Friendly versus Red Star Bedminster at Greenway Centre. 6:9:98
OK pitch, short grass, Soft underfoot. Cloud, some sun.
Casuals 10, RSB 1.
Scorers : Willner 3, Swift 2, Kieran 2, A. Smith 1, Gary 1, Martin 1.
A very bright start for the casuals. A squad of 13 arrived for the game so there were good opportunities for rolling substitutions which were utilised well. Goalkeeping duties where shared between four players (who let one in then?). The pitch suited our fluid style of play ; passing and movement were of a generally high standard, and once the first goal went in after some sloppy Red Star defending, we were away. There was some fine finishing on display, and some very stout defending from Doug, Pierre, Martin and Chris. Andy Smith had a fine game in midfield , running at defenders and exchanging passes with the forwards. Probably one of the best overall team displays we have seen. Here's to more like it in the coming season.
Match Report
Hill Farm Casuals 10 Red Star Bedminster 1 6/9/98
Only One Team in Bedminster
First game of the season, a friendly against Red Star, who we usually have fairly tight games with. Not this time.
Two goals in the first quarter of an hour to Alex (run at goal and shot across keeper after some sloppy defending) and Gary (header from Kier’s cross). Bedminster managed to pull one back after misunderstanding in the Hill farm defence. Martin stepping into Nick’s boots and getting a near post header from a corner. Next Alex got his second stroking the ball into the far corner from just inside the box. Not long before half time, Lewis carried the ball to the left side corner of the box badly mis-cued his shot directly into Kieran’s path, who blasted it into the net from the edge of the box.
Second half saw no goals for the first fifteen minutes or so, then Tony opened his account, blasting the ball into the net from close range, but a fairly tight angle on the right. This was followed by a sweet, curling shot from just outside the box, across the keeper into the top left corner. Next goal came from a cross from Tony being met beyond the far post by Kieran. A throw in on the right was clipped on by Lewis to find Andy unmarked in the middle, on the edge of the box. Contriving to beat a defender who hadn’t seemed to be there, Andy took his goal cooly, sliding it to the keeper’s right. The last word went to Tony. After some good passing down the right, Lewis found Tony outside the box with a defender inside him. A combination of stength and speed took him to within ten yards where he tucked it away off the near post.
A disappointing performance from Red Star, who although never outplayed, never managed to apply any conserted pressure and were repeatedly punished by a Hill Farm attack who for today at least could do no wrong.
Redland Ramblers V. Hill Farm Casuals 27/9/98
Grey skies and a fair amount of rain.
Scorers: Wiltshire, Swift, Cullen, O.G.
A potentially difficult first outing for the Casuals away to last year's league champions . We fielded a similar team to the one which beat RSB 10- 1, with Phil Wiltshire drafted in to help tighten up the midfield. After a fairly shaky first fifteen minutes during which time R.R. hit the bar , and came close on two other occasions, we took the lead after a silky move down the left which began with Phil W. and was ended emphatically by same with a bullet header into the net , arriving at the far post. Although this was largely against the run of play, HFC came back into the game a little more after the goal, beginning to build moves from the back .Ten minutes later, HFC mate it 2-0 with the first of three bizarre goals. Swift sent in a hopeful inswinging cross from the right , which the keeper obligingly fumbled into the net. Just before half time ,pressure on HFC's defence led to a goal for the Ramblers, with good advantage being played by the ref after a foul on the Rambler's centre forward in the box.
HFC began the second half positively, and a period of sustained attack resulted in another soft goal. Finbarr Cullen lofted a high ball into the box which the keeper , under pressure from the Casuals forwards, was unable to keep out of the net. The HFC defence then set about shoring things up, and held things steady until a momentary lepase led to a second goal for the Ramblers, making the score 3-2.
Luckily the next Casuals attack produced a fourth goal , this time an own goal, in off a defender after the ball had been driven low to the far post.
All in all another solid performance, with the right balance between skillful and gritty football. A few HFC players picked up injuries, including Man Of The Match keeper Nigel Clements, who played a real blinder, diving fearlessly at the feet of their forwards, and pulling off some great reaction saves . Other contenders for the coveted MOTM award were Chris Goulding - a masterful defensive display, and Gary Mullen for yet another tireless midfield performance.
Cowboy Job
After the euphoria of the Redland defeat, Hill Farm came back down to earth with a bump against Easton Cowboys on a sunny Sunday afternoon at The Imperial. Several team changes in key positions failed to dent the wave of confidence generated by our first league game.
Hastily organised positions quickly showed themselves to be inadequate as the Cowboy’s midfield dominated the middle third of the field for the opening fifteen minutes. Farmers managed to hold on for the first twenty five minutes without any real shape and even managed to create a couple of good chances, but three Cowboy goals in the space of fifteen minutes proved they hadn’t lost their scoring touch from last season.
Realising the Cowboy defence were tiring, Hill Farm pressed forward and as half-time approached were rewarded with a rather scrappy goal involving Lewis having two attempts while lying on the ground, the second finding the net. Sticking rigidly to the timekeeping rules, extra time lasted almost ten minutes (by Cowboy reckoning) ending with Tony’s near-perfect corner being ear-and-shouldered in by Lewis.
The second half began with fifteen minutes of sustained Hill Farm pressure with good chances wasted. Against the run of play Cowboys scored with a low shot from outside the box. There was no second comeback from Hill Farm who conceded three in quick succession, including one from a corner during which Nigel was shoved in a very un-casual way by one of the Cowboy strikers. Hill Farm failed to score from several more good chances, Gary finally getting a consolation third after a strong run into the box. Last word went to the Cowboys attack with an eighth giving a final score that unfairly reflected a closely fought, but unfortunately none too casually spirited encounter.
Hill Farm Casuals: Clements, Fox, Derrington, Townsend, Hennell, Smith, Goulding, Calvert, Swift, Mullen, Ogle, Willner
Easton Cowboys 8 Hill Farm Casuals 3
18 October 1998
Ramblers go Walkabout
In a game that’ll send shock waves through the Casuals world, Redland Ramblers, recently confirmed as last season’s Champions, lost 2-4 to newly ‘promoted’ Hill Farm Casuals.
Despite twenty four hours of rain, the surface was good, drainage assisted perhaps by a pitch sloping side-to-side and end-to-end.
The game started evenly with both sides creating chances. The deadlock was broken after about twenty minutes when a good build up through the centre saw Wiltshire, playing in his first league match for HFC, pass the ball out to King on the left then run into the box to meet the incoming cross with a bullet header into the net.
Ten minutes later, after Ramblers were unlucky to hit the bar, Swift clipped a wickedly spinning ball in from the right for Ogle to run on to. It seemed too near the keeper, but via the gifts of spin and water managed to bounce up through the keeper’s hands and over the line. The defender tried a disparing clearence, but only hacked it into the inside of the side netting. Swift’s third in two games.
Over two minutes into ‘injury’ (to the ball, which needed to be pumped up half way through the half) time, Redland got back into the game. A loose ball of the edge of HFC’s box was lifted over Clements’ head into the far corner by Dave House, despite being fouled as he shot.
After a first half of end to end stuff, the second was a more scrappy, shapeless affair with an abundence of throw-ins – hardly surprising since the game was being played on what must have been the narrowest pitch in Bristol.
Casuals gave themselves some breathing space when a half cleared corner was lobbed back in by Cullen from just outside the box. A surprisingly high bounce took it over the keeper’s head.
With quarter of an hour to go Redland again pulled themselves back in the game, taking advantage of the over-Casual Hill Farmers defence’s inability to clear. Rob Sykes snapped up the chance and a close finish looked on the cards.
Farmers had different ideas and scored again, five minutes later, Swift drove the ball low into the six yard area only to see it turned into his own goal by Tony Allan.
All in all, a closely fought, good spirited game. Redland might consider thenselves unlucky not to have got at least a point out of it, but at the end of the day it was the keepers that made the difference.
Man-of-the-match opinions were split between Goulding and Clements, the latter seeming to view the ‘award’ as something of a poison chalice. With the search for a regular goalie still on, no one wants to be seen as too good between the sticks.
Hill Farm Casuals: Clements, Cullen (off first quarter), Fox (off last quarter), Townsend (off second quarter), Hennell (off third quarter), Goulding, Swift, Wiltshire, Mullen, King, Ogle, Willner
Redland Ramblers 2 Hill Farm Casuals 4
27 Sep 1998
