NEWS

On 25^th September 2010, following a number of friendlies over the previous 12 months, competitive football for Old Citizens was resurrected when a strong team travelled to Chigwell to play Old Chigwellians for their opening Arthurian League (www.arthurianleague.com) Fifth Division fixture, an appropriate opponent given the Essex school are also a regular opponent of the school. Having warmed up a couple of weeks earlier with an extremely tough game and narrow defeat against the current cream of the school in the now annual friendly fixture against the current school’s 1^st X1, the team felt ready for regular competitive football and the performance didn’t disappoint as Old Citizens ran out 5-2 winners. That victory was inspired by a central spine of centre back and captain Will McKenna, central midfielder David Dwek and centre forward Nick Brice. Indeed the trio’s availability was key to results throughout the season, with McKenna’s ability to read the game from the back, Dwek’s tough tackling and Brice’s approach play and finishing a match for any team in the league.

 

That opening day victory was followed by a thumping 7-1 victory against Brentwood with Brice, who finished top scorer with 7 goals, scoring a hat-trick and Martin Kimchi a brace. The following week an even better performance was reflected in a 9-1 scoreline with David Dwek’s brother Isaac scoring a fine hat-trick and Keval Sangani a brace.

 

With 21 goals scored and three victories from three games recorded, Old Citizens were riding high and faced Old Epsomians in their next fixture, a team who also boasted a 100% record. Unfortunately something had to give and Old Citizens never recovered from a bad start, characterised by some poor individual errors, and the game finished with a heavy defeat. Pleasingly the team got back to winning ways with two hard fought wins in the next two games. Firstly in an away win when substitute Paul Stein, brother of regular left back Nicky, gave the team a 3-2 win at Old Harrovians and then the following week with a 2-1 win against Old Wykehamists with goals from Steve Stavrou and Keval Sangani, who finished the season with 5 goals and was second in the team’s leading scorer list. However those well fought victories were followed by a drubbing to Old Malvernians in a game when our usual reliable central spine was unavailable and the team were forced to field a makeshift defence. In the final game of 2010, and in a reverse of the opening day fixture, a much improved Old Chigwellians side managed to take back a point with a 1-1 scoreline, the only draw of our season.

 

The season resumed in late January with one of the best games of the season when we won a seven goal thriller with a last minute strike from Debs Osekita against Old Malvernians. At this stage Old Citizens were second in the league and still well placed for promotion but injuries and unavailability led to three crucial league defeats in quick succession against Old Brentwood, Old Epsomians and Old Wykehamists which seriously dented our promotion prospects. Sandwiched between those league defeats was a Junior League Cup defeat against an Old Harrovians side, but the narrow margin of defeat bodes well for the future given the opponents were riding high two divisions above us. We finished the season with two games against Old Chomelians, which resulted in a win and a defeat; results that gave us a final league position of fourth and much to look back and be proud of but also plenty to build on and improve.

 

We will start again in late August and plan to play a friendly or two including the annual friendly against the school first X1 on Saturday 3^rd September before the new Arthurian League season. So if you would like to be part of the squad from next season please email Rob Harris .

Date	Opposition	Venue	Score	Old Citizens Scorers	Competition
25 Sept 2010	Old Chigwell 4th X1	Away	Won 5-2	Brice 2, Own Goal, McKenna, Levene	Arthurian League
2Oct 2010	Old Brentwood 4th X1	Home	Won 7-1	Brice 3, Kimchi 2, Sangani, Osekita	Arthurian League
9 Oct 2010	Old Harrovians 3rd X1	Home	Won 9-1	Own Goal, I Dwek 3, Brice, Kimchi, Levene, Sangani 2	Arthurian League
16 Oct 2010	Old Epsomians	Away	Lost 1-6	Osekita	Arthurian League
23 Oct 2010	Old Harrovians 3rd X1	Away	Won 3-2	Brice, Kalms, P Stein	Arthurian League
6 Nov 2010	Old Wykehamists 2nd X1	Home	Won 2-1	Stavrou, Sangani	Arthurian League
13 Nov 2010	Old Malvernians 2nd X1	Away	Lost 12-1	Sangani	Arthurian League
27 Nov 2010	Old Chigwell 4th X1	Home	Drew 1-1	Stavrou	Arthurian League
22 Jan 2011	Old Malvernians 2nd X1	Home	Won 4-3	I Dwek, Brice, Haywood, Osekita	Arthurian League
29 Jan 2011	Old Brentwood 4th X1	Away	Lost 0-3		Arthurian League
5 Feb 2011	Old Harrovians 2nd X1	Away	Lost 2-4	T Ramakrishnan, D Dwek	Junior League Cup
5 Mar 2011	Old Epsomians	Home	Lost 2-9	Levene, Stavrou	Arthurian League
19 Mar 2011	Old Wykehamists 2nd X1	Away	Lost 0-6		Arthurian League
2 April 2011	Old Chomelians 4th X1	Home	Won 3-1	Gurner 2, N Stein	Arthurian League
2 April 2011	Old Chomelians 4th X1	Away	Lost 1-4	Gurner	Arthurian League