NEW SEASON - Season Seven

Matchday Two - 6-3 Loss VS Canton's Finest
(match score debated to be 5-3)

A late TTFE comeback was not enough to save them from defeat against newly-promoted Canton's Finest.

Season Seven is here and it couldn't come too soon for The Thursday Football Experience league team. Season Six promised all forms of hope and grandeur in Division Three, with TTFE even vying for a top two finish after opening with a brace of victories. In the background however, these wins were not convincing enough and shown little of the good form and morale of the previous season. This decline in team confidence, compounded with key injuries and absences, soon condemned the team to an appalling run of 10 losses from 12 matches. Only the lucky survive on that kind of relegation form and it seems TTFE used all their luck in the previous season to lift that Divsion Four trophy. TTFE lost their right to play in Division Three after a miserable 7-2 defeat to Jam Roll on the last day of the season, where a win would have ensured safety. Now once again, TTFE have to start their campaign in the dizzy heights of Division Four.

Canton's Finest, formerly the Canton Young Gunz (part of the Young Gunz family it seems), are no strangers to silverware themselves; they were champions of Division Five last season and earnt promotion with relative ease. This game was going to be tough not just because the Young Gunz tag meant a young side with pace and attitude, but also this was a side used to winning - something TTFE have forgotten about since last October. Nethertheless, spirits were high as the team was amazingly at full strength - with Dave Weller and Paul Preece back to full health, it was just like old times. The magnificent seven were joined by new recruit Dave Bailey, who was drafted in last season to grab some more goals as a striking hitman.

The beginning of game had a particular traditional feel to it; the change back to the Division Four pitch had revived some old memories of the past epic battles against Da Randem Mandem and Cardiff Superstars. Sadly this time around, they are both enjoying their game in Division Three; after the Superstars made a good debut in the higher league at TTFE's expense, whilst Da Randem earned deserved promotion last season. But I knew something was in the air - were TTFE about to bring the good times back to kick start the new season?

The first half proved otherwise. TTFE had very little of the ball and continued to fritter away their chances when they came around. The wet weather did encourage all players to try their luck from afar, but both teams did have very competant keepers - which kept the score down significantly. Saying that, both sides were very quiet on the shooting front, with Weller making only a few saves in the opening ten minutes. The deadlock was broken by Finest from a controversial set piece pass which seemed to be slightly over head height. The attacker was unmarked and was forced to hoist his leg high in the air to strike the ball into the net, past an idle Weller who assumed the fairly obvious of a free kick to the men in black. The referee was quite happy however with the goal and gave a 1-0 lead to the Finest. They then went to stretch that lead to two just before half time, giving them the cushion they needed to sit pretty for the interval.

At half time TTFE took stock of the situation and applied some more rigidity to what had been a very disorganised formation. Finest had the trademark skill and intuition to find the net, but they did lack the confidence to dominate the game, which did allow TTFE to have some leeway in what was becoming a shocker of a game for them. When Finest went 3-0 up, TTFE still looked like a goal was only going to come from an act of misfortune from the opposition. That soon became the reality as Billy Collins scored the first goal for TTFE this season after capitalising on a mistake. After catching a player in possession, he struck well into the bottom corner to finally add some spice to the tie. Soon after a long range shot from Finest put the game to 4-1 and the game was once again slipping away.

TTFE then made a comeback from the dead to give the opposition a real fright. Collins pass across the goal via the boards found an unmarked Joe Newbury who slotted home to make 4-2, whilst Chris Phillips tried his luck from afar and found his first of the season. At 4-3, it was anyone's game again, as TTFE threatened with set piece after set piece in their half, mimicing the Welsh revival witnessed only a day before. However it was not to be, as Finest soon broke away and got the all important goal they needed to finsih the tie. At 5-3 (not 6-3) the game had reached a seemingly inevitable climax.

Finest should have been disappointed to allow TTFE back into the game and one can imagine that they were playing below par in this opening fixture. For TTFE, the mixed wires continue to threaten any hope of harmony returning to the team - as each players is finding it tough to work together again. With so much turbulence over the past season, square one seems to be where most of the team are at.

For the first time in four seasons, TTFE have lost their opening fixture - a statistic which may be a cause for concern, especially as the look on the faces of the lads coming off the field shows that this game could, and should have been won. There is still a lot of work to be done.


Players: Dave Weller, Joe Newbury, Chris Phillips, Paul Preece, James Carling, James Pugh, Billy Collins, Dave Bailey.

Goals: Collins, Newbury, Phillips.