Milburn Reserve Team Match Reports

End of Season Report by Jimmy
Eagle Royale (10-1), Sovereign (3-5), Croydon Corporation (1-1), Kurdish Utd (1-3)
Another season over.

In truth, not a bad effort in the last 4 games. Played well and racked up the goals against a by-now poor Royales side, leading against Sovereign before a late battering sealed defeat, leading against Croydon till the 90th minute and leading against Kurdish so we consistently take the lead then give it away (fitness??). Something to build on next year if we carry on but it has to be said this has been the most difficult year in the history of the Club and for it to carry on things will have to change. Start saving cos the first rule is there will be a £100 signing on fee for every outfield player next season - that will get rid of the a few of the pisstakers we're carrying at the moment and that is a STRICT condition on me carrying on. No exceptions and no concessions and there will be a bunch of rules with fines to follow (turning up on time, helping with the nets, running the line ... you know, the kind of thing some think they're too good for). I doubt we may get enough interest but we have the whole summer to get the squad required or we'll take a season off. There's the making of a good side here so it would seem a shame to end it now but we'll see. Have a nice summer and i'll trust you'll all be supporting the bunch of underachievers that is Spain in Euro 2008. Don't forget the 1st team play in the Cup Final next week at Croydon Arena so they could do with your support.

Jimmy

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Report by Jimmy
Milburn 1 Croydon Corporation 2 (HT 0-1)
Misfits United yet to gel.

I think i've sussed our problem. It's the usual thing with players turning up in dribs and drabs, more new faces, give away the first goal, have a good period of play in which we equalised and again concede shortly afterwards. It could've been worse had they not botched one of the craziest plays i've seen in football just before half time and yet it seems I should've given us a penalty to equalise. I apologise if I made a mistake. We narrowly lost again and began the pass-the-blame game post match which bought back very recent memories but this is my theory.

Where every other team in this League collectively know each other off the pitch either through socialising together, went to school together or work together, I reckon we have at least 7 separate parts to this team and most of you only know each other through the Club. I hoped the parts would work as a team but instead they're competing against each other hence the ease at which we put each other down. Different parts mean different and conflicting attitudes and it just hasn't worked. A new manager won't solve this so it's down to the players on the pitch to sort it out.

Jimmy

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Report by Jimmy
JLC v Golden Lion - Lost 2-6
League v Sanderstead Spitfires - Lost 0-5
JLC v Croydon Corporation - Lost 1-2
Duppas Hill is peaceful again.

OK, a triple report here before I let it pile up. Yet another new era for Milburn Reserves and whilst the wankers that got kicked out tried to join Golden Lion prior to us playing them, a new team was being formed. Nick S, Joe, Ashley & Dan came in, Kev was back and I had to go in goal. The Lions were missing two key forwards so it made for a less daunting but tough game none-the-less. They took a deserved lead on 15 minutes but we fought back and Nathan's through-ball found Dan to race through and smack the ball home. It was just before the break and was good reward for the way we battled. Thanks to Kev & Terry with some great last-ditch defending we stayed in the game and bugger me .... we took the lead on the hour mark with the ball finding Nathan in the area to turn a defender and curl a great shot into the top left corner. The Banter goalie on the adjacent pitch asked what the score was and when I said '2-1 to us' his reply was 'F*&*ing Hell'. Our joy was short-lived as they levelled pretty much straight away and then we kind of collapsed and conceded a bunch of late goals including a cast-iron penalty conceded by Tony. I only mention that as he's the only one that thinks the player dived. I liked the way we battled in this game and the score really didn't do us justice but after the turmoil of the previous week, we did well to get eleven players on the pitch. Star Men: Kev, Terry & Nathan.

Sanderstead Spitfires are the form team in the Division so we knew it would be hard work. Good news before the start with Perry returning and Martin back in the fold. Bad news was no Kev or Terry which meant Ian partnered Martin in central defence with Nathan and Adou filling the other defensive positions. Ashley the Wisp was up front. I'm out of touch with fashion but the jogging-bottom-wearing tramps Joe and Tony looked ridiculous in my view. Anyway we got of to a bad start with Spits scoring inside two minutes and added another soon after. We kept going but conceded just before the break. It was patently obvious Adou was wasted at left back with his talent so we stuck him in the middle of the park and you could argue the scorer and assister of the previous week's goals Nathan was wasted at right back but someone has to play there and it's to his credit that he did it without complaining. We then enjoyed a 20 minute spell of good pressure without troubling their keeper and then got stung by a couple of goals. Positives from the game? Adou for sure. Negatives? We may have invented a new phrase. You hear the expression 'half-hearted' used by commentators but I believe I could use 'quarter-hearted' against a few of you for some very girly efforts (?) to win the ball. Kev wouldn't have been impressed. Star Men: the Defence (especially Martin & Ian).

Croydon Corporation are a team of our current standard i.e. not great so it would be a good game. Still no Kev & Terry so Ian & Martin covered at the back (again). I would like to use different players at the back when our regulars are out but our options are limited, especially when we only had 10 men. Nathan returned to midfield and we threw Dan up front this week. I didn't see much of this game but saw Nathan put us ahead with a good goal (photos will go up soon), Perry made a brilliant save. They equalised before the break. I saw more of the 2nd half and there was a definite lack of understanding somewhere between the midfield and Dan which saw the lone striker caught offside on too many occasions. I saw Dan clear through once but the chance was sliced wide. Even Lionel fancied his chances up front - that's how bad it's getting. Martin was beginning to relish the battle in defence and started accompanying headers with Kournikova-style grunts which got louder and louder. They then had a prat sent off so it was 10 v 10 for the last 15 minutes. Unfortunately, and with a few minutes remaining, Martin went in a bit reckless on a challenge and Amin Lane punished us from 25 yards with a great free-kick. Bugger. Positives - Nathan for another goal. Star Men again - Defence and it will always be the defence whilst people do it for the sake of the team and until we look like scoring some goals.

Bad news, good news. Adou has had to go back to his country to sort out his visa which is a blow as he showed some good skills. Good news is Kev & Terry are back along with another new DEFENDER (George, I hope) and yet another new RIGHT BACK (James, I hope) so this could be a balanced team in the re-match with Croydon this Sunday and we may even have substitutes. So I suggest this Sunday will be a bad time to say 'I haven't got subs this week' cos you won't start. I've also turned away two strikers wanting to join as we have too many players already saying they're going to score goals. Well let's see some!!!

Jimmy

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Report by Jimmy
Sunday 10th February - Junior League Cup
Milburn Reserves 1 Banter Central 9 (HT 0-4)
ASBO United get their arses kicked.

This was bollocks from start to finish and as a result half the team are being thrown out of the Club. The cancer that's killing Sunday football has spread to Milburn.

Forget about the result. We made a bunch of comedians look like world-beaters and Banter are not racist; i've never heard so much garbage in my life and using it to try and fire the team up against these so-called villains is not on.

No teamwork, no team spirit, no comradery, no respect for your own players/refs/opposition/manager, no effort to help put up the nets or take them down, no subs, stealing kit. What the fuck do you turn up for? Oh yes, it's to look big and clever and to show everyone your THE man. Bollocks to that. No ratings this week. A simple IN or OUT of the Club follows ..

Tony - IN
Terry- IN
Ian - IN
Nathan - IN
Lionel - IN
Nick - OUT
Leon - OUT
Babs - OUT
Jayen - OUT
Luke - OUT
Dan - OUT (only by association)
Martin - IN if he wants to play football, OUT if he wants to kick lumps out of players.

New players interested in joining should make themselves known.

Jimmy

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Report by Jimmy
Sunday 6th January - Surrey Lower Junior Cup 3rd Round
Esher Athletic Sports 4 Milburn Reserves 3 a.e.t. (HT 2-0)
Milburn FC dumped out of the Surrey Junior Cup.

A game of 'ifs', 'could', 'should' and 'buts' and the report will be no different. We should've beaten them but we deserved to lose. Esher found us wanting in two ways early on; long throws and balls over the top of the defence. I can excuse the latter as if you're outpaced you can do little about it but the former was inexcusable. We were jumping with one eye on the opposition and often no attempt to play the ball; they were jumping to head the ball. They wanted it more and scored two by half time which could've been six (but for Perry and some bad misses) and added another midway through the 2nd half. We had one effort partially saved with 3 players following in to ... er .... do nothing and watch a defender appear to clear the ball off the line (cue another rant from Leon) and it looked like we were heading for a straightforward defeat with 75 minutes played - they had just botched up a chance of a forth by going offside prior to scoring.

Then Ian played a ball to Nathan on the right who fired a low cross to the 6-yard box for Dan to tap in. 3-1 and we began to show some urgency. With 8 minutes left Dan was tripped inside the box and fired his penalty down the middle past the diving keeper. We then played like we should've played throughout the game with everyone giving 100%, the attitude was great and we played some good stuff. It was tennis-style end-to-end stuff by now and in the last minute we completed a shock comeback with Dan's great run down the left and cutback for Babs to place first-time into the far corner. Cue wild celebrations. There was still time for a last-second Esher header to be tipped over by Perry and extra-time was needed.

The break did us no favours and we started extra time flat. Esher scored a soft goal after 5 minutes and we didn't have the energy left to respond. Dan had a good shot blocked near the end and that was that.

Overall a decent effort but that's only because i'm thinking about the 15-minute spell where we played - the other 100 minutes were forgettable. Seeing as this my my first proper look and report i'll breakdown each performance.

Perry - 8. A good performance. Certainly kept us in the game with some vital stops.
Ian - 9. Any negative comments above do not apply to Ian. Along with Kevin, stood head and shoulders the best players on our team. Asked to play right back first half and never moaned. Switched to centremid after the break and gave his usual 100%.
Peter - 5. Unfortunately not a great game by Peter. Got done for a couple of goals and needs to get a bit fitter to compete.
Kev - 9. The best player on the park. Simple.
Terry - 5. Maybe left back isn't his thing but I applaud him for doing it for the team. A few errors and looked a bit vulnerable. Having a go at the ref isn't on, either.
Lionel - 6. Pretty quiet. Didn't really attack the left side like someone looking to cement a position there. Came off at his own request so he can't argue.
Leon - 7. Our main holding midfield player. Some say he holds the ball too much but frankly there's not often much option but you have to admit when you're just outside your own box and there's 3 players around you. it's best to get rid. Some say he moans a lot. Absolutely.
Martin - 6. Played centremid first half but never really performed for that position. Likes to go forward and maybe thinks being in midfield he hasn't far to run to get to the opposition goal. I'm still not sure what his best playing qualities are. Lost a bet to me as well.
Nathan - 7. Not a bad game and good cross to start the comeback. It's a weapon we should try to use more or at least until he's worn out. Proper knackered in extra time.
Ashley - 6. Again someone who didn't do enough to justify a regular start up front but he's young so there's hope.
Dan - 8. A good performance and definitely our main man up front. A lot of good attributes and I was impressed.
Babs - 7. Started on the bench this week but came on and looked good. A bad sign for Ashley.
Matt - 6. Replaced Terry and as it was his first game for the Club, i'll go easy. He was alright.
Tony - 7. Actually impressed me when he came on. Plenty of running, got stuck in and I saw a little bit of skill there. One to watch. If he could link with Leon we could improve. If anyone can link with Leon, we'll improve.
Nick - not used. The player who got sent off against Kurdish Utd (yes, I know about that) returns. It's not the reason he didn't play but I feel less bad about it now.

Overall - 7. We needed 8s from more people to win that game but there were too many 7s and 6s. We still need a manager.

Jimmy

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Report by Nathan
Sunday 18th November - Surrey Lower Junior Cup 2nd Round
Milburn Reserves 4 Spelthorne United 2 (HT 0-1)
Milburn FC capped a fine display as they dumped Spelthorne United out of the Surrey Junior Cup.

Spelthorne United went ahead through a far post header from a well taken free kick from outside the 18 yard box. This was after some good pressure from the away team.
 
Spelthorne played well in the first half, trying to pick holes in the Milburn defence, but the Croydon based team held firm. With a new look back four, consisting of Dean (Lionel) at left back, who came in after many weeks out of the team to show what the team had been missing, with a hard working display.
 
Another player new to this seasons Milburn team was Ian. Ian came in at right back, a position that he isn’t used to playing, and played a blinder. Ian, an old school Milburn player of years gone by, looked hungry and impressive when pushing forward.
 
There has to be a word set aside for Milburn’s young goalkeeper Perry. He pulled off one of the saves of the season when Spelthorne beat the offside trap set by Milburn, to have their striker through on goal with just Perry to beat. This is when Perry showed his true quality by making a great save low down to his right, then diving again to save the rebound at point blank range.
 
The score at halftime was 1-0 to Spelthorne, but there was a feeling amongst the Milburn boys of green and yellow that this game was there for the taking. That even though we defended well in the first half against this strong team from Staines, we had a lot more to give in this fixture.
 
The second half didn’t start to well, with an injury to one of Milburn’s centre backs. This gave Terry, another new player to the Croydon Sunday League team the opportunity to come on and show what he is capable of. That is exactly what he did, with a very strong performance at the back throughout the second half.
Instead of weakening the team, Terry’s introduction seemed to have a very positive affect on the team. Milburn were now on top, making all the plays. After five minutes the pressure finally told, with some good work in the middle of midfield and on the right with Ian. Nathan found himself in good space on the right, and delivered a good cross into the box for an impressive Ashley (playing left wing) to smash in a right footed volley into the top right hand corner of the net.
 
Ashley’s goal was exactly what Milburn needed, and it came at great time. With Milburn completely on top in this game, caretaker manager for this game Nathan Mclarty decided to substitute himself to bring on fresh legs, in the form on Ethan. With the Spelthorne players tiring with each passing minute, Ethan fitted the bill perfectly.
Milburn had new energy on the wings with Ethan and the return of Tony (who has been out injured since the start of the season), coming on as a second half substitute. Their mazy runs were engineered by some great one touch passing by Jason throughout the game in the centre of midfield, and that’s where Milburn’s second goal came from.  After receiving a pass from midfield, Babbs (who played well throughout the game) turned and unleashed a thunderbolt of a shot from outside the box that gave the visiting goalkeeper no chance, to give Milburn the lead.
 
Milburn continued on their relentless pursuit on the Spelthorne defence in search of a third goal to give the home team a two goal cushion, and some much needed breathing space. After some good work down the right side of midfield, Daniel, who played well but had a quiet game by his standards, found himself through one on one with the Spelthorne goalkeeper. With everyone expecting Daniel to smash the ball past the goalkeeper, Daniel did the opposite, by looking to the keepers right before cheekily side footing the ball to the keepers left with a great finish.
 
3-1

Milburn completely on top, but with just a couple of minutes to go Spelthorne brought themselves back into the game with a rare attack. They scored from a corner, leaving the remaining minutes hanging on a knife edge.
This was the moment when Leon, who probably had the quietest game throughout his time with Milburn showed why he has been a main stay in the centre of midfield this season. Picking the ball up deep in his on half, Leon pressed forward with the ball before picking out Daniel who made a smart run to the left. Leon followed his pass to receive a return pass from Daniel. Leon swiftly switched the ball forward to Babbs who made a great run into space on the right, leaving him with just the keeper to beat. This time Babbs had no time for mind games, and smashed his shot in the top right hand corner. A shot so good that the visiting keeper decided he had enough, and walked off the pitch. A yellow card dually followed.
 
A promising start to a new chapter in the 2007/08 story of Milburn FC.

Result: Milburn FC 4-2 Spelthorne United

Man of the match: Jason

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Sunday 28th October (Report by Gary Read)
Croydon Corporation 1 Milburn Reserves 3 (HT 1-1)
Strong 2nd half secures win

15 minutes in and a long mindless ball forward, should have been dealt with but after a slice the ball carried through to Croydon’s lone striker, who’s clinical finish left Perry with no chance. This seemed to give Croydon a lift as they pushed Milburn back for the next 10 minutes looking to increase their fortunate lead, but ach time they found Kevin the man mountain at the back, winning EVERY header and proving a calming influence on the rest of the defence. With 20 minutes to go in the first half the cream dully rose to the top, for large periods we controlled possession and used our width, with Rob and Dan Gurny linking superbly on the left and Ethen proving to be thon in Croydon’s side. After all the possession and neat 1-2’s our possession and class paid off, again Ethen ran at Croydon and the ball came across to Babb’s via Dan and a great finish from Babb’s for his 6th goal of the season, Croydon somehow managed to hold out until half time after more Milburn pressure. Half time 1 all.

The second half started and Milburn again took the game to Croydon, and no matter how hard they pressed back at us, the superb Lee in centre mid dominated winning every second ball, along with Leon who showed real grit after recent games, winning 50 50 balls and playing neat balls in behind Croydon’s back 4.

As the second half wore on I found myself asking their captain how they only managed to secure 1 point this season, as they showed great spirit, but that couldn’t stop Milburn’s second goal neat work at the back gave Rob the time to pick a nice pass through to Dan Gurny who’s mazy run found him inside the Corp box, a nice finish left the keeper (playing the game of his life) with no chance. 2 – 1 Milburn. This seemed to jar Croydon and they started to exert pressure again on Milburn, but the ever impressive Kevin and Perry kept the score at 2-1, this gave us a platform to hit Croydon on the break and big Dan found himself scoring as he’s done in every game this season (what a player…) a deserved scoreline and we could have had a couple more as the game went on but our finishing lacked a killer edge. Final score 3 -1.

Player Ratings (out of 10): Perry (GK) 8, Paul Griff (RB) 7, Kevin (CB) 8, Gary (CB) 6, Rob (LB) 8, Ethen (RM) 7, Lee (CM) 9 (Star Man), Leon (CM) 8, Dan (LM) 9, Babbs (FW) 8, Dan (FW) 8. Subs: Troy (RM) 7 (25 mins), Dean (LM) 6 (15mins).

Star Man: Lee (CM) best game in a Milburn shirt, won every challenge in the air and on the ground.

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Sunday 7th October (Report by Gary Read)
Milburn Reserves 2 Golden Lion II 2 (HT 0-1)
A last minute equaliser saves the day

And it wasn't a bad start to the game, again we played at Purley, and again we played on a pitch that had a hill?! Golden Lion won the toss and changed around so we would have to defend up hill first half, Golden started brightly but couldn't break down a solid Milburn defence early on. 15 minutes in and after a long throw Milburn didn't clear an easy set piece and Golden took advantage of an easy chance to make it 1 nil. Golden continued to push us back, as we continued to give the ball away, again for the 2nd week in a row, we had no central midfield chasing back and Golden had time to pick passes, but thanks to some good defending and a some fine saves from Perry we held out to half time.

Half time 1 nil Golden Lion.

The second half started and we put Golden under huge pressure, playing the bal around with confidence and 15 minutes in and Milburn got the goal they deserved, after good work from big Dan, a nice ball came out wide fro Troy, who's intelligent dummy saw the ball come through to myself, 20 yards out and after a clean strike the ball cannoned in off the post, a nice finish to a great Milburn move (and a goal that i'm not gonna shut up about all season).

After the restart we continued to put pressure on the now arguing Golden side, but thanks to their old mate the lino we couldn't get a clear effort on goal. 20 minutes to go and Golden took a rare venture forward, an after neat work scored against the run of play. With just minutes to go big Dan scored yet again, a net finish saw jubilant scene's.

A good result although a lot of work is needed in training to stop the ball being given away.

Player Ratings (out of 10): Perry (GK) 8, Paul Griff (RB) 7, Kevin (CB) 8, Dean (CB) 9 (Star Man), Rob (LB) 7, Gary (RM) 7, Lee (CM) 8, Leon (CM) 5,Ethan (LM) 6, Dan (FW), Troy (FW) 7. Subs, Jayern (RM) 7, Pete (CM) 6, Dean (FW) 6. Subs not used: Ashley.

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Sunday 30th September (Report by Gary Read)
Eagle Royale 4 Milburn Reserves 5 (HT 3-3)
A great comeback to earn 3 points

10 minutes in and some truly shocking defending saw Eagle bumble the ball through after bouncing about I fell to their striker, who's poor effort somehow managed to squeeze under Perry and into the back of the net. 1 nil Eagle. Eagle again where at it with some amazing rub of the green as they once again took advantage of shocking defending, despite 3 chances to clear the ball a poorly struck shot found the back of the net?! What happened next was the worst 5 minutes that we'll play all season, a ball came down the left and some poor defending from myself meant that Eagle had far to much time on the ball and virtually walked into our area as the back 4 watched and finished neatly to make it Milburn 0 - Eagle 3...... what happened next gave us the will to et back in the game, Paul Griff made sure that all the lads saw as Eagle laughed at us? Wrong move!

The game restarted and that goal seemed to wake us, Babb's took it upon himself to drag us back into the game after neat work from the ever impressive big Dan upfront Babb's scrabbled the ball home. 3-1. Eagle seemed to fold under the pressure and Milburn got another just 5 minutes later, a well taken free kick found Paul Griff with miles of space out wide, a neat header into the path of Nathan saw a defence splitting pass find Babba who cool finish found the back of the net. 3 -2 Over the next 10 minutes we really started to pressure the Eagle defence but had to be careful, as Eagle tried to  hit on the break. After good passing and movement we managed to graft out an equalizer, big Dan again showing great control and grit to cross for Nathan, and although a desperate attempt from the Eagle defender held up the ball Nathan scored his first goal of the season after a neat finish, curling it around the keeper into the bottom corner.

Just before half time we should have scored 2 more? Dan's superb curled effort smashing back of the foot of the post, minutes later a great cross saw Paul Griff come agonizingly close to scoring his first goal in 10 years.....Half time 3 all.

The second half started and we looked sharp and confident, but after break away Eagle scored again! 4 -3 now...What came next was a shocking and in 10 years of Sunday football I've never seen such a pathetic piece of blatant cheating, a great pass through saw Dan clean through coming 10 yards in behind the eagle defence not 1 single Eagle player calling for offside, and after the ref had given the goal! the linesman took it upon himself to charge onto the pitch to say that it was offside and he had his flag up? the ref gave a free kick and the laughing from the Eagle players said it all....After this I went across for an explanation from the cheating lino? who said that Dan wasn't offside but another player had been offside and interfered with play, now I can tell you along with each and every other player on the pitch, that Dan was put through and came from behind the Eagle back line, with not 1 Milburn player near him or the Eagle back 4? just who the phantom player was we'll never know? or perhaps and I presume more a more likely outcome was that the lino cheated and back tracked to suit his phantom story. Cheaters never prosper and with that in stepped Dan again Time for Dan to collect the ball and exchange passes with constantly dangerous Babb's to scramble home his 3rd goal of the season. 4 all get in..... With 15 minutes to go it didn't look as though we'd get the goal our football deserved but after good work from Jayen on the left, the ball fell to the feet of Nathan, and after a superb calm touch he smashed the ball into the net from all of 5 yards?!?! 5 - 4 to Milburn and truly deserved also. The last 10 minutes where edgy as Eagle looked to try and find an equalizer, hitting the bar in the process? but the back 5 held firm. Well done to all.

Player Ratings (out of 10): Perry (GK) 5,Paul Griff (RB) 6, Kevin (CB) 7, Dean (CB) 6, Gary (LB) 5, Rob (LM) 6, Leon (CM) 6, Lee (CM) 7, Nathan (RM) 8, Dan (FW) 9 (Star Man), Babbs (FW) 9, Subs, Jayern (LM) 50mins 7, Peter (CB) 75 mins 6, Troy (FW) 85 mins 6.

Man of the match: Dan yet again a great performance. scored 1, and 2 assists.

Sunday 9th September (Report by Gary Read)
Milburn Reserves 2 Sanderstead Spitfires 2 (HT 0-1)
The reserves start an unbeaten run

The start wasn’t great, as we got to our pitch that had no lines painted?! And more pot holes than the moon! This pitch as swiftly rejected and had Paul not found another pitch suitable, the game would have been abandoned, to some it may be a “kick around” but to me and others It’s about playing football and winning games. The game started and the pitch again was in question, despite having just been cut? I’ve never seen a ball move so slowly across the ground, we also had slope that resembled a hill! We started the first half playing the worst football I’ve ever seen us play in the short time we’ve been together, no movement to commitment and a hill to run up? Spitfire took advantage of this and scored a scrappy poorly defended goal, this didn’t seem to wake us up at all. Spitfires continued to add pressure to us, we seemed to have no midfield yet we had plenty of width but didn’t use it and continually tried to play the impossible ball through the middle, 20 minutes in and Jayen (18 years old) asked to be replaced as he felt knackered this didn’t help as we lost our balance. Perry had to make several top class saves to keep us in the game as we approached half time, just before the break we managed to create a few chances but couldn’t get a clear effort on goal.

Half time and a half to forget, the team talk wasn’t one I’d like to have to give again, questioning each and every players commitment and if they wanted to go out and win, it seemed nobody really cared. Nathan was brought on for Ashley at the interval, Milburn seemed to be awake again, now we where shooting down the mountain. Some great football between Rob, Lee and Leon started to open Spitfire up, but we just couldn’t get the ball in the onion sack. 10 minutes in and Nathan exchanged a 1-2 with Lee and a neat pass out wide for Rob which saw him put Dan in possession and a half chance ended in a 3rd goal in an outstanding 3 games. After the goal we really started to pressure our opponents as they struggled to clear the ball up Ben Nevis!!!  Leon had taken the game the game by the scruff on the neck and dominated throughout, every move came through him, and this was his best performance yet in a Milburn shirt, Nathan also had a large part in getting us back into the game.

That was until we made a silly mistake sitting far too high and got caught cold, the opposition forward sprinted through, but Perry cam flying off his line and made a great stop as the player attempted to go round him, bravely throwing himself at his feet to win the ball cleanly. 5 minutes later and we got caught out again on the break after pressurizing our opponents, they broke on the right bubbled the ball through and hit a scrappy shot which hit me on the arse and diverted the ball past Perry who’d had the shot comfortably covered, 2-1 Spitfires. This seemed to only add to Leon’s game as he ran the midfield and after a nice Babb’s shot was well saved and a corner given, playing with 3 upfront now we packed out the area. Up went the outstanding Tony to head the ball home with a thumping header into the roof of the net. With 2 minutes to go we could have won the game but just couldn’t turn our possession into a goal.

The game as a whole had a first half to forget after trying to defend up Kilimanjaro, but in the second half our class shone through and we where unlucky not to win the game. A special mention to Leon for his Man of the match performance and to Nathan for coming on and changing the game, also a huge thanks to Tony whose goal and great defending got us out of a sticky part in the game.

Player Ratings (out of 10): Perry (GK) 9, Paul Griffiths (RB) 7, Tony (CB) 8, Danny Em (CB) 5 (replaced 20mins due to injury) Gary (CB) 6, Rob (LB) 7, Ashley (RM) 6, Lee (CM) 7, Leon (CM) 9 (Star Man), Jayen (LM) 4, Babbs (FW) 7, Dan (FW) 8Nathan (RM) 8, Kevin (LB) 6 .

Note from Jimmy: Well done.

Thursday 6th September (Report by Gary Read)
Lombard Phoenix Reserves 2 Milburn Reserves 1 (HT 2-0)
Anyone know an anger management consultant?

Sunday 26th August (Report by Gary Read)
Thornton Rovers 10 Milburn 1 (HT 3-1)
Scoring first just made them mad !!!

As the first half got started we started moving the ball around well (just like the world class gooners) and really pushed Thornton back in their own half, creating good early opportunities, with Babba and Dan linking up brilliantly early on. 15 minutes in at the pressure told as we took the lead through a well worked moved and a nice finish from Dan, 1 nil Millburn. Our attacking and brave start didn't end their we went on to waste 3 clear chances in the next 10 minutes where we should have gone 3 up and put the game to bed. Thornton then started to come back into the game and scored against the run of play with 30 mins on the clock, then just as the first half was coming to a close our midfielders switched off completely and Thornton got 2 goals in quick 5 min spell.

At half time the team talk was all about keeping our shape, remembering our individual jobs and above all concentrating? this unfortunately wasn't the case as our defense was put under an immense amount of pressure, Perry making some great saves to keep the score line respectable. In the end the pressure told as Thornton took control and started to run away with the game 6-1 55 mins in, and again our midfield struggled to get hold off the ball and lost most headers in the middle. after some changes the side really started to show it's lack off experience and Thornton took advantage off the massive gaps in the centre of the park.

The scoreline doesn't show the excellent effort put in from the Milburn defense, especially those from Perry (GK), Paul Griff (RB), as a team I feel we can take a lot from the game and must now start to put in a lot of hard work in training before the season starts, it must also be remembered that the team we played contained players who've plated at a very high level during their careers some at semi pro level?!?!

P.S I'm hoping to get Wes in this squad as he's a Leeds fan he'll have the best knowledge of getting tonked week in week out.... (Just kidding mate, you wouldn't get in the team) That's all folks,

Gary (the REAL gaffer) Read