STARTING LINE-UP

GK - Dave Newman

RB - James Girkin

CB - Alan Street

CB - Drew Girkin

LB - Ben Avery

RCM - Jon Girkin

CM - Andrew Walker

LCM - Graham Street

RCF - Simon Levi

ST - Ben Stratford

LCF - Warren Thomas

SUBS - Kabba Stevens

 

Escape went into this their 3rd pre-season friendly missing several players which saw some new faces in the line-up. Ben Avery made his debut at left back in the place of the late arriving Kabba Stevens, Ben Stratford made his 1st appearance of the new season, starting up front alongside Warren Thomas and Simon Levi and Jon Girkin also started the game for the 1st time this year.

 

Escape started the game excellently and with the game only 5 minutes old, they took the lead through Warren Thomas. Simon Levi picked up the ball on the halfway line and sent a superb 30 yard pass into the path of Warren Thomas, Thomas ran onto the exquisite ball and held off the opposing defender impressively to fire the ball across the keeper and into the bottom left hand corner of the net to make it 1-0 to the visitors.
Escape doubled their lead 5 minutes later when they won a corner and Andrew Walker floated a delightful ball straight onto the head of Warren Thomas to make it 2 for Escape’s front man.

Escape did not relieve any of the pressure that they were exerting on their opponents and within 10 minutes they had extended their lead even further. A cross was sent over from debutant Ben Avery and a poor clearance from the Barking Colts backline led to the ball falling to Andrew Walker on the penalty spot. With the ball at a difficult height, he managed to wrap his foot around it and trickle a shot into the bottom right hand corner via a deflection from a defender. And with that Escape were now leading their Division 4 rivals by 3 goals to Nil, with only 20 minutes gone on the clock.

Escape then seemed to drop the pace ever so slightly and were content to pass the ball around their opponents to try and work another opening. A long ball from Escape goalkeeper Dave Newman was allowed to bounce by their opposition and Ben Stratford ran onto the loose ball and lobbed the on-rushing goalkeeper only to see his effort come back out off the woodwork, the ball was then pounced on by the now retreated keeper a split second before Warren Thomas could get a touch which would have seen him claim his 1st hat trick for the club.

Ben had another chance to get his 1st goal of the season when he brought down a long ball on his chest 18 yards from goal, with 1 movement he swivelled his body round and produced a stunning left footed volley that unfortunately went just past the wrong side of the near post.

Escape, however were not made to rue their missed chances and they made it 4-0 10 minutes before half time, when Simon Levi picked up the ball 35 yards from goal. He took 1 touch to steady himself and unleashed an incredible right footed half volley which dipped and bounced in front of the keeper and nestled into the top left corner of the goal. Simon celebrated with his trademark wind milling of the arm and clench of the fist, which he has made his own ever since his only other goal in Escape colours in the 5-1 demolition of “The Teachers”.

Straight from the restart, Levi was at it again and having won the ball on the edge of the centre circle, he turned and tried to catch the keeper off his line only to see his shot sail inches over the crossbar!! Levi could have scored a 5 minute hat trick after Andrew Walker found him unmarked from a corner 6 yards out but when it seemed easier to score than miss, Levi fired his shot over the crossbar.

 

Shortly afterwards the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of a very good half for Escape.

Warren Thomas made way at half time due to other commitments and Kabba Stevens replaced him in an unfamiliar support striker role.

 

The 2nd half began much like the 1st with Escape going close on a number of occasions, most notably a free-kick that was drifted into the near post by Andrew Walker had Ben Stratford stretching to just toe poke his effort past the outside of the woodwork.

Escape then found themselves on the back foot for the 1st time in the match when Barking Colts launched a quick counter attack. Being outnumbered at the back, Drew Girkin was drawn out to the edge of the penalty area on the near side and as a Barking Colt player tried to pull the ball back for one of his team-mates, Drew slid in, in an attempt to block the pass but only succeeded in bringing down the unfortunate striker and the referee had no option but to point to the spot. The penalty was duly despatched and the score became 4-1.

In years gone by Escape’s heads would have gone down at this point, but the new confidence and drive that has been instilled in the team this year was clear to see as they wasted no time in striking back.

 

“Emile Heskey Wannabe” Kabba Stevens found himself with the ball in the 18 yard box and after mis-controlling his initial touch, the ball fell kindly to him and he kept his cool to toe poke past the keeper to register his 1st goal for Escape.

It wasn’t long before Stevens doubled his Escape account to make it 6-1 to the “boys in blue”. After Ben Stratford launched one of his trademark long throws into the danger area, it seemed to elude everybody and somehow made its way to the back post where the “predator” that is Kabba Stevens was waiting like a tiger to pounce and coolly despatched his shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Five minutes later Barking Colts launched a long hopeful ball up-field and after Dave Newman called it as his ball, confusion erupted as Ben Avery unluckily failed to get out of the way in time and the ball ricocheted past the both of them into the Escape 18 yard box. Dave Newman did brilliantly to recover and get himself back on his goal-line but a mis-timed slide by Alan Street sent Dave flying through the air and leaving the Barking Colts striker an empty net to slot his shot into and make it 6-2.

 

Again Escape showed incredible resilience and concentration to get straight back into the game as another chance went begging for them minutes after conceding. Another long throw from Ben Stratford again found Kabba Stevens at the back post but the pressure of his first career hat-trick was too much for him as he headed over the bar from just 4 yards out. Kabba didn’t have to wait too much longer for that “sacred” hat-trick however, when Simon Levi split the defence with a superb ball, Stevens muscled his way past a defender and latched onto the through ball and slotted it past the keeper to complete his 1st hat-trick in 28 years.

The scoring didn’t stop there and Kabba Stevens was again involved in the next goal when he showed incredible pace to burst past a Barking Colts defender on the left wing. He carried the ball to the by-line and laid the ball across the box to the ever grateful Ben Stratford. Ben turned 2 defenders inside out with his fancy footwork and managed to get the ball onto his favourite left foot and once he had, there was only 1 outcome as he smashed into the back of the net to get a well deserved goal to his name.

Escape went close again shortly after the restart as yet another long throw from Ben Stratford wasn’t cleared properly and fell to Andrew Walker 25 yards out, Walker took a couple of touches to compose himself and despite hearing calls of “Don’t Shoot”, he struck a stunning shot that was heading 2 inches below the crossbar until somehow the Barking Colts keeper got up to tip it over the bar.

 

Alan Street atoned for his earlier error in taking out our very own Dave Newman. When a Barking Colts striker found himself clean through with only an empty net in front of him, Alan read the danger superbly and slid across perfectly to deflect the ball away for a corner.

 

Kabba Stevens once again turned creator when he set up Ben Stratford for his 2nd goal of the game and Escape’s 9th. Stevens found himself on the left wing once more and laid the ball into the path of Ben Stratford on the edge of the 18 yard box, who in turn produced a thunderbolt of a strike that went through the keeper’s legs and completed the rout for Escape FC.

 

All in all, a tremendous performance from escape and a clear message being sent to their Division 4 rivals.

It just goes to show the desire and commitment from the team, that each individual whilst happy with the win, were disappointed to concede any goals at all.

 

A special mention must go to Escape’s talisman and captain Graham Street, although not the direct creator of the goals, Escape would have been lost without his presence and leadership in midfield. Also a “Big Up” to Warren Thomas. After being voted Donkey Of The Month, he answered his “critics” superbly with 2 goals and had he not been due elsewhere would have surely got his hat -trick.

 

Escape FC Man Of The Match: Kabba Stevens – The big man has finally worked out which net to score in. With 3 goals and 2 assists in 1 half he was undoubtedly the man of the match.

Escape FC Donkey Of The Match: Drew Girkin – Just purely for his “well timed tackle” in the box, faultless apart from that once again!!

Escape FC Miss Of The Match: Simon Levi – Simon showed us that he is human after all and missed a sitter 6 yards out after scoring from 35 yards minutes before......