Brentwoodian 2019

61 FOURTH XI Olly Margiotta scoring goals for fun up top, our creative spark in midfield, Jake Foley, Henry Abbott with his inswinging corners, or Vishane Mendis being a rock at the heart of the defence, we were playing football at a great quality for a 4th XI side. We were certainly helped by the additions of George Archer, Will Pryor and George Boast and the tactical brilliance of Mr Wright by placing me in the centre of midfield, which helped us fully reach our potential in our first game of the New Year against Wilson’s. In an absolute masterclass we were 7-0 up at half-time (with a hat trick from Yours Truly in the first 15 minutes of the game), all of which came from outside the box and all were superbly well taken (obviously). Mr Wright was left flabbergasted after my 3rd goal as I ran off the pitch to tell half of Essex what had happened before returning. However, things slowed down in the second half after this season’s top scorer, Olly Margiotta, completed his hat trick as we placed Ellis Hossack up front who, whilst superb at the back, did not score all season. The game finished 11-0 and could have been even more. After a few tough games without a full squad to round off the season, we finished with a record of 8 wins 2 draws and 10 losses (including the two fixtures against Old Brentwoods). Had we played against more school 4th teams we would have won a lot more games. It was truly a pleasure playing for this team, who went from strength to strength and, as my Vice-Captain Ellis and I sadly depart, we wish Mr Wright and all the boys the best of luck with Senior Football and hope to see them next year in the Old Brentwoods’ game. By George Flashman This year saw a huge change in the 4th XI side from last year with the core of our side being Fifth Years and a new manager in Mr Wright (Mauricio Pochettino). After starting the season against the Old Brentwoods, which ended in a 5-3 defeat, we set out for our first game against Alleyn’s on what was to be a crazy afternoon. It was a thriller. unfortunately we were leaderless as I was struck down by illness, down to ten men we were pipped 3-2 with the last kick of the game. The footballing gods were not on our side for the first few weeks as we missed multiple chances while being luckless at the back. The goal that can best summarise this came in a defeat against Westcliff the following week when in windy conditions, pushing for an equaliser, which would have been fully deserved, a James Willy heroic tackle from 25 yards out was picked up by the wind and flew straight over our keeper into the top corner. Had it been in the other net we would have been talking about a goal of the season and if there had been video footage it would have won the Puskas Award. So we ended September with a 100% record of five games and five defeats. But, with one game left before half-term we were determined to take our opportunities and turn the tide. After racing into a 3-1 lead against Highgate, we had suddenly thrown it away with five minutes to go and we looked to have once again not got the result we deserved. However, with just a few minutes left, a tactical moment of magic from Mr Wright and a great run by Alex ‘Two Metre Peter’ Maplesden played through the goal machine, Andy Zhang, who slotted it into the net causing wild celebrations. Things really picked up after half-term and we became a lot more polished and started to really outplay teams on the pitch with our passing football (this time getting the results as well). Whether it be the brilliance of