Streets of London 3 - 2 F.R.O.G.S.

The Streets of London claimed their first win of the season Tuesday night after an eventful clash with away team F.R.O.G.S.

Before kick-off the home crowd had a warm welcome to Streets of London defender Chris Hayhoe after his long absence from first team action. Also returning from his injury that sidelined him last week was striker Mike Daley. To round off the returnees, left-back Andy Wylie was considered fit for play.

Changes to F.R.O.G.S. meant that the Streets would be playing a very different team than the one they encountered two seasons previously and it showed in the first 10 minutes of the opening half.

F.R.O.G.S. instantly applied pressure with quick passing and fast runs down both flanks, but the defensive back line did a good job of holding the opposition at bay despite the attempts outside the 18-yard box.

It would take the opening 10 minutes before the Streets began to find their composure, although much of their forward momentum would be through the middle of the park.

The first real opportunity came from Ed Gatjen after he picked up a through ball from Nik Mussor. Gatjen's pace easily left the F.R.O.G.S. defenders behind and he had only the keeper to beat as he came into the box. His shot was composed but was just wide of the post.

"I know what I wanted to do", said Gatjen after the match. "I had this desire to shoot early, but I resisted. I knew if I hit it hard it would go skyward just like Vadim's shot last week. And the last thing I needed was that embarrassment so I decided to place it. Next time I'm going to try and place it inside the goal instead of outside the goal".

Throughout much of the first half the Streets had the upper hand with good solid passing through the midfield. Frequent breaks to Daley and Kevin O'Brien would occasionally end up off-side, but generally the possession was good.

And the effort would pay off 30 minutes into the game when Kevin "The Guvnor" O'Brien passed the ball to Neil Oldham who found Daley. The clinical finish was surgical precision and put the home team in front - and deservedly so.

F.R.O.G.S. had little to come back with as their substitutes took to the filed. In surprising fashion they took the pace-setters off the field and any potential was completely stripped from the team for the duration for the half. They looked slow in comparison to the Streets and had few consistent passes or ideas in attack.

The change benefitted the Streets even further five minutes before the break. Another key play involved O'Brien setting up Daley for his second of the night. The finish was as clean as the first and set the potential for a bountiful evening.

The break changed the game again. F.R.O.G.S. put there faster players back up front. The Streets of London just hung out. The net result was a second half very different from the first.

F.R.O.G.S. applied more pressure than they did in the opening 10 minutes of the first half and it was only a matter of time before they pulled back the first goal. A defensive mistake on the edge of the 6-yard box was all that was needed. The F.R.O.G.S. forward turned quickly on Mussor before shooting from close range.

There was little anyone could do to prevent the ball from finding the back of the net.

Feeling the opportunity to get back into the game, F.R.O.G.S. kept up the intense effort to find an equalizer. 20 minutes after the first, they were presented with a golden egg.

With Mussor at the near post after a corner there was little chance of the ball finding the back of the net. It was, however, Jon Taylor's turn to gift a goal opportunity in a moment of madness.

As the ball was shot towards goal, Taylor used his outstretched arm to push the ball over the goal line, just wide of the post. Although lucky not to receive a card for the offense, Don Bradshaw was faced with the unenviable task of trying to save a penalty.

The F.R.O.G.S. forward stepped up and swiftly dispatched the goal to bring the score level.

With 5 minutes left on the clock it looked as though the Streets of London would, one again, give the game away as they have done so many times. But there was a little more fight in them than usual and it would be a spectacular finish to a game with very two different halves.

The last corner the Streets of London would win was to be the pivotal point where they would reap the benefit of their effort.

Mussor stepped up to take the kick. As the ball made its way into the penalty area Daley was in the perfect position to attempt to claim his hattrick. But it would O'Brien that would take the glory as he left the ground in uncanny fashion to meet the ball in the air.

With the floodlights reflecting off his head in the same fashion as they reflected off the ball, the two made contact and he drove the ball home. Despite the keeper getting a hand to the ball, the header was too clean and too powerful to stop.

In the last 5 minutes of the game O'Brien had managed to find the winning goal.

After the game we caught up with two players that were really influential in the score-line.

When asked why he handled the ball in the area, Taylor's answer was understandable. "Donny keeps calling for the ball and I know when he needs to get it and when he doesn't. In this case I realized that I was better than Donny and I went for the save. And to be honest it was a great save. I don't personally know why we can't have two goalkeepers in each end. A regular one and a defender keeper like myself. Makes perfect sense to me."

O'Brien was on a high after the game and despite Taylor's give-away was proud of his team. He said after the match "we won by playing hard and defending when we needed too. But what's really important are the goals. I don't know if you noticed but I was instrumental in the first goal, assisted Mike in the second and scored the winner. Did I mention I scored the winner?"

The Streets of London now miss a week before their next fixture due to league travel schedules. It will be a test of their new found resolve to see if they can beat BASOM away on July 21st.