Wanderers start the season (again)

Another Monday, another first match of the season. As the league began again, the Wanderers were able to wipe the memories of last week’s defeat and start afresh with a match against Abacus Athletic. Matthew Margot reports

Match day 1. Monday 17th January. KO 6.30
West Hampstead Wanderers 7 – 11 Abacus Athletic
West Hampstead Wanderers second first game of the season was against Abacus Athletic. The league format had undergone a slight reshuffle with a team dropping out and the games changing to six-a-side.
The Wanderers started slowly conceding an early penalty. Abacus were moving the ball quickly and their superior fitness was on display in the early stages of the game. A couple more goals from Abacus saw the Wanderers trailing 3-0.
The Wanderers had the advantage of three subs and brought on some fresh legs. @Talalb01 scored a tidy goal and the comeback was on. @MatthewMargot also added a goal with a mishit left foot volley but with halftime approaching Abacus added a few more goals and the score going into halftime was either 5-2, 6-2 or 7-2. Without @DJVectra’s excellent goalkeeping it could have been much worse.
Following an encouraging team talk from the captain/manager/player @NickHudgell with instructions to press further up the pitch, pass the ball quickly and shoot on sight the Wanderers returned to the pitch.
The second half started well with the Wanderers dictating the play. @TimCheese and @Martin_Tse were strong at the back and @SamWong1 and @DomChristie were pulling the strings in midfield. The instruction to shoot on sight meant shots were flying in from all over the place and it wasn’t long until @Martin_Tse had a long ranger fly in courtesy of a massive deflection. @Talalb01 added his second of the night with a good shot from range and then @MatthewMargot scored from the edge of the box. The deficit had been reduced and the score was 7-5.
The Wanderers were pushing for more goals but unfortunately got caught on the break a couple of times by Abacus. @oneDavidLewy added one for the Wanderers from long range and with the clock running down @MatthewMargot completed his hat trick following in on a rebound but it was not enough to complete the comeback. Final score 11-7.
In summary it was a very good second half performance. The Wanderers grew as the match went on adapted to the conditions and style of play required, with more time the game could have been levelled. The extra three subs probably helped a little.
Team:
Goal Scorers: