VETS HEAD INTO NOSEBLEED TERRITORY

Author Tim Walters
BOEHC Vets 5 Bromley and Beckenham Men’s 7s 0
Well, it must be an age thing, one imagines, based on the fact that old people do not sleep very well at night, as for the second week-end running the Club Vets were handed another 10.00 pushback by the fixture list. This time, however, they did not repeat the sluggish start of a week earlier, and ended up comfortable winners against a well-drilled Brombecks side who will do well at this level following promotion last season from Division 4. The trouble with 5-0 is that is looks like a “walkover”, but in this South London derby Brombecks definitely turned up and were very much in the game throughout, even if the final scoreline may have been a bit harsh on them. On the few occasions where the visitors broke through, however, keeper Keith Elliott’s one-man impression of the Berlin Wall blocked everything in sight, and his clean sheet was no less than he deserved.
The line-up saw the return of Ross Higginson in a midfield role alongside the mercurial twosome of Richard Cleall and Ravi Wickramsuriya. With the marauding Lee Sandy once again wreaking havoc down the right like a runaway fire engine, this was as good a midfield quartet as the team is likely to field all year. The backbone of the team too was stiffened by the inclusion of the excellent Steve Miller and Brett Melville, the latter making his first appearance for the Vets and exuding the presence of Table Mountain over proceedings.
In truth, none of the five goals collected by five different scorers would feature in a “Top 100 goals of the season” contest … one or two might even have struggled to make the top 500, but the score-line does not differentiate ultimately between the brilliant and bestial. Richard Cleall once again made the vital breakthrough, this time from open play following a slaloming run into the D. But chances came and went before Jason Walsh finally deflected Ravi Wickramsuriya’s effort from a short-corner past the visiting keeper on the stroke of half-time. Brombecks came out with a reshuffle and renewed purpose in the second half, but then found themselves three goals down once another “Ravi bullet” (possibly travelling even slower than his earlier assist for Jason Walsh) went to the left of the outstretched keeper. Graham Green kept up his scoring streak with a well-worked fourth, before Lee Sandy rounded matters off over the keeper’s head via a defender’s stick and another defender’s back – it was pure “billiards”.
Tony D’Cruz entered the fray as the thoroughbred Jason Walsh pulled up in the final furlong, and he nearly bagged an assist in the process, although it was Peter Robinson who caught the eye throughout, attacking at will from a right-back position and causing the Brombecks’ defence no end of problems. Clearly playing at venues he can actually find suits his game well, but he deservedly polled the majority of votes as the man-of-the-match for his all-action display at College Meadow.
It will be good to see the return of vintage captain Stephen Gilbert next week for a potential top-of-the-table away clash against fellow early pacesetters, Maidstone. His absence, along with that of regular Simon McDonald, meant dredging deep into the Club’s vaults for a replacement bin-end with even a hint of decent provenance. The eventual “acting” captain (never was an adjective more appropriate) was delighted to assume the mantle for the day, however, once he was told that the job could only be done by a “true anchor” at the Club ………. or perhaps he just misheard that bit!
Team:
Elliott (GK), Robinson, Miller, Melville, Walters, Cleall, Wickramsuriya, Higginson, Sandy, Green, Walsh, D'Cruz.
Umpires:
Rhys Edwards and Scott Dow … both excellent. One green card was necessary early on for verbals, but the game was played in a good spirit throughout by both teams thanks to consistent, fair and good umpiring.
Man of the match:
Peter Robinson.