Blues Turn Blue

It was cold. Really cold. Bitterly, finger freezing, cheek chaffing cold. Poor Henry M turned an entirely new shade of blue and was only saved by immersing himself in Phil's curry splattered coat. Luckily, a few dads had their old internal engines running on overdrive thanks to the previous night's feast.

To Eynsham then, and a chance to try and get some just rewards from the New Year. We set up positively with Adam playing the lone striker role and Rory and Toby forming a stronger bond at the back. Anyway, the action was full on from the start with Cumnor zipping passes across the perma-frost pitch. All the shooting practice paid off as Adam forced a fancy save from the keeper. Soon though, Fyn and Adam combined with a little bit of wizardry for Adam to hit the opener. 1.0.

With Will the winged wonder weaving up and down the pitch and Ben bossing the midfield, Cumnor were playing with all their accustomed verve. Suddenly, the ball broke to Ben and he hit a stunning 30 yard crossfield pass, right against the grain, into the path of Will. Taking it in his stride, he skipped past the defender and slid a beaut in with his right foot. 2-0. Everyone was stunned by the finish and the vision of Ben who saw an unseeable pass.

In then second- half, Rory and Toby remained rock solid at the back and Muller, fighting off penguins and polar bears, was ever alert. Pre-match, we worked on our corners and halfway through the half, we had a chance to try and make it real. Adam hit the danger spot where a waiting Will timed a perfect header into the roof of the net. 3-0.

With the game all but win Cumnor rand the changes with James E and Ollie joining the fray. In fact Ollie almost scored with his first touch. There were other chances too (Will hit the post) but a 3-0 win accomplished in style, warmed the hearts (and other parts) of the Cumnor faithful.

In match two, Cumnor started with Ed in goal, Adam and James S in defence, with a midfield quartet of Matt, Laurie, Ollie and Joe with James E up front. Like most games this season, the second match was a helter-skelter, thrills and spills encounter. Cumnor were aggressive, quick, strong and determined to get some good luck for a change. It didn't come our way but not from lack of trying.

Ed made a series of fine stops, Adam added a different dynamic at the back with James S ably supporting, the fab four midflield quartet made surrender impossible and James 'Turns On A Sixpence' E was balletic and poised. Okay, we went 1-0 down but we scored another terrific goal. The ball broke to James E who looked up and dinked a little ball into Mat. Showing real ice in his veins (and on his legs) Matt took the ball on and found the corner. 1-1. Well done, Matt... for working so hard on your finishing in training.

In the second-half Will came on for Adam and led the offensive. Ed swapped with Ollie and added a certain bullishness to our open play. But unfortunately, Eynsham grabbed a late winner. Undone again. Harsh. 2-1.

Player of the Week: praise to Will, Adam and Fyn in game one and Matt, James E and Joe in game two but for his tackling, his running, his leadership and above all, his precision passing and decision making: Ben.