Friday 30th April

The game we all looked forward to had finally arrived.

London Allstars vs Hatch Lane..

Battle of the favourites, 2 footballing teams, The team Jermaine left to go & join.. The storyline was already set.

Coming into the game Hatch Lane had been unbeaten all throughout the season & hadn't lost a game since April 2018 in the East London Cup, for Allstars, they had suffered just the 1 defeat this season back in December when they lost a thrilling encounter to rivals East London Kings [5-4].

TEAM NEWS:

For Hatch, we'll be going into this fixture without BOTH our 1st choice Centre-Backs as Cherrie is now back in Oz & the main man Psaul is ruled out for the foreseeable future having sprained his ankle in the previous round vs NLO FC.

For Allstars, Jermaine was ineligible to play against his former team as he'd previously played 2 games for Hatch in this competition.

LINE- UP:

Martin
Tyler
Steveo
Wackers
Kevykevz
Lee
Johnson
The Kazman
Trem
Lucio
LJ

SUBS:
Lucas
John
Dan M
Dannarocco
Folkes

The game was underway and both teams blessed us with brilliant kit choices as the home side sported their all white strip & Hatch returned the Barcelona kit having not used it for 3 years.

From the get go it seemed as though Hatch would pick up exactly where they left of from the last game, a few neat passes on the left hand side from Kev, Ayrton & Lucio managed to get the boys higher up the pitch very quickly and in the long run could cause issues for Allstars. However it wasn't an opportunity down this side which would bring the first goal, on 3 minutes, a string of passes down the right involving Tyler & Trem would lead to a corner. Tyler would swing in a lofted cross which reached Lucio who headed down & at the back post & there he was again, capitalising in a loose ball was Steveo to send the boys a goal up with less than 5 minutes on the clock the goal came as a bit of a shock for London Allstars as they may not have had to deal with an experienced side who know how to win games & this uphill battle of being a goal down so early on would test the teams character & how far Ruddy & the boys have taken them in such a short space of time.

Some beautiful football was played by both sets of players early on however the first 25 minutes was predominantly dominated by the team in red & blue as The Bigman in the middle saw a lot of the ball with Kaz & Johnson the enforcers just in front, providing the steel & ability to win the ball quickly & effectively enabling the front 3 of Trem, Ayrts & Lucio to cause trouble to the Allstars defence.

The momentum would shift as Allstars would eventually weather the storm & grow in confidence to show why too are a favourite of the competition. Their CB's Nash & Chris would start to see a lot more of the ball receiving from the GK & finding the central midfielders who improved as the game went on. With quick & precise movement from both wingers, now starting to utilise their pace, would find themselves on the by line to whip a few crosses into the Hatch area which Wackers & Steveo would deal with as aerial threats didnt oppose them.

The game continued to flow and both teams would try to impose their will however Allstars would have the better of possession as they tried to seek a goal but wary of Hatch's finesse when going forward. A few chances for the home side came and went in good areas with Free-kicks & finding the penalty area but nothing true & nothing challenging to truly trouble Martin and an experienced defence of Ty, Steveo, Wackers & Kev.

With 47 minutes on the clock, after a perked of sustained defending, Martin found Lucio on the halfway line & turned his defender, here we were, 4-on-4 with the allstars defence Lucio played the ball out wide right to Trem, Trem surveys his options with Kaz making a late burst into the penaty area, a first time low-cross to the far post found big-game player Ayrton as he coolly slotted the ball back where it came from to make [0-2] to Hatch, excellent play, capped off with a brilliant finish. At the restart the referee calls a halt to the first half sending the boys in 2 goals to the good!

HALF-TIME:

London Allstars 0-2 Hatch Lane

SECOND HALF:

As the second half began it was all down to Allstars to show they can fight back from such a deficit against a well run team, this was nothing new to Hatch & whatever they would thrown in the direction it's not something they haven't seen before, but Allstars kept believing and moving the ball at a higher tempo is how they started, seeing a lot of the ball were their central midfielders who became more & more influential in all of their attacks as the game went on.

With the crowd now reaching in their 60's for a fantastic Friday Night game, the only thing spoiling this affair unfortunately was the man in the middle with his lack of consistency & somewhat bias decisions. But this is something the boys have had to get used to on many occasions as the biggest turning point came. After near play from Lee, Kaz found Trem in Akers of space just outside the penalty area, a touch to set himself & a shot bottom right, but the keeper parries it and the loose ball is there for anyone to challenge, so Johnson gets there to make it 3-0. It did look like the keeper had a hand in the ball but as per rules, both hands have to be on the ball & after initially giving it as a goal & clearly stating earlier during the match that the linesman were only to be consulted for offsides, corners & throw-ins. The referee made his way over to the opponents lineo who (unsurprisingly) would tell the ref the ball was secured by the keeper & the goal should be disallowed.

An absolutely terrible decision which will be viewable once the match highlights are out as clearly the referee didn't know the rules of the game. This was frustrating for Hatch as this decision early in the second half was a pivotal moment in the game because at 3-0, this is where the boys push on and win games by ridiculous score lines with proof from our previous results & that would've been a BIG task for London Allstars to come back from 3 goals down knowing they'd be exploited at every opportunity when going forward and leaving space in behind.

Immidiately from the restart their CB Nash depresses the ball out wide right & with the defences all at sea following the referees decision, a cross comes in & an Allstars attacker is there to latch on at the end of the cross to make it 2-1 in front of a great crowd. Now, we have ourselves a GAME!

With the bit between their teeth, the home side would now throw the kitchen sink in search for an equaliser & shortly after scoring the first, they had an unbelievable opportunity as they're awarded a penalty from a Lee challenge which seemed outside of the line, however on second viewings & different camera angles, it was indeed the right decision. How things changed in a short space of time, 3-0 up wrongfully disallowed to now being tied with 25 minutes to go.

Just before the player stepped up he heard it from LJ & Martin who did everything in their powers to put the striker off. So here he came, the run up, the chance to make it 2-2 by sending tit into the top right stanchion.... WIDE! He couldn't believe it, the crowd couldn't believe it. But the game went on & with that Hatch had to stay focused & not allow the 12th man to put them off their determination to knock out the opponents.

Trem was replaced by Dan M, and it wasn't long before he would leave him mark on the game.

BIG-GAME, BIG-PLAYERS:
Johnno recyclers to Martin who picks out a lovely ball to a free Tyler on the right hand side, drifting over was the interchanging LJ who pulled Nash out wide leaving him in no mans land. Slowing him down before accelerating to the by-line leaving Nash for dead treading water Ayrts got to the by line and found Dan M who took a touch before smashing into the roof of the net for what was ultimately a deserved 3-1 lead having wrongfully had a goal chalked off.

The rest of the way the boys looked after the ball well & with the return of DannaRocco back to the side after missing a month through injury, it was good to see him get some minutes back on the left hand side with his cool & steady play, slowing down the tempo. With the clock running down it was only time to force things for the hosts as it dawned on them that this would be the end of the road in the London Cup.

FULL-TIME:

London Allstars 1-3 Hatch Lane

FINAL WORD:

KB: "Experience prevailed as we stuck to the game plan, executed well & ultimately came away with the victory. You don't always win pretty but you manage to "get the job done".

Our opponents were certainly the most talented team we've played in the last 3 years & if somebody would've asked me would we take a 3-1 score line considering the personnel we have at hand today, we definitely would've. There is real promise in London Allstars, a team we'll definitely be seeing in the future & things can only get better with the ambition the club has got. They play football the right way by getting it down on the floor & it's a pleasure to see & although we've been to the promiseland on many occasions, it puts your players under pressure to step up to the plate & it's obvious with this style of play they'll attract a lot of attention.

Very pleased with Coach Ruddy, Jakir & the boys & I wish them all the best for the rest of the season."

MAN OF THE MATCH:
Johnson ?

PLAYER RATING:
Martin - 6
Tyler - 7
Steveo - 6
Wackers - 8
Kevin - 6
Lee - 7
Kaz - 6
Johnson - 10
LJ - 9
Lucio - 6
Trem - 7

Dan M - 7
Rocco - 5

NEXT UP:
Sunday 16th May
London Cup Quarter-Finals
B Young Reds vs Hatch Lane (10.30)