Barnstoneworth D South vs Gosford Match Report

What a difference a week (and two players) makes. After going down 5-1 to South Ettalong in a fairly shambolic performance last week, Barnstoneworth turned up to Frost Reserve to find Andy and Tom Lynch available upfront.

Within five minutes of the starting whistle, a long lob from Jason Bush found Chris Peers in the centres, who ducked, weaved and passed to Andy Lynch on the wing. He dodged a defender and nailed a perfect cross to his brother, who, moving so quickly that to the casual observer at the back he seemed to be standing still while effortlessly avoiding the fullbacks, nailed it into the corner of the net.

Five minutes later, with Barnstoneworth all over the ball in the centres, another pass from Andy enabled Tom repeat the performance from about a metre out, and Barnstoneworth found themselves in the unfamiliar position of being two up with the opposition yet to score.

Gosford seemed to have an endless supply of subs though, and in the 30-degree heat they came back pretty hard, forcing Simon Ashley-Binge to defend several corners and some determined shots at goal. Despite this, Barnstoneworth managed to secure enough ball to send Trevor Husk and Brett Fenton up the left flank on a series of raids that fed the ball to Andy. He was like a man possessed: ducking, weaving, dodging, sidestepping, prestidigitating (except with his feet) then passing to his brother Tom, who was in perfect position in front of the goal and seemed to mesmerise the goalkeeper with his subtle moves, knocking in two more with the precision of 59 cruise missiles in the ten minutes before half-time.

4-zip at half-time? The only previous occasion on which anything like this had occurred was the infamous game against Mountains that we lost after being up 3-0 at half time. Much was said about not letting Gosford score, but, true-to-form, Barnstoneworth took about fifteen minutes to switch on again in the second half, watching clearance kicks go straight to the feet of Gosford players, not attacking the ball, allowing them time to pick and pass in the centres, then failing to mark-up accurately in the backs. This sorry display enabled the Gosford forwards to sneak in two goals.

With handballs being ignored left and right by the ref, and Gosford starting to get a bit physical, Jason Bush received a free kick for a trip about twenty metres out and put in a beautifully lofted ball that drew the keeper out and cruised past his left shoulder into the goal.

Minutes later, Ryan ‘Chicken Little’ Bush had a golden opportunity inside the 6-yard box, but pushed it wide to much groaning. The return kick found the Nigel ‘Ginger Ninja’ Weisbaum at the other end, who despite repeated admonishments after last week, put in another perfect cross kick to the opposition striker. This time the defenders managed to steal it back and send it downfield where Ramin ‘Noodles’ far Aziz passed it to Tom Lynch, who ran about 70 metres through the entire Gosford team to score yet again.

Meanwhile, Bec Lynch was running the substitutions down to the second on the sideline, bringing an unprecedented level of organisation and professionalism to the side. This was particularly welcome when Gosford stormed the goal, and Jamie Clements, chasing hard in the centres, pulled a hamstring with what seemed like an audible snap and had to retire from the pitch. By this stage the temperature was starting to affect on both sides, and to the backs, who’d had to defend vigorously against a pumped-up Gosford in the second half, calls of ‘six minutes to go’ from the sideline sounded more like an imminent release from torment than an opportunity to score again.

But clearly not everyone felt this way: with just a few minutes to go, a pass from Adam Chandler, who’d brought along some welcome fresh legs at half-time, found Andy Lynch, who went wide, dodged the left back, took it to the corner and crossed to, guess who? Brother Tom! Who punched in his sixth goal for the game, an all-time best individual performance for this team.

A great team effort, especially from the Lynch team.

Final result: 7-2 to Barnstoneworth.