OS 10-Goal Thriller
3 November 2016
The Old Stoics hosted league newboys Old Suttonians seeking to win their fourth game in a row, a result which would have seen them go to the top of the table.
Captain James Robson had a full strength side to utilize and even had the luxury of four substitutes to call upon, thanks to a communication breakdown. The opposition have had an eventful start to the season with goals galore, including losing 7-6 in their previous game. And true to form it didn't take long for the first goal of the game. Jamie Hirst just about stayed onside to tap-in from close range after Tolly Leech had dribbled past a few defenders to drive into the box before squaring the ball via a slight deflection for Hirst to complete the formalities.
However, rather than build on this early advantage in which Stowe were moving the ball across the team, a few moments of madness saw the Stoics fall behind. Centre-back Bob made an uncharacteristic mistake in fluffing a clearance allowing Sutton's striker to race clear and slide the ball calmly past an onrushing Mark Thompson-Royds. A failed offside trap allowed the striker to quickly double his tally and when a diagonal through ball from the halfway line dissected the defence and found the left winger who's first time finish evaded a stranded MTR, Stowe found themselves 3-1 down in the blink of an eye.
Half-time arrived and allowed the chance to reset. However within moments Stowe were three goals down as a ball over the top found its way to the right winger. Harry W-G stayed on his feet and looked to have dealt with the initial threat, but he fired a shot from outside the box that hit the bar before rebounding to the striker who completed his hat-trick with a simple header.
To Stowe's credit, rather than letting heads drop, they rallied with the Nigerian duo of Natse and Ugo central to the team regaining control of the game. Having not initially been down to play the match, their presence was much appreciated as first Natse rose majestically at the near-post from Leech's corner to power a header into the top corner. Then Ugo chased down a massive clearance from MTR to power past the defence before slamming the ball homeward, using every inch of the frame to score with a shot that would still be heading into orbit if the net hadn't collected it. Indeed Ugo was troubling the away team's defence constantly with them often taking two or three players to stop him and every aerial ball finding Ugo's head rather than a Suttonian one.
A clear handball inside the box was waved away by the referee but minutes later he seemed to level this up by awarding the Stoics a penalty for a handball that hit more shoulder than arm. Nonetheless Leech duly tucked away the penalty to the bottom left of the goal and from this point on, the momentum was solely with the home side.
A throw-in from Harry W-G level with the penalty area found was flicked on at the near post and found its way to Hirst who completed his second tap-in of the match and Stowe's remarkable comeback was complete.
There was still time for MTR to have to make a decent diving save from a Sutton shot from outside the box but when the final whistle blew the scoreline in a match of high drama and low in quality in defending was 5-5.
The result felt like a point gained rather than two points dropped and puts the Stoics in 3rd place, two points behind leaders Haberdashers but with two games in hand.
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Man of the match goes to Ugo for his key role in sparking the comeback although Leech and Robson both deserve a mention. The former for his tireless, direct dribbling that posed a threat to the defence every time he had the ball and the latter for winning ball after ball in a congested midfield area before coming off second in one such challenge midway through the second half.