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Hachioji Park, Saturday 30th January.
Division 3 is certainly tight this year. On any given day, any of the teams can beat each other, as the Jets 2nds found out when losing their last game to an improved Yabe. There was some pride to play for in this game, then, as the Jets sought to justify their place at the top of the league. A smooth 3-0 win over the Celts 2nds, which could have been greater, kept the Jets' noses in front and means they are still the team to beat in the fight for promotion to the second division. It was a fine team performance, perhaps the best display by the Jets seconds all season.
The Celts had seemed a bit more committed in the first drawn game between these two sides, so the pre-game messages were all about starting with energy and fighting for every ball. The Jets got off to a dream start when Garner scampered (!) down the right wing, evaded a defender and caressed a gentle ball into the path of Fraser Gould 8 yards from goal. Gould's shot was blocked, but Gildart was following up. The striker side-stepped a desperate challenge, but was tripped for a clear penalty. The Canadian stepped up himself to confidently dispatch an unstoppable penalty after just 7 or 8 minutes. First blood Jets. The second goal was just a matter of time, as Dennis, Hiro, Chris Piper and Gary controlled the midfield, sending a barrage of passes through to the 2 strikers. Unfortunately, Gould and Gildart had left their shooting boots at home, as a number of chances went begging. Even the ref Orlando was amazed at Nate's ability to pick the one tiny part of the goal partly covered by a defender's shoulder when the rest of the net was wide open.
A second goal did eventually come, and it owed much to the continued perseverance of Gould. Dennis played a nice ball into his path, and the striker raced onto it from around halfway. As he neared the goal, he read the incoming challenge from his right, and slipped a short pass left to Piper. Chris fortunately had brought his shooting boots, and duly slotted home with aplomb. So, 2-0 at halftime and it should have been more. I would like to be able to write about the Celts chances, but I don't remember any. Glynn and co. certainly huffed and puffed, but they often struggled to get out of their own half. When they did, Rayner, Isaac, Setterfield and co defended efficiently, leaving Kingsbeer very little to do in goal. More chances came and went, with Gildart again capable of dancing easily past the Celts' defence but unable to add to his goal tally. A third goal sealed the win, and a rather attractive one it was as well. Isaac went on one of his marauding runs from the back, before feeding Garner lurking wide right. The midfielder's long, raking pass was played into the space in front of the attackers, and Piper galloped onto it before flicking home nonchalantly with the outside of his boot.
So 3-0 it ended, and Orlando didn't even give a penalty against us!
A good game, played in a competitive but fair spirit, and well officiated. Next up the under-achieving Sun.
Report by Gary Garner
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