica’s second team.
I tuned in to see a match, in the back of my mind I thought, ‘’it won’t be a pretty game, but let me see the boys’’ after all they seemed to produce some football against Portimonense a while back.

Little did I know I was in for a shock.
As a Benfiquista I would not generally be happy to tune in and watch my team.

But we all as supporters have the right to criticise when the performance is below par, when the team does not push for the win or even strive to produce the necessary performance even in a loss.

But when that loss is due to a very large number of players, being paraded as the second option or the long term replacement to some of the 1st eleven, not performing or just simply relying on the name Benfica to win a game, it’s a bit hard to swallow.

I agree we can’t fully expect to change the full eleven and win matches week in and week out, no team will take the full eleven one day and be able to beat the likes of Sporting, Porto , Braga and in Europe.

But when players are asked to come in and beat a team like Naval (no offence intended) they should be good enough, they should work hard enough, show desire, commitment, and passion.

We have to look at Arsenal, FA Cup is where they showcased their talent, and they brought on a squad of young players, whom played to the same standard as the established eleven.
Manchester United brought on an almost changed squad for cups and with the youngsters performing well.
Why? They had all intentions on showing the Gaffer they deserved their place, they showed passion and won games.

Last night in the squad there were players unable to even show they were worth the few and wages paid out, the arrogance of walking on to a pitch and not putting enough effort was shameful and somewhat disappointing to even watch.

Why is it important to perform? Well for the simple fact that when this happens again, no one will tune in, the stadiums will be half full if not much less. Why would anyone travel to watch a miserable performance from the second string that we already know won’t give their all or at least a few faces that did not perform to the standard of the eagle.

But that said, bring on PSV with a full squad.

We are Benfica- NOT FOR SALE -

On the night where many players in red shone, the question will be raised from Socios and Supporters, when the group of players are more or less likely to be sold on to bigger clubs in Europe.

The likes of Fabio Coentrao, Aimar, Cardozo and Co are all on the wanted lists of the big teams.

With Portuguese football on the rise again, perhaps we should think about keeping some or most of the talent at home, make the league a force for Europe.

Why should our talent such as Coentrao go to Germany or Spain? I gather he is more then happy at Benfica, so seeing him in the red and white of Bayern Munich or the white or Real Madrid will not give me the same joy, unless he is wearing the red or Portugal.
Why should we not attract the TV audiences that the English Prem or the Spanish league do?

Benfica need to keep hold of Salvio, lets spend a little, be the club that buys big when the player is worth the money, and Salvio definitely has proven he can make a difference therefore worth the money.
Sign contracts early when we know a player is good to show the rest we mean business.

The investment on another keeper is also something we may need to look at, we spent big on Roberto, whom so far has been hit and miss, a decent back up should make him work harder.

We only have to look at Gomes the Tottenham keeper, a player that until he had no decent challenger was conceding silly goals.

Benfica should at the end of the season fight this temptation to make a bit of money, and establish the dominance of Portuguese football by creating a squad to consistently win trophies.

Maybe follow the footprints of rivals FC Porto whom don’t sell in massive numbers or build a new squad every year.

Consistency in squads is something adapted in Premier League team, top clubs keep top players, the likes of Manchester United buy 2 players and sell fringe players, Chelsea and Arsenal are the same.

Would we not be a greater squad with the likes of Ramires, David Luis, Di Maria, still in the squad? With the addition of the new faces then I am sure Benfica would dominate the league and even Europe.

We have the beautiful stadium, we have the greatest supporters on the planet, a team that can fight the title and win it every year is what it’s needed.

Let’s keep it big, lets make it great…. We are Benfica.

Benfica 4 PSV 1

Last nights result for Benfica in the Europa League was proof that Portuguese football is steadily getting back to its best.

The dominance of the decades past are starting to be seen.  Clubs like SC Braga reaching the quarters, FC Porto totally outclassing their opponents from Moscow can only show why Portugal will have the opportunity to have 3 teams in the Champions League from 2012/13 season.

Benfica’s game against one of Europe’s top teams gave the team much to think about, after the loss in the domestic league against their fiercest rivals FC Porto, a small number started to question the approach to Europe.

But Benfica seem to have a different approach to Europe, a much more attacking flow to their game. They seem to be able to find spaces and penetrate through gaps that come hard to find domestically.

The display from the whole squad was astonishing, the full backs constantly pumping up the pitch, the central and attacking midfielders seemed to connect well most of the time.

The danger from Benfica started earlier on and carried on, and with four really special goals, it will be a feat only worth repeating in Dublin for the final.

On the night it was the Opener from Pablito Aimar which came from a much hard fought play by Fabio Coentrao and Nico Gaitan to cross and find Cardozo, only for the ball to come off him and into the oncoming Aimar to smash it with great power for 1-0.

Salvio went on to score 2 further goals, the first with the hard work from Coentrao on to Salvio to back heel it into the net.

His second was another great work, this time from the right, he goes inside, and with a bit of skill manages to get past in-between two players to hit the inside side net on the far post.

PSV managed to get an away goal which may or may not be important in the return leg in Holland, after a ball from the by line is crossed low, Roberto fails to get hold and Ladyad stick a foot at it to make it 3-1.

Saviola Made it 4-1 on the 93^rd minute, Maxi Pereira gets the ball on the right, passes inside to Saviola, who turns his man and hits the top left for the final kick of the game.

This result will be comfortable to take into the Philips Stadion on the 14^th of April.

Kensington Dragons 5 - 0 FC Kensington

KDFC 5 FC Kensington 0

This was the last match of the season for a group of players, some of whom have represented the club from the age of 12.

And to finish against one of our neighbours and rival, FC Kensington was going to be a special occasion, having beaten Chelsea elite the week before (who is part of the same club but different name).

Before the match kicked off, captain Karris Graham-Moore assembled his troops for one final speech. “Some of us have been here 6 years and others little less then 1 year, but regardless of time, today we are all equal, we are all Dragons”

The match started off with a very strong KDFC taking control of the game, preventing FCK from playing football, with this done, the Dragons preceded in some great passing football. Managing to move the ball all over the field and finding their strikers with only the finishing needed.

On the 25th minute the Dragons used their now trademark of cross field switching, and with Jamal Velinor the main supplier, a long switch on to the far post saw Formosa Mendes strike the ball into the back of the net for 1-0.

The team kept their shape and soon made it 2-0 when Darius Mckenzie got in at the end of a through ball to get the first of his hat-trick.

Darius chipped the ball over the FCK keeper to make it 3-0 and send the Dragons with some breathing space into the interval.

With some words the KDFC players took to the field for one last assault in the Harrow Youth League before graduating into the seniors.

It was an immediate impact and the FCK goal was rattling with 2 shots at the bar and post from David Lalic.

It took 10 minutes for the Dragons to make it 4-0 when Darius completed his hat-trick, he released a powerful shot which was blocked on the line, and on the rebound the young Dragon with even greater power made sure the ball was in the back of the net.

With his reward for the hat-trick he was put in goal for the keeper to get his time on the pitch, and with this Mohammad Kamal made his contribution in his assist for David Lalic to score for the final 5-0.

This was a great performance from and outgoing team that has given so much and battled through the bad and good times.

It was a pleasure to be there at the beginning as well as the end.

Ricardo