Combined Counties League Division One
In the words of Mr Benn (one for the oldies!), as if by magic, another football season appears. The 25th of July is the earliest opening day league game in my reporting history, indeed my first league match in July. As soon as the fixtures came out this game stood out for me as I always like covering local sides especially when they are playing a team I’ve not seen before.
I’m no stranger to Woodley and have seen many games over the years involving their men’s and women’s teams but beforehand I knew nothing of FC Deportivo Galicia. They were founded by a group of migrants from the Galicia, a region in Northern Spain, in the 1960’s who had moved to the London area. The club grew from early stages in the Harlesden League on Sundays winning many trophies in the 1990’s before gradually progressing to Saturday leagues, reaching the Combined Counties League Division One in the 2016/17 season.
Woodley is one of my easier grounds to reach via public transport and it’s always a pleasure to catch up with many friends and familiar faces at the club. It was another hot day, as has been the case for most of the summer, but thankfully with a nice breeze. Entry was £7 (adult) and they are one of the few clubs in this division still providing a printed programme which can be yours for £2.
As you can imagine for the first game of a season, the early stages were fast and furious on a dry, bouncy surface. The first goalmouth action came in the sixth minute, a great turn away from two defenders allowed Nathan Mindomba to thread a pass through to Jack Webb who fired past Mason Childs in the Deportivo goal only for the official to rule it out following a late flag.
The next 15 minutes were end to end but without any clear-cut chances and then we had the first hydration break. FC Deportivo Galicia stepped it up after the break and a shot from Maxwell Tichaona was turned around the post low down by Woodley keeper George Hurneyman. From the resulting corner the home defence went to sleep which allowed an unmarked Raffi Anwar to head into the corner through several pairs of legs. 0-1
Moments later the visitors won another corner which Ethan Relf swung into the edge of the six-yard box, finding Thomas Kemp who was again left unmarked but this time his header was scrambled away.
At the other end, Woodley’s Mindomba won the ball well in midfield and went on a run down the right flank before cutting back inside the full back and trying his luck from distance only to see Childs get down quickly to his right and parry away with the loose ball being cleared.
A long ball over the top looked to be heading towards Hurneyman only for the pace of Naim Mejjdoubi to beat him to it. He tried to control the bouncing ball with the keeper retreating only for Mark Taylor to cover well, force him wide, before winning the ball and clearing.
In the last five minutes of the half Woodley started dominating, pushing the visitors back and winning a couple of corners but the Deportivo defence held firm.
H-T: Woodley United 0 FC Deportivo Galicia 1
The second half began as the first had finished, with the home side on top and pushing the visitors back. Mindomba was again to the fore, sending a dangerous cross into the box which skimmed a defenders’ head before being picked up by Enow Ojong who controlled but couldn’t get a clean shot and watched it drift past the far post.
Back came the Galicians with a nice move, passing the ball across the box and eventually finding Relf in space just outside the box. He fired a great diagonal pass across the goal which Kobie Ambrose just couldn’t get on the end of.
The Woodley attacks resumed with a nice piece of play down the right which released Daniel Santos-Keskin into the box. He tried to beat the keeper at the near post with his shot rebounding away off the legs of Childs. Mindomba picked up the loose ball and ran to the byline before firing a lovely cross towards the far post but just behind Ollie Noyes and he couldn’t send a shot goalwards.
The hosts were now building up a head of steam with Mindomba leading the charge. He fired another cross into the box but a bounce before it reached Ojong meant it reached him waist high and he couldn’t adjust and be could only block the ball back to Childs.
The home side finally made the pressure count in the 56th minute, a nice move found Webb on the edge of the box where he twisted and turned before making enough space to fire past Childs and into the bottom corner. 1-1
Just before the games second hydration break Harvey Collins tried his luck from distance with his effort going just the wrong side of the post.
As we went into the last ten minutes another Woodley cross from the right was touched on by Noyes to Webb who got a shot away which just too close to the keeper who made an easy save.
The visitors made a quick break and won a corner on the left. Relf’s set piece was headed away, recycled and played in to Kemp 20 yards out but his snapshot went wide of the far post.
Woodley kept pushing forward in the closing minutes of the game but good defending from the visitors meant both sides had to be content with a point from this first game of the season.
F-T: Woodley United 1 FC Deportivo Galicia 1
An entertaining game with plenty of goalscoring chances, quite how this ended 1-1 I’m not sure! New Woodley manager Eliot Whitehouse will be happy with the number of chances his newly put together team made and he definitely has plenty to build on from that display.
Not surprisingly Nathan Mindomba was given the man of the match and I’d also like to give a shout out to the Woodley centre backs Mitchel Cooper and Mark Taylor who both played well against a strong and pacy Galicia forward line.
Always nice to catch up with Mark, Matt, Alan & Margaret, a pleasure to finally meet local photographer Trevor Smith, and good to touch base with Eliot after the game.
Wishing both sides all the best for the rest of the season.
PS. It’s nice to be back!