Over recent years it has only been spotted on the Bodmin Moor but every now and again you hear of sightings here and there.  And this week if you had a sharp eye you too could have seen a fantastic cat like creature at Gunnersbury Park, Acton.  And this creature played no small part in a good win over a high flying Acton 9s.  With the first half being one way traffic we spent 40mins of the 45 first half in the opponents’ half but only one goal to show for our domination - a shot from the edge of the area by Andy Bitmead Jnr embarrassingly spilt by their so called goalkeeper.  At the other end Actonians’ only chance was snuffed out when I (whoops), I mean the cat like creature, raced from his goal-line to dive bravely at the feet of the striker who was about to unleash an unstoppable shot into the back of the net.

And so at halftime I was very satisfied with our performance but well aware 1-0 was not going to be enough with Actonians making changes at halftime and getting a roasting from their manager.  They had to play better in the second half.  And sure enough they were suddenly first to everything and it wasn't long until they were level.  Some poor play on our part by failing to deal with an attack, by dwelling on the ball or by giving it back to them.  They managed to get the ball through to an unmarked striker and although The Cat was off his line like a shot, he never really had a chance.  But they were only level for a couple of minutes before Andy Bitmead put us back in front with a second goal identical to the first – a weak shot beating their so called keeper to put us 2-1 up.  With the game far more even and end to end it was with welcome relief when Andy was pulled back in the box and the ref pointed the spot.  AB made no mistake from the spot - a well taken penalty that only 1 or 2 keepers could have stopped.  Actually only 1 keeper that I can think of!  So 3-1 up and surely only a horrendous goalkeeping error OR a series of unfortunate events could let Actonians back in the game.  And blow me.  What happened next?  You guessed it - a series of unfortunate events.

Firstly a ball lofted high into the box should have been cut out but wasn't.  Players to blame - Tom Thoroughgood and Martin Shew.  Then as I (whoops), The Cat came rushing from his line.  He was blinded by the low setting sun (player to blame - Tom Thoroughgood - poor choice of ends from kick off) actually burning the back of his eyeballs.  He climbed bravely to catch the ball that shouldn't have been delivered in the first place (Tom and Martin) but blinded by the sun and with the wind gusting, the ball slipped from his fingers and fell in front of goal only to land at the feet of an unmarked striker who tapped the ball home (players to blame John Thoroughgood and Alan Barrett).  So at 3-2 Actonians could see some light and pushed on and the game became stretched and wide open and before long it was 3-3.  Their giant sloth-like creature barged his way to the edge of the boxed and let fly an unstoppable shot.  But The Cat was on to it like a big cat on to a thing that big cats jump on.  However the shot was firm and true and the best that could possibly be hoped for was to get a paw to it and having done so, The Cat had to spring up bravely again as his useless defenders shouted “get up” but although he put his life at risk, it was in vane because while Carshalton players just watched, Actonians players swarmed on the wounded Cat and forced the ball home.

But realising they had let their trusty keeper down, Carshalton rallied and fine runs from Adrian Clark, Tom T and Andy B all cause problems for Actonians who were suddenly on the back foot and the pressure proved too much for them when a well driven cross caused confusion between goalkeeper and defenders and Harrison Jenvey popped up to stroke home the winner.  What a relief for Tom T, Martin S, John T and Alan B.  Harrison had got them off the hook.

Animal of the match    The Cat

Man of the Match   New man Rob Moye.  Welcome Rob.  Hope you enjoyed and don't forget your £40 next week

PS - What a great sight to see our youngsters sitting around a table with the opposition sharing a jug of bear and a laugh in a club that was buzzing.  Well done Actonians, SAL at its best

Dave Thoroughgood