It’s only a friendly, but it doesn’t mean that it wasn’t important; the blisters on my feet are

testament to hard work, hard ground and an inappropriate choice of footwear. I’m sure many of
you feel the same.

A healthy number of SCB players turned up for the first friendly of the season; despite the original
18 being reduced in number due to injury, illness and epic hangovers. Some things never
change, though, and Ben Gunn was back in goal. A colossus between the sticks, with a foot like a
siege gun, he launched several great counter attacks and pulled off a couple of wonderful stops
when the opposition broke through the defence.

And these were rare events indeed. The defence was solid, composed and organised. Rob
Cumber had one of his best performances at left back (despite only getting home at 8 in the
morning after being kidnapped in Southend) getting up and down with great purpose and also
showing his new-found positional sense, never letting their winger get round in behind. Pat King
and Scott Meyern were dominant as ever in the centre of defence, heading everything away with
aplomb and leaving the opposition’s strikers shackled. Right Back was Gav Redknapp, who took
no prisoners and still managed to spend much of his time in great support down the flank.

Supported by these men, who conjured images in my mind of the AC Milan back 5 from the 80’s,
SCBFC took hold of the game. Passes were being zipped to feet along the ground, as the
benefits of having a pitch that wasn’t a ploughed field became apparent. We were on top, and
rightly so. Our deserved dominance bore fruit early when a massive clearance from Ben brought
about great confusion in the opposition ranks. Their keeper, centre back and I all challenged for
the same bouncing ball after another booming boot from Ben and when the keeper’s clearance hit
us both, Gary Cumber was on hand to sweep home the loose ball.

Gary Cumber was part of a midfield reborn, a midfield in control. Gary on the right, surely a stone
lighter than last season, looked lean and lithe (and ready for his half marathon) and he and Gav
completely controlled the right hand side, creating chances and stopping any form of resurgence
of the opposition. In the middle of the park, James Perkins was his usual self; winning headers,
tackling with intent and passing with purpose. Rob Attreed, a summer signing and a whirlwind of
energy, had an excellent debut, bringing class, pace, intimidating lung capacity and a WAG to the
match. A crunching (but fair-ish, certainly honest) tackle left one opposition player a weeping
wreck in the middle of the pitch, until he hobbled off and promptly came back on at half time. A
brilliant piece of business from the manager to get him, although there are some co-ownership
issues to resolve after hearing about mutterings of a ‘Saturday Team’.

Any other day, Rob would have been man of the match. Any other day. This day, on the other
hand, belonged to Amish Patel. A summer spent in the gym and watching videos of Garrincha in
his prime have turned Amish into a beast of a player and someone the drug-testers would like a
quiet word with. He was everywhere on the wing, offering support, spreading the play and
crossing into the box with whip and pace.

The midfield was on top, but we were set back ever so slightly by the opposition equalising. A
free kick on the edge of the box was floated too long, but they managed to head the ball back
across the face of goal. Ben came out to clear, but was hampered as he went to punch the ball,
and the opposition striker managed to volley the ball in.

And suddenly the game was level at 1-1. The big blue and green machine was having none of it
though, and straight from the kick off we took the lead again. Perkins saw Amish haring down the
left and tried to play the ball to him. The ball hit me in the face, deflecting it out of a defender’s
path and to Amish, and he stood up a defender and would have passed him were it not for a
cynical body check in the box. Penalty. Kaka stepped up, stared the keeper down, sent him the
wrong way, and calmly passed the ball into the goal to make it 2-1.

Kaka and I were upfront, causing havoc among the opposition defence and stretching the play as
best we could. Kaka was narrowly offside from my through-ball and only just lost a race with their
keeper stranded. Some great work between James and Rob Attreed resulted in a shot blocked
wide. Rob Cumber’s marauding run put me free down the left, and my cross was narrowly missed
as it went across goal. Ligio Martinez, back after a year’s sabbatical, then put in a cross of such
beauty that I was transfix’d, though I had espied a vision of t’angelic host. That’s my excuse for
missing a free header at the back post, and you’ll all have to accept it. Other half chances were
created, but nothing concrete and we went in at half time 2-1 up.

At half time spirits were high. We were playing good football and we were winning. Shao Gee
Tang had come on in an unfamiliar right-back role and was doing well, blocking and tackling and
still managing to support infield, and Ligio’s crossing exploits need diagrams and moving pictures
to adequately describe their class. Gary Cumber had replaced the departing Pat King at centre-
back and was proving a more than adequate replacement.

Unfortunately, as the second half wore on we visibly tired. Passes that had been zipping to feet
were now not quite as accurate, long balls were becoming slightly less aimed and the yard of
pace wasn’t quite there. This was our problem last year, but we can all see the great
improvement in everyone’s base levels of fitness. Usually we were huffing and puffing after 50
minutes, but on Saturday it was only at the 70 minute mark that we got a little bit ragged around
the edges.

This may well have been because by then we were 3-2 down. A ball had got past the previously
unflappable Shao Gee after he went for it with his left leg instead of his right, and having got
behind the defence, Ben was left with no chance with a shot into the top corner. 2-2 became 3-2
in unlucky circumstances, a shot into a crowded box from a half-cleared corner took an abhorrent
deflection and trickled into the far corner.

There was still time for a sustained period of SCB pressure, as second winds were found. Kaka
had a shot fly over, and Ade Shitta, who had come on at right back and shown his usual
destructive and disruptive tendencies, let fly from fully 35 yards and also managed to puncture
the ball in a tackle. I passed rather than shoot from the edge of the area; Rob had a fierce shot
well blocked; I put in a cross that James turned goalwards, only to be deflected over, and Amish
arrowed into the area and pulled the ball back to where I had been mere milliseconds earlier as I
darted to the near post.

The game finished 3-2 and we were left to nurse our wounds. There were many more positives
from this game than there were for most of last season’s games. The fitness levels are much
higher, the understanding is better and we looked for at least 45 minutes like a team that could
put in a proper challenge to win this league. The next friendly is on the 5th, so stretch out, dress
the blisters and keep the summer training work going over the bank holiday weekend