Some well known lifers involved in this game, here is the match report!! CIFC was a team of Charlton fans (mostly) - a succesor to teh Supporter's Teams in prior decades. Many Lifer's on here turned out for them at some stage. This year we were involved in the IFA Cup - a national competion against supporters teams all over the country. We won this QF up in Scotland after getting past Colchester, Gillingham & QPR in previous rounds, we then beat Luton in the Semi Final but lost the final to Hibs up in Leeds. Great times.....
IFA Cup Quarter Final January 20th 2001
Ayr 1 - Charlton 3
The CIFC cavalcade rode into the South West Coast of Scotland & indulged in a whirlwind weekend of bad haircuts, eccentric millionaires, excessive boozing, illicit romance & the interruption of a bit of football. Reports elsewhere will deal with the non-football things what I have written below is summary of what happened on that ice covered astroturf in bonnie Ayr.
The team breakfast over & done with, the participants recovering from the sight of Dan Hart & Cheesey in sarongs despite the sub-zero temperatures outside, a fleet of taxis whisked the team up to the leisure centre hosting the game. We were presented with a full size astro pitch covered for the most part in a thickish layer of ice & snow. Despite this the surface felt reasonably OK & in fact I don't think anybody slipped over during the entire match. In fact we soon discovered that the temperature inside the spartan cagelike dressing rooms was considerably lower than outside. New heights of proffesionalism were reached when someone decided to hang the shirts out on the pegs around the changing "room", a theme that was to continue with Sargeant Major Prescod outside instigating our first ever proper warm up routine, a routine that knackered half the team out before a ball had been kicked. Whilst doing this, substitutes Rav Bharij & Danny Spinks were instructed to take shots at goalie Richard to warm him up - although the fact that his warmth came from the exertion of running behind the fence to gather hopelessly innacurate shots was probably not what Rick had intended.
Captain for the day, Graeme Williams won the toss & chose ends (I also presented the KaisAyr captain with a CAFC pennant, we had recieved a bottle of Bell's Whiskey the day before which Rav Bharij had volunteered to "look after").
The early pressure came from the Addicks, with Chris Nunn looking a handful already upfront at the back we knew things weren't going to be easy given the speed with which the ball zipped off the surface, however with an experienced back four cover was usually at hand to back up mistakes or misjudgements caused by the surface - this willingness to cover was a theme that continued throughout the game.
It was no real suprise when, after about 10 minutes, the decidedly ill looking Danny Smith recieved the ball in space on the right hand edge of the KaisAyr box. Looking up he chipped the ball over the 'keepers head & into the back of the net, a great start indeed. Rather than galvanising Ayr into attacking fervour the shock of conceding so early seemed to unnerve them for the rest of the half & they were somewhat fortunate to stay within striking distance of CIFC. Chris Nunn hit the post, Matt Owen chipped the ball just over from some distance & several attempts flashed past the post. In return a solitary cross/shot caused Richard to tip the ball over the bar.
Perhaps the most worrying aspect was the refusal of the ref to award us any freekicks or advantages at all, indeed in one bizarre incident, Kevin Everest hauled down an Ayr player about 10 yards outside the box. The decrepit Ref waddled up the field from his advantage point, 30 yards behind the incident, pointing to the penalty spot. To their credit the Ayr boys ignored him & took the free kick from where the offence had happened.
Half time came & manager Prescod was at pains to point out that we were by no means home & dry yet.
The second half kicked off & Ayr were immediately, noticeably brighter - they had picked up a bit of extra zest in midfield & for the first time in the game we were on the back foot. Yet the CIFC back four held resolutely firm & not a single chance resulted from the Ayr possesion. With the Ayr boys pushing forward there were openings at the other end. One such came from a throughball played to Danny Smith who raced to the byeline, cut the ball back to Chris Nunn 5 yards behind him & unmarked on the edge of the box, Nunn smashing the ball home to our jubilation. However the Ref had spotted an offside somewhere & the goal was dissallowed much to the disgust of Tim Chick on the sideleines who was told off by the Ref for his (justifiably) expalaning the rules of football to the old git!! There then followed a series of farcical fouls as various CIFC players were penalised for invisible pushes, non existent fouls & dubious handballs. Still Ayr couldn't prize open the clamsome four at the back. However chances at the othe end went begging, first a Nunn shot cannoned back off the bar, Rick Prescod put one wide from three yards out & somebody (I can't remember who) blazed over from about 6 yards out when it would have been easier to score.
Finally the inevitable happened, an Ayr player went down with cramp on the edge ofour box - obviously in some discomfort we asked for the Ayr lads to put the ball out so he could be treated. They were slow to react to this probably unaware of his presence & so Kevin Everest pushed the Ayr player with the ball towards the touchline gesturing for him to put the ball out - which he did. The Ref however totally misreading the situation blew up for an Ayr free kick. The resulting kick was chipped over keeper Richard & into the back of our net. The Ref had achieved his aim.
At this point we could have given in, but feeling a bit miffed & remembereing how far we'd come for this, an extra gear was found. Ayr however had a good chance to go into the lead, a shot flashing just wide of our goal. From the goalkick an attack down Ayr's vunerable left flank, ended in a goalmouth scramble from which Chris Nunn stabbed a foot out to send the ball just over the line. Jubilation from the sidelines & visible dismay for the Ref.
Almost immediately from the kickoff, Matt Owen intercepted a midfield pass & sent Danny Smith away down the right again, this time his cutback found Chris Nunn onside & Nunn smashed the ball home to send us into the IFA Cup semis.
A great performance, one of our best & to neutralise so effectively an obviously talented & capable Ayr side was no mean feat.
Richard
Williams - PQ - Cheese - Everest
Smith - Poole - Hart - Owen
Nunn - Prescod
Subs (all used) Spinksy - Rav Bharij - Rhino Stevens
Player Ratings & comments
Richard (7) - Had nothing to do for most of the game, not at fault for the goal & must have got quite cold. Only his second ever CIFC game.......
Williams (8) - A quiet, solid game won everything in the air & played his part in shutting Ayr out for most of the game.
PQ (10) - our millionaire defender used all his decades of experience in his best ever CIFC game. Outstanding at the back despite a nasty elbow in the mouth.
Cheese (9) - Dominant in the air & uncomprimising in his tackling.
Everest (9) - Made several marauding runs & also coped perfectly with Ayr's lively No. 7.
Smith (9) - despite looking like death warmed up ater the night before, Smudge was a growing force as teh game progressed. Played in defence, midfield & attack at various pats of the game & his passing opeend up Ayr on more than one occasion.
Poole (8) - neat, tidy & effective as ever. With Danny Hart they ran the midfield in the first half & coped well with teh frsh impetus the Ayr midfiedl had in the second half.
Hart (8) - Like his midfield partner Mark poole, Danny was his usual commanding self & did not put a foot wrong during the entire ninety minutes.
Owen (9) - His best game by far for CIFC. Tackled well, tracked back at every opportunity - he even looked dangerous upfront.
Nunn (9) - must have thought he'd never score - hit the woodwork three times but never gave up & was rewarded for tireless running at the end of teh game
Prescod (8) - a nightmare miss marred a good Prescod performance. Some deft & clever touches acted as a great foil for Nunn's powerhouse approach
Spinksy (7) - his usual gutsy determined self. Thsi boy ain't afraid of sliding about on astroturf, hi slegs bear the scars to prove it.
Rav Bharij (7) - despite drinking a full bottle of whisky the night before, the Zidane of the East (that's East as in Abbey Wood) played hispart in shutting out the Scots
Rhino (7) - tackled solidly when called upon. A faultless performance.
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Comments
Think everyone also deserves to know about the look of unbridled terror on AKKAs face ss he watched his travelling companions take advantage of a snow delay by getting hammered in the departure lounge. The terror being related to the amount of snow falling on our planes wings.
Until then, what happened in Ayr must remain in Ayr :-)
Oh to be 17 again eh Ric?