Cray Wanderers U23s vs FC Santa Claus – Friendly Match – Thursday 31st October – Match Report
Cray Wanderers U23s 10
Saraniemi o.g. 16, McQueen 32, Ihiedi 46, 65, 75,
Raper 56, 79, 84, Warwick 58, 77
FC Santa Claus 1
Abhuamba 29
PHOTOS TO FOLLOW
In a unique match played on Halloween evening with a touch of Christmas thrown in, Cray Wanderers U23s continued their high scoring start to the season with a 10-1 win against the touring FC Santa Claus from North Finland.
On a night that did Cray Wanderers proud for its ingenuity, originality and foresight to host a side that will now become a household name in the UK and despite the end result the visiting side deserve a lot of credit for the way they played and it was only really in the second half where the Wands began to pull away.
Amidst chili con carne and rice on sale as well some dazzling Banana, Cherry and Lemon cake, mince pies and festive hot chocolate there was an unusual mix of Halloween costumes and the sight of Santa Claus arriving far from Lapland via a day out in London and probably enjoyed a fair quota of mulled wine on his visit before arriving at Flamingo Park after 5 pm which made the evening special. There was a round of Donuts on a String (a bit like bobbing for apples only with Donuts) and also FC Santa Claus merchandise on sale as well as for the Wands.
The match itself saw Roy Brooke’s U23s side play two elevens, one in each half while the red and white adorned FC Santa Claus brought 19 players with them and for the first half in particular more than held their own.
The first half was played at such a fast pace it was scary although the first real opening fell to FC Santa Claus when Aapu Pahti saw a shot blocked inside the box by Danny Edmead.
At the other end Cray were creating openings with Cameron McQueen saw a close range effort saved by the Eemeli Vierela. Then David Boateng saw a shot deflected behind for a corner and then Tom Borders’ shot was blocked and turned the ball wide. Still in the opening quarter of an hour Cray came close again when Issac Tano down the right picked up a loose pass and his near post shot was saved by Vierela’s foot.
In the 16th minute Cray took the lead when from a corner from McQueen down the left the ball in the box was met by Edmead ahead of Bobby Parkes and his header looked to have been headed into his own net by Iiro Saraniemi.
FC Santa Claus nearly levelled though when the impressive Oskari Sirkka inside was denied by a very good save by Kevin Kardel and following up his shot was cleared off the line by Parkes.
Then in the 29th minute, FC Santa Claus equalised with a swift break from a Wands attack instigated by Sirkka who cut inside from the left and set up Zaid Abuhamba down the right of the area who tucked away a fine finish into the bottom left corner.
Three minutes later though it was 2-1 to Cray when a left wing cross was flicked on and McQueen was on hand to turn the ball in from close range.
Before half time Cray could have added more goals through Neil Ntsiomo and Borders but at the break was delicately poised in a half with just two fouls in the whole of the half.
HT: 2-1
The second half saw a different Wands XI and got off to a great start just 38 seconds after the restart when Michael Ihiedi finished impressively from 12 yards to continue a rich vein of scoring form.
It was mainly one way traffic from here as Ben Raper down the right saw a cross shot turned behind by Vierela who had a terrific second half and Victor Damyanov curled an effort wide of the right post and then Corey Holden shot wide.
Two goals in two minutes effectively ended the game as a contest as first Raper down the right fired past the keeper and then Freddie Warwick who had a great 45 minutes tucked home a tidy finish from just inside the box.
FC Santa Claus almost pulled one back when from a corner, Pahti saw a shot pushed out well by Sam Nicholls.
However, Cray made it 6-1 in the 65th minute when a cross from Raper fell to Ihiedi who turned the ball goalwards although possibly went in off Vermi Tuisku but certain the striker will claim it.
From here Cray had come close several times with Damyanov seeing a shot saved, then curled a shot over and hit the crossbar. Then Ihiedi was denied by an excellent save by Vierela who did even better a minute later, tipping Ihiedi’s shot one handed over the bar.
However the last fifteen minutes saw Cray score four more goals. Firstly in the 75th minute, Ihiedi completed his hat-trick with a cool finish from ten yards.
Then two minutes later Warwick made it 8-1 with the goal of the match with a cracking shot from 20 yards.
This was shortly folllowed by a ninth goal in the 79th minute when Damyanov’s deep cross from the left to the far post was half volleyed in by Raper.
In the 84th minute the Wands reached double figures when Holden’s ball into the box for the far post was hard to defend against and Raper got the final touch before the keeper to also claim a hat-trick.
There was still time for Vierela to make two more saves before the end with Raper putting the ball in the net again in stoppage time but was disallowed for offside.
Cray were ultra professional and played very well but you must give credit to FC Santa Claus who gave it everything and we all hope the rest of their tour which includes a trip to Manchester tomorrow is as enjoyable as this night was.
Cray Wanderers:
1st Half: Kevin Kardel, Carl Anderson, Archie Morley, Neil Ntsiomo, Bobby Parkes, Danny Edmead, Issac Tano, Cameron McQueen, Tom Borders, Uziel Bateki, David Boateng
2nd Half: Sam Nicholls, Callum Redman, Edward Mare, Oliver Chiriseri, Lincoln Hunter, Scott Simmons, Ben Raper, Freddie Warwick, Michael Ihiedi, Victor Damyanov, Corey Holden
FC Santa Claus: Eemeli Virarela, Veeti Tanjunen, Iiro Saraniemi, Vermi Tuisku, Aaro Niva, Juho Muikku, Daniel Salmela, Zaid Abuhamba, Oskari Sirkka, Aapu Pahti
Subs: Oula Vaanenen, Louri Auno, Santiu Puotiniemi, Niklas Vesterinen, Artiu Pahti, Tutti Tuikka, Juuso Herranen, Juho Kallio
