RAF Odiham Football News

PRE-SEASON

JULY

The summer friendlies offered chances for a number of new faces to try and make their mark on Dave Evans, starting on a near-concrete surface at Benson. A poor game was settled midway through the second period when a Benson striker took advantage of a poorly defended goal kick to lob over onrushing Dom Turner in the Odiham goal. The double-header in the final week of July was as tough a week as many of the Odiham players are ever likely to come up against, let alone in pre-season.

First up on the Tuesday was Horndean, a side who ply their trade in the ninth tier of English football. As well as being back into the swing of things a month sooner than RAF Odiham, they also offered a 22-man squad, just in case the visitors thought an early drubbing would ease up late on. Odiham went there with a patched up side led by Wayne Griffin in Evans’ absence, and found themselves 6-0 down at the break, largely chasing shadows against a fine assortment of semi-professional and barely amateur players. Only Ryan Evans’ speculative 25-yard effort was noteworthy at the Horndean end in the first half and, shooting up the hill in the second period, Odiham can’t be too displeased to have kept it to 10 at full time.

Two days later Odiham’s 4G hosted Cove FC of the tenth tier, who also boast Odiham’s star men Armani Riley and Charlie Nicholas of the RAF Under 23s in their ranks. After an early goalkeeping mistake and a well-worked goal to put Cove into a 2-0 lead, Odiham pretty much matched them in the first period and deservedly levelled before the break. Max Brans capitalised on a mix up at the back to roll into an empty net and Jack Smallman battered home a penalty. Nicholas entered the fray for Cove at Right Back at half-time and Odiham kept their shape well and effectively dealt with Cove’s direct, often diagonal, style of play. This was until around twenty minutes remained and, with Evans making several changes to give personnel game time, Cove eventually found a way through, although both were well worked goals including a volley at the near post.

AUGUST

A trip to RAF Halton saw Nicholas and Jordan Jones set each other up to give Odiham a 2-0 lead at the break before, again, changes in the latter stages of the second period came at the expense of some organisation, allowing Halton to score two themselves.

Icarus, a team of commissioned Officers, put Odiham to the sword to the tune of 4-0.

Odiham’s final pre-season outing was another hosting of Cove, this time their reserves. Stunners from Cam Hall and Andy Houston gave Odiham the initiative, but Cove fought back for a draw.

22/23

SEPTEMBER RAF Halton 0-2 RAF Odiham

Odiham had a chance for a positive start to the season against a side they had faced only a month earlier, in the form of Halton in the London League opener.

To go to Halton is to expect a robust, functional side who will keep running even when the whistle is blown. Also, if it were to be anything like the pre-season friendly, it is to expect them to play out from the back with no fear or apparent regard for the result, which will inevitably provide you chances.

These pre-conceptions rang very true, as Halton harassed and harangued from the get-go, but Odiham’s superiority was clear. It did, however, take until the last quarter of the game for Odiham to make the breakthrough.

Odiham toiled on a difficult surface which, although not the rock-hard minefield it was four weeks earlier, was not a crown green bowls deck and had accounted for Doggett’s knee within the first thirty seconds.

Odiham were largely restricted to half-chances despite dominating the game and could truthfully have found themselves behind. Charlie Nicholas, however, could find space in a phone box. Having had one cleared off the line after rounding the keeper in the first half, he neatly exchanged passes with debutant substitute Ellis Pitson before slaloming inside a challenge and slotting under the keeper. Aidan Robinson would seal the game in injury time when he pounced on Halton’s insistence on playing out from the back and it was a wonder that it had taken ninety minutes for a chance to come of it.

Squad: Goulding, Read, Dickie, McMenamin, Doggett, Roberts, Nicholas (1), Naylor, Lupton, Nash, Naylor. SUBS: Duxbury, Robinson (1), Pitson, Ikhlaq.

RAF Northolt 0-5 RAF Odiham

It would, irritatingly, be three weeks before the second league fixture came around. Once again, it would take Odiham a while to be rewarded for their dominance, but they eventually came away with a resounding victory at Northolt.

Like Halton, Northolt belied the conditions to play out from the back, often taking at least two passes to make it out of their box from a goal kick. A brave and questionable tactic when their obvious star was a right winger with an abundance of pace. However, from the first whistle, stand-in Left Back Connor Dickie dealt with him expertly, often forcing him to rely on those around him who were rarely outweighed but often outplayed.

Northolt were lucky to have eleven men on the pitch for longer than ten minutes as Andrew Tait was clattered on the edge of the box with no repercussions. Jones missed a one-on-one and Tait, Connor Read and Billy Eade all fired wide, while keeper Lofthouse rushed miles out of his goal to provide Northolt a chance, but Osh Goulding made up impressive ground to clear off the line.

Eventually, Jones bundled in a corner for Odiham at the back post right on half-time. The floodgates had been on the latch for most of the first half and Odiham were keen to swing them open, but Northolt continued to battle hard.

Left-winger Eade is one of several new additions to the Odiham side and brings welcome variety, with a great left foot and a frame which is often too much for comparatively small Full Backs. Perpetually portraying the image that he is on his last legs, this is often contradicted by his actions, including when he effortlessly rose above his marker to head wide. He did it again shortly after, this time pulling down and squaring to Tait for a tap in.

Scott Naylor coming off the bench is a sign of Odiham’s quality in the middle of the park, as there is seldom an occasion he isn’t among the best talents on a pitch, as demonstrated by his 30-yard rocket.

Eade wasn’t in the mood to stop providing, with a couple of vicious balls across the six-yard-box from open play and then a free-kick which were bundled in, first by a helpless defender and then by the grateful knee of Archie Cartwright.

Squad: Lofthouse, Read, McMenamin, Gwilliams, Dickie, Riley, Jones (1), Nicholas, Tait (1), Nash, Eade. SUBS: Goulding, Pitson, Naylor (1), Cartwright (1), Ikhlaq.

RAF Odiham 7-1 RAF High Wycombe

With Odiham having scored seven and conceded none, High Wycombe could hardly have visited at a worse time. This was made no easier by them turning up to Hartley Wintney FC with a bare eleven, which quickly became nine due to injury.

A first half Tait hat-trick, interspersed by JP Nash’s first of the season, was not enough for Evans and Griffin, who were demanding more at the break. They may have been disappointed not to have scored more, and they were certainly disappointed to have conceded to nine men.

Tait battered home his fourth after the break before substitutes Saad Ikhlaq and Cartwright got in on the act to round off a 7-1 victory.

RAF Festival of Football, Shrewsbury Town FC

Odiham took two teams of eight to the annual 6-a-side tournament, with both reaching the semi-finals. RAF Wittering were the eventual winners.

Odiham’s two sides consisted of:

* Turner, Naylor, Gwilliams, Bloyce, Nicholas, Read, Tait, Riley * Davis, Dickie, Hall, Finlan, Eade, Evans, K Thompson.

RAF Wyton 2-4 RAF Odiham (RAF Cup Preliminary Round)

Odiham’s management team would have been forgiven for playing a 2-3-5 with the amount of attacking options available for this tie. The aforementioned Naylor was deployed at Right-Back as Odiham’s midfield three consisted of Riley and Nicholas as well as Jones, with a front three spearheaded by Tait and flanked by Brans and Eade in whichever combination those two saw fit.

On the side-lines lying in wait were Max Lawes, in recent months at the mercy of RAF Odiham’s operational calendar, as well as Gething and the electric pace of Lupton and Finlan. Debutant Sullivan could be said to have done well to get a look-in, and soon showed why he had.

A predictably dangerous early Nicholas free kick was less predictably, blindly but brilliantly flicked on by Dickie for the opener. However, Wyton would lead a charmed life in much the same vein as Halton and Northolt did for just over an hour before pouncing on Dickie’s underhit back pass to level.

It wasn’t five minutes before Tait found himself in front of goal with time to put the kettle on, and he coolly slotted home to restore Odiham’s lead. Nicholas made side-footing a free-kick into the corner which the goalkeeper was staffing look frighteningly easy.

Odiham lapsed in concentration again, however, failing to deal with a diagonal ball and the accompanying knock down and midfield runner. Suddenly, game on with five minutes still to play.

Once again, however, Odiham wasted no time righting the wrong. The strength in depth paid dividends as Gething won the ball on the left, fizzed out to Lawes on the right, who in turn waited for Gething to bust a gut to reach the back post and receive the return pass to smash home from close-range.

Odiham’s start to the London League campaign couldn’t have gone much better. Last season’s start and end to the season was fair, it was the middle months of winter which made it an average season. That, and the expunging of High Wycombe’s results meaning Odiham finished with 13 rather than 19 points.

With six games in successive weeks throughout November and December, including three teams they have already beaten, Odiham have every right to be optimistic about going into Christmas at the league’s summit as well as finding themselves a step closer to the RAF Cup.