After an afternoon full of club trials, as the sun began to set, it was time for the first team to show the hopefuls what the standard is.
United welcomed a South Moor side who have had a decent start to the season, winning 7 of their first 12 and sitting 4th in the table. Having worked very hard for 3 points away in Easington the week before, United were hoping that home comforts would facilitate a less sweaty ending to the match.
That wasn’t necessarily the case…
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United sent out a team with four changes: Ollie England came in at left-back for his first start of the season; Freddie Walton came back in on one wing and Zane Liles on the other; and Charlie Bramwell returned in midfield.
Another notable addition was the inclusion of Sam Benoist on the bench; having now received international clearance, he made his first appearance for the club.
United got off to a flying start as Freddie Walton put the hosts 1-0 up within 10 minutes, already justifying his starting position. Ellis Challinor clipped a long ball over the top and, after the South Moor defender was kind enough to flick it on, Walton found himself 1-on-1.
“I couldn’t believe my luck”, he said after the game, which was applicable to the position he found himself in, but there was no luck about the finish, as he calmly steered passed the onrushing goalkeeper.
He ran in the direction of the pitch-side camera and let out his trademark fist bump; nothing fancy, nothing too dramatic, just a pure passion for scoring goals.
10 minutes later and United were mere inches from doubling their lead as Rory Edwards took aim from 20 yards out. Driving from deep, he got to the edge of the box under minimal pressure, and then unleashed one of the most powerful strikes I’ve seen in a while.
As it cannoned off the crossbar, not only did it go a long way in the air, but it also easily made it back out of the box. I’ve seldom been more glad to see a long shot miss, as I’d weighed up my options and decided not to film that particular play…
‘If at first you don’t succeed, try again’, seemed to be the team mantra, as Walton doubled his tally with a firecracker from 22 yards out.
Alex Dinan cleared up a loose ball in midfield, and then Phil dropped it off to Walton, who was on the leftmost side of the box as the ball “bobbled” (not my words..) towards him.
He hit it first time with his instep, sending it with power and precision into the top corner, letting the flailing goalkeeper make the strike look even better.
“This is not good for ego”, commented Fin Gwillim on the sidelines which, despite the goal we’d just seen, was still my favourite contribution to the match so far. Yet, nobody loved the goal more that Phil Kay, who sprinted straight over and embraced Walton so tightly that he must have squeezed all the air out of him.
Before this season, Fred was nine years old the last time I saw him play football and he couldn’t kick the ball off the ground. To be fair, judging by one surprised shout of, “Walton!?!”, from the bench, some people still can't believe he can kick the ball off the ground.
In danger of turning this into an existential article about the passing of time, I better return to the action…
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It wasn’t just through long shots that United looked threatening as, just over 30 minutes in, South Moor were cut open with a fluent passing move. Ollie England took a free-kick short to Bramwell, to Dinan, to Merrett, back to Dinan, to Challinor, to England, to Bramwell, who played a lovely blind-side weak foot pass to Liles, who crossed it and won a corner.
8 passes and a cross, withouth the opposition getting near the ball, and with a maximum of two touches; United were looking fantastic.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that the third goal came just two minutes later; Lant nicked the ball deep in the attacking half, Phil collected it and produced fast, fluent, footwork to break into the box and square it to Liles, who took one touch to compose himself, and one touch to put United 3-0 up within 35 minutes.
The final 10 minutes of the half involved some more to-ing and fro-ing (albeit definitely more to-ing from United), and some quick passing moves as the opposition were camped back, but no clear cut chances.
HALF-TIME: UNITED 3 - 0 SOUTH MOOR AFC
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Just three minutes into the second half and the first ball was lost, being cleared onto the roof of the stand. Luckily Tom Trace was on hand to half-volley one back into play, getting good use out of his boots.
For a period of ten minutes, the opposition’s game plan changed from trying to play football, to trying to stop us playing football
Bramwell found himself on the floor more than his feet for most of this period, as he continued to get taken out long after the ball had gone.
The third of these was a slide tackle that the opposition defender had jumped into, and caught the United midfielder having gone over the top of the ball.
I was watching this passage through a camera lens and, as I focussed on the aftermath of a Freddie Merrett header, I heard a shout of, “Ref, he’s gone studs up!”, from the stands.
I panned to see Charlie lying on the floor, holding the top of his shin, in what turned to be accidentally quite comedic, ‘The Office’ style, cinematography
I was surprised not to hear the whistle go, but not as surprised as Charlie - judging by the look on his face - when he had no choice but to get up and on with the game.
After an off-the-ball elbow to the face and some other moves that are banned in every combat sport, it was United who were reduced to 10 men.
Seeing a loose ball that was there to win, Liles slid in but, getting there slightly late, was awarded a second yellow card, much to the enjoyment of the travelling support. “Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio” they chanted, as he went past them into the changing room.
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The remaining 30 minutes of the match looked very different to the first 60 as United - so fluent and free-flowing in the first period - were now reduced to sitting back and absorbing pressure.
A repeated cycle of clearing the ball, shouting “UPPP!”, and all 10 outfield players running up the field in sync, looked almost poetic. But, the game started to resemble a public swimming pool wave machine, as South Moor lumped more balls into the Durham box, and they were forced to retreat again.
Phil stayed high and was used as an outlet, holding the ball up and driving into space to offer much needed rest for the United defence before the next wave came.
As the mist descended on Maiden Castle, the game had a very atmospheric and slightly tense feel, especially after South Moor grabbed a late goal.
But, the back four - and those in front of them - remained resolute in conditions that, towards the end of the game, I can imagine made seeing the ball quite difficult.
So, after one last ball was hoisted in the Durham box and headed away, the ref blew for full time and United continued their winning league campaign.
This game was perhaps the best team performance of the season so far, with United showing that they’ve got all elements of the game, from popping passes around for fun, to grinding out a victory with 10 men.
Alex Dinan was quietly brilliant at the base of midfield again, playing important roles both in starting attacks and absorbing pressure. His ability to turnover possession and quickly progress it forward was key for Durham. As the quote goes, “If you watch the game you won’t see Dinan, but if you watch Dinan, you’ll see the whole game”.
Fred Walton was fantastic yet again and, having barely played for the club last year, has really come into his own this season. As a winger, he does everything you could want: comes short and turns; links play; runs in behind; drives with the ball; and apparently he can kick it in the air now. Who knew!?
Lastly, Phil Kay was instrumental yet again, linking play in the first half, and providing an outlet in the second, either driving with the ball or holding it up and linking play. Best of all, he’s doing it with a smile on his face, whether it’s getting support from his teammates in the crowd, or seeing the camera focused on him again.
FULL-TIME: UNITED 3 - 1 SOUTH MOOR AFC
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Player of the Match: Phil Kay
Line-Up: Harry Archer; Morgan Lant; Freddie Merrett; Ellis Challinor; Ollie England; Alex Dinan; Charlie Bramwell; Rory Edwards; Freddie Walton; Phil Kay; Zane Liles
Substitutes: Marko Pozorov; Chris Wild; Sam Benoist; Seb Hopkins; Fin Gwillim
Written by George Gompertz
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