Norton OBC 8-0 Woodmansterne

Man of the Match: 14. Dean Barnes

OBC DEMOLISH WOODMANSTERNE AT GARRATT PARK

Lads, as there were two Deans and both with a surname beginning with B, Deano is the striker and Dean is the left back/winger

Not sure where to start here - probably the best Norton performance I can remember, against a team who have beaten us on both previous meetings. Broke a few records here - biggest win in OBC history, eclipsing our 9-4 win last year, also our best ever start to the season - 4 points, 12 goals and one clean sheet, not bad from two games.

We went into the match with a couple of new faces, John came in at left wing along with Dean behind him at left back. A new central midfield partnership saw Mike who played a few games last season come in alongside the returning Liam. Carrying on from last week, Ally, Marc and Pete made up the back four, whilst Ben completed the midfield quartet with Joe and Deano up front.

Straight from the off Norton attacked with purpose with John and Dean impressing on their debuts on the left. Both got forward early on and caused problems with some good dribbling and some good balls in. We didn’t have long to wait for the lead. A long ball was played up field and with the centre backs under pressure from Deano, a backward header fell short and instead of taking a touch, Deano showed his confidence by volleying a measured lob over the on rushing keeper from just outside the area, to put us 1-0 up. A quality finish from a quality player.

The second followed within 5 minutes of the first. Deano grabbed his and OBC’s second after more good pressure on the defence. After winning the ball, he slotted coolly home, leaving the keeper no chance. Deano’s constant pressure was a feature of a great performance from the striker. Aside from the goals, his work rate was top notch.

Soon after, some really good work from Dean on the left hand side led to the ball being squared to Deano - despite being pushed back, he got a toe on the ball, though it some how managed to go over when it looked like a hat trick was on.

Norton wouldn’t have to wait long for their third though - a long throw from Mike on the left hand side was flicked on from Deano - the ball looped up and over the defence and fell to Liam on the penalty spot. Having never scored a competitive goal for Norton, it was too much delight and relief that the Captain volleyed home a clean strike from around twelve yards out.

Up to this point and indeed for the whole of the first half, Norton were playing some fantastic football. Crisp passing, good movement and a great work rate gave our opposition very little to get excited about. The first 45 minutes was a joy to play in. The defence looked solid with Marc and Pete superbly marshalling the opposition strikers. Ally and Dean with the help of John and Ben dealt well with the pacy tricky wingers and in the middle Mike was having a cracking game after several months without playing. As always, Deano and Joe were full of tricks and created plenty up front. The midfield looked to supply them through the middle and also out wide where Dean and John swapped positions on the left, and with the ever reliable Ben on the right. There was a great mix passing and variance of attacking plays.

It should have been 4 when Joe raced clean through only for the usually cool finisher to drag his shot wide. Every one looked on in disbelief as Joe is one of the best finishers at the club! However, OBC did manage a 4 th before the interval as Deano’s shot from the right hand side of the area cannoned back off the post and bounced back in off the unfortunate defender - Joicey was lurking and I think he wanted to claim it to add to his other dubious goals over the seasons! Especially that one against Oakhill which was palmed in by the keeper after an overhead kick from a Johan shot.

Half time saw last week’s hero Ally go off for Fergus in a straight swap at right back.

Having been completely dominant in the first half it was understandable that the players seemed to ease off at the start of the second half, along with added determination and pride from the opposition.

The first 15 or so minutes of the second half were very poor as they started to dominate in terms of pressure and possession. We got a bit too cocky and started trying to over complicate things after doing the simple things so well in the first half. It was in this time, and a couple more instances after that Mel really excelled. When you tell people that we won 8-0, it would suggest a complete white wash. However, had it not been for at least 4 quality saves from the Norton number 1 (in a disgusting top), then we wouldn’t have had the clean sheet that meant so much to us. The opposition kept pushing numbers forward and the defence under lots of pressure kept their heads and composure to keep them out.

We had to wait a while for the 5 th, but it ended the any hopes of a tense finish. Mike was hustling the opposition in midfield, and literally chased the ball from player to player from his half way line. As they retreated, one of the Centre backs headed it past the on rushing keeper and Mike having covered a good 50 yards found the energy to get his toe on the ball to claim his first Norton goal. Well deserved for a good performance in the middle.

6-0 swiftly followed. Having given away possession cheaply in the middle, Liam chased down his opposite number and won the ball back in the centre circle. Deano made a great run to the left and an early ball sent the the skilful forward through. Having drawn the defender, Deano eased passed him and despite having Liam and Joe square he finished with a clinical right foot finish from 10 yards out at the near post. Hat-Trick and well deserved.

Marc came off for Tom who moved into Midfield, and Liam came off for Jesse with Mike moving to the back alongside Pete.

The last 20 minutes saw more chances and it was no surprise when Joe broke down the right and hit a low and hard shot off his right foot to score following good build up play. It was a good finish from Joe who is always up there come the end of the season on the goal scoring charts.

More good build up play down the left saw chances for Dean and Tom who twice got into a good position only to see a shot saved from the first chance and fall over in front of goal on the second occasion.

The icing on the cake was the best move of the match. Ben played a superb angled ball through a packed midfield for the onrushing Deano. He was left one on one with the keeper coming out fast. Deano drew the keeper to the left hand side of the box, then placed a shot back in the opposite direction to where the keeper was running to wrong foot him. The ball just rolled in to the empty net and Dean had 4 goals - a record for a Norton OBC player.

All in all it’s hard to get all of this match into one report - we had several other chances not mentioned above - their keeper actually had a good game and saved around 6-7 chances that most of us thought were definite goals. It could have easily been double figures but we can’t complain too much with 8! We also had countless other efforts just off target (and some quite a way off).

Everyone done themselves proud in what was a great performance. Special mentions to Mike, John and Dean who came in and played like they’ve been with us for seasons, but it’s hard to pick out just 3 for praise as everyone did their job and did it well. Apart from a 20 minute spell in the second half, we were totally dominant and thanks to Mel in the last minute, we also kept the clean sheet that the defence deserved.

Man of the match: Deano - who else?! 4 goals, an assist or two and non stop running gives Deano the nod on a great day for the team.

Next match - Tooting Bec in the Cup at home. Let’s break another record and win a cup match!

Report by
Liam Corrbett
22.09.2007