MLH with a Worldie, as 2s dominate again!

Well they certainly did as the 2nd XI tore Durham University apart from the opening seconds, literally. Within 10 seconds Steve ‘Ravanelli’ Andrews could of put Brooklands ahead following great play down the right from Capper, Fullerton & Jeffs.

The same continued for the first 20 minutes, with Brooklands camped in the Durham half, but just unable to get that final product. Trigger with a low reverse stick shot (obviously had some tips from MLH pre-game) was saved, some tika-taka link up play from Capper & MLH resulted in a short-corner but no goal, then Jeffs on a high from last week, tried another cheeky upright reverse but this time put it wide. Then came the breakthrough, a textbook fast high transfer from right to left, some silky skills from Ravanelli, slipped to Dudley who gave the keeper the eyes & slotted it in at the near post.

The game continued in a similar fashion, in the Durham half, until Brooklands doubled their lead with a quick one-two between Trigger & Virabi, allowing Trigger to skillfully loop the ball to the back post for a simple deflection in for Ravanelli, with Virabi screeching away in celebration, seeming to claim the assist!!

On the stroke of half time, Mulford made a tactical switch with King & all his experience moving to left-back. Durham broke into our half for only the 2nd time, then despite all his experience King was unable to move his feet quickly enough at the grand age of 65, & Durham scored from the resulting short corner, making it 2-1 Brooklands at the break.

Brooklands again started better, & within 5 minutes increased their lead through a thunderbolt (dolly) of a drag flick, with an assist from the Durham keeper, from Graeme ‘Wolfie’ Wolfenden.

10 minutes into the 2nd half when was when this game was really lit up. Some quick thinking by Ravanelli once again saw him take a self-pass inside the 25, & play a square pass to top of the ‘D’ to find MLH tightly marked. MLH picked up the ball cleanly, for once, slightly behind him & in the blink of an eye he had maneuvered the ball onto his backhand. Suddenly in a perfectly balanced position he unleashed a ferocious reverse stick shot into the roof of the net before the keeper even had time to react. Wild celebrations ensued from the Brooklands players & the hoards of supporters on the sideline. Since then the ‘worldie’ strike seems to be going viral across social media, with the slow-mo clip already getting 3 thousand views on facebook!!

Brooklands somehow regained their focus after that Pirlo-esque strike, in an attempt to punish Durham side & take this opportunity to improve our goal difference, which could be a deciding factor in the league title. A swift counter-attack saw Mills super-fast seagull feet bamboozle the keeper onto his backside & simply slot home for the 5th.
Brooklands 6th & 7th goals, came from none other than our very own Duncan Goodhew, Bradley King. Making his long awaited playing return this season to Brooklands due to problems with his “transfer forms”. His first goal came from the hard work of the impressive forward line, who all day had pressed high & effectively, allowing King to win the ball on the 25, glide into the ‘D’ had slot home across goal above the backboard on his return to North Prem. His 2nd, was actually this time from a Virabi assist, who obviously having seen the perfection of an MLH backhand, played one into to D for King to coolly deflect into the corner for his 2nd goal.

Not to be outdone by his fellow Veteran, Steve “Ravanelli” Andrews managed to grab his 2nd goal. Neat play down the right from Trigger & Leigh, saw Leigh cross to Ravanelli who with another deflection, this time with his reverse, added to his tally.

Brooklands held onto this 8-1 win for the final 5 minutes, to stay 2nd in the table, matching Prestons goal difference, who are now only top by 1 goal, but still with a game in hand.

On Sunday, a slightly weakened Brooklands side travelled to Cannock to play in the 2nd XI Cup. Unfortunately we were unable to reproduce the highs of Saturday, & lost 5-0, but now are able to fully focus on their league form.

Written by Matt Lakin-Hall