Results > First team > Report
Sat 7th Apr 2018
Spartan South Midlands Premier Division
London Colney 0-1 TAFC First team
TAFC goals: Sam Jolliffe
Spartan South Midlands Premier Division
London Colney 0-1 TAFC First team
TAFC goals: Sam Jolliffe
A SCRAPPY BUT VITAL WIN THANKS TO SAM
Sam Joliffe expertly fulfilled his duties as captain on Saturday by marshalling our defence to keep our 6th clean sheet of the season and then popping up 10 minutes from time to score the winner against the team that were current Champions at the start of play. By the finish Colney had been superseded as Champions by Welwyn Garden City following their 2-1 home win over Wembley. We visit Welwyn this coming Saturday so lets hope they are partied out!
Sam has shown great commitment to the club in his 7 seasons here and has played over 300 games and scored 37 goals. He has transformed his game from a marauding midfielder to a defensive mainstay so it was great to see him grab the goal that earned us an excellent away win.
The game was hardly a classic but the bobbly surface didn't make it easy for the players and it gave the game a distinctly end of season feel. We wont worry about the artistic qualities of the encounter the essential feature was the end product of 3 points that moves us up towards mid table.
It was a game of few scoring chances and the few that were created fell to us. We produced a strong defensive performance, helped by the superb cover provided by holding midfielders Mark Riddick and Joe Fitzgerald who were outstanding. As a result our young keeper Lewis Todd was not overly stretched although its fair to say that neither was the home keeper Jack Metcalf.
The home side started positively hogging possession whilst we struggled to get into the game. Their sole effort on goal during this early good spell came from Lawrence Vaughan who produced a nice turn but his shot went straight at Lewis Todd. Later Lewis had another easy save to make when Jason Coughlan headed a free kick into his arms.
After the slow start we started to play some reasonable football with Jack Sunderland again showing what a revelation he has been playing at full back, combing some good defensive play with some excellent forward runs.
In the 13th minute Max Hercules produced a nice turn and shot but it was fairly easy for the keeper but a minute later Mark Riddick sent Chris Vardy away down the left and his cross into the box caused some momentary problems with a home defender clearing the ball dangerously over his own bar.
Mid way through the half Max Hercules found Chris Vardy this time on the right and his excellent curling cross was just missed by Luke Little by inches. Even a slight touch would have produced a goal. But it was all ifs and maybes.
The conditions were not conducive to playing good football and it was clear that one goal was likely to be enough to take all the points, especially as both teams were amongst the lowest scorers in the Premier Division.
As half time drew nearer both sides went a bit closer to breaking the deadlock with Mark Riddick placing a firm header from a Max Hercules free kick just over the bar. Then Colney forward Lawrence Vaughan produced a shot on target that forced Lewis Todd to get down and make a low save with the loose ball somehow being put over the bar although the lineman's flag went up so a goal would not have counted.
But a tight close game ended scoreless at the end of the first half. HT Score 0-0.
The second half started with one of the linesman standing in for the referee who had injured himself with Tony Stedman running the line. We hope Tony remembered to collect his fee!
We had a great early chance to break the ice 4 minutes after the restart when Max Hercules fine pass picked out Luke Little free in the area but our new signing pulled his shot wide of the far post.
The home side responded with some speculative shots that were well off target but with Mark Riddick ably supported by Joe Fitzgerald winning challenges and breaking up play in midfield Colney found it difficult to make any inroads through our defence.
Midway through the half a free kick fell to Sam Joliffe who was unable to get over the ball and he fired a good opportunity over the bar. Later Chris Vardy produced a lovely flick from a Jack Sunderland pass onto Luke Little who was through on goal but unfortunately he was flagged offside.
Neither goalie was overworked but with 10 minutes to go Sam Joliffe made up for his earlier miss following a Chris Vardy free kick. The first effort was cleared but was recycled back to Vards who sent over a precise cross to the far post where Sam headed home from close range for his 4th goal of the season. Score 0-1.
Colney pushed forward in the last few minutes in a desperate attempt to get something out of the game but we stood firm and gave the opposition few clear sights of goal. Lewis Todd was called to make one final save when he pushed away a fierce shot with Joe Fitzgerald following up to clear the danger but we managed to hold on without too much difficulty for a fine away win. FT Score 0-1.
A satisfactory performance and result that clinched a league double over London Colney and eased our relegation fears. We remain in 15th place but we are only a few wins away from a comfortable mid table position. We have a 12 point lead over bottom of the table Stotfold who we visit on Tuesday night for an important game. A win would see us move further out of sight of our fellow strugglers who have two games in hand over us.
On Thursday we visit Hoddesdon Town, who are just a few places above us, then we complete a tough week with a trip to Champions Welwyn Garden City on Saturday. They were bar far the best team we have played this season and we would like to congratulate them on deservedly lifting the title..
Teams:
LC:1 Jack Metcalf 2 Daniel Heald (12 Domenico Morgillo 30) 3 Alex Gyasi 4 Joel Reynolds (Capt) 5 Bobby Armstrong 6 Zach Holding 7 Joe Price 8 Jason Coughlan 9 Loren Maxwell 10 Tobi Omotosho (14 Kambo Smith 63) 11 Lawrence Vaughan (15 Junior Adeoye 72). Subs not used: 16 Jack Mace 17 Anton Johnson.
TA:1 Lewis Todd 2 Ben Johnson 3 Jack Sunderland 4 Mark Riddick 5 Joe Fitzgerald 6 Dave O'Connor 7 Max Hercules (15 Steve Nott-Macaire 87) 8 Sam Joliffe (Capt) 9 Chris Vardy 10 Luke Little (12 Jack Read 67) 11 George Carbery (14 Connor Church 81).
Scorers:
LC:-
TA:Sam Joliffe (80)
Crowd:60
Sam Joliffe expertly fulfilled his duties as captain on Saturday by marshalling our defence to keep our 6th clean sheet of the season and then popping up 10 minutes from time to score the winner against the team that were current Champions at the start of play. By the finish Colney had been superseded as Champions by Welwyn Garden City following their 2-1 home win over Wembley. We visit Welwyn this coming Saturday so lets hope they are partied out!
Sam has shown great commitment to the club in his 7 seasons here and has played over 300 games and scored 37 goals. He has transformed his game from a marauding midfielder to a defensive mainstay so it was great to see him grab the goal that earned us an excellent away win.
The game was hardly a classic but the bobbly surface didn't make it easy for the players and it gave the game a distinctly end of season feel. We wont worry about the artistic qualities of the encounter the essential feature was the end product of 3 points that moves us up towards mid table.
It was a game of few scoring chances and the few that were created fell to us. We produced a strong defensive performance, helped by the superb cover provided by holding midfielders Mark Riddick and Joe Fitzgerald who were outstanding. As a result our young keeper Lewis Todd was not overly stretched although its fair to say that neither was the home keeper Jack Metcalf.
The home side started positively hogging possession whilst we struggled to get into the game. Their sole effort on goal during this early good spell came from Lawrence Vaughan who produced a nice turn but his shot went straight at Lewis Todd. Later Lewis had another easy save to make when Jason Coughlan headed a free kick into his arms.
After the slow start we started to play some reasonable football with Jack Sunderland again showing what a revelation he has been playing at full back, combing some good defensive play with some excellent forward runs.
In the 13th minute Max Hercules produced a nice turn and shot but it was fairly easy for the keeper but a minute later Mark Riddick sent Chris Vardy away down the left and his cross into the box caused some momentary problems with a home defender clearing the ball dangerously over his own bar.
Mid way through the half Max Hercules found Chris Vardy this time on the right and his excellent curling cross was just missed by Luke Little by inches. Even a slight touch would have produced a goal. But it was all ifs and maybes.
The conditions were not conducive to playing good football and it was clear that one goal was likely to be enough to take all the points, especially as both teams were amongst the lowest scorers in the Premier Division.
As half time drew nearer both sides went a bit closer to breaking the deadlock with Mark Riddick placing a firm header from a Max Hercules free kick just over the bar. Then Colney forward Lawrence Vaughan produced a shot on target that forced Lewis Todd to get down and make a low save with the loose ball somehow being put over the bar although the lineman's flag went up so a goal would not have counted.
But a tight close game ended scoreless at the end of the first half. HT Score 0-0.
The second half started with one of the linesman standing in for the referee who had injured himself with Tony Stedman running the line. We hope Tony remembered to collect his fee!
We had a great early chance to break the ice 4 minutes after the restart when Max Hercules fine pass picked out Luke Little free in the area but our new signing pulled his shot wide of the far post.
The home side responded with some speculative shots that were well off target but with Mark Riddick ably supported by Joe Fitzgerald winning challenges and breaking up play in midfield Colney found it difficult to make any inroads through our defence.
Midway through the half a free kick fell to Sam Joliffe who was unable to get over the ball and he fired a good opportunity over the bar. Later Chris Vardy produced a lovely flick from a Jack Sunderland pass onto Luke Little who was through on goal but unfortunately he was flagged offside.
Neither goalie was overworked but with 10 minutes to go Sam Joliffe made up for his earlier miss following a Chris Vardy free kick. The first effort was cleared but was recycled back to Vards who sent over a precise cross to the far post where Sam headed home from close range for his 4th goal of the season. Score 0-1.
Colney pushed forward in the last few minutes in a desperate attempt to get something out of the game but we stood firm and gave the opposition few clear sights of goal. Lewis Todd was called to make one final save when he pushed away a fierce shot with Joe Fitzgerald following up to clear the danger but we managed to hold on without too much difficulty for a fine away win. FT Score 0-1.
A satisfactory performance and result that clinched a league double over London Colney and eased our relegation fears. We remain in 15th place but we are only a few wins away from a comfortable mid table position. We have a 12 point lead over bottom of the table Stotfold who we visit on Tuesday night for an important game. A win would see us move further out of sight of our fellow strugglers who have two games in hand over us.
On Thursday we visit Hoddesdon Town, who are just a few places above us, then we complete a tough week with a trip to Champions Welwyn Garden City on Saturday. They were bar far the best team we have played this season and we would like to congratulate them on deservedly lifting the title..
Teams:
LC:1 Jack Metcalf 2 Daniel Heald (12 Domenico Morgillo 30) 3 Alex Gyasi 4 Joel Reynolds (Capt) 5 Bobby Armstrong 6 Zach Holding 7 Joe Price 8 Jason Coughlan 9 Loren Maxwell 10 Tobi Omotosho (14 Kambo Smith 63) 11 Lawrence Vaughan (15 Junior Adeoye 72). Subs not used: 16 Jack Mace 17 Anton Johnson.
TA:1 Lewis Todd 2 Ben Johnson 3 Jack Sunderland 4 Mark Riddick 5 Joe Fitzgerald 6 Dave O'Connor 7 Max Hercules (15 Steve Nott-Macaire 87) 8 Sam Joliffe (Capt) 9 Chris Vardy 10 Luke Little (12 Jack Read 67) 11 George Carbery (14 Connor Church 81).
Scorers:
LC:-
TA:Sam Joliffe (80)
Crowd:60
