Barnesalona League
Barnes 1 v Lokomotiv Londres FC 7
Phew! What a scorcher! Loko managed to fry Barnes on Sunday despite a constant drizzle from the heavens. Watched by the biggest Barnesalona crowd (9) this reporter has seen since the heady days of the cup semi-final against Oranges Boranges back in 2002, a strong Loko team tore apart a weakened Barnes eleven, despite the overall amount of possession being relatively even. Anyone who has been following Loko this season will know that their recent performances have merited a greater points haul than they have recouped, and that it was obvious that someone was in for a hiding sooner or later. Barnes stepped up with their two first-choice centre-halves missing and their trousers down.
A large turnout meant that Jules had some interesting choices to make when picking the starting line up. Determined to take the game by the scruff of the neck he opted for an attacking 4-3-3 formation, with himself in goal once more and Rohan, Pete, Paul and Christophe along the back line. Dale took up his now familiar holding midfielder role, flanked by Dave on the right of centre and Nick on the left. Steve returned to the attack as the central target man with Andreas and Ali running off him on either side. Doug, Ivan, Johan and new man James all started on the bench, and prospective talent Marc looked on from the touchline. In a new initiative Jules handed the captaincy temporarily to Dave. He made it clear to the squad that Paul and Dale were still club captain and vice-captain respectively, the idea of a revolving match day captain being intended to incite greater vocal encouragement from around the team.
The game kicked off more or less on time. The rain, combined with the long grass on the Barnes Common pitch, seemed to suggest a messy encounter but the football on display was of a decent standard. Loko immediately took the initiative, as an early period of end-to-end attacks culminated in a corner. Christophe swung a great ball over to the far post where Andreas rose above the defence to glance it into the top corner for 1-0. A great start and finally the set-piece goal that manager Jules had been waiting so long for – and like an empty second bus the next one followed hard on the heels of the first. Another corner, this time drilled in from the right by Dave, was only half-cleared and then played back across the box, where Steve was waiting hungrily to slot it past the keeper 2-0.
Typically Loko then took their foot off the gas, allowing Barnes in for a spell of pressure of their own. Their midfield stretched the Loko back line but they couldn’t quite find the killer pass to get themselves back in the game. The centre forward did manage to burst through into the box to get on the end of a low cross but Rohan came across to cut it out as he shaped to shoot. Another cross looped over Jules’ head to the far post but attacker and defender rose together and the ball bounced off both heads and off the bar. All attempts to play the ball over the top or through the middle were gobbled up by ‘saints’ Peter and Paul at the back. Barnes could justifiably feel hard done by when their big midfielder charged through, chasing a ball that was heading out for a goal kick, and was brought down in the box by Dale. Even Dale admits it was a penalty but the Barnes man made a bit of a meal of it and the ref signalled play on.
Loko heeded the warning shot and began to turn the screw. Andreas turned his man inside out at the edge of the Barnes area but his shot hit the side netting. Soon afterwards the acting captain took matters into his own hands, sprinting to beat the Barnes midfield to a loose ball in the centre of the park about thirty yards out and unleashing an unstoppable rocket into the top corner for 3-0. The commitment was evident as the simultaneous challenge sent Dave sprawling, winded, but he soon picked himself up to join in the celebrations.
Loko didn’t let up and shortly before half time increased their lead with a neat piece of route one football. Pete’s long goal kick was headed on by Dale straight into Steve’s path. His shot was well blocked by Alan in the Barnes net but the rebound fell kindly for Andreas who bagged his second calmly, ensuring that Loko went in at the break with a healthy 4-0 lead. The reward for a good winning header in midfield!
Half-Time Barnes 0 v Loko 4
Jules focused his half-time talk on the need to concentrate and not surrender an early goal to hand the initiative back to Barnes. Although very happy with his team he anticipated an early second half onslaught, and in the back of the Loko players’ minds was the knowledge that Barnes had come back from 5-1 down to 5-5 against Celtic. To counter this the formation was switched back to a standard 4-4-2, with Ali dropping to left wing and Doug coming in for Nick at centre mid.
However the expected assault did not materialise until later, and a relatively even passage of play resulted in Loko crucially nicking the next goal and effectively killing off the match as a contest. A great box-to-box counter-attacking move began and ended with Dale (pictured below); the ball was swept up the pitch in a series of slick passes, culminating in Andreas’ low cross into the path of the vice captain who gleefully smashed it home for 5-0. A milestone reached, Jules brought on Ivan at left back and James making his debut alongside Andreas up front.
A few minutes later Barnes ruined Loko’s nice clean sheet. A corner eluded several Loko players and the Barnes man slipped his marker and managed to head the ball off the post and in for 5-1, but it proved to be too little, too late. Shortly afterwards Johan, who had come on at right back, capped a roving run with a close range shot that went straight at the keeper. He wasn’t to be denied for long though, as Andreas left the entire Barnes defence for dead a few minutes later and squared the ball to give Johan the simplest of tap-ins at the far post 6-1.
Barnes then seemed to rally and belatedly begin their siege, determined to add a bit of respectability to the score line. They went close on several occasions, putting a near post glancing header just over, a free header wide, and most notably failing to capitalise on a fluffed clearance, slamming a good shooting chance into the side netting. Loko contented themselves with hitting Barnes on the break, with Andreas looking like scoring every time he got the ball and ran at their defence. He finally capped another superb display with his hat trick – another Pete goal kick was flicked on by Dale and Andreas ran clean through to finish with a flourish to make it 7-1.
That seemed to break the last of Barnes’ resistance and Loko finished the match on the attack, with everyone piling forwards. Dale’s mazy run in the box deserved a better finish than he gave it, James’ low drive was cleared off the line and Ali’s shot was blocked by Ivan’s groin. Despite competing throughout Barnes finished six goals down and Loko had had the chances to make it more. A well deserved and much needed win that will hopefully kick-start the Loko season. We play Barnes again next week when they should have a full squad – it will certainly be a tighter affair.
Final Score Barnes 1 v Loko 7
Manager Julian Milne's comments:
"Obviously a very satisfying result and a performance in which we implemented a lot of the things we have been working on. We were ruthless in front of goal and took our chances well. Everyone was competing to a high standard, winning their personal battles and I was really pleased with the way we closed them down.
I wanted the team to play aggressively as it has increasingly been doing but also to demonstrate some verve and charisma and play with a certain abandon. It always helps scoring early and a goal from a set piece was particularly pleasing. We set out to put them on the back foot and we achieved that.
Hopefully now we have instilled some belief after some narrow defeats and realise that if we play to a certain standard week in week out we are one of the best teams in this league. We must, however, be weary of complacency when we play Barnes again on Sunday in the cup. The important thing to remember for the next game is that it starts at 0-0 and not 7-1.
Barnes are not a bad team at all and they did enjoy a lot of good possession, albeit not always in the last third. I think it will be at lot closer on Sunday and we have to prepare in the correct manner. Well played guys, I believe the win moves us up to 6th in the league and now we need to focus on using this result as a catalyst for a sustained run of good performances.
Man of the Match: Dave - asked to play like a captain and did so - rose to the challenge and belted home another great goal."
Team Line Up
1. Julian
2. Rohan
3. Christophe
4. Pete
5. Paul
6. Dale
7. Dave (c)
8. Alistair
9. Steve
10. Andreas
11. Nick
12. Ivan (Replaced Christophe 55 Minutes)
13. Doug (Replaced Nick 45 Minutes)
14. James (Replaced Steve 55 Minutes)
15. Johan (Replaced Rohan 65 Minutes)
Goals:
Andreas (3)
10th Minute - Towering back post header into the top corner.
40th Minute - Flicked header by Dale in midfield sent Steve clear who had his shot saved and the rebound was put in by Andreas following up.
85th Minute - Flicked header by Dale sent Andreas clear and he coolly hammered the ball past the keeper.
Steve (1)
15th Minute - A goal mouth scramble and Steve hit the back of the net from five yards.
Dave (1)
30th Minute - Dale took on three players down the wing and played the ball inside to Alistair who laid it off for Dave to hit from 30 yards.
Dale (1)
55th Minute - Dale headed clear from his own box, the ball was picked up by Steve who laid it off to Dale on the halfway line. The ball was played down the channel for Andreas who slid the ball across the area for Dale to continue his run and hammer the ball into the bottom corner.
Johan (1)
80th Minute - Andreas slipped past two men in the area and slipped the ball across the area for Johan to score from six yards into the empty net.
Match Report provided by Rohan Tesh.
