BACK Clear At The Top

BACK Consulting 5 – 3 British Airways

BACK Consulting Limited 6

Browell Smith 1

Match Report – 18th May 2010

Scorers: Paul Buzzeo 5, Phil Beckinsale 1

It was like watching Brazil against Scotland. The gingers come out and nab a goal they think they will dine out on for years only to rouse the sleeping giant to come back, gobble them up and spit them out.

The tenacious underdogs came out against league leaders BACK Consulting and within 2 minutes of the kick off a subtle push from right back Tuan Truong on the big centre forward lead to the award of a penalty. Stand in Keeper Guy Henderson then had to pick the ball out of the net after a well struck spot kick low and to his right. That was almost the last save Guy had to make and he commanded his area and marshalled the defence well for the remainder of the game without a serious shot to save.

BACK went straight up the park from the kick off and courtesy of Paul Buzzeo brought the match level. After 10 more minutes of scrappy midfield hacking, chopping and scything BACK broke through and took a well deserved lead. Cries that the referee was the opponent’s left back’s Dad are probably unfounded but the referees hair clearly got in his eyes when it came to calling a halt to some unrequired aggression. A few words of advice to the referee from John Patterson where the whistlers parentage was doubted brought things back down to earth. A moment of sublime genius saw Paul Buzzeo lob the keeper from the 18 yard line with a top drawer finish to go in 3 – 1 up at the interval.

Russell Ward was back in the middle after a niggle injury and put in a solid measured and paced ball winning performance with Graeme Patterson doing a solid job with some good through balls and good one two’s played between Steven Buzzeo on the right and John Patterson up front. He didn’t have his shooting boots on tonight but held the ball up well and played in Paul Buzzeo numerous times.

A few fruity hoofings started to be dished out in the second half with Tuan realising that Browell Smiths right midfielder had legs of steel and he took a heavy crunch to the ankle before limping out, to be followed 30 seconds later by Steven Buzzeo. On went Paul Antony initially on the right before cutting inside and seeing Russell swap with Scilliaci look alike Iain Richardson in the middle of the park.

Commedations to Graeme Watson for a good job alongside defensive goliath Dan Laycock, Dennis Irwin clone Peter Clegg played well at left back and well done to late call ups Matt in defence and Robert Ridley at right back.

A great cross to the back post found big Phil in acres to guide a header home for 4 before a certain Paul Buzzeo spanked in another nice pair to run out 6 -1 winners.

Sitting top of the table now 8 points clear of 5th place means another win will guarantee a place in the play offs and 6 points should see the league title coming BACK’s way.

Man of the match is undoubtedly Paul Buzzeo for his 5 goal blitz with a great performance from Daniel Laycock at centre half.

BACK Consulting Limited 3

Accenture 0

Match Report – 11th May 2010

Scorers: Paul Buzzeo 2, John Pattison 1

A superb performance from the BACK boys tonight as we showed great quality and discipline as our players finally began to gel as a team. With one of the strongest team displays yet Accenture were left out hustled and out foxed as the more dynamic and powerful BACK players too charge. Accenture tried to play their part by getting the ball down and playing passing football but BACK closed down all the space by working hard and soon enough turned an Accenture error into a BACK shooting chance.

The defensive line was solid as a rock and largely untested as the first clean sheet of the season was gained. Dan and Barry looked very comfortable as there were no runs into the channels of balls over the top. Tuan and Peter paid close attention to any players coming their way and when given the opportunity they passed the ball forward with great skill. Tuan is gaining rave reviews as he grows in confidence every week.

Goalkeeper Alan had a very quiet evening with one shot on goal in the first half and three in the second. However, the final save was an absolute blinder made at point blank range as chaos hit the BACK box for the first and last time.

Dan’s throw was clearly making a difference and his first attempt resulted in a scuffed header from Buzzeo and creeping in the far post. Next up a free kick was gained by John Patterson near the edge of the box and I had forgot to inform everyone just how hard he can hit a football. In fact after the game he told me that he hit it so hard he hurt his own foot. The third goal was a penalty despatched by Buzzeo and I have no idea about the last!

The midfield today were totally dominant. No space was allowed for the opposition and the closing down was great. Rory and Russell in the centre of the park showed great aerial ability and massive strength to boss the game which provided an excellent buffer in front of the back line. Stephen Buzzeo on the right chased everything and had some great touches. Phil on the left chased everything down and has shown that he likes to put in a good shift for the team.

In the second half the hard tackling Mark McKeever came on to win every header and crunch into tackles. That’s what I like to see, a bit of John Smiths football! And with Andrew Hill appearing at right back we probably had one of the biggest back lines about. Iain Richardson came on at half time and fulfilled his role admirably in the middle of the park breaking up play and keeping it simple. I even saw him win a header.

So another great win for the team as the performances get better and the prospects of hitting a top four place increase. We clearly have some top players and when we remember to be organised we will have the beating of most teams.

Chairman Andrew Charlton was stuck about who to choose for man of the match with both Rory Cook and Tuan Truong playing starring roles. Eventually Rory got the nod for a composed game showing strength, great heading and superb passing – all round class.

Andrew will be in touch next week to sort the team.

BACK Consulting Limited 5

Brewin Dolphin 3

Match Report – 4th May 2010

Scorers: Paul Buzzeo 2, Paul Antony 1, Rory Cook 1, Chris Grocock 1

Another good win for the men of steel last night as the team managed to build upon a good result from the previous week and give themselves a solid footing near the top of the table.  The free flowing football was looking good again and BACK really should have scored some more with great opportunities presented to many players.  BACK can be pleased they created so many chances but allowed the opposition a glimmer of hope by being a bit too attack minded in the first half.  This was rectified in the second half by the introduction of Iain Richardson at defensive midfield to break up play before it hits the back line.

Paul Buzzeo and Paul Antony were on sexy form as usual putting in good stints with lots of effort as well as the usual high skill levels.  It was a surprise the ladies team that were playing weren’t queuing for phone numbers.  One game wonder Chris Grocock on the left rolled back the years to his Grimsby Town days by bagging a well taken goal and almost grabbing another with a jinking run beating four men before shooting too close to the keeper.  Phil managed a near full game by starting off in the centre of the park before switching to the wide right allowing him to make more than just the single lung busting run up front.  He deserved a goal and only last ditch tackles managed to save the day for Brewin Dolphin.

With Barry Kemp going off early with a groin problem our central midfield “big unit” Russell Ward stepped into the back line alongside the ever solid Dan Laycock.  Russell proceeded to pull off a man of the match performace with great aerial ability and robust tackling.  One two footed challenge to a striker from Russell had tears of pride forming on the sidelines.  Wonderful.  The fact that in two games the man of the match has been a centre half should tell BACK that they are heavily worked in defense.  The lack of discipline may cost BACK against better organised teams as players get the bug to score a goal by drifting around the pitch.  Something to work on before the play-offs and we can’t worry too much against opposition like last night as nine times out of ten we would beat them.

Dan Laycock was majestic as usual being very solid as well as unusually composed for a defender.  Tuan at right back had an outstanding game by putting in some crunching tackles and then giving it simple.  Tuan even managed some deep forward runs with two great shots on goal that only narrowly missed the target due to deflections.  Peter Clegg on the other side made a solid debut for the BACK team providing decent balance just behind our other left footer Chris.

Incidents of note were John’s stone wall penalty when he was felled like a tree in the box and even the Brewin Dolphin players would recognise that it was on the heavy handed side.  Secondly the Brewin Dolphin keeper had a rush of blood trying to re-enact the German Harold Schumacher incident on the 1982 world cup semi final against France.  How the keeper managed to stay on I have no idea but at least Buzzeo got up and got on with it and no sign of broken jaw and collar bone.  Finally the ref loved the fact that he appointed two linesmen and then continued to totally ignore them despite the fact they were being impartial.

So then….. another win for the BACK boys.  We have our sights firmly set on a stay in the top 4 and we’re on course to make this happen.  A few things to work on:

• We’ve got big players who are on the whole good in the air.  We don’t get  many crosses into the box to make use of this at corners.  The keeper last night was flapping at everything and six players over 6 foot and 16 stone would have made his day.
• A little bit of discipline with our formation.  Who ever is playing in the middle of the park remember that if one player goes then the other stays.  Centre halves were going on extended forays forward and wingers were drifting inside quite a lot.
• Look for the simple pass.

There is no doubting we have a great team with some exceptional players.  I hope we can continue the good form going into next weeks game against Accenture on the same pitch we played our first game.  6.30 KO.  More details and availability check on Monday.

BACK Consulting Limited 4

Connect Physio 1

Match Report – 27th April 2010

The sun was shining on a glorious Tuesday early evening as the BACK Consulting football team donned their fresh kits ready to take on the business league another time.  Only a top four finish will get us through to the play-offs so it was important we got off to a good start and the boys didn’t let anyone down with a comfortable 4-1 victory at the expense of Connect Physio.

Paul Buzzeo and Stephen Buzzeo grabbed one each whilst John Doyle grabbed a brace to help gain the points.  Man of the match Daniel Laycock dominated proceedings at the back and won every header as well as providing excellent communication.  It was great that he played alongside Barry Kemp as Barry looked a touch rusty after over 5 years out of the game.  Tuan at right back made his debut at the 11 aside form of the game and showed some determined tackling and steadfast commitment in the air.  Mark McKeever at left back was a revelation and got stuck in whilst showing good composure to forge a relationship with John down the left flank.

Connect Physio did well to run the channels and move the team about but it was only a matter of time before the quality in the BACK team started to shine through with Stephen Buzzeo providing great width down the right and John Doyle on the left likewise.  It was John who opened the scoring with a powerful backpost header which is impressive given he was one of the smallest on the pitch!

John Patterson proved to be an able target man up top and held the ball up admirably for the like of Russell Ward and Phil to run on to.  The team ended up 3 goals up at half time and looked good for it.  Half time saw the introduction of Graeme Watson on the right of midfield and Paul Antony going into the middle.  This led to a very attack biased team which worked very well against this opposition and we really should have scored more.

However, it was Connect Physio who managed to claw one back with a scrappy corner being scrambled in.  There was nothing keeper Alan Wilson could do about it and it was the only downside on his otherwise top performance.  It wasn’t long until BACK added another and any glimmer of a hope of a fightback was extinguished.  Appearances by Ian Knaggs and Andrew Hill completed the roster alongside the important introduction of Iain Richardson who sured things up in the middle of the park.

Overall a great start to the league and there is not doubting we have some real talent available.  Can we play as a team and show the structure required to beat the better sides?  I think so.  With a few other key players still to make an appearance things are looking good for the BACK squad.  Looking forward to next week already.

Pictures found here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=427572&id=88609720509&ref=mf