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Nostromo 1 - Woodhurst 4
Independent Sunday League
Parsloes Park, Dagenham, Sunday 12th October 03
Getting up early on a blustery Sunday morning and traveling to Dagenham may not be everyone's idea of footballing nirvana, especially as the entire country was recovering from Turkey Vs England induced hangovers.
Disappointingly injury, suspension and stroppiness meant that the 'Hurst were without such big game players as Bashford, Souleyman, Houlton and Lawley. Jason Fullerton was also missing meaning that only a squad of 11 was available for selection resulting in the out of sorts striker Bradbury dropping into the center of the park with Woodham.
However the depleted squad did welcome the arrival of debutante Patrick Ladbury, and as the whistle went to start the match, playing into the wind seemed to instantly blow the Woodhurst cobwebs away with the boys from Nelson Road taking control of the game from the off. Although the added disadvantage of playing against the wind meant that in the first 15 minutes goal opportunities for the 'Hurst were few and far between, however some excellent crosses from Ladbury were bettered only by a mouth-watering flick over the head and defender by Jordon (showing Probert how it was meant to be done). The deadlock was broken after 20 minutes by a stooping header by Steve Norton after some exceptional play down the left by Probert and Jordon.
Defensively Woodhurst look strong with some fine possession between Hughes, Taylor, McShea and the ever impressive Alexander. However the bracing conditions meant that Nostromo came close on a couple of occasions with their long throw causing one or two problems.
On 30 minutes more interchanges down the left between Probert and Taylor found Woodham in the center of the park who played an inviting left foot pass to Jordan who's constant pressure led the hapless Nostramo defender playing the ball past his own mini-Venn-like keeper, doubling the advantage for the visitors.
The second half saw Woodhurst playing with the wind and rarely has a team been in so much control of a game, with most members trying to notch from the half-way line. The ultra laid-back Alexander came in for some stick from the home team for his blatant mickey-taking, despite being the last man on more than one occasion.
All the players continued to play well especially Stevie Norton who gave easily his best performance in a Woodhurst shirt. Jordon extended the lead with 20 minutes remaining and a bullet header from McShea wrapped things up with five minutes to go.
Only a disappointing lapse in the collective defensive concentration with a couple of minutes to go let the home team in to ruin what would have been Woodhurst's first clean sheet of the season.
As any movie-buff will tell you, the Nostramo is the name of the spaceship in the Ridley Scott classic, Alien. In the film the ship is invaded by a force which is far too sleek, powerful and deadly for the crew to control before being slaughtered. This game was very much a case of life imitating art.
Steve Hughes reporting from Parsloes Park, Dagenham
Team
1 Andrew Norton
2 Steve Hughes
3 Tony Taylor
4 Paul McShea
5 Alex Alexander
6 Patrick Ladbury
7 Simon Probert
8 Nigel Jordon
9 Jamie Bradbury
10 Jimmy Woodham
11 Steve Norton
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