London Falcons returned to action following the second lockdown period with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Connaught Old Boys.
Falcons XI: Matt; Danny, Charlie, Jeff, Mitch; Jimmy W, Baptiste, George (c); Rob N, Will, Stevie
Subs: Myles, Pete
Before kickoff, both sides proudly posed with the Falcons club banner to celebrate the start of Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces Week, with our thanks going out to Connaught for standing alongside us to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the game.
As the game began, the hosts certainly did not look like a side who had not played football in four weeks, as they took the visitors to task from the outset with a high-pressing game. As the Falcons pushed, Rob and Will’s chasing won a throw-in on the right. Channelling his experience from his days treading the boards in Phantom of the Opera, Man of the Match Danny ghosted a delicious long throw into the box which was met by a glancing header from Baptiste, whose deft touch guided the ball into the top-left hand corner of the net.
As the hosts continued to push, the flow of the game was disrupted by a crunching head injury to manager Jimmy. As he waited on the sidelines for medical attention, the ten minute delay to the game allowed the visitors to reset and reorganise. As they began to lay siege to the Falcons’ box, Connaught finally struck when an optimistic long ball broke through the back line. Left with a one-on-one, all the opposition striker had to do was slot home a tidy finish and the scores were levelled at 1-1.
It could have been worse for the Falcons, if not for the reflexes of Matt ‘The Cat’ Hall in between the posts. When it seemed that a powerful header was about to end the sides’ parity, Matt reacted sharply to get down at his near post to make a superb stop. Minutes later, a 40 yard lob looked like it may have the legs to be a late winner, but Matt was not to be beaten, as he backtracked to get a strong palm to the ball and push it over the bar.
With seconds on the clock, it was the hosts who nearly stole the points. When the Falcons won a free kick on the edge of the box, it fell to Baptiste, whose wicked whip took a deflection off the wall before agonisingly clipping the crossbar.
So in the end the points were shared, but more importantly, both Jimmy and his opposing number made full recoveries from their head injuries. Up next for us is Clapham Cosmos on Saturday!