Cumnor Click At Thatcham

A beautiful Autumn day, severe traffic problems, a makeshift goalie and a clinical display of passing football…Cumnor clicked for the first time this season with a slick display of precision passing.

With Harry stuck somewhere in Berkshire, Adam bravely took the gloves and produced a faultless 10 minutes where he didn't concede a goal; a first for Cumnor. The boys spread the ball around nicely and wisely kept the play away from our goal before Harry could race on. Unfortunately, and purely down to bad luck, Harry let one slip past him and we found ourselves behind well against the run of play. Still we pressed, still we pushed with Doddie giving us plenty of width on the right and the midfield controlling the tempo and the style of the game. Finally, the ball was being switched with ease, and patience replacing the forced ball forward to Ben and Nathan. Our goal came from a likely source when Will unleashed a devastating left foot shot into the side of the net. More chances followed with Nathan going close and Adam almost finding the net from 35 yards out with one of his hammered free kicks.

One each at half-time gave us the platform to push on and produce some of the best play the coaches have seen. Joseph finally discovered his left foot, clipping two delicious passes into the feet of our wingers. Will grabbed another with a drive from the edge of the box and delivered the perfect cross to Nathan who met it too cleanly and pushed it over. Kyle scored his first competitive goal for Cumnor with a cracking long range effort capping a fine all round display. Adam hit the bar but then made amends racing onto a tap in. And Fyn too, magnificent again at the back (with the equally splendid Rory, Charlie, Michael and Toby) proved his prowess at set pieces with a headed goal.

All the boys played their part, Tom breaking manfully through midfield and Ben using his head and his vision to unlock the strong Thatcham defence. A richly deserved word of praise too for Harry who made two excellent stops deep in the second-half. The final score of 5 - 1 was a fitting end. The challenge now is not to let things slip in the rematch this Sunday.

Player of the Week: mentions for Doddie, Adam and Will but the star performer, and growing in stature every week, Fyn

Cumnor Kick Off With A Win

The new season started on an Autumnal day on the big pitch at Milton. And whilst Cumnor looked a little rusty in terms of playing style, passing and communication… credit to the boys for a battling 4-2 win.

Rotation worked, allowing fresh legs to come on for tired - and crocked - players at key times in the game. Harry D was unfortunate to let in two but showed great handling skills. Charlie and Michael were tidy, confident and assured at full back. Fyn O had a great game at centre-half and proved a threat at set pieces bagging a deserved goal. He was joined at the back at various times by Tom, Adam, Will and Joseph and all four proved worthy deputies for the missing Rory.

In midfield, especially in the second-half, the boys grew in confidence and ambition. Kyle was excellent and Joseph put in a captain's shift taking some heavy knocks for the team. Tom made a huge impact driving forward and gave Cumnor real impetus with his strong runs. Out wide, Doddie, Harry and Fin gave us speed and edge. Doddie getting close to the scoresheet setting up Nathan's 'ghost goal'. Harry S did get a goal, clipping one into the top corner. Adam's delivery too was spot on and his set pieces continuously had Milton on the back foot.

Up front, Nathan worked tirelessly and was assisted nicely by Ben - who smashed home a superb goal - Fin and Will who all offered him clever service and support.

We'll take a first game win and look to improve. Remember boys, you need to work out what's going on around you and you must keep passing the ball.

Player of the Week: Special mention for Kyle but the award goes to Tom for an excellent all-round competitive debut.