OFFC Freeze in the JLC

The Old Felstedian Football Club took on Old Brentwoods’ IV in their Arthurian League return in the Junior League Cup tie. OFFC’s 100 year wait for competition was jeopardized by freezing conditions, with the temperature remaining below freezing even at the full-time whistle. A thick fog made excellent conditions for a 90 minute ‘spot the ball’ competition, and whilst waiting on the referee’s final decision to play, OFFC made friends with their changing room sharing partners Old Amplefordians – who also shared concerns regarding the play conditions.

From the first whistle, it was quite clear the frost dusted playing surface would not allow for any tidy passing football, with usual maestros Grayson and Smith having to battle to get control of the ball. The reality of the conditions hit home after a Brentwood set-piece led to their first of the afternoon. A great leap and contact saw the ball clip the underside of the bar, evading the helpless Burns. The part-time Felstedians didn’t let this hinder their spirit, still managing to keep the league-topping Brentwood side at bay until a series of blocked clearances and deflections allowed for an easy tap in at the back post.

The game reached its warmest point following a raised boot into Burns’ ankle whilst clearing a through ball, who took great pleasure in showing his war wound to the referee in the bar afterwards. Andy had skillfully captured the incident frame by frame, which if shown to a VAR panel would most likely have resulted in a booking – if not worse. OFFC Manager King thought it was a naughty one, even by his standards!

The group collectively decided a more direct style was required at half time, with Latham spearheading this – knocking down well to Parradine and Cherry, who were both struggling to impose their pace in the game given the sticky surface. Hadley was introduced and made a positive difference for the OFs, causing problems and generating some well directed efforts at goal.

A Felsted corner deflected from the near post found its way to Grayson on the edge of the box, who converted into the bottom left-hand corner whilst hurdling a challenge. Grayson gathered the ball from the net and placed the ball back on the center circle for the restart of play, a goal the least the Old Felstedians deserved after their first half of industry. 

One of the numerous bundling deflections saw Cherry able to charge down the right-hand side and slap his finish into the bottom left-hand corner from a tight angle to level the game. Following on from Grayson, Cherry retrieved the ball from the Brentwood net and returned it for another restart. 

The OFs nearly took the lead from a charged Parradine volley from distance, who were now pressing on with the momentum to try and take lead for the first time in the game. Smith, Broom and booked Burslem repelled Brentwood’s attacking efforts until a cross was directed goalwards and bounced past Burns to restore the home side’s advantage.

Chasing the equaliser, the Burslem brothers were finally breached for Brentwood’s fourth goal of the game – with World Cup winning celebrations to match! A Parradine penalty with the last kick of the game struck the top of the post to end the game 4-2 to the home side.

The Old Felstedians, who play anually, did certainly not look out of place against an in-form table topping side. OFFC are left with an appetite for more Arthurian football in slightly more favorable conditions. We would like to thank Old Brentwoods for hosting the fixture and look forward to our next challenge. We would also like to thank Photographer Andy Nunn (@andythephoto) who battled the freezing conditions to produce some great photos.

OFFC are on the lookout for more players to take part in games in and around London, if you are interested, please get in contact with Joe (info@offc.uk). 

Team:

Burns

Burslem T

Burslem J

Broom 

Gravina

Cherry

Kingham 

Smith

Grayson

Latham

Parradine

Littleton

Hadley

MOTM: Broom