THE REACTION RICH WANTED

by David hucker

Garsington FC 0 Southam United 5 Oxfordshire League, Premier Division

Manager Rich Kay got the response he was looking for after the previous week’s heavy home defeat to Summertown Stars, as Southam United put five goals past Garsington to get their season back on track. Despite being forced into a substitution after only 15 minutes when Luca Lenihan went off feeling unwell, two goals from Ricky Barby and another from new signing Ryan Harris saw Saints 3-0 to the good at the break. They built on that in the second half with vice captain Simon Barby weighing in with a brace to put the match beyond doubt. “A fantastic reaction to last week’s disappointing result and, overall, a very good team performance away from home in terrible conditions” said Kay. “There was no panic at what was a freak result, with a few changes in personnel and a back-to-basics approach that has served us so well over the last couple of years. Our off-the-ball work and intensity was at the level I’ve been demanding and allowed us to press and play a lot more football in the oppositions half. We scored five but, in all honesty, we could and should have scored a lot more, such was our complete dominance of the game. Its easy to forget that, when we relaunched in 2019, we lost four of our first eight games in all competitions, but then went on to go unbeaten for two years. There is always a process when building a new team, but I would have settled for three league wins out of four whilst we are a work in progress. However, the signs are promising and, with additions made to the squad, we will only get stronger and stronger in the coming weeks.” Saints are at home to Bure Park on Saturday, kick off 2:30pm. Southam United: Alex Skidmore, Tim Cooper, Kieran Brady, Adam Neale, Ross Feasey, Ashley Knights [Capt], Ryan Harris (Daniel Long 60), Simon Barby, Luca Lenihan (Wendel Moyo 15), Ricky Barby, Shane Osborne Subs not used: Hossein Khorrami, Sean Loughran, Scott Lindley Referee: Mark Strong •