Old Etonians II - League (A)

 

Eton vs Lancing in a titanic battle in Division 2 - you could be forgiven for thinking this was referring to the early to mid 2010s. Of course, who could forget the 2016/17 season when our 2s, led by LOBFC legend Mike Johnson, went away to Eton 2s in the second game of the season, won 3-1 and carried on that momentum to a memorable Division 2 league title. 

 

Unfortunately for the LOBs, times have changed. While Eton 2s have remained a stalwart of Division 2, our own 2s have sadly withdrawn from the league and our 1s are currently the proverbial “team in transition”, temporarily regrouping in Division 2 before making a long awaited climb back up to the promised land of the Premier Division.

 

In the meantime, we have a relegation battle on our hands and a Valentine’s Day away trip to the high-flying Eton 2s presented an exciting albeit tricky opportunity to possibly gain valuable points in our fight for survival.

 

Both LOBFC legend Wilf Aylett and this author consider away days at Eton College among the Arthurian League’s finest fixtures. So you can imagine the frustration when we were informed that for the second season running the fixture would have to be moved from Eton College to an alternative venue with a 4G surface. While the relocation to Hampton was a noticeable upgrade on last season’s Feltham move, Mesopotamia (in both the literal and metaphorical sense) it is certainly not.

 

As often happens with Valentine’s Day fixtures, recruitment becomes a challenge as one’s love for the LOBs is pitted against traditional societal norms to opt for the inferior (but likely more sensible) choice of spending the day with one’s partner. Nevertheless, a squad of 12 of our finest demonstrated their commitment to the LOBs (their one true love) and made the journey down to Hampton to take on the title-challenging boys in light blue. 

 

If you ignore both LOBFC legend Steven “Disco” Crosby and this author, this was a young squad with lots of potential for the future. 

(Author’s Note: I wish to clarify that Disco also has lots of potential for the future.) 

 

For one of the first times this season, the kit actually arrived on time. It must have been an intimidating sight for the Etonians to walk onto the pitch and see the LOBsters already midway through their warmup and passing drills. This initial intimidation would have likely soon passed when they realised that we didn’t have any cones and so were using shoes instead…

 

Onto the game itself. This was the first opportunity for fans of the LOBs to watch both of our leading goal-scorers (Will Bainbridge and George Hockey) on the pitch at the same time. At the time of writing it is still unclear if Will Bainbridge’s executive decision to play himself up top and move George Hockey to the right wing was a tactical decision (for footballing reasons) or a tactical decision (to protect his own stats). 

 

Either way, after a slow start from the LOBs and an early but deserved 2-0 Eton lead, our two marksmen swapped around. This proved a masterstroke as Will Bainbridge could use his excellent hold-up play, thanks in part to his what I believe people these days call “silky tekkers” but mainly his unique ability to mercilessly wind up the opposition which leads to them kicking him, to win us territory and cheap free kicks. This also freed up George Hockey to do what he does best and score twice to bring us back into the game at 3-2 down, when we really had no right to still be in the game. 

 

At this point the instructions were clear - this was a lifeline that we didn’t necessarily deserve, so let’s take it, reset, toughen up, win our battles, keep things simple and push on for an equaliser. It was a good message and one that we all bought into. All that is except for Issac Abatan, who decided from kick off to attempt to dummy the striker and chop back inside, only to gift possession away and award an easy goal for Eton to take a 4-2 lead. It is hard to judge Isaac too harshly as he is a terrific footballer, otherwise had an excellent game and more than has the technical ability to pull off such a move. Unfortunately the footballing gods didn’t look too kindly upon a centre back attempting to display such tricks.

 

During the second half something happened that I don’t think anyone was expecting - complete and utter possession and territory dominance from the LOBs. It was a delight to watch the LOBs showing such great spirit, never giving up, moving the ball with speed and giving everything to try to get back into the game. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and Eton 2s held on for the 4-2 win. 

 

While the defeat was disappointing, both the spirit shown and our second half performance provided a lot of encouragement for the rest of the season and beyond. If we can replicate that second half performance going forward, we will have an excellent chance to survive and to kick on next season. It was a delight to see two more university lads (Harry Bradshaw and Charlie Fry) make their LOBFC debuts. Hopefully this will be the first of many appearances for them both.

 

Onto the 28th February and a huge six-pointer against relegation rivals Old Albanians.

 

Man - Ryan Wood. 

It was aptly pointed out by LOBFC legend Jamie Betts, who joined us afterwards for the pub-based post-match debrief, that it is a classic display of LOBs heritage to award Man to a centre back when you have shipped 4 goals and lost.

 

Mug - unfortunately Isaac Abatan

Ryan W