Wilderspool Causeway

Instead of the therapeutic pines of Wokingham Without, today we would travel through the roundabouts of Bracknell Within – including Met Office – to double back to Larges Lane and the sloped playing fields of Ranelagh School for a league fixture against Berks Elite FC.

It was hard to get to grips with who they were or where exactly they had come from, shouts of ‘Come on Berkshire’ doing little to add clarity. This was in short supply for the Berks Elite players, too, as their manager was the living embodiment of the FA’s ‘How not to do it’ video. He yelled throughout the game, as if he was, say, Tom Waits filling in with the Pixies, projecting a jumble of incoherent sounds which only occasionally coalesced into a recognisable word like ‘SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE!’ The lads from Berkshire didn’t seem to know what he meant by this at all, confusion deepening as his level of apoplexy rose in inverse proportion to their grip on the game.

Bracknell needed to react to last week’s comprehensive cup defeat, and I needed to stop trying to find solutions myself to help Evan adjust to the new team, but just get a few things off my chest to the manager and let him take over; he listened well as I explained what Evan could do, and I decided to arrive separately to the game this week rather than potentially confuse him on the way there.  The pitch had a muddy tract through the middle, raising concerns about whether or not it will last throughout the autumn and winter. The game started slowly, with Bracknell dominating possession but unable to make a breakthrough until new signing Ieyan Qureshi (from the Junior Premier League) danced through the defence and rolled the ball nonchalantly past the keeper. He added another soon after, and after 15 minutes Evan entered the fray, immediately making a strong contribution with a left-footed,  volleyed pass into striker Jacob Barnes.

After a quiet game last week, Evan had received encouragement and constructive advice from the manager; he wanted Evan to play with more confidence, enjoy the game and believe in his ability. To that end, he gave him increased rather than reduced responsibility, asking him to take all corners and to push forward as much as possible. This paid off, with Evan whipping in some brilliant corners and arriving at the edge of the box to fire a first-time shot into the bottom corner. In the second half, he ran through on goal in a 2-on-1 situation, checked his run, looked up as if to pass then swept the ball into the bottom left corner. This was becoming a very good all round performance, and was enough for him to win him the Man of the Match trophy at the end. Another contender for this was the excellent Ashton Walker; his reading of the game at centre back is always superb, and he also popped up with two goals near the end to complete an excellent team performance.

It’s sometimes tricky to work out what the little hinge is to turn potential into something good. In this case, I think it was about relaxing. If you’re a Muslim who likes Werther’s Originals, for example, you have to check first – have a little word with the Imam or log on to a reputable ‘Halal or Haram’ website. It’s not a case of finding and blessing the Eddie Stobart lorries yourself – I don’t think – though maybe that wouldn’t hurt. It’s more a case of whether or not the Werther’s Originals are intrinsically good (Halal). You sometimes just need to check in with a higher authority first, and then you can unleash.