Bristol Central II

Calne – Sunday 23rd May 2004

MARLBOROUGH

5

V

24

BRISTOL CENTRAL 2's

Rogers 0 ! , Maynard 1, Van Der Flier 1, Crawford 2, Shortman 3, Richardson 3, Sissingh 3, Startin 4, Tamlyn 7,

Multi National Central Too Smokey for Marlboro Country Team

A 9pm start on a Sunday night caused some logistical problems for this Multi-National Central team. One car spent some looking for the pool in......... Chippenham some 6 miles away, whilst an elderly gentleman supporter in an Astra complained bitterly about the car he was following  going too fast and took an unusual route.

This lead to Tamlyn and Crawford being left out of the starting 7 due to late arrival. Whilst the starting 7 were quietly admiring the physique's of the said players on the bench they  went  1- 0 down . Marlboro's whoops of delight were deafening, but we couldn't see them as the lighting was so poor in the swallow end. Spurred into action by Marlboro's smoking gun goal , Central took revenge and goals by Shortman - Born Bristol  - Richardson - Born Australia so Foreign - Sissingh - Born Holland also Foreign - & Startin  - Born  a  Brighton & Hove Albion loser !  - Meant Central lead 4- 1 after the 1 st qtr.

Cue Tamlyn and Crawford: Tamlyn - played for Celtic country so Foreign - opened his account but was then accosted by his defender: Standing beer belly to beer belly the referee then intervened and some quiet words of encouragement were said. Crawford - born Isle of Wight so definitely Foreign - thought he'd better take part and smoked one in top corner. Tamlyn got greedy and scored some more.

The 3 rd Qtr saw the flood gates open and Central set about their task with gusto. Marlboro's keeper then spent some time in retrieval mode. Throwing the ball back to the restart was about the only time Central got to glimpse the keeper's arms and head and he was cruelly nicknamed 'bob'. 10 goals were scored with Maynard - born Bristol - Van Der Flier - Born in Holland on Belgian border very Foreign - contributing.

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Bristol and West - Monday 17 May 2004

BRISTOL UNIVERISTY

16

V

4

BRISTOL CENTRAL 2's

Scorers: Shortman , Richardson, Tamlyn, Rogers

This eagerly anticipated top of the table derby was a complete reversal of when Central thrashed Uni back in February.

Uni , bolstered by Williams, Manion , Allerton - all current 1 st team Central players and helped considerably by the bloke with the biggest arm span in goal Dave Bush - Ex Central - were on top form and raced to a 4 - 1 lead after the first.

Central's tactical plan were in disarray from the start by the players failing to tune in their hearing aids to the coaches frequency. 2 nd qtr wasn't any better  - hearing aid tuned to the wrong coach - Mark Taylor - Ex Central coach - with the team passing the ball to the wrong coloured hat with alarming regularity which Williams & Allerton  ( Central 1 st team), Thomas ( Trains with Central) and Rhys ( same name as bloke from Central) profited.

Half time was 9- 2. The tactical plan of trying to score more than them failed in the 3 rd and we didn't score anything. We irritatingly watched Allerton, Thomas, and Riley ( No link to Central whatsoever) score with ease.

A last qtr rally saw Central score 2 to equal Uni's 2 and did this leave Central feeling like they had won the qtr on moral grounds? No - Uni should have won it with Allerton - Central - one on one with the keeper but then deciding to try a laughable spin lob which missed the goal completely.

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ASA KO Cup - Monday 10 May 2004

GRANTHAM

2

V

17

BRISTOL CENTRAL

A Knight, J Sissons (3), J VanDer Flier (1), F Allerton, P Morris (0), R Tamlyn (5), M Thresher (8).

Bristol travelled to Grantham on a Monday night to play the ASA KO cup.

Support for the trip was underwhelming and so the Magnificent 7 rode once again! At least it meant one car only from Bristol, which was good, as the other one would never have kept up.

Athletes dinners of Mac-D's were consumed on route to ensure that all turned up in tip-top condition for the game.

The game started slowly, testament to a 3-hour drive and tactics revolving around keeping 7 players available for the duration of the game. However Bristol did ease away to a 2-0 lead at the end of the 1st quarter thanks to Matt Thresher – more on him later.

Grantham, with a full 13 to pick from, attempted to play a fast and physical game, but this was met with some belligerence and Bristol continued to take a grip on the game keeping a clean sheet and scoring 4 more, this time Thresher letting others shoot as well, to lead 6-0 at half time.

The aim was to protect the clean sheet and, as with all good tactics, it was surrendered inside a minute. A dubious major led to a Grantham man-up, a shot from Wright was saved by the alert Knight in goal, only for a mix up between him and the post man Van Der Flier to allow the ball to bobble over the line. Cue much finger wagging and accusation in the pub.

Bristol were spurred on and stepped up a gear. Goals from Sissons, Van Der Flier (this time at the right end), Tamlyn (2) and, obviously, Thresher (3) meant Bristol were comfortable at 13-1 at the 3 quarter stage. Some of the best lobbing seen occurred during this quarter, with Tamlyn even lobbing from the pit for the 1 st time ever. More spectacular though, were 2 long lobs from opposite sides of the pitch, 1 was rumoured to be from the halfway line!

The team talk for the last quarter was continually interrupted by individual(s) concerned about their own shooting ability and the fact that they were swimming in small circles in the centre of the pitch. However, even the lucre of free alcohol didn't help and only 2 of the 7 ended up without goals to their name. The match continued in the same vein and, although Grantham managed to claw another goal back through Wright (despite a solid block), it finished 17-2.

Bristol advance to the quarter finals on Sunday 16th where their diminished and almost certainly hung over squad are likely to take on Portobello for a place in the last quarter.

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Bristol and West - Second Team Sunday 9 May 2004

BRISTOL CENTRAL 2's

7

V

7

NEWTON ABBOT

(7)

The first game in a double header saw a Bristol second team that was the usual mix of experience (old players) and exuberance (young players). Captained by the evergreen Mick Shortman and with the support of the experienced Ian Burnham and Johan Van Der Flier, Bristol started the game in good shape. Goals from Van Der Flier (2) and Maynard meant that Bristol led 3-2 at the halfway stage.

However, Bristol appeared to tire during the third period and, despite a pin point shot from Hanley, following another excellent drive, slipped to a 7-4 deficit at the end of the third.

The fourth period began with a change of tactics for the Bristol team, and after successfully defending a man down, began the fight back with a goal from Hanley at a Bristol man-up.

As the game wore on, successive time-outs were called and from the 2nd , Burnham found room to shoot to take the score to 7-6. Deep inside the last minute, NA were penalised for time wasting and Bristol conjured up a move to give Burnham enough room to pull off a spectacular spin-lob to level the scores. Despite a NA timeout, Bristol held on for a great comeback.

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First Team - Sunday 9 May 2004

BRISTOL CENTRAL

19

V

7

NEWTON ABBOT

(7)

Following the second team game, Bristol added 6 of their National League team to take on NA for the 1st game in the Bristol and West season.

The fresh blood proved decisive early on with Bristol taking a 5-1 1st quarter lead. Thresher (3), Sissons and Williams contributing the goals.

Bristol began to mix their team up to include more of the 2nd team players, but kept the momentum to lead 9-2 at half time. Hutchins, Williams and Thresher (2).

Bristol were now cruising and stepped up during the 3rd. After conceding an early goal to the dangerous Andy Margetts, went on to score 6 without reply to lead 15-3 with a period to go. Hutchins (3), Shortman and Thresher (2), predictably.

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Western County Final - Sunday 25 April 2004

BRISTOL CENTRAL

9

V

11

CHELTENHAM

(11)

Central relinquished this trophy after 10 consecutive years in a tough encounter at Millfield. Playing off only 9 fit players and with injured player coach Sherman restricting his playing time to only a quarter, Central were guilty of lack of commitment early in the game. Falling 5- 1 behind at half time, and missing 7 missed extra man chances were the reason for lack of goals. Naïve and woeful defending gave keeper Knight no chance to stop shots from within the 4 metre area. A 3 goal burst saw Central come back into the game but then a further period of poor defending saw Cheltenham stretch their lead to 10 – 5 a minute into the 4th qtr. Another goal burst – with all 3 goals clearly the best quality goals during the game – saw Central give Cheltenham a fright but they grimly hung on to win by 2. Good performances by Thresher playing centre forward, and quality shooting from Hutchins were the main attacking threats with hard midfield work from Morris and Allerton and a somewhat theatrical Sissons as the other centre forward were the main contributors.

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Bristol and West - Thursday 15 April 2004

FROME

19

V

4

BRISTOL CENTRAL 2's

(4)

A very weakened Central lost their unbeaten record in spectacular style with a very big defeat away to Frome.

Travelling without regular senior players and a recognised goalkeeper Central were always likely to struggle. With 3 under 17 players the bigger stronger Somerset team went into a 6- 2 lead at the end of the 1st quarter and regularly piled on the goals. 3 from Burnham and 1 from 15-year-old Massey were Central scorer's.

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Bristol and West - Saturday 27 March 2004

BRISTOL CENTRAL 2's

12

V

11

WROUGHTON

(11)

A very entertaining and tight encounter saw Central score the winner in the last minute of play against a determined Wroughton side who have only recently dropped from the National League. Central, who once again failed to travel with a goalkeeper, raced into a 1st qtr 6 – 2 lead following goals from Startin, Shortman & Tamlyn. Wroughton then began to use their local knowledge of the pool to their advantage and started to claw themselves back into the game to only be 8 – 5 down at half time.

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Bristol and West - Sunday 21 March 2004

BRISTOL CENTRAL 2's

15

V

2

HARLEQUINS

Scorers: Hobden, Cope

A weakened Harlequins team never threatened Central, who started slowly but in the 2nd half pulled away to record their 3rd straight win. Good defensive work by Crawford and Sissingh adn keeper Grunwald kept Harelquins at bay. Good counter attack goals by Shortman, Crawford and Rogers added to the score line at regular intervals. Juniors, Johnston and O'Mahony gained valuable experience and Maynard worked hard throughout the game.

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Bristol and West - Thursday 18 March 2004

BRISTOL CENTRAL 2's

13

V

3

BRADFORD-O-AVON

(3)

A mixture of Veterans and very young junior players continued Central's unbeaten start to the season. Starting slowly, Central gradually built up a commanding lead so that by the end of the 3rd quarter the game was out of Bradford's reach (9 - 3). A great outfield debut for Crawford (Central International 1st team goalkeeper) that also saw him score and solid all pool play from Veteran Startin and teenager Maynard kept Bradford out of contention. Keeper Grunwald's 1st view of Bradford's monstrous shallow end goal brought a wry smile but his tough resolve and great stopping power kept them at bay. Juniors Massey 15, Chadwick 16 and O'Mahony 16, all performed well.

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Bristol and West - Sunday 29 February 2004

BRISTOL CENTRAL 2's

21

V

9

BRISTOL UNIVERSITY

Scorers: Williams 4, Thomas 2, Chang 2, Burkil 3, Woodhouse 1

Central opened their season with a comprehensive defeat of an under strength Uni side but still containing 2 GB top squad members. University, playing without a recognised goalkeeper, were unable to cope with the firepower of Central's deadly shooting and were 12 - 3 down at half time. Whilst Bristol University came back into the game in the 2nd half, the match was effectively out of their reach. Central gave debut's to new keeper Grunwald and 16 year old Ben O'Mahony.

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