Birkbeck 0 – 0 GOSH

Match Report
Birkbeck 0 – 0 GOSH
Wednesday 21 September 2011, 1-2pm

Birkbeck’s 2011-12 season kicked off with a solid performance and result against GOSH. While last season’s match report indicated an opponent of mixed ability, a draw has to be considered a good result when you take into account that they (along with every other team that remained in this division) finished above Birkbeck in 2010-11.

Mild concerns about raising a side were resolved at the last minute when Guest and Tacon both declared themselves fit and available to take their place in midfield. For the latter, it was the first time he had been able to take the field in a Birkbeck shirt since an injury incurred during a cliff-related accident ruled him out for the entirety of last season, and it was good to have him back.

With the team restored to something like full strength, the nightmare scenario of Birkbeck’s former goalkeeper having to make an outfield appearance was, thankfully, avoided. The possibility of a return to goal was also abandoned amid unconvincing murmuring about failing to recover from fairly minor surgery some six months ago, and once again Jennings donned the gloves without complaint.

The match itself was a return to ‘classic’ Birkbeck – keeping things tight in defence, staying in the game, but yet retaining the capacity to cause problems going forward. As ever, Nduka caused problems for the opposing defence, fashioning some half-decent opportunities for himself and others on a number of occasions.

A favoured tactic was to try and shoot early, as the GOSH goalkeeper’s positioning was a little suspect at times. Without wanting to sound rude, it wasn’t the only thing that was a little ‘off’ about this chap, a 45 year-old man dressed in what appeared to be a child’s football kit from the 1990s (the style of which referenced that favoured by flamboyant Mexican ‘character’ Jorge Campos). As the match progressed he became more and more agitated by marginal decisions and began barking schoolteacherly clichés at his non-compliant opponents (“PLAY THE GAME, NUMBER 6!”) while venturing further and further from his own goal, to no great effect, whenever the opportunity arose. Still, he’s probably a doctor or other healthcare professional who’s done far more good in the world than you or I will ever manage, so he can do what he wants in his lunch hour, I guess.

Birkbeck threatened more as the match wore on. Kirkland, having deputised admirably for the absent Schmidt in the centre of defence, increasingly took the opportunity to burst forward in the second half, but decent build-up play often failed at the final ball with the GOSH defence panicking.

Clear-cut opportunities don’t exactly spring to mind; a shot over the bar from Tirbhowan in the dying minutes is the closest I can manage to recall. At the other end, Jennings did all that was asked of him and rarely looked in trouble.

All-in-all, a decent performance then, although anyone feeling too happy about things should bear in mind that Birkbeck won their opening fixture last season (we all know what happened after that) and also that club captain/skipper/El Presidente Schmidt has demanded ‘the title’, and nothing less, in 2012.