The Oak tried to build on the point of last week and end the season with a bang.

The short trip to Caldecote was an interesting game from the start, with nothing to play for but pride and no time to warm up. . .

Chris Birdsall returned after his self inflicted illness but had to be content with a place on the bench. Martin O Donovan retained his place in the starting XI, but moved from the centre of midfield to the left. Andy Palombella came straight back into the centre of midfield. Paul Stevens also returned but, like Birdsall, he could only make the bench.

Straight from the kick off, Caldecote passed the ball to the Oaks left hand side and O Donovan stood and watched as the ball trickled past him. Realising that his marker now had the ball, O Donovan charged back but his marker swung the cross in low putting the Oak under pressure straight from the start.

Caldecote put a lot of pressure on the Oaks back line, which at points basically turned into a back 6 with Claudio Jordan, Liam Boland and Andy Palombella dropping in to help. The Oaks front line were not seeing a lot of the ball but when they did receive it, it was given away too easily. Even though Caldecote had a lot of possession, no real clear cut chances were being created.

The Oak then won 2 corners against the run of play. The first Cooney in-swinger found the head of Boland Jnr, who had a free header but could only find the Caldecote goalkeeper. The resulting corner was swung in straight on top of the ‘keeper and he collected with ease.

Caldecotes first real chance came from the left hand side. The ball was swung across and the left winger shook off Claudio Jordan and met the ball on the half volley. He wasted the chance and the score stayed 0-0.

The next chance also saw the first goal of the game. Caldecotes right midfielder was proving to be a nuisance and his cross found the Caldecote number 10. He calmly bought the ball down about 15 yards out and smashed it past White in the Oaks goal who didn’t see the ball until it was too late.

The Oak were struggling to maintain the ball, with Boland Jnr and Cooney trying to break down the Caldecotes slow defence by playing through balls for the Oaks strikers to run onto.

Half time came and went.

The Oak started to create more chances in the second half, but still could not create space for a shot at goal.

The first change of the game came following a 50/50 tackle between the Caldecote striker and Minney. Minney won the ball and as the ball was up the other end of the pitch he went down. He had some treatment and returned onto the pitch. After about a minute, he could not go on any longer and was replace by Stevens. Scans later revealed that Minney had 2 fractures of his foot and had dislocated his toe. This injury will keep Minney out for the Oaks remaining games.

The ball was being passed round more freely as Caldecote tired, but still no clear chances came until the Oak caught Caldecote on the break. Boland Jnr received the ball wide on the right and he swung the cross in toward Palombella at the back post. Palombella dived for the ball but agonisingly missed it by about an inch, and the ball went out of play.

That was Palombellas last contribution to the game and he was replaced by Wayne Aylott Because of this his chances of playing in the Mid-week game at Marston are rated at 50/50.

Boland Jnr and Stevens were starting to play the ball around inside Caldecotes half but options were limited. The final change saw Birdsall come on for Claudio Jordan who picked up a knock on his knee following a late swipe by the Caldecote number 9. As Jordan attempted to shield a through ball to safety, the Number 9 swiped the back of Jordans legs and he fell. White came rushing out of the goal towards the striker and pushed him away with his forehead. Boland Jnr stepped in to pull White away but he was still booked for an ‘attempted head butt’.

The last action of the game came when Lorenzo Jordan lost the ball on the right wing and clattered into Caldecotes left back with both feet off the ground. A little pushing and shoving followed but order was restored and the game seemed to fizzle out.

A better second half made up for the dismal start, but the points were still lost.

On Wednesday the Oak visit the resurgent Marston. The Oak have already lost 3 points from this game due to a deduction put in place by the Bedfordshire FA, so the best that the Oak can do is insure that Marston don’t claim an extra 3 points.

With Dave Minney (foot) and Steve Armstrong (knee) already out through injury and doubts over Martin O Donovan (chest), Claudio Jordan (knee) & Liam Boland (heel) the Oak could be struggling for a side.
________________________________________________________________________

(3-5-2)
Martin White

Danny Murphy
Sean Boland
Dave Minney (Paul Stevens)

Martin O Donovan
Claudio Jordan (Chris Birdsall)
Andy Palombella (Wayne Aylott)
Liam Boland
Michael Cooney

Lorenzo Jordan
Lloyd Turner

Sub Not Used: -
________________________________________________________________________

Dream Team Star Man: Liam Boland . . . 2 games in a row where he has worked box-to-box for the full 90 minutes. Tried his hardest to create any sort of chance for the strikers.