Racing Bats week 2 - 20/10/08

SEVEN GOALS, TWO SENDING OFFS, THREE POINTS, A TABLETOP AND A CAR CRASH – all in all a successful evening for controversial Racing Bats.

Racing Bats 6 Dad's Army 1
Racing Bats 1 ODE Marys 4


FOUR goals from Felgate saw Racing Bats take three points in the second week of the Wandsworth First Division. The striker was in the type of sublime form we’ve not seen from him since… well… ever, and was unlucky only to walk away with four after the amount of shots he rocketed towards the petrified Dad’s Army goalkeeper.

He was joined on the score sheet by Disciplinary Dima who netted his second in as many weeks and Samsonite who saw his long-range effort partially parried before trickling over the line.

Shortly after his goal Dima was sent off by the referee for indignantly booting away the ball as the opposition prepared to take a freekick - which was gifted to them by the 6ft 8in playmaker when he passed directly back to Andy Hep in goal.

Samsonite, Dima, Andy Hep, James Hep and Duncan all got their names on the assist list with the sort of slick passing movements that Bats are fast becoming known for.

Bats went into the second game against league toppers ODE Marys with high spirits and high hopes – which were quickly dashed when Disciplinary Dima was awarded his second blue card of the night and two minutes in the sin bin for a vicious and illegal slide tackle that left at least two opposition players on the floor – one of who’s career lies in the balance as he fights to recover in a south London hospital bed.

Bats managed to keep the score line at an even 0-0 for much of the first half with some astonishing and acrobatic stops from Samsonite – some of which are likely to be voted in Football’s Top Ten Saves alongside Rene Higuita’s 1995 ‘Scorpion Kick’.

But lazy marking from Andy Hep saw Marys break the deadlock. Bats showed character when Duncan Hep slotted home a right foot effort but Marys went on to score another three to take the points.

Not even a last minute ‘tabletop’ of a Marys player, which involved Andy pushing a player over a crouched down Dima was enough of an effort to allow Bat’s to leave with their dignity intact.

Bats consoled themselves with a post-match pint and some talk of next week’s tactics before Andy Hep’s lazy braking – not dissimilar to his defending – saw him shunt his car into a white van which foolishly tried a quick right turn in his path.

PLAYER------Apps---Goals---Assists---GK Apps---Clean sheet---Dis
D.Vorobtsova---3--------2-------1-----------0---------0---------------2
A.Hodgson-------1-------0-------1-----------0---------0---------------0
T.Hodgson-------0-------0-------0-----------0---------0--------------0
S.McCartney-----3-------1-------1-----------1----------0--------------0
R.Felgate--------3--------4-------0-----------0---------0--------------0
J.Hepburn-------3--------0-------1-----------0--------0---------------0
A.Hepburn-------3-------0--------1----------1---------0--------------0
D.Hepburn-------2-------1--------1----------1---------0---------------0

Tables, fixtures and results here http://www.the-elms.co.uk/2006wandsworthres.htm

Racing Bats week 1 13/10/08

Wandsworth new boys off to shaky start

Racing Bats Vs Sabretooth - Bats win due to no-show

Racing Bats 1 Wandsworth Stanley 2

A NIGHT of mixed emotions saw Racing Bats get off to a shaky start in their first ever season in the Wandsworth First Division on Monday.

The newly formed club, managed by James Hepburn, took a respectable three points from its first two games at the Wandsworth Arena - but fans are asking whether that would have been the case had first opponents, Sabretooth, actually turned up.

After being gifted three points, Bats went into the second game against Wandsworth Stanley with high hopes after showing class in a pre-season friendly against rivals Spartak Mojo, but no sooner had they relaxed into their stride when a lack of communication at the back saw them concede their first goal of the season.

A quickly taken and misdirected free kick from James Hepburn left Andy Hepburn baffled and apparently in such a state of shock that he was unable to chase back to prevent the arriving Stanley striker from slotting past temporary keeper Duncan Hepburn.

It wasn’t long before a beautiful passing move saw Bats back on level terms when Andy Hep found Hodge Jnr who neatly slotted to Ukrainian import Dima to calmly rifle into the bottom right-hand corner with his weaker right foot.

Bats dominated much of the game with solid defending from Samsonite, Felgate and James Hep, until a failure to track back by Bat’s front men saw them back to a one goal deficit when an opposition striker found himself one-on-one and side-footed home.

Bats had a number of chances to get back in the game and a rifled long-range shot from Felgate, which was destined for the top corner, was deflected wide by a defender. Minutes later Hodge Jnr slotted through the keeper’s legs only to see his effort graze the post. James Hep had the best of the late opportunities to tie up the game after a textbook one-two with Hodge Jnr left him with only the keeper to beat but an off-balance shot on his favoured left foot saw the ball bobble into the side netting.

Although Racing Bats first ever match will go down in the history books as an unfair defeat there were a lot of positives to be taken from the performance and an exiting future lies ahead for the club.

At a post-match press conference the manager was in high spirits and said: “It could have been a better start but there were some bright performances out there from a group of drinkers who have never played together before.

“We’ll all get together for a few pints and go over the tactics for next week when we’ll be looking to take six points.”

------PLAYER------------Apps--Goals--Assists--GK Apps--Clean sheet--Dis

• D.Vorobtsova---1--------1-------0-----------0---------0-------------0
• A.Hodgson-------1-------0--------1-----------0---------0-------------0
• T.Hodgson-------0-------0--------0-----------0---------0------------0
• S.McCartney-----1-------0--------0-----------0---------0------------0
• R.Felgate--------1--------0--------0-----------0---------0-------------0
• J.Hepburn-------1--------0--------0-----------0--------0-------------0
• A.Hepburn-------1-------0---------0----------0---------0-------------0
• D.Hepburn-------0-------0---------0----------1---------0-------------0