Casually Speaking - part 2

Oxford City Casuals – The team that puts Ability in Disability Football

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to… well, Feltham actually. Last Sunday saw the Casuals make their way to Feltham, Middlesex to play the Feltham Bees. The Bees are part of Brentford FC and like us have dedicated coaches from the club. We all met at Court Place Farm Stadium and before getting on the coach there was a definite buzz going around the team. A certain feeling of excitement, nervousness and most of all impatience! That feeling of when you’re looking forward to something, but whatever you try you just cannot make it happen sooner. Still, as they say, all good things come to those who wait. So off we went, a coach full of players, coaches and supporters on to sunny Feltham.

We got there in good time and set about getting ourselves ready for kick off. It was our first outing in our new kit which has kindly been sponsored by Domino’s Pizza which we are of course very thankful for. So there we were, all in our kits and looking very smart, now it was down to business. We started in the traditional 4-4-2 formation and the early exchanges were very close, with not much between the two teams. However the deadlock was then broken, the Bees came through the centre and played a very good pass into the danger zone where a player was running into space, good control and a well placed shot put the Bees 1-0 up. With the Bees one goal up we pushed forward looking for an equaliser. A half volley from inside the area flashed just wide of the goal and that signalled that we weren’t going to give up easily. The Bees kept pressing and they managed to sneak some other goals in to go in to half time with a reasonable

lead. The score line flattered them as the game was a lot closer than what the score suggested. During half time the Gaffer set us a task, to continue as we were doing and to get at least one goal. So with this in mind we went out for the second half and straight away we looked much stronger unit. The Bees were finding it very difficult to break us down and we managed to cause them a few problems. Our continued pressure then paid dividends. With one of our attackers in the box their defence made the mistake of climbing on him when challenging for a header. The whistle went and a penalty the decision. Our chance had come to do it, to score that goal that we all longed for. The ball was placed on the spot and the striker started his run up. The keeper dives to his right as the ball goes straight down the centre! GOAL! We’d done it; we had the goal the Gaffer wanted. Such a proud and memorable moment for the team gave us the boost we needed to continue pushing. The rest of the game was very much an end to end affair with both teams having plenty of chances. In the end we ran out of time and it was not going to be our day. But the result is not important, the main thing is that we got that goal and one that I believe will be the first of many.

So our first away fixture was over, the result not what we wanted but a great performance from the team considering we were only having our second game. Many thanks to Andy, Janet, Steph and Colin for devoting their time on the day and of course to all the supporters who travelled to cheer us on.

Our next confirmed game is away at Hitchin Town at the end of March and if we keep improving as we have been then I predict that Hitchin will not know what’s hit them! Thanks once again for all your support.

Regards,
Ash.