Old Carthusians 0-0 Old Wyks 1s
The Carthusians are generally considered to be the vicious, omnipotent tyrant of the Arthurian League, winning last year’s Premier Division with 49 points from a possible 54 and scoring 4.4 goals per game, with the league only one of a number of competitions that they supposedly gallivant through, crushing amateur footballers from across the South like pathetic bugs. So it was an encouraging sign of the health of OWFC that Billy Wykeham’s men sauntered over to Godalming on a wet and windy Saturday morning and very nearly came away with all three points.
A knife-edge, fiercely fought encounter could have gone either way, and if the Dubs can play like this in most games, the Prem will be a comfortable home. Arthurian League administrator Matt Barry attempted to troll club secretary Goulding by texting “Parked the bus?” upon seeing the result, but the Dubs did no such thing, making a mockery of Jose Mourinho’s increasingly embarrassing insistence that to get points away at good teams you have to line up with two banks of Phil Joneses.
Defensive solidity was combined with fierce counter-attacking, with Donald and Essex as ever looking dangerous when isolated against their man, typically set up by Mike Hodnett, whose ability to keep the ball in impossible spaces increasingly makes a mockery of the physical laws of science. Keeping a clean sheet was manufactured by some outstanding James Gray saves, as well a centre-back partnership as sturdy as….an extremely sturdy thing (fuck off, I’m tired) in Rupert Mercer and Hugo Sever.
Donald had the best chance of the half when put clean through and sending the keeper the wrong way, he struck the post. Charlie Court also shot just wide after fashioning some space on the right.
A good result, but with more still to come from the Dubs too.
Team: Gray, Fuller, Sever, Mercer, Bouch, Court, Prichard, Goulding, Black, Hodnett, Essex, Donald.
(Sever and Donald shared MoM.)