Bushy Park has a rich and enchanting history. Once the hunting grounds of King Henry VIII, it is easy to imagine the royal hunting party thundering across the wild open spaces in pursuit of a majestic stag. A stag that would eventually end up mounted in the great hall of Hampton Court Palace as a trophy of victory and a testament to the prowess of the Great King himself. And so it is fitting that even today Bushy Park remains an arena of sporting excellence. But whereas, back in Tudor times, King Henry was hunting for deer to grace his banqueting table, today, in the nascent Third Carolean Era, Teddington Athletic hunt for victory in the form of goals, and each week we are also treated to a feast, a feast of football no less!

Thus, for Teddington Athletic Lightning it was time once again to proverbially saddle up and ride forth into another seventy minute cavalcade of sporting spectacle. Today’s opponents were Reigate Priory Youth U13 Harriers. Would Lightning be able to clip their wings and take away another three points? Following the disappointing defeat of the previous week, the Lightning lads were certainly keen to make amends and come away with the win.

Lightning lined up in their now familiar 4-2-3-1 formation with Samuel in goal, Louis and Enrique in central defence flanked by Luke and James. Sam, Nathan and Joseph were the midfield with Stanley on the left wing and Daniel W on the right. Stefanos was the lone striker.

Unusually the game kicked off a few minutes early and Teddington wasted no time in showing the Harriers that they had come to play. Enrique, proudly wearing the captain’s armband, had an early shot that was stopped by the keeper, and Lightning were passing the ball around nicely. There then followed a spate of offside infringements from the Reigate forwards which were all expertly flagged by Joseph’s dad John, running the line with panache and determination. Fortunately on the one occasion when they did get a shot on goal it went thankfully wide.

Teddington fought back, pushing up the pitch with intent. Stanley and Nathan linked up nicely down the left wing and Reigate were forced to just lump the ball around as they tried to contain repeated Lightning attacks. Stefanos made a great run into the Harriers’ box, but was bullied off the ball by a Reigate defender more than twice his size! Stanley also had a chance, but in trying to get the ball onto his favoured foot, just couldn’t get the shot away in time.

With twenty minutes of the game played, a light drizzle began to descend. A light drizzle that quickly became a heavy drizzle in fact, but Lightning’s spirit remained un-dampened. Joseph had two shots on goal that were both parried by the Harriers’ keeper and then Reigate found a bit of form as one of their strikers broke through the defence and went one on one with Samuel in goal. Samuel came out admirably and did just enough to make the Reigate forward push his shot wide of the goal! This stroke of luck was quickly followed by another one as a speculative Reigate shot rattled off the Teddington crossbar and thankfully landed safely in the hands of Samuel. It felt a bit like Lightning were riding their luck at this point, but they rode it as skilfully as King Henry VIII rode his Barbary hunting horses, battling back into the game and winning a corner at the other end. And as the ball was delivered into the box, Nathan skilfully guided it into the net to give Lightning a deserved 1-0 lead.

The game continued apace, with Teddington keeping the pressure up. Stefanos continued to make a nuisance of himself in the Harriers’ box, causing the Reigate defenders all manner of problems, but he just couldn’t find the finish that he so dearly craved. As the half time whistle blew the game was delicately poised. It had been a tight affair with chances for both sides, but as it stood Lightning had the initiative and a pleasing one goal lead.

Half Time – Teddington Athletic Lightning 1-0 Reigate Priory Youth Harriers

The heavy drizzle had turned into full-on rain as the second half got underway, but still Lightning were undeterred, putting the Reigate defenders under yet more pressure. Ray, who had come on at the back worked hard in repelling any chances of a Harriers break and Enrique continued to provide solid cover in the middle. Then the rain abated and a rainbow emerged over the pitch. Perhaps this was a divine signal to the Lightning lads that victory was in sight, or perhaps it was just the effect of the refraction of light through raindrops, but whatever it may or may not have meant Teddington continued to scrap admirably for the ball. Daniel E who had come on in an unfamiliar forward position had a promising shot on goal that was saved by the Harriers’ keeper and Nathan, having dropped back into a defensive role, ran his heart out as always. Louis took a lovely corner that caused the Reigate keeper problems, but a second goal was proving elusive.

Reigate then broke and Enrique steamed in with a pin-point accurate sliding tackle to prevent a Harriers equaliser. Joseph had another shot on goal, but it lacked the required venom to beat the keeper and a subsequent more powerful shot was also blocked. Reigate fought back, putting Teddington somewhat under the proverbial pump, but some excellent work in midfield from Sam and a sublimely cheeky back heeled clearance from Chris kept the Harriers at bay. James also put in a shift in defence, scrapping away to win the ball whenever he could. Sam had a shot on goal which was saved, and a lovely through ball nearly fell for Daniel E, but he just couldn’t get there in time. Reigate then broke again and took a shot, but Nathan, using all of his speed, was there in time to prevent a certain Harriers goal.

Lightning then turned the screw and won a free kick in a dangerous area. Louis stepped up to take it and, channelling his inner Roberto Carlos, struck it sweetly with the perfect amount of swerve on it to guide it over the head of the Reigate keeper, and it bounced beautifully off the bottom corner of the far post and into the Reigate goal. And as luck would have it, I managed to video it! Make sure you check it out in the videos section, complete with my very own ‘Oh my Goodness!’ commentary!

2-0 up with five minutes to go. Would the buffer be enough? Reigate piled forward to try to make amends and the familiar cries of ‘Dog on the pitch!’ rang out as a Golden Retriever tried to get in on the action, but play simply continued around him until he was reunited with his owner. Lightning had one more promising attack that sadly came to nothing, but they had done enough. The full time whistle blew, heralding a really solid win for the Lightning lads in what had been a very tight game. Yes, a certain amount of luck had been on their side at times, but they had kept their shape, passed the ball well and taken their chances when they got them. With another three points in the bag, they are now sitting second in the league table, only one point off the leader. Here’s hoping they can carry on the Lightning trajectory…Onwards and Upwards!

Full Time – Teddington Athletic Lightning 2-0 Reigate Priory Youth Harriers

Goals – Nathan (21’), Louis (65’) (What a free kick!)

Player of the match – Sam W.