FC CHAPLIN'S / YORKSHIRE PRIDE 2011/12            

FC Chaplin's     6    Cafeteria Galera Sport      3

Suspended: None
Injured: Cameron Parker ( Collarbone )
Unavailable: Ross Musk, Jay O'Gara, Jeff Ball, Paul Bettson, Sebastian Graur, Alan Belshaw, Danny Stirling, Matthew McLauchlan, Paul Smith, Jamie Labella, Arie Van-De-Lang

Coming into this difficult match today Chaplin’s were on an unbeaten run of 4 games including the 7-1 mauling of Toldos Baixa last week. Galera Sport, of course, were an altogether different proposition and they were currently in 3^rd place in the Table, giving them automatic promotion to the top Division next Season. With a ridiculous 5-1 loss to Galera in their last meeting Chaplin’s were looking for revenge today and to prove that Galera were extremely lucky to have come away with such an emphatic result from a game that Chaplin’s themselves could easily have won.

It wasn’t looking too good for Chaplin’s at first as they were yet again missing several regular players including centre backs Paul Bettson and Jeff Ball and striker Jay O’Gara. Missing too was Ross Musk who was back in England for a few weeks. However, they had a new signing to parade today in the shape of Karim Balm who looked like he could be decent cover for any number of positions. Despite goalkeeper Sebastian Graur now being available for selection after having served his 4 game suspension it was decided to keep him locked in his padded cell on Shutter Island and instead to keep faith with Adam Melling who has been improving tremendously over the last few weeks and is now fully deserving of the No.1 jersey.

With just a jiggle at the back and up front necessary Danny Smith and Gary Lane anchored the team in the centre of defence with Loz Mentesh at right back and Carl Pearson at left back. Up front Ray Charrington was given another chance to fill his shooting boots with goals alongside top goal-scorer Guti. With a late afternoon kick-off of 4pm roasting the team under a hot 26 degrees sun Chaplin’s would almost certainly be giving a good run out to their 3 subs on the bench, the bench warming them rather than the other way around!

With Galera fannying about getting ready the match kicked off nearly 15 minutes late but despite their tardiness in arriving they were by far the quickest out of the blocks on the pitch and in the first 10 minutes of the match they gave Chaplin’s a few early problems with their excellent passing and confident possession of the ball. However, Chaplin’s still managed to grab a few half-chances in the first few minutes with both Carlos Parkin and Nick Stevens having a crack at goal with a header and a shot respectively but both efforts were put straight at the keeper who made an easy save on each occasion.

On 5 minutes Galera had their first dangerous moment, their tricky No.10 Santiago getting in behind Danny Smith at the right-hand side of the area but his powerful strike at the near post was well saved by keeper Adam Melling who got down well to make a great block with his body. Unfortunately this was to prove only a very temporary reprieve as barely a minute later Santiago was at it again, this time he pounced on a momentary lapse by left back Carl Pearson to square the ball across the area to the Galera No.20 who smashed the ball into the back of the net from 12 yards. It was a horrible early goal for Chaplin’s to concede and it showed just how dangerous teams like Galera can be and how quickly they can punish any hesitation.

Still, there was plenty of time to get the Chaplin’s machine in motion but it nearly stalled in the garage on 7 minutes when the mercurial Santiago skipped his way down the right yet again before attempting a clever chip over the keeper from the edge of the 6-yard box but again Adam Melling was onto him and he made another important save at his near post to concede a corner. With the warning bells ringing loud and clear for Chaplin’s they needed to get a grip on the game quickly and on 8 minutes they did just that and ironically it came as a result of a defensive error from Galera allowing Chaplin’s to capitalise with a soft goal of their own to make it 1-1. Guti passed the ball to Ray Charrington high up on the right and as Ray attempted to play it straight back to him a Galera defender intercepted it and poked it back to his keeper from the edge of his own area. As the keeper looked to make a comfortable clearance he somehow completely miscued his kick and trod on the ball allowing the predatory Guti to rob it off his toes and slam the ball into the open net. It wasn’t the most artistic of goals but they all count and these first 2 sloppy goals of the game would unfortunately set the tone for the next 4 that would be scored before the end of the first half.

With only 10 minutes played the goal fest was well and truly on and the advantage swung to Chaplin’s as Guti was awarded what was in all honesty quite a cheap penalty for an innocuous kick at his heels on the edge of the Galera area. Guti stayed on his feet but did appeal immediately, perhaps his plaintive arms were enough to sway the referee who pointed to the spot. From 12 yards it was no contest between keeper and kicker and Carlos Parkin took the penalty like a real pro, watching for the first movement of the keeper to his right before putting his shot perfectly into the left-hand corner of the goal giving Chaplin’s a 2-1 lead and Carlos his 30^th goal in total for his Club, a new record.

The match was now really underway and incredibly the teams were level only 5 minutes later when Galera exposed the left-hand side of the Chaplin’s defence for a second time and despite more than a hint of off-side against their players they went on to put the chance away to bring the game back to 2-2. Who was going to score next was anybody’s guess and on 18 minutes Chaplin’s had a decent shout for another penalty when the Galera No.8 seemed quite clearly to use his arm to control the ball inside his own area but this time the referee was not quite so generous and the No.8 got away with his little indiscretion. 2 minutes after that there was a hairy moment for Chaplin’s when the No.10 Santiago continued his pillage up the right-hand side, this time he rolled the ball across the edge of the area to the No.18 in the centre who hit a good strike from 12 yards but yet again Adam Melling pulled off another fine save.

With Santiago looking increasingly dangerous down the Chaplin’s left new signing Karim Balm was pressed into action a little earlier than expected, coming on for Carl Pearson at left back to see if he could help to stem the onslaught of the Galeran maestro. It did seem to keep the bugger a little quieter and as Chaplin’s began to get more of a hold on the game the next 10 minutes became more of a tight battle between the two teams. Desperate to get the next goal Chaplin’s brought on the fresh legs of Ivan Gomez on 35 minutes, Ivan replacing Ray Charrington up front in a bid to add a bit more impetus to the attack.

Maybe this change rattled the Galera defence a little as soon after their No.8 over-ran the ball as he tried to play it away from his area, the loose ball running on to Carlos Parkin who immediately laid it off to Dan Stevens who turned and hit a fantastic shot from 30 yards that swerved away from the goalkeeper and went in at his far post. It was a brilliantly instinctive strike by Dan and it gave Chaplin’s a real sense of belief as they approached half-time. Then, on 38 minutes, they should really have gone 4-2 up when goal-machine Guti found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper in the middle of the area after a centre back failed to cut out a pass by Carlos Parkin. With time to pick his spot Guti uncharacteristically lost his composure and ended up hoofing a horrible shot from 10 yards that curled well away to the right of the target. It was a real let-off for Galera but the Chaplin’s benevolence did not stop there as barely a minute later Carlos Parkin was put in by a fantastic ball from wide-left by Neil Murphy that was begging to be buried in the back of the net from the middle of the area. However, the normally technically astute Carlos didn’t quite get his aim or connection right with his volley and his shot landed just wide of the left post with the keeper well beaten. Gutted, double gutted!

Of course, those kind of misses never go unpunished for long and on 43 minutes Galera were right back in the match after they were also awarded a rather soft penalty after Gary Lane was adjudged to have been pushing during a Galera corner. With so much at stake Galera made no mistake, their huge No.13 putting the penalty away convincingly despite Adam Melling guessing the right way. With now nothing between the two teams going into the break Chaplin’s had 45 minutes left to make their point and as they kicked off for the second half they were more than up for the fight and they started, sustained and finished the half by far the stronger of the two.

With only a minute played the first chance came their way, Guti lobbing the keeper from close range then watching frustratingly as his effort was cleared off the line by the last defender. A minute after that it was Gary Lane who was left frustrated as he saw his strong header from a corner veer off past the right-hand post. Completing the trinity of 1 minute chances it was Carlos Parkin on 48 minutes who started a good move down the left that saw him playing in Dan Stevens on the left-hand edge of the area, Dan’s subsequent strike looping up off the defenders foot and into the centre of the area where Ivan Gomez put his header high over the crossbar from close range.

Galera could easily have been 3 goals down by now and despite Chaplin’s really starting to assert themselves they had to wait until the 60^th minute to finally breach the Galera net for a fourth time. This time the goal came from a set-piece after Ivan Gomez had been fouled on the edge of the area. After his brilliant goal from his free-kick against Toldos Baixa last week Nick Stevens assumed responsibility for this one too and what a good decision that was because Nick lifted the ball beautifully over the Galera wall and into the bottom left corner of the net as the keeper stood helpless towards the right. It was a perfectly taken free-kick and I doubt that anyone will be able to argue the ball off Nick when Chaplin’s are awarded their next one. If he keeps taking them like that then his name will be first on the list every time.

Less than a minute later Nick could and should have scored his second after a great strike by Gary Lane had been blocked away in the area by a hand/stomach combination of a defender. Guti pumped the loose ball straight back in again, sending it teasingly towards the back post from wide right and as Nick came charging in at the last second he had a great chance to put the ball away but instead he put his header just over the crossbar from 5 yards. Another big let-off for Galera, lucky bast***s!!

As the game began to run away from them Galera pressed hard down the middle and on 65 minutes they fashioned a dangerous move that saw them taking the ball on a threatening run deep into the Chaplin’s area but a great last-second challenge by Loz Mentesh put the striker on his ass before he could get his shot away towards the near post. After riding that little storm Chaplin’s resumed their dominance and on 73 minutes a great forward run of their own saw Dan Stevens having a decent strike from 25 yards that forced the keeper to save low to his left at the expense of a corner.

On 74 minutes it was Galera back on the attack and after sneaking into the right-hand side of the area they had a great opportunity to grab a goal back but the magnificent Adam Melling made yet another important block to keep them out from 12 yards, this time Adam used his Melling Marbles to deflect the shot away to safety. This obviously came at a price and the game had to be stopped for a minute to allow Adam to get his breath back and to make sure that both his boys were back in their barracks!

With Adam performing such heroics in net it was only right that Chaplin’s would be the next to score and on 76 minutes they took a fantastic 5-3 lead over their lofty adversaries. Nick Stevens on the far right played a great ball to Carlos Parkin in the centre, Carlos then nudging a lovely ball forward to Guti in the middle of the Galera area. Guti took a great first touch to side-step the feet-first sliding challenge of the keeper before steadying himself to smash a superb shot into the back of the net despite the last defender doing his best to try and keep it out.

By now Chaplin’s were ecstatic but they still had a job to do and so they introduced the energy of Freddy Palaquibay up front for Ivan Gomez and shortly after that Carl Pearson back at left back for the tiring Karim Balm. It didn’t take long for Freddy to get in on the act and on 80 minutes he helped to create the 6^th and final goal for Chaplin’s that firmly put the result to bed. Loz Mentesh continued his strong defensive duties, breaking up a Galera attack on the half-way line, his clearance looping high into the air towards Carlos Parkin on the far right. Carlos brought the ball down well and then dinked it over the left back to set Freddy away in the area, Freddy playing a first time pass across the area to try and pick out Guti over on the left. His pass was initially blocked by the centre back but the ball came straight back to him so Freddy had a second bite of the cherry, this time his pass did make it through to Guti, Guti finishing well from 12 yards to bury the ball in the net for his well deserved hat-trick and his 20^th goal of the Season.

This left Galera wishing that they were back in one of their cafeterias supping tea rather than being annihilated on a football pitch but it still could have been even worse for them in the closing minutes. On 81 minutes Freddy Palaquibay had a go himself from 25 yards after being put through by Nick Stevens but he was never properly balanced and he lifted his shot high over the crossbar. On 85 minutes Loz Mentesh broke up another Galera attack and took the ball forward over the half-way line before pumping a lovely ball forward to Guti on the edge of the area but as Guti brought the ball down the referee blew for off-side. Finally, on 89 minutes, Neil Murphy did well to snuff out a Galera move down his left, Neil then playing the ball forward to Guti further up the pitch. Guti immediately spotted the great run of Dan Stevens up the middle of the pitch, his quality pass finding Dan in plenty of space to take the ball towards the Galera area. Unfortunately, Dan’s first touch was just a little tired and the ball drifted away to his right just enough to make him stretch for his shot more than he would have liked, his strike in the end from the right-hand edge of the area rolling inches wide of the left-hand post with the keeper well beaten.

So, it could have been 7 or 8 or 9 or even 10 but Chaplin’s were more than happy to settle for 6, especially as it gave them all 3 points to give them a total of 39 for the Season and 5^th position overall. This is their best tally and finish ever and the 3 goal margin of victory today was just enough to send them into plus figures on their goal difference, their priceless +1 being a far, far cry from their appalling -76 of last Season! How things can change in the space of a few months!!

Chaplin’s are now primed and ready for what hopefully promises to be a good Cup run, starting next week with Cines IMF who have just finished in 6^th position in Division 1. Oh, I cannot wait, I really cannot wait…..

Man-of-the-Match:

Adam Melling – It was a great game where many players were worthy of praise, particularly Nick Stevens, Dan Stevens, Carlos Parkin, Sergio Gutierrez and the promising Danny Smith but nudging them all into second place is goalkeeper Adam Melling. It wasn’t too long ago that Adam was at the lowest point of his Chaplin’s career and if God had magically thrown down a huge dollop of confidence to him Adam probably would have dropped it but since then he has come back stronger and stronger every week. His performance today was much more like the Adam of old, his ability is growing as quickly as his confidence and that was obvious today in the way he came out to make several big saves just when his team needed him the most. He was brave and he was strong and he literally proved to everyone that he really does have balls when it comes to making an awesome save. He was totally blameless in any of the goals conceded today and I’m sure that this will be an important feature of his games to come for Chaplin’s. Well done Adam, get in son, get in….

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