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Pacers New-season Social will take place on Friday 5 October.
Please try to keep this date free in your diaries as it is always a great night out.
This year we are celebrating more than usual and the night will be packed full of festivities, such as:
Pacer ping pong tournament.
New Pacer initiations.
The brief return from Oz of ex-Pacer lethario, Rob Delaney.
A chance to wave Goodye to Ash who heads for Oz in a few weeks.
The usual Pacer activity of getting thrown out of bars for various reasons involving Jordan’s nob!
As we are barred from most pubs in Putney and also our usual Friday spot of Farringdon, this year’s evening will start in Earl’s Court.
Further details will follow…
By Sean W
The clash against Wandsworth Elite marked the Pacers first home game of the season.
The game marked other firsts, the first win, the first game with a full squad and also the first match on a real football pitch.
The opening exchanges were very one-sided, and although Wandsworth Elite sported a very tall back four, they were unable to deal with the aerial threat of Pacers striker Jordan.
The Pacers exploited this weakness and the first goal saw Sean direct Jordan’s flicked header into the top corner of the oppositions goal.
This set the tone for the rest of the match.
10 minutes later Ash benefited from another of Jordan’s flicks and poor defending to find himself unmarked and 2 yards out and able to head the ball into the back of the net for the pacers second and his first.
15 minutes before the half time whistle went and a few more aerial bombardments later allowed Ash to claim his second goal of the game.
The ball pinged around Wandsworth’s penalty area until Kev’s shot that wasn’t a shot found it’s way into the path of Ash who actually did shoot… and scored.
After numerous poor decisions, from a very one sided linesman, a great save from Alessio and loads of rain the Pacers found themselves maintaining a 3-0 lead at halftime.
Halftime saw the introduction of all three substitutes and a team talk which could of found it’s way into a Stoke dressing room.
Desperate not to take their foot off the gas, Pacers frontman and provider Jordan placed himself on the scoresheet with, surprise, surprise, a header.
The ball found its way into the roof of the net and killed any chance of an opposition revival taking place.
Putney continued to press and although all goals had come from crosses and throwing, the Pacers played some great football on the deck and this was rewarded by Jordan’s second effort, who controlled the ball expertly and placed it coolly over the 4 ft keeper.
At the other end of the pitch Alessio was forced into another save, Wandsworth argued about who should take their free kicks and also came close when they hit the bar and saw the ball touch the line before being cleared. This was the closest they ever came.
To finish off the scoring, Ash found himself in the familiar position of two yards out with the ball.
After already scoring with his head and toe, Ash opted for the ‘perfect hat trick” by caressing the ball home with a knee / shin combo. He then retired to right back after a great shift upfront.
Wandsworth’s frustration grew and so did the amount of fouling.
Jordan, also keen for a hat trick, was denied by Nicks touch from an offside position.
The final whistle came and signalled a great victory for the Pacers with all players contributing to a solid home performance.
With individual victories all over the pitch, Pacers can hold their head high and take pride in the fact they were not beaten by a team dressed in Pink.
Our furthest away game of the season, and our latest match time, saw us in Croydon/Woodside kicking off against the Saints at what should have been 1pm.
Cue a late ref, and we were looking at a 1.45pm kick off. 10 pacers, and 2 ringers made up the team debuting in the BR6 postcode.
Starting badly, Saints were 2-0 up after just 10 minutes.
The less said about those goals the better, but we picked ourselves up, met the opposition with equal measures of skill and tenacity, and went into the break still 2-0 down, but with a boosted confidence.
I’m not sure which Ryman premier south team took our place for the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half, but whoever they were, they did well.
A scuffed shot, from someone who looked like Nick K, from outside the area fell to someone who looked like Sean on the edge of the box, who coolly cut the ball into the bottom left hand corner.
Minutes later, someone who looked like Curtis ran into the box like a Brit abroad racing for the start of happy hour on the Costa Brava, only to be taken down by what he described post-match as a great tackle.
The ref thought he was unlawfully dispossessed, and awarded a penalty.
Alex’s doppelganger then blasted home to level the match.
The real Pacers then reappeared, and the next half hour was full of chances for both sides.
We conceded a penalty due to Ryan being heavier than the guy he was shoulder-to-shouldering, but the skinny streak of p1ss oppo smashed it onto the bar. Justifiably denied.
However, an extra time surge from the Saints, coupled with a few of us showing our fatigue, allowed them to feed in one of their wingers who converted to take all 3 points.
Special thanks to Ed, Tim Rea and Ash P who donned the gloves in the absence of a proper keeper.
MOM to Alex for bossing the central midfield, narrowly pipping Nash’s good performance in central defence.
Jordan’s double-bagger failed to protect the Pacers from a sloppy defeat in the season opener against Morden.
On a baking hot morning in Raynes Park, frigid opposition kept the back door shut to take the points in this scrappy encounter.
Pacers had bad news from the start as keeper Alessio pulled out, leaving Alex looking for non-defending, over five foot nine volunteers to fill the role.
As usual there were few options, but Evans stepped up for duties in the first half.
That left Ash and Jordan up top, Ben and debutant Sean on either flank, Alex and Spracks in the middle and a back four of Oli, Kevlar, Nash and second debutant, Matt.
The Pacers started well enough but on a tight pitch with terrible markings, struggled to make the most of the wide men and soon reverted to type, lobbing the ball up to the big man to flick on.
This brought some half-chances but at times it felt like a lot of foreplay without ever getting too close to the money-shot, Morden just wouldn’t put out.
The opening goal came as a diagonal cross between defence and goalkeeper was allowed to bounce at the back post before being dispatched by a greatful Morden forward.
1-0, Morden.
Television replays would reveal who was at fault, unfortunately the Raynes Park CCTV had earlier in the week been stripped for copper wire, so we may never know.
At the other end of the park, the old flick-on show continued to cause havoc and Ash went clean through only to be clattered by the oppo keeper inside the box.
The ref decided that it was un-christian to send a player off on the sabbath and duly awarded a free-kick and yellow card, quite ridiculous.
However, Jordan stepped up and dispatched the dead-ball low into the back of the net, curling it around the wall to pop his cherry for the season, Oh yeah!
A great free-kick and Pacers were back on the prowl, 1-1.
It didn’t last long as an identikit cross undid the defence again, leading to polite ‘discussions’ between stand-in keeper and defence.
2-1, Morden.
Minutes later, Ash was sent clean through again, unfortunately he got a bit over excited when he got his lob on and spunked the ball high and handsome.
“I would have scored that if it wasn’t for my groin” he later explained. Not the first time his misfiring groin has let him down, that’s for sure.
The third Morden goal came as a loose ball just outside the area was volleyed into the top of the net past the flailing fist of by now fed-up Evans!
HT 3-1, Morden.
Ash, having abused his groin to within an inch of its existance, donned the gloves for the second half as Evans switched to right midfield, Sean moving to support Jordan up top.
Ed made a straight switch with Matt to add extra fresh legs at the back, where Morden’s very own version of Yohann Blake was starting to cause serious problems with his pace. Rapid.
The second half brought few chances for the Pacers, battling against the heat and the hill seemingly too much for this team, missing a few key players and without any fresh legs left on the bench.
Morden carved out a few chances from the edge of the area, mostly firing over, before the Pacers got a foothold in the half.
A rare corner and a great delivery from Oli was nodded in at close range by Jordan for his second goal of the game.
3-2, Morden.
Alas, the goal couldn’t provide the impetus needed and the Pacers just couldn’t create any notable chances.
With five minutes remaining, however, Alex, making his managerial debut, made a tactical switch and threw another man forward in the hope of salvaging something from the game.
4-2, Morden. FT.
A tough opener in the new league but Pacers can take heart that we were always in the game and with a proper keeper and a bit more fitness could easily have taken something from this.
Jordan has hit the ground running and will surely take some beating in the top scorer stakes. It’s up to everyone else to weigh in too and challenge him for that title.
We can also take heart from the fact that we still have very good players to come back into the matchday squad. Looking at the email list there are some great names on there who will surely factor this season. Especially Sunnypeanuts at gmail.com, you’ve gotta be good with an email address like that, right!?
Putney Pacers 