North London Crickets Vs Gower,

Leftback defensive Salman Ali's Report Followed By the view from the middle by Andy Van Hale

Gower 3 - NLC 4

And they said that the romance of the cup was over. Well this was certainly not the case as John Robinson's last minute free kick sent the Crickets into the 1/4 finals of the prestigious SOJKA cup, leaving the boys from sheperds cot the only side still in the competition outside of the Premier Division.
The omens were not great as the boys travelled across to West Hampstead to meet Premier Division opponents Gower, minus three key players in Patrick Mills, Luke Buffrey and Cass Nicholson, and with Jim Green, Ben Wakeford and Guy Nichloson having drunk the equilvalent of a vineyard the night before at NLCC's quiz night due to being member's of the winning team (bloody hell they must have been easy questions!) expectations were certainly not high.
However playing on a surface which would have not looked out of place in the Premiership, NLC started off the brighter and went close when Ben Wakeford's header went just wide.
The new centre half pairing of Mark Burns and Guy Nicholson seemed to have settled well, and with Juan-Carlos Torres Navarro whom having just returned from Venezuela, where apparently Hal Godfrey-Wood was laying drunk in some dodgy back street, settling again into his accustomed right back role the Crickets were comfortable.
However things soon changed, as the normally reliable Richard Hall, on hearing from his terrece tranny that his beloved Spurs had equalised at Man City, still in a state of shock miskicked his clearance into the path of the Gower forward, who despite Burnsy's valiant efforts put his side 1 up.
Skipper Ben Wakeford had warned the boys before the "no backchat or dirty fouls, or the ref will book you and we can't afford to pay the fine", however this was ignored by Mark as he hacked down Gower's frontman, resulting in a booking and probably another TV ad to pay the fine.
Minutes later things went from bad to worse as Gower went 2 up, when there unmarked striker headed in from close range to leave the crickets 2-0 down at the break.
The odds on an NLC comeback were probably just as great as Terry Duffield not laughing at one of his own jokes, but roused by a passionate teamtalk from Guy the Gaffer, NLC were back in the game, as soon after the break Ben Wakeford scored from John Robinson's corner.
With their tails up NLC soon equalised when a fine move involvoing Creasey, O'Hagen, and Green resulted in hotshot Wakeford notching up another to level the scores.
With Creasey pulling the strings in the middle and O'Hagen combining Welsh grit with a touch of Brazilian flair NLC were on a roll, and went ahead, when lethal Jim 'why do i always get dropped when i score a goal' Green showed his class when finishing from a very acute angle.
Gower to their credit never gave in and with 10 minutes left levelled as their sub drifted in at the back to head (actually it came off his shoulder) past Richard.
As they say desperate times call for desperate measures, and this resulted in Simon Creasey trying his own version of the 'hand of god', however it was so obvious, we knew what the outcome would be, and yes it was another card and another fine.
With extra time looming and Jim and Ben wishing they never drank so much wine, Fernando Cueves who had replaced Guy on the hour mark was tripped 25 yards out. Both Andy Van Hale and John stood over the ball, but it was obvious the scene was set for John and he came up trumps with a free kick Beckham would have been proud of, to send the boys beserk and spark a mini pitch invasion, well ok it was only Guy.
Stiill the referee managed to find 5 mins of extra time, which callled for drastic action from the Gower skipper who ordered his team to play 10-1-1, however with Andy Van Hale slotting into the centre half berth with aplomb, and Burnsy and Richard solid as rocks, the Crickets were through.
It was a great performance and one to saviour as the boys headed back to the clubhouse to sample more of Terry's nuts (easy, i meant peanuts and cashew nuts!) and PORK Sausage rolls (what about the devout muslim's in the team?) and leave NLC only one of only two teams in north london who are still competing in 3 cups and top of the league. I'm sure you know who the other is Ally.

Line up ;- Hall, Torres-Navarro, Ali, Burns, G.Nichloson(Cueves 60), Robinson, Creasey, Van Hale, O'Hagen, Wakeford, Green.

P.S. Special mention to our loyal supporter, Derek Copsey thanks for coming down mate we couldn't have done it without you.

For the first time this season NLC faced premiership opponents, Gower FC in the last of 16 of the Group Cup.  The Crickets showed their intentions from the whistle with Creasy & Robinson masterminding a fine move that saw O'Hagan hit the side netting.  If Gower had any notions of a trouncing this was dispelled by a classy opening 5 mins from the underdogs.  However it turned out to be a first half that Crickets star keeper Rich Hall would rather forget.  A weak goal kick saw Gower steal the opener and a dangerous set piece left the keeper and backline scratching their heads as Gower made it 2.  Despite the setback NLC still looked dangerous with Jim Green leading the line, O'Hagan and Robinson working the flanks, Creasy pulling the strings and Wakeford forcing the Gower keeper into a fine save minutes from the break. Halftime 2-0. An inspirational Nicholson halftime team-talk inspired NLC into what could be the half of the season.  Goal-machine Ben Wakeford is feasting on goals this season and his 16th and 17th of the season made it 2-2 after 60 mins.  The first a low shot after a fine move on the right by JC, O'Hagan and Creasy.  The second a trademark Crickets corner, provider Robinson, scorer Wakeford.  Gower were left wondering if Nicholson had slipped something into his side's oranges at the turn.  He had - it's a new amphetamine called "desire".  With their regular centre-backs missing a new pairing of Burns/Nicholson was introduced alongside full-back regulars Salman & JC.  The 2nd half showed that even a stand-in Crickets back line has class, restricting Gower to a handful of long range efforts, one spectacularly tipped over by a rejuvenated Hall. With 20 mins remaining the Crickets edged in front with Jim Green firing home at the near post, a place in the quarter finals looked certain. However Gower managed a final effort and made it 3-3 with 5 mins remaining.  Extra time and penalties were on the cards until John Robinson earned himself a place in the NLC book of legends.  With 90 minutes looming he curled a delicious 25 yard free kick into the top right corner sending shock waves through the entire MAL league.  Final score Gower 3 - NLC Heroes 4.