Jets bring Jomarth down to earth
Jets 2 Jomarth Construction 1
West Herts Division 2
15th March 2008The last time we played Jomarth at their ground, they ran out 9-2 winners, and Jets being 6-0 down at half time. I wrote a one paragraph match report for that game saying that it was the worst game I have ever been involved with in 18 years with the Jets (I meant it as well!). A few months later and with many of the same players, a fantastic result against high flying Jomarth was achieved, made even more special by the fact that we were 1-0 down as well.
With perhaps the oldest, most unfit back four ever assembled in the history of Oxhey Jets (you know who you are Gerry Brown, Frankie Howard, Dave Prouten and Will Brereton), the only plus point to take from this was the Jomarth back 4 looked even older! Jomarth have a very strong forward line and the defence were under pressure from the start, but under the stewardship of Frankie Howard, they held firm and restricted the lively forward pair to long range pot shots.At the same time, the lively Michael Bishop up front, coupled with the returning veteran Eddie O'Connor were beginning to cause Jomarth some problems, although not really creating any clear cut chances.
I thought before the game it had been some time since we'd seen a Dave Prouten "special tackle", so when the Jomarth forward broke through into the box, there was only outcome. Dave committed GBH on the forward, giving the ref the easiest decision he will ever have and he made no mistake from the spot, giving Alex Butcher no chance with a low drive into the bottom of the net. Jets were having trouble creating anything clear cut, but managed to hold on till half time and go in one goal down at the break
Manager Gary Crossley rang the changes at half time, sacrificing full back Will Brereton in order to switch to three at the back and bringing himself on in order to hold the ball up, and also bringing on Gus Hodge for the (permanently) injured Frankie. You could see how much Jets wanted to get back into the game as there was what I shall call passion, but was probably what everyone else will call moaning! Rob Howard argued with Alex, Elliott argued with Eddie and Eddie moaned at everyone. Somehow though, we didn't lose our heads and with Gerry Brown in a man of the match performance at the back, Jomarth never looked liked extending their lead.
A clumsy foul on the edge of the Jomarth box led to Eddie O'Connor floating a high free kick towards the back post where Michael Bishop rose the highest and nodded a rare headed goal from 6 yards past the keeper for the equaliser.
After the restart Jets weathered the inevitable pressure from Jomarth and a hopeful punt into the box led to a goal mouth scramble with boots, legs and arms flying all over the place, but the final touch went to substitute Liam Baker who prodded the ball over the line from a couple of yards out to put us ahead. This riled the Jomarth defence and a lot of pushing and shoving ensued, which soon stopped when the bulk of Gary Crossley entered the fray!
Jomarth threw everything at us in the last 15 minutes, but we held fast for a good win, moving us up to the dizzy heights of fourth place (UEFA cup anyone?)
Appleby doesn't stop for the Police
and nets the winner
Jets 3 Met Police B 2
West Herts Division 2
16th February 2008Manager Gary Crossley was absent for this fixture due to a house move, so caretaker manager Rob "Ramos" Howard stepped into the breach again after his recent near-win against Hemel Rovers. The same 11 that beat Glenn Sports the week before lined up again with the exception of Rob Howard who was injured, and in any case wanted to concentrate on the management side of things.
The returning Will Brereton and Elliott Newell plus Liam Baker made up the subs bench. You know it's always going to be physical against the police, and this game was no different with a number of hefty challenges flying in early on with the Police obviously trying to avenge their defeat of a few weeks ago. To be perfectly honest, watching from the sidelines was not the most interesting thing in the world, and it would be fair to say the game was the not the most exciting one I've ever seen, with both defences shutting up shop (Jets being expertly marshalled by the evergreen Andy Whiting) and both midfields cancelling each other out and chances few and far between.
To be fair, there were a couple of half chances but Herve in the Jets goal was equal to all of them. In typical fourth team fashion, we gifted the police their first goal when some sloppy defending let the Police forward waltz into the box and slot the ball under the keeper to put them 1-0 up.
Within 2 minutes of the restart, Jets were level when some continental passing (e.g. more than 3 passes in a row) left Andy Beck unmarked from 12 yards to sweep the ball home for the equaliser. As the last few minutes of the half ticked away, Jets hoped they could hold one for 1-1 at half time, but it was not to be. In the dying minutes of the half, a corner for the police bounced in the box and their forward shinned it towards goal where Mark Davies on the line could only help it into the roof of the net. 2-1 at half time.Rob Howard read the riot act at half time, and the team were left in no doubt that he wanted something out of the game, but whatever he said (I wasn't listening) seemed to work as when makeshift forward Imran Ali was played through he (eventually) slotted the ball into the bottom right of the Polic goal for the equaliser.
Will Brereton and Elliott Newell were intoduced to tighten things up, and it seemed like the game was settling for a draw. Police had a 5 minute spell when they could have grabbed a winner, but some inspired goal keeping from Herve kept them at bay. As the game got more and more niggly, a spat in the middle of the park between Jamie Prouten and the police midfielder where tangled legs almost led to brawl meant that everyone stopped to watch, despite the fact the ref hadn't stopped the game!
I know that Chris Appleby was one of the few that didn't stop and ran through and slotted a third goal, but I didn't see it so I can't comment! Some resolute defending saw Jets close out the last 15 minutes and hold on for three points. Rob has asked me to point out that his managerial record (in the league ONLY) is 100% wins!
3 points & up the table for Jets
Jets 4 Glenn Sports 0
West Herts Division 2
9th February 2008In the absence of normal reporter Will Bereton readers will probably notice a distinct improvement in quality in this week report.
Things did not look good for Jets with a decimated side and only a bare 11 to choose from.
Things started to get worse when in the prematch warm up a few players lost count trying to work out the average age of the back four and if it wasn't for the left back Davies it would have been over 40 however as it was it stood at a much more respectable 39 !!!
This compiled with manager Crossley being forced to name himself as a forward (probably for his pace) and putting the hungover Howard in the middle of the park with Hodges (who can only be compared to Le-Tissier great touch but does about 10mins works out of the 90) things did not look good.
This makeshift formation allowed Glen to create more pressure in the opening 20 with Jets having to defend staunchly with the corners ratio about 8 – 1 in Glens favour. However perhaps slightly against the run of play (in terms of possession) Jets took the lead when APPLEBY appeared to whip in a low cross that some how evaded all and ended up in the back of the net.
Jets took confidence from this momentary relief and started to match Glen in all departments with the game slowly becoming more even with the half time whistle proving a welcome restbite.
Jets started to take control in the second half with the greater level of fitness allowing Jets to pass and move considerably quicker than a “youngish” Glen side, what made this more surprising was the majority of play was being instigated by Prouten 54, Whiting, 48, Crossley 47, Brown 42 and Howard 34.
With Wicks Junior (although my money would still be on his old man in a straight race) and Imran providing the width and pace to stretch Glen Sports (if they took the ball with them sometimes that would be a bonus) it was only a matter of time before Jets scored again to which APPLEBY slotted in his second, this was quickly followed by the goal of the game with CROSSLEY deciding it would be far less tiring to shoot from 40 yards than actually run with the ball unleashed an unstoppable half volley leaving the keeper no choice but to watch the ball sail over his head.
APPLEBY then completed the rout with his 3rd of the game (which really should have been about his 6th of the game) to make the game safe.
As Jets started to take their foot of the ball in the later stages Glenn had a couple of chances for a consolation with one shot skimming the bar that left Glen arguing for a corner claiming the keeper made a save, but anyone at Jets knows Alex and saves just don’t happen !!
Rovers leave it late
Jets 2 HH Rovers Res 4
West Herts FA-Apsley Junior Cup
26th January 2008High flying Hemel Rover Reserves from the division above visited Oxhey Playing Fields in the Apsley Junior cup on Saturday, and Rob Howard took over the managerial reins after normal manager Gary Crossley's call up to the thirds. Having been postponed twice previously due to a waterlogged pitch, it was a relief to finally get the game underway.
We knew we would be in for a tough game as they were near the top of the division above and a very good side, but the defence held firm and despite a lot of pressure from the pair of lively Hemel forwards there were few clear cut chances and they were reduced to long range pot shots.
Midway through the half, a vintage Gerry Brown tackle in the box from behind felled the Hemel forward and everyone including the Jets players though it was a penalty, but the ref was unsighted and gave nothing.
Although Jets weren't creating much, they looked a safe bet to hold the visitors to 0-0 at half time, but a loose pass from "Frankie" Howard fell to a Hemel forward on the edge of the box who struck a low speculative shot which bounced over Alex's outstretched hand into the net giving Hemel at 1-0 lead at half time. It should have been 1-1 but only Chris Appleby can tell us how he missed a totally open goal after being played in by Chris Abel.A stirring half time team talk from our stand in leader made us believe we could get something from the game and shortly after the restart, after a period of pressure from Jets, a loose ball in the Hemel box fell to Frankie Howard who smashed the ball home with the help of a slight deflection for the equaliser.
Frankie was the hero again after a mazy run led to him placing the ball in the bottom of the Hemel net from the edge of the box (he had to shoot from here as he was too tired to carry on running!). Hemel were beginning to panic at the back and looked all at sea as a long ball led to Chris Appleby springing the offside trap and being through one on one with the Hemel keeper, if he'd scored it would have been 3-1 to Jets and game over, but the spiky haired fool did it again and slipped the ball wide of the post.
This gave Hemel hope and a soft goal after about a catalogue of mistakes left the Hemel forward with an easy tap in for the equaliser in the 83rd minute. Jets had nothing left in the tank, and two late goals sealed the win for Hemel and killed Jets off.
It would be easy to say it was a good performance against a good side from a higher division, but it has hugely disappointing to let in 3 goals in the last 8 minutes, although letting in soft goals has been the story of our season so far
Dumped out of the Cup
Old Parmiterians 4 Jets 1
Sir Stanley Rous Cup
15th December2007The terrible winless streak for the fourths continued as they were dumped out of the Stanley Rous cup by a team from the lower half of the division below. The bright start back in September is a distant memory and seems a long time ago now!
A side with an average height of about 7ft awaited a Jets side welcoming back Will Brereton, Michael Bishop and Alex Butcher as well as the evergreen (AKA old) Gerry Brown taking up his familiar sweeper role.
Jets were maybe a little bit complacent and thought it would be an easy ride against a team who on paper were not as strong. There was a chance to impress the reserve team manager Sean Brown who had taken advantage of a free weekend to come and watch the fourths, and after the result I really don't think he took any positives away with him!
A strong start from Jets saw them pile on the pressure with the wide men of Imraan Ali and Chris Abel powering down both wings and Adam Snell producing lots of fine runs. Parmiters didn't really produce anything to worry the Jets backline for the first 25 minutes or so, and we actually went 1-0 up midway through the half when Imraan chased down a weak pass from the Parmiters defender and slotted it in the bottom corner.As usual, the lead lasted all of 5 minutes. Despite minimal contact, the Parmiters forward went down like he'd been shot and the ref awarded a free kick just outside the box. Despite a 5 man wall, the ball was curled through a gap in it (it didn't help that Elliott ducked!) and off the post for 1-1.
Just before half time, Parmiters got their second when their winger crossed the ball along the floor into the box. It was half-cleared, but only as far as the Parmiters forward who cracked a 20 half volley into the net leaving Alex Butcher no chance. Half time 2-1.
About one minute after the restart, Parmiters were 3-1 ahead, when a loose ball evaded Alex Butcher and was poked into the net despite the best efforts of little Mark Davies on the line. Normally at this point, Jets would have crumbled and let about 4 more goals in, but at least there was some pride and for the next 20 minutes Jets dominated the play and had several good chances with long range shots from Chris Appleby and Rob Howard not far from going in.The game was over as a contest when late on a through pass was picked up by the lively Parmiters forward and was slotted for number four. It's difficult to see where the next win is coming from and it's almost as if the team has got into the habit of losing, next up is Met Police and failure to win would put us into a relegation battle. Disappointing that it's a must win game before Christmas but we've got no-one to blame but ourselves for that.
Last kick equaliser denies Jets the win
Hunton Bridge 2 Jets 2
West Herts Division 2
24th November 2007No win, but it was very, very close to one, and hopefully this will have stopped the rot for us. As well as the result, the performance and attitude was 1000 times better than the previous week, with (almost) no moaning at each other. I couldn't possibly comment on whether this had anything to do with Eddie O'Connor having a broken bone in his foot and not being there (he also went to Ireland to see UB40, showing his age there..!).
Rob Howard returned into central midfield for his first appearance of the season after being nearly cut in half by Dave Prouten in pre-season. He also claimed the credit for the draw as "he was the only thing that changed from last week" however this is obviously total rubbish.
Right from the start, Jets were on top, with Chris Appleby and Rob Howard bossing the midfield and Imran Ali and Chris Abel causing havoc down both wings. Jets were carving out chance after chance and Lewis Putman was the most guilty party with a few misses (including a free kick off the bar) when he would have hoped to score, but he did open the scoring with a tidy finish from 12 yards after a through ball from the midfield.
A free header from a corner which went just over the bar was all that Hunton Bridge had to show for the majority of the first half, however they a very experienced side, and the crafty forward sprung the offside trap with most of the Jets appealing for it and not playing to the whistle, and tucked the ball past Gary Crossley for 1-1, which is how it stayed till half time, although Jets really should have been ahead.
Worsening conditions in the second half meant the quality of the game dropped, but Hunton Bridge dealt with it much better than Jets and were by the far the better side, although they were still mainly going for long shots from outside the box which failed to trouble Gary in the Jets goal.
For the first 25 minutes, Jets barely had a sniff of goal, although the effort was there, but slowly we got back into the game, creating a few half chances, and several drives into the box which were met with fierce tackles from the Hunton back line. Just when we thought we'd be going home with a point, a marauding Dave Prouten (god knows why he was there, he probably doesn't even know!) had a shot from just inside the box which was superbly saved by the Hunton keeper, although he could only parry it into the path of Chris Abel who smashed home the rebound for 2-1, goal time of 89 minutes which sparked a crazy celebration from Chris which could well go down in history.Game won, or so we thought. Will Brereton's shouts of "it's not over yet" went largely unnoticed by Jets and a hopeful punt appeared to heading straight to Gary's hands, however a good lesson for the younger players could be seen as the Hunton forward ran to shut down an apparently lost cause, and when the ball slipped through the hands AND legs off the keeper he was on hand to tap in the equaliser.
We took the centre, and the ref blew up, so it was literally the last kick of the game. It felt like a loss in the changing room, but it was a good performance from Jets and something we can build on against Coach & Horses next week.
Jets fall deeper into the mire
Glenn Sports 4 Jets 1
West Herts Division 2
17th November 2007It's getting to the stage where I can just use the previous weeks match report for the following week and just change the opposition. Lack of heart, conceding a lot of goals, conceding early goals -same thing week in, week out.
In the fifth game without a win, the bright start to the season for the fourths seems a long, long way away. A much changed line up saw us lose both of our top scorers Owen Deamer and Steve Higham to the third team, but Adam Snell returned from injury to start in central midfield, and Lewis Putnam, Imran Ali, Chris Appleby and Michael Bishop (combined age of about 23) all started.
21 goals conceded in the last 5 games tells its own story, but in the first few minutes of this game, some strong pressure from Jets lead to Little Mark Davies striking a long range effort which the Glenn keeper seemed untroubled about but which actually dropped at the last minute and hit the crossbar. Just after this, both centre halves went up for a corner which broke down, and a long ball evaded the (not that short but rubbish in the air) Will Brereton and (the very short) Mark Davies for the Glenn forward to chip the ball over the oncoming Gary Crossley for 1-0.
This seemed to galvanise Jets and good play from Lewis and Chris Abel on the right wing led to a loose ball in the box which Lewis Putnam smashed into the net for 1-1. Jets had the better of the rest of the half but went in at the break 1-1.
There was a feeling that the next goal would be the turning point, but even we didn't realise how quickly we would let Glenn score it. A poorly defended corner and a loose ball in the box left the Glenn forward to claim his second of the game with a tap in from 6 yards.The introduction of Russell Tarabin gave us some more attacking options and good work from him down the right led to a Mark Davies shot which hit the post. The game was over as a contest when yet another long ball was controlled by the Glenn forward with his hand, probably the most blatant hand ball you'll ever see. The ref missed it, and the forward ran through to slot past Gary Crossley to complete his hat trick.
To add insult to injury (and to sum up how things are going at the moment!), about a minute later a slip in the mud from keeper Gary Crossley, meant a back pass from Adam Snell (travelling at about 1 mile an hour) trickled under his foot and into the back of the net for 4-1. It's difficult to see where the next points are coming from.
Jets heading for relegation battle
Jets 1 Hadley 'B' 4
West Herts Division 2
4th November 2007The poor form of the fourths continued (although it must be said that we have played some good sides over the last few weeks) with this their fourth game in a row without a win. If we had any chance of coming in the top two places in the division, then we would need to be beating teams like Hadley B, particularly when we were at home. With the first and reserve teams taking two keepers each, Gary Crossley, despite still being injured with cracked ribs, had to go in goal, and Chris Abel came in to the midfield to replace Matt Collins who went back to the third team, and Chris Appleby started in place of the ill Lee Collins.
The attitude of the team was questionable again, and there appeared to be no talking and no heart for yet another game. Despite this, we managed to last about half an hour of pressure without conceding, but without really troubling Hadley's defence or keeper either. Jets were constantly under the cosh and second to every ball when a loose ball in midfield was picked up by a Hadley midfielder who ran fully 25 yards before unleashing a rocket shot in off the bar for 1-0. Nothing else worth mentioning about the first half, apart from possibly that we were lucky to only go in 1-0 down at the break.
The second half was much, much better in terms of attitude although we still struggled to create chances, but after about 10 minutes the lively Hadley forward picked up a pass with his back to goal, turned Chris Appleby and struck a low shot into the net from 12 yards. Gary's ribs were getting worse and he could barely move off his line which didn't help matters, and this was obvious when the same Hadley forward had a free header from a corner on the edge of the 6 yard box which a fully fit Crossley would have smashed out to the half way line, and nodded into the net.
We are still waiting for the person who was supposed to be marking him to own up. A few niggly tackles started to fly in at this point, and this seemed to fire up Jets as did the introduction of Michael Bishop who looked lively. A good 10-15 minutes of pressure lead to a few chances (but no real clear cut ones) and finally Owen Deamer got what his hard work deserved and smashed a shot across the keeper from inside the box for 3-1.
Another late strike in the last few minutes finally killed the game and the final whistle put Jets out of their misery. A better second half but still a poor performance overall, and if we don't start picking up points we could see ourselves in a relegation battle by Christmas!!
A better performance despite the defeat
Hadley 'A' 4 Jets 0
Herts FA Junior Cup
3rd November 2007After the shambles of the previous week, manager Gary Crossley demanded a better performance from his team (to be honest, it would have been hard to have a worse one!), especially as we were playing away in the County Cup to high flying Hadley A, who were in the top half of the West Herts. Premier division, two divisions above us.
Luckily for us, the performance was much, much better (despite the result) with a lot more heart and bottle, and most importantly pride. Frenchman Herve Sulard made his debut for the fourths between the sticks, due to Gary's continuing rib injury, and had a big say in keeping the score line almost respectable with some great saves and solid handling.
Matt Collins returned to the middle of midfield along with the horrible little dwarf Steve Higham, miraculously recovered from his life threatening illness, which (totally by chance of course) coincided with an away trip to Hemel Hempstead last week. Just like a scratched record, the fourths repeated their weekly ritual of conceding several early goals, one easy finish from inside the box after we gave the ball away in midfield, and another easy tap in after Dave Prouten slipped in the 6 yard box, and all this after less than 10 minutes.
To be fair our heads didn't drop, in fact we looked up for it, none more so than Lee Collins who pole axed the Hadley forward with an absolutely terrible challenge, and was lucky to only see a yellow card for it.
Although Hadley were by the far the better side, Jets did have a number of half chances, although nothing clear cut. Another clinical strike by the dangerous Hadley forward just before half time meant it was effectively game over, although we still had something to prove after the previous week and wanted to win the second half.The second half was much better from Jets although Hadley possibly eased off a little bit, and the defence and the Herve held fast, and Russell Tarabin's and Owen Deamer's constant running was starting to trouble the Hadley defence. A break down the right from the Hadley winger ended up with him crossing the ball into the Jets penalty area, only for Elliott Newell to throw himself in front of it. With absolutely no-one from either side claiming it, a penalty was strangely awarded for handball and even the Hadley manager said it was a very harsh decision. Never the less, the Hadley forward dispatched it for 4-0 which was the final score.
Much better this week, although defensive errors have got to be sorted out as they leave us with a mountain to climb each week. Finally, special mention to Steve Payne who called the ref a „blind ****‰ directly to his face, with the ref only proving he was deaf as well by taking no action!
What the *!*? happened?
Jomarth Construction 9 Jets 2
West Herts Division 2
27th October 20073-0 down in 10 minutes, 6-0 down at half time and 9-2 at full time. I don't want to waste time and energy in writing a report for the absolute horror show served up on Saturday, but it was the WORST performance I have been involved with in 18 years at Jets. Absolutely terrible, no effort, no pride, nothing. A total shambles. Fair to say that Manager Gary Crossley was not a happy man after the game!
Hadley held for the first time this season
Hadley 'B' 3 Jets 3
West Herts Division 2
20th October 2007Hadley B are among the favourites to take the West Herts Division 2 title this year, but the fourths have been playing well (despite not scoring enough goals) so were not intimidated by their unbeaten record this season and made the trip over there expecting to get something from the game.
Hadley had a strong starting line up including former Jets first team player Paul Finnerty, and Jets welcomed veteran Eddie O'Connor back into the starting line up with Elliott Newell coming back into defence after injury.
In the first minute, Will Brereton almost committed football suicide and let the Hadley forward take the ball from him, leaving him a clear run at goal, but luckily he hit the ball just over. The superb pitch meant Jets could play some lovely passing football, and in an end to end game Jets scored first when a low corner was deflected off of Elliott Newell's shin and trickled in. He claims he meant it, but he's on the only one who thinks that.
Almost immediately Hadley equalised when a deep cross from the left wing evaded all the Jets defenders and a looping header from the Hadley forward made it 1-1.
There was a lot of good football being played by both teams, but not much in the way of chances, and it took a comical own goal to put Jets 2-1 up as the Hadley defender played a back pass which the keeper just watched as it rolled into the net.
A long ball deep into the Jets half meant keeper Gary Crossley came rushing out of his area to clear it. Unfortunately Dave Prouten also charged headlong towards the ball and the resulting collision left both men down and the Hadley forward thanking every god there is that he wasn't between them. Gary Crossley could hardly walk, but carried on with what later turned out to be broken ribs. Half time 2-1.
Shortly after the restart, a loose ball in the box was pounced on by the Hadley forward who smashed it into the roof of the net for the equaliser. It was at this point that Gary couldn't carry on in goal, and without a recognised second choice keeper on the bench or the pitch, forward Steve Payne took the gloves.
Jets would have settled for a point at this stage, but the introduction of Andy Beck upfront and the constant running of Owen Deamer meant that chances were coming for Jets, and Andy will not sleep for the rest of the week after the three gilt edged chances he missed.
The defence were holding firm, and a jinking run from Owen Deamer ended with a cheeky chip from distance that made it 3-2 to Jets.
In the last couple of minutes, the Hadley forward fell over in the box and then little Mark Davies fell on top of him, penalty given by the referee despite the fact that Mark couldn't push anyone over if he tried being as is only 2 feet high. The penalty was promptly dispatched straight down the middle, making it 3-3 which ended up being the final score.
It was the first points Hadley had dropped this season, and a draw was probably a fair result.
Jets take their chances
Tring Athletic 'B' 2 Jets 3
Herts FA - Junior Cup
13th October 2007A trip to the big pitch at Miswell Lane in Tring awaited the B team this week to play their counterparts Tring Athletic B in the County Cup. Despite being in the lower half of the division below, we all know what cup football means, and league form and position goes out the window.
Jets welcomed back Chris Appleby into central defence, and Matty Collins into central midfield, Steve Payne also returned from his trip to the thirds, partnering Owen Deamer up front. Jets haven't had a problem creating chances this season, we create hatfuls every game, but actually finishing them is becoming a bit of a problem. This could cost us this season, especially as the defence likes letting a couple in every game!
Mark Davies was the worst culprit for this, somehow managing to hit the ball over from all of 3 yards. However, strangely for us, we managed to go 2-0 up fairly quickly. Chris Appleby was dominating the Tring forwards in the air, giving our midfield time to play, and it wasn't long before good work from Steve Payne saw skipper Steve Higham strike a low short from 15 yards for his 4th goal in 6 games.A second soon followed when a lofted ball from midfield left the defender for dead and let in Owen Deamer who made no mistake from inside the box for his third of the season. About 3 or 4 clear cut chances were missed, and despite being 2-0 up, the game was far from over as Tring had a lot of experienced players in their lineup. H-T 2-0.
At half time veteran winger Eddie O'Connor stressed the importance of keeping concentration, despite being 2-0 up, and reminding us what happened earlier in the season at Coach and Horses. Everybody seemed to ignore his advice however, and Tring absolutely battered us for the opening 15 minutes of the second half, having a fair few chances which Gary Crossley was more than equal to.Tring's first goal came from a dubious penalty, harshly awarded for handball against Chris Appleby, and the Tring forward made no mistake from the spot, although Gary very nearly saved it. A good spell saw us push Tring back, but a loose ball from a corner was poked towards goal by a Tring midfielder and it evaded about 5 players and rolled past the unsighted Gary Crossley.
The equaliser galvanised Jets and we were pushing for a winner when a very slight nudge on Owen Deamer saw us awarded a penalty, which absolutely no-one from both sides claimed. Owen took it himself and dispatched it into the bottom left corner, but Russell Tarabin (no-one knows why!) encroached into the area which led to a retake. Owen took it again, hit it straight down the middle and the keeper saved it.
Michael Bishop and Eddie O'Connor came on and the subs almost paid instant dividends. Michael Bishop crossed for Russell Tarabin to volley home BUT the offside flag ruled it out. We began to think it might not be a our day, when in the last few minutes, Eddie O'Connor played a defence splitting pass through the Tring defence for Owen Deamer who rounded the keeper and looked like he had gone too wide, but Steve Payne was on hand to smash the winner. Hard work overall, but a good win, setting up a tie away at Premier Division leaders Hadley A in the next round.
Lots of possession, no bite
Jets 1 Hunton Bridge 3
West Herts Division 2
29th September 2007The fourth team looked to continue their good start to the season, and attempted to get a fourth win in four games at home to Hunton Bridge. Elliott Newell and Michael Bishop were both missing through injury (although it was Bishop's birthday the same day..coincidence?) and Mark Davies was at college (on a Saturday?), meaning Eddie O'Connor started in the unfamiliar right back position, with Steve Noonan celebrating being bombed from the Reserves by starting as sweeper. Hunton Bridge only had the bare 11, but had a few experienced lads on their team so we knew we had to be careful, especially bearing in mind that the previous season we had been all over them only to end up losing.
Well, as is always the case with the fourths, our learning curve appears to be a straight line as we did exactly the same as the previous season, dominating large periods of the play and creating numerous chances, but ending up losing. The defence hardly had any work to do in the first 25 minutes, while we carved out chance after chance but the forwards and midfielders seemed to want to walk the ball into the net. Time after time, our shots were blocked or sent wildly wide and after having maybe 75% of the possession, a break by the experienced Hunton forward led to him slipping a through ball between three Jets defenders, picking up his strike partner who made no mistake from 12 yards and slotted the ball underneath Alex Butcher. There was a definite hint of offside about it, and even though there were 4 substitutes as well as several spectators, none of them could find it in themselves to run the line, therefore stand-in referee Gary Crossley had no choice but to give it. 1-0 at half time.
To further Jets embarrassment, Hunton lost a player to injury and started the second half with 10 men. Shortly followed by another injury to their right winger, who despite staying on the pitch was a virtual spectator (Will Brereton still had trouble marking him though). His injury surely contributed to the second goal, when the injured winger hit a speculative long range shot when he normally would have dribbled with the ball, which bounced inside Alex's near post (he will certainly be having sleepless nights about it!).About 2 minutes later a corner found its way straight into the top corner of the Jets net making it 3-0. Andy Beck and Lewis Putnam arrived from the subs bench but it was too little too late. A well made and well taken goal from just inside the box by Andy Beck made the score line a little bit more respectable and a late period of pressure created several more chances for Jets but in the end it was a step too far.
All credit to Hunton Bridge who work hard for each other, a lot could be learnt from them in that respect, and it is still worrying how many goals we are conceding, but with a week off this week, hopefully the next game will be better. The only plus point to take from the game is that at least we are creating chances to miss, unlike last season.
A Maze-ing Deamer
Aldenham 1 Jets 2
West Herts Division 2
22nd September 2007We played Aldenham on the first day of the season and beat them 3-2 at Oxhey Playing Fields, but the return fixture came around very quickly and we knew it would be a different game as Aldenham tend to be very strong at home on their extremely large pitch. Despite missing several of their key players, we knew we'd have a tough task ahead of us, especially after the 5-1 mauling in the cup the previous week. Michael Bishop returned up front after injury, and Chris Appleby came into central midfield after returning from holiday. Manager Gary Crossley pulled on the gloves after Alex Butcher got a late call up to the third team.
On another hot day, Jets started well, with Owen Deamer and Michael Bishop (incidentally, their combined ages is still less than Eddie O'Connor's real age) put the frighteners on the Aldenham defence with their constant running with the ball and their neat interplay with Chris Abel on the left wing.
Owen Deamer had promised a slap (amongst other things) from the gaffer if he didn't score this week, as he normally likes to take on every player on the opposition twice and then try and dribble the ball into the net. He obviously listened as he scored two goals in quick succession, both low shots after mazy runs putting us two up midway through the first half. The back four of Brereton, Prouten, Newell and Davies held firm and restricted Aldenham to half chances and giving Gary little to do. Half time 2-0.
Jets should have put the game out of reach early in the second half, but the heat seemed to affect them more than Aldenham and we began to wilt. Precious few chances fell to Jets and Aldenham had several, particularly from corners and free kicks, and we started to get over-run in midfield. A speculative ball bounced over every Jets player and fell kindly to the Aldenham forward just inside the box who made no mistake from 15 yards and buried the ball on the half volley.This set up a nervy last 20 minutes for Jets, and Aldenham could and should have taken a point from this game, but some good defending and the linesman's flag saved Jets again and again. Veteran midfielder could have wrapped the game up for Jets long before the final whistle, departing from the half way line on one of his trademark mazy runs (you know the ones, where he has no idea where he's going). In an amazing slice of good luck, he managed to dribble round about 5 players and found himself in the Aldenham penalty area where he was undone by .... some long grass. In his defence, it was very long.
3 wins out of 3 put us joint top with 3 other sides, but there's a long way to go, Hunton Bridge at home is the next game.
Jets fall down in Extra time
Jets 1 Glenn Sports 5
West Herts FA - Webster Cup
15th September 2007The B team's good start to the season came to an abrupt end with a heavy cup defeat at the hands of Glenn Sports. In the worst performance of the season so far, Jets finally gave in to the pressure and despite going into extra time level at 1-1, losing heavily 5-1. This brings the total number of goals conceded by the fourths to 12 in three games which is obviously going to need some work!
Will Brereton came back into the starting line up at full back after holiday, and Eddie O'Connor moved in up front to replace the injured Michael Bishop. Mark Davies also made his debut after joining the Jets from Evergreen.
Owen Deamer flashed a shot across the 'keeper inside the box early on which produced a great save from him to push it round the post, but there was not much else to shout about in the half, except that most players had sore necks from watching the ball going over their heads!
A rock hard pitch and long balls from the Glenn backline didn't help matters, but a quiet and subdued Jets were allowing the Glenn forwards far too much room, and it wasn't long before (despite an obvious foul in my opinion!) a shot from the edge of the box which was weak but somehow evaded 3 defenders and Alex Butcher although he claims he couldn't see it. The lead didn't last long, when a corner broke down and Steve Higham lashed a shot in from 18 yards which took a wicked deflection from the Glenn defender for his 3rd goal in as many games. Half time 1-1.
The hot weather drained the players on both sides and the second half was a non-event, with possibly one good chance per side, but nothing really coming out of it. Manager Gary Crossley even brought himself on in order to try and liven things up.Extra time it was then, and right at the start of the first half, the worst happened. The powerful Glenn forward struck a shot across the keeper which somehow trickled in making it 2-1 to Glenn. This took the wind right out of Jets' sails, and a small effort to force an equaliser left us wide open at the back and in the second period of extra time, we let in three more soft goals to complete the rout.
A tough game awaits next week, Aldenham again and they will want to avenge their opening day defeat, so we must toughen up at the back and put our chances away
Great start for Jets
Jets 3 Aldenham 2
West Herts Division 2
1st September 2007The B team kicked off their league campaign with a win against local rivals and recent bogey side Aldenham. A much changed line up from the previous season saw stand in manager Dave Prouten select 4 players for their debuts as well as welcoming back Steve "The Hulk" Higham into the middle of midfield after a spell away at university. Liam Baker continued his new role at centre half after converting from a keeper.
Aldenham started the game with ten players, and Jets made the numerical advantage count, carving out several chances with new front pairing Michael Bishop and Owen Deamer causing havoc amongst the Aldenham back line. However it was another debutant, Chris Abel who cut inside from his left midfield position and hammered a low short just inside the post from 18 yards to make it 1-0.From their only meaningful attack, Aldenham were back on level terms within minutes. The Aldenham forward evaded the sliding tackle of full back Will Brereton and crossed from the byeline to his colleague whose towering header gave Alex Butcher no chance 1-1.
Several fine saves from Alex kept Jets in it but, just before half time, a mazy run from the Aldenham forward was ended as only Dave Prouten knows, a blatant foul and a penalty. Unbelievably, Russell Tarabin earned himself a booking for disputing it, despite it being the most blatant penalty you will ever see. The Aldenham forward duly dispatched it and Jets went into the break 2-1 down.
This is the kind of game we would have lost last year, but we showed great resilience and Michael Bishop, after spurning several chances in the first half, scuffed a shot across the keeper which somehow bobbled in, 2-2. Aldenham now had the full 11 on the field, and should have gone 3-2 up when a goalmouth scramble saw them hit the bar in a frantic 5 minute period of pressure.
After that, Jets began to take control, and it seemed like only a matter of time before we had hit the winner. It duly came when Steve Higham's run into the box looked like it would end with a cross, however it was smashed into the back of the net leaving the keeper no chance.
A good win and a good start, especially the following week which saw the fourths enjoy a 4-3 win against Croxley C&H, with Steve Higham again amongst the goal scores. 6 points puts us joint top, but it's early days in a long season and the number of goals we are conceding is a concern, bringing back memories of the Kevin Keegan Newcastle side of the late 90's
