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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 7 8<br />
oSFC MiD SEASoN REPoRT 2013/14<br />
Up to the date of writing, this season seems to have mirrored last<br />
season and to be honest the last few seasons.<br />
The 1st XI started the campaign with great hope of a brave new<br />
dawn under the guidance of an enthusiastic young manager,<br />
Perry Langley. However he quickly discovered that the problems<br />
of inconsistent availability and therefore performance that have<br />
plagued many of his recent predecessors, continues to be an<br />
obstacle yet to be overcome. The 1st XI currently lie one place off<br />
the bottom of the Division, however an encouraging 6-1 victory<br />
over 2nd place Old Lyonians in the first game of the New Year<br />
showed what can be achieved, we hope that this proves to be the<br />
fillip we need for a strong second half to the season<br />
The 2nd XI had a familiar shaky start to the season whilst the<br />
team took shape, but as the personnel began to become more<br />
settled the results since mid November have been encouraging<br />
and the Reserves have now started to move up the table.<br />
The 3rd XI having retained many of the players from last season,<br />
again look strong contenders for promotion. They have also<br />
reached the Semi Final of the Old Boys Junior Cup where they<br />
are due to meet local rivals Old Minchendians. Fingers crossed<br />
that their Cup success does not create a similar fixture pile up to<br />
last season, that ultimately hindered their progress in the League<br />
The 4th XI had a difficult start and were forced to change their<br />
Captain a couple of months into the season. A potential major<br />
headache?....... "Who you gonna call"? (accepting the<br />
Ghostbusters weren't available) Why of course the "Red Adair"<br />
of OS captaincy Dave Gilligan. Gilly with some new recruits<br />
helped steady the ship, boost results and boost bar takings.<br />
Following the departure of a number of players at the end of last<br />
season, the 5th XI have basically formed an entirely new squad<br />
of players under the joint captaincy of old hands Nick Plinston<br />
and Russell Toone. Their results have been encouraging and they<br />
currently lie in third place in their Division<br />
The Mega Vets have had a frustrating first half of the season,<br />
remaining unbeaten because despite the best efforts of captain<br />
Ian Meyrick, they are yet to play a game! (each cancellation was<br />
the opposition's fault, honest!!). Hopefully we can get some<br />
games in before May and before any more of the players retire!<br />
On the social front we again had a very successful Annual<br />
Re-union of ex-players at the club in early October. Around 40<br />
ex OSFC players (including the President) attended and watched<br />
the 1st XI take a deserved 2-0 lead against HSBC before<br />
conceding 2 goals in the last 10 minutes to leave us with only a<br />
point (see "inconsistency" above). The ex-players in attendance<br />
ranged from those who had joined the club over 50 years ago to<br />
those that had played more recently, lets hope we can encourage<br />
even more to come along next October. Watch out for details on<br />
the OSA and OSFC (www.oldstationersfc.co.uk) websites.<br />
Finally, despite the very wet December we still managed to play<br />
our traditional two Boxing Day games against Old Finchleians.<br />
The "Youngsters" won their game 5-2 and the "Oldies" were<br />
unlucky to lose a tight game 3-4. The team included such<br />
"distinguished athletes" as Mark Tansley, Mike Kassie, Liam<br />
Gallagher, Jack Toumany, Tony Theodoulou, Dave Gilligan, Ian<br />
Meyrick and Geoff Blackmore, with Dave Fuller, CWS, Alun<br />
Jeffreys and Marsden Hubbard amongst a good crowd watching<br />
from the touchline or was it from the clubhouse!<br />
In our 108th season we're still thriving and looking forward to<br />
our game at Buckingham Palace in 2056!<br />
As always all ex-players would be most welcome at the club on<br />
any Saturday afternoon and if anyone requires further details<br />
about OSFC you can contact me at ian.meyrick1@gmail.com<br />
Ian Meyrick<br />
Chairman OSFC<br />
1st XI (taken before the game against HSBC on 12th Oct 2013) – Back Row (L-R) S. O'Donaghue, M. Smith, S. Watts, T. Jackson, M. Tansley, P.<br />
Langley(Manager), M. West, A. Coluku. Front Row S. Derrick, A. Lovatt, J. Reece, B. Coglan, J. Ryan<br />
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