Old Edmontonians 1 Accies 6ths 1 (Jules Court).

AFA Cup day for the 2nds, 4ths and 5ths, and elimination for two of them, the 2nds to old nemesis Albanian and the 5ths in a heartbreaker to Old Camdenians, goals from Lloyd Vanson and Ian "I'm desperate for the world to know I've reached double figures by the end of November" Roberts. The 4ths turned around 1-0 down to Civil Service, but with the elements behind them and Paul Bernard's brace ran out 2-1 winners.

League action for the 3rds, who scored three times in the first twenty minutes and then settled for playing crap (so I wuz told) and the 6ths, who drew 1-1 away to Old Edmontonians.

Accies 6ths 2 (Serge Sollo, Chris Lewis) Southgate County 3.

Optimists 2 (Jim Graven, Yvon Nolle) Old Stationers 2, Old Stationers won 3-2 on penalties.

A lovely day. For ducks. Little rain for months gave way to a three day (and counting monsoon) and freezing conditions as well. Lovely.

The Accies 1sts had a difficult time progressing to the next round of the LOB cup after struggling to beat Old Woodhousians 2-1. The afternoon did not start well with 4 players arriving after kick off. Shortly after a full eleven were on the pitch Houghton was brought down while rounding the keeper.  Common sense prevailed (or perhaps the referee noting that at the moment there's no such thing as a clear goal scoring opportunity for Joffsy) with the keeper only receiving a caution, but the Accies were upset to only be awarded a free kick and not a penalty. 

Woods then took the lead following confusion in the back line allowing a free run on goal by the Woods striker. Switching to a 3-5-2 after the break led to intense Accies pressure and a number of chances went begging.  With seven minutes to go, super sub Vaughan beat 2 on the edge of the box  releasing Jones. His fancy footwork and cross Enabled Houghton to convert near the front post. Two minutes later Accies were ahead when Jones finished smartly past the keeper with his left foot. A very relieved Accies had made the quarter finals, but a sloppy start and carelessness almost cost the victory, and later led to the vicious torture and demise of two candles in Highgate.

LOB Cup victory as well for the 2nds, away to Parkfield, and the 4ths, away to Old Edmontonians.

AFA Cup action for the 3rds, and a comfortable 3-0 win over Old Camdenians, despite being deprived of skipper Scott Atkinson for the early minutes, seconded to first team duty.

League action for the 5ths and 6ths. More travel problems striking the former, leading to a kickoff at 3pm and a finish in the gloaming. Fortunately not a close game, and a comfy win. No such luck for the 6ths, whose rebuilt team played the usual ding-dong against Southgate at Shenley, running out losers by the odd goal in five.

So to Sunday, and with lifeboats on standby the Optimists faced Old Stationers at Shenley. 

You know the feeling?  Wave upon wave of attacks, opposition under increasing pressure, surely they must crack soon.  Then fumbles and mumbles, missed chances, time running out, nervous frustration, until ... until the moment of final and ultimate triumph.  

You know that feeling?  Well it was like that for the Accies on Sunday, almost.

Foul weather, miles of heavy cloud above, relentless freezing rain.  The Accies started brightly, passed and tackled well throughout, and finished strongly.  How they didn't win this by a street is the biggest mystery since Pricey converted from a Watford to a United fan.  Stationers scored first against the run of play but Yvon Nolle quickly equalised with a contender for goal of the season.  Stationers broke out again and scored a pearler from a dodgy free kick outside the box, half time 1-2.

A switch to 5-3-2 at the break and the Accies became even more dominant, Jim Graven scrambled an equaliser and we waited for the goal-fest.  But it didn't come, time went on, more chances were missed, extra time, colder and wetter.

Was there a Johnny in our midst? No. Two penalties converted by Mark McGuigan and Nolley again but it was not enough.  An unfortunate result but proper football and the best performance of the season so far.

Accies 6ths 1 (Marcus Whitmore) Carshalton 0 (Bobby Butlin).

Clapham Old Xaverians vs Accies 7ths postponed.

Optimists 1 Upminster 9.

AFA Cup action for the 1sts and 6ths, and two tight wins. Away to East Barnet Old Grammarians on the smallest, narrowest pitch they could find, the Accies found themselves in a hard fought ding dong match. 1-0 up, 2-1 down, 3-2 down and then into extra time the Accies finally took control and ran out 5-3 winners. Absent skipper (and new father) Jon Houghton missed a cracker, but it shows the attitude and approach so different from last season when this was the sort of game that was often lost.

Home advantage for the 6ths, and a hard niggly game against Carshalton, but kept under control by a superb refereeing performance. One goal would decide it, and a blast from the past with Marcus Whitmore re-opening his Accies account after a gap of "ahem" years. Next round is the quarter final.

LOB Cup action for the 3rds, and on paper an easy tie against Egbertians. On grass too, 7-0 the result never in doubt.

League action for the 2nds, and a late kickoff against Hale End caused by traffic chaos in north-east London. Hale End started with eight, and had conceded a penalty before the eleventh arrived, but the Accies went from strength to strength to run out 4-1 winners.

The yo-yo 4ths continued the pattern one had hoped they'd got out of. It took them 15 minutes to get going against Davenant Wanderers, and by that stage they were 3-0 down. From then onwards the game was even, but the damage done. Paul Bernard's hat-trick a mere footnote.

A re-arranged league game for the 5ths, away to Old Camdenians, and 1-0 down after two minutes, a simple ball over the top splitting the defence. On a bobbly pitch the further the game went on, the more the Accies adjusted and a goal in either half finally produced a 2-1 win.

No game for the 7ths. A mixture of semi-reasonable, unreasonable and frankly pathetic excuses reduced twelve players on Friday evening to eight by 1230, and opposition Clapham Old Xaverians were told the game was off less than two hours before kickoff. Quite simply, pathetic.

Accies 6ths 1 (Justin Armstrong) Old Parmiterians 2.

Old Ignatian 2 Accies 7ths 5 (Pat Brien 2, Spencer Gore 2, Jamie Abela).

A good day overall, six wins out of seven.

Cup action for four sides at Shenley, with the 2nds beating Churchill 5-0 in the AFA Cup and the 5ths matching their AFA result in beating Old Vaughanians. Simon Vaughan's rich vein of scoring form continued for the seconds, taking him to a career high season total (three) and clearly a potential tutor for Walker, whose unmarked chance from two feet was as difficult as unmarked chances from two feet can get, but atoned later. Goals from Ian "did you know Sky Sports have raised their prices" Roberts, Lloyd Vanson and Andy Crotty completed the set.

For the 5ths, goals aplenty after a tight start, with Graham Whitworth notching a hat-trick and Dickie Smith and Andrew Penfold both scoring their first goals for the Accies.

The 1sts moved comfortably into the next round of the LOB cup with a 5-2 victory over University of Hertfordshire. Early chances again were key with Lloyd and Carabine finishing well to lead 2-0 at half time. A sloppy 10 minutes was rescued with 2 quick goals when Houghton (spot the skipper taking penalties) scored a penalty after Tim Vaughan's close control led him to be brought down in the box. Five minutes later, Houghton's long pass found Voss in space and a tremendous first time finish ensured the victory. A further goal from super sub Esiri was tarnished by 2 late goals from the oppo.  Again the sense that the Accies were playing within themselves was apparent but the 6th straight victory was pleasing. Voss and Lloyd scoring from 20+ yards, Hertford will never know how unlucky they were.

LOB action too for the 6ths, against Old Parmiterians. 1-0 down after 20 seconds isn't the best start, and whilst from there the game was even the goal proved decisive, with Parmiterians running out 2-1 winners.

League action for the 3rds and 4ths, both fresh (ha !!!) from the league Annual Dinner the night before. Whether much of the b######s being talked on Friday night translated to Saturday isn't known, but in his first game for the Accies Dan Saxby kept a clean sheet for the 3rds, as did Steve Woodrow for the 4ths (so he must still have been p####d) as both recorded comfy league wins.

Finally, the first win for the 7ths. Strong words were spoken before the game about lack of committment and playing for places next week, and the Accies responded well. It wasn't the prettiest game ever we can play a great deal better football but the important thing, rather than just playing for a laugh, people wanted to win, and the Accies turned the corner from having a kick around up the park with your mates to playing in a league like we wanted to win!! Ironically it was a friendly against Ignatians from the division above!!

Jamie Abela opened the scoring after a good move, with a tap in, followed by a penalty that Spencer "I'm the skipper I'll take the pen" Gore just managed to put over the line! Graeme Were then had one disallowed for offside. 2-0 up at half-time, but with the elements against us in the second half we expected to have to fight for the win.

Old Woodhouseians 2 Accies 6ths 1 (Nick Reed).

Latymer Old Boys 3 Accies 7ths 1 (Sameer Patel).

It rained, after two months of moulded studs winter is here, and a mixed set of results. At the top end of the club four wins out of four, at the other end, three losses.

Another important win for the 1sts against Old Wilsonians in the league.  It was dissapointing to only win by one goal in a game that the Accies controlled for the majority.  Again good early work paid off with Jones cross almost forcing an own goal. 5 minutes later Gillard picked out Delaney on the right wing . His accurate cross was met by Houghton who forced the keeper into a save that he could only parry into the path of Carabine who continued his excellent scoring run.  The rest of the game followed a similar pattern with a lot of Accies pressure without extending the lead. The defence were in fine form enabling the 4th clean sheet in 5 league games and another quiet day for Dawson in sticks. A deserved man of the match was Chantler.

Early goals too for the 2nds, who found themselves 2-1 up after fifteen minutes as the score stayed that way. Rather easier games for the 3rds, opening their AFA Cup defence away to Crouch End Vampires, and the 4ths, in the LOB Cup at home to Old Woodhouseians. 

The up and down season continues for the 4ths! Although the score-line suggests an easy stroll in the park the reality a tad different. 0-1 down in the first five minutes, with only Fox really knowing why he stayed rooted to the edge of his box, allowing the ball to roll past him into the now empty net. Within 10 minutes the Accies were back on level terms, with a deep free kick, headed back across goal for Barndoor to nod home. That done the Accies then gifted Woodhouseians another chance to go ahead, but for an excellent block/save from Fox, managed to keep it at 1-1. The kick up the arse that this was, made us go in at half time 4-1 up with some well worked goals.

The half time team talk revolved around gabbing a few more early doors and not letting them back into the game. Of course we managed to f*** this up and allowed them to score first again and after 15mins played it was 4-2, time for a riot of goals, 5 in 20mins! the end result an emphatic 9-2 win, both Barndoor (4) and Lovell (3) notching at every opportunity, with the other two on the day from Watts and Atthis. Not the most consistent of performances, but I suppose I've got to be happy with 9 goals (just!). Apparently it's all down to the superb captaincy skills of Dan Willoughby (so I'm told by Dan Willoughby).

Another "one that got away" for the fifths. After a scrappy first half, at 2-1 up halfway through the second half the result looked a foregone conclusion. But Enfield Old Grammarians plugged away, and as the Accies started to lose shape (far too many people going walkabout, and not tracking runners) they were made to pay. Enfield equalised after a goal-keeping mistake and then pounced to score the winner. Lessons to be learned about playing as a team, discipline and keeping shape.

Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the sixths would've beaten Old Woods, spending the second stanza camped in their half. This was the one, somehow 2-1 down and so it stayed. Frustration too for the sevenths, with a hastily arranged league game away to Latymer Old Boys. A decent performance, but still a 3-1 loss. Pity.......