Volunteer Arms Football Club

After the news that pitches were unplayable for Monday the 16th and were extremely doubtful for the Wednesday I was somewhat concerned that by 4pm yesterday I hadn’t been told the game was off. Despite all this doubt we went ahead, probably due to the peculiar good weather we were gifted with. The pitch was in pretty fair nick after the freak weather conditions apart from a couple dodgy patches, and a large patch I deemed ‘The Black Hole’ due to it being huge, black, and it stopping the ball dead anywhere near it. The game was threatened with last minute disaster after a mix up between the teams regarding who was sorting out a ref, thankfully Paul Harkins of the ‘God Squad’ had a handy local contact Stevie Cochrane who was willing to fill in despite getting only 2 hours notice.

With Owen having a mild score to settle with The God Squad he had pressed on with team selection and pulled a few strings to pick up some excellent new players. With stalwart Gordon Mackenzie out due to a knee injury (scans still pending) Owen called on an old pal from Luca’s, Gordon Devine to fill the epic chasm left by Musselburgh’s favourite Plocktonian. A very big lad who at times can be spotted chasing an egg arrived with promise to mop up any balls in the air and provide an ample amount of sliding tackles. With Gordon came his mate Adam with a reputation as a good goalkeeper, but willing to do a job at centre half also. The match also provided opportunity to feed in some players for their first appearance after pledging their pub football career to VAFC. Ryan Mckenna was available selection for this match and is part of one of Musselburgh’s famous football families with his father Tony a leading presence at Musselburgh Windsor, and younger brother Michael who served an apprenticeship at Dunfermline. Another promising player that had pledged his future was Mark ‘Perfect Diluting Juice’ Valentine, a technically gifted striker looking to restart his career after a brief hiatus. In order to provide ourselves with a few defensive options Owen called upon the services of Paul, his sister Siobhan’s mate’s Fiancee. Last, but not least is Matthew Tulloch, an experienced, fit, and creative player, happy to do a job almost anywhere on the park. Precisely what we have been looking for.

With a brief window in the weather the match drew a massive crowd of 20 (which includes subs for both teams) on a clear and fresh Fisherrow night. It was good to get a return to action on home turf and it was clear the boys were all up for it. We stuck with the good old flat 4-4-2 with Ciaran Mulgrew hitting the sticks, (from right to left) Declan Kinsella, Adam, Gordon Devine, and myself Joe Dick (captain) making up a physically solid back four with plenty of height. In midfield were Kaz, Derek, Clarky, Owen Kinsella, and up front were Tulloch and Val. With a pretty large subs bench we had depth in the squad consisting of; Paddy Gauson, Calum Day, Paul and Ryan Mckenna. For once we were able to line up with 11 men at kick off without having to wait on anybody and the match got underway with the God Squad winning the toss and choosing to give us centre. The match started well with some tremendous early pressure from us focused mainly down the right wing Kinsella partnership. The through balls were flowing and we had a couple good chances. However it didn’t take long before we were caught napping at the back and The God Squad took the lead through a curling effort from the right flank that eventually nestled in the top left corner. It was crucial for us to keep the heads up and we resumed the game just as we had started it but again got caught out after a long spell of pressure that saw a sparkling white shirt skip past big Gordon and slot home to extend the lead to 2-0. Psychologically we were in a truly fragile position, continue the push and risk conceding could prove fatal, however sitting back and accepting a 2-0 loss would be utterly useless. At such an early stage we continued the pressure seeing the ball switch from wing to wing and a couple brilliant runs that should have lead to goals for the Volleys. The God Squad made a quick break that lead to a real goalmouth scramble, I thought I had it truly dealt with but my clearance was totally dreadful and The God Squad rifled home from a yard. Probably the worst moment of my career so far and somemthing that I really have to work on. At 3-0 down after 25 minutes or so it was time to push the gung-ho button and try and pull at least a couple goals back before the break. With some deliciously delicate play between Declan, Clarky, and Owen, the ball was sent through on the right wing where Owen picked it up, carried a few yards, dropping a shoulder to beat 2 players and then belting it home from a tight angle and 25 yards. A truly excellent team goal with a superb finish from Kinsella. This goal had a massively galvanising effect on the team and we retrieved posession shortly after kick off. A brilliant move up the left wing with some delicate passing saw the God Squad put the ball out for a corner. A great inswinging ball from Clarky was cleared out for another corner, and he followed it up with a carbon copy ball that lead to an epic goalmouth scramble. With a couple of gilt-edge chances we should have nicked a goal, but the biggest disappointment from this move came when a crystal clear handball was not given. To pick up a penalty to make it 3-2 just before half time would have completely changed the face of the game and I feel this was a really significant moment in the game and it blighted an otherwise spotless record for our whistler Mr Cochrane. Before the break we saw a couple of pretty dreadful defensive errors that allowed The God Squad to extend their lead by another 2 goals to make it 5-1 at half time. It was glaringly evident that something had to be done at half time.

Learning from previous tactical errors I made certain we didn’t change the formation as it was only necessary for a change of personnel. With Ciaran Mulgrew blatantly refusing to play another second in goals we were forced to put Adam in goals, I had to fill in at centre back and Paddy Gauson deputised again at left back. With Declan Kinsella picking up a knock to his back in the first half he had to come off in exchange for Paul. Suffering from below match fitness Mark Valentine was substituted for Calum Day. Clarky, another casualty of fitness was swapped for debutante Mckenna and we were able to retain our shape for the second half. Adam in Goals, in defence (r-l) Paul, Gordon, Joe Dick (captain), Paddy Gauson, in midfield (r-l) Owen Kinsella, Derek, Ryan Mckenna, Kaz, Forwards, Calum and Tulloch.

The second half started dreadfully. From kick off their number 8 Eebzy (unsure about the spelling) planed straight through the centre and once again slotted home from close range into the bottom left corner that Adam would have been lucky to get to. It was pretty clear at this stage we  had to go at this match all guns blazing in a brave attempt to try and restore any pride. The push continued and we conceded 2 further pretty sloppy goals from close range. At 7-1 down things couldn’t seem to get much worse, until big Gordon injured himself and had to go off. I was forced to pull Derek back from centre-mid and brought Mulgrew on for Gordon. This decision did actually prove fruitful as Mulgrew keen to impress finished off a brilliant move in similar fashion to Owen’s earlier goal. A definite morale boost and signs of promise for the future. For some reason this goal didn’t have the effect it should have and the team became pretty unstable, with people making their own substitutions the formation soon went to the dogs and at times we were left with only 3 at the back. I eventually found myself at right back due to the injured Gordon deciding he was sound and Paul subbing himself for Gordon. With such drastic instability it should come as no surprise that we went on to concede an astonishing 5 further goals, most of which again were from close range and the sense of relief at the final whistle was pretty evident. 12-2, a 10 goal defeat, definitely something hard to take inspiration or positives from, but surprisingly there were.

The biggest positive I’m taking from this is the expansion of the squad and rooting out some talent. We managed to discover Adam, a fairly poor centre half, but a pretty good goalkeeper with the height and bravery to go with it. Gordon Devine proved a useful addition with his height and fearless challenges, his only downside being occasional lapses of concentration. Tulloch also proved his worth with excellent technical ability and the fitness to prove himself a consistent nuisance for defenders for the entire 90 minutes. Ryan Mckenna put in a good shift in the middle of the park, winning balls in the air despite his height, and playing some excellent balls from the centre midfield. As expected Val caused problems for the God Squad defence with a good performance laced with trickery and a physical presence. Last but not least is Paul, an extremely handy option at full back that will be called upon in future.

Another positive is the networking due to this game. Picking up a contact for Stevie Cochrane the referee who put in a pretty good performance and stamped his authority on the game and didnt stand for any nonsense from players. The other handy contact established is Paul Harkins the gaffer of Musselburgh Baptist FC and we will definitely be calling on them again for a friendly when they aren’t on league business.

As far as picking a man of the match I would probably nominate Eebzy for his pacey, technical performance that saw him constantly skipping past defenders and causing some real problems. Staggs most valuable player is once again a difficult choice to make, firstly because of the result of the match, but secondly and most importantly because of the variety of good performances out there. Gordon Devine did put in a pretty excellent performance for his debut but due to some lapses in concentration loses out on the award. Paddy Gauson is another contender with some brilliant runs from left back and mopping up many attacks, but also working well with myself to provide cover for each other. I could easily pick out any body from the midfield as there was some tremendous play amongst them and they all serviced the forwards well with some excellent through balls. Tulloch made a brilliant debut notable for his selfless play and was unfortunate not to score when he hit both posts with a brilliant effort. Mulgrew’s contribution is also duly noted for finishing off a well worked move with a curling right foot strike from the edge of the box that found its way into the top right corner. Declan Kinsella must also be noted for his quality workmanship and creation of an almost flawless partnership with his brother, but it is Owen who swipes the award for a brilliant shift over 90 minutes and a remarkable 25 yard strike to go with the partnership with Declan.

With the benefit of hindsight I can say that we were pretty unfortunate to lose by such a huge margin as they finished most of their goals within 10 yards, and we also heaped on the pressure from start to finish and if it wasn’t for a few unfortunate errors at the back and the penalty decision it could have been a very different story. However we have to continue to march onwards and upwards, at this stage im just happy to get games in and have them go ahead, and its pretty clear we are building towards a bright future with a good squad and a fair passion for the club building up.

Keep the faith,

JD