By London Falcons press officer David Groves
London Falcons 7 Dagenham Motors 2
One Game, One Community Friendly • Wednesday, 10th Octber, 2007
Staines Town Football Club - Whetsheaf Park

STAR striker James Edeki hit a hat-trick as high-flying London Falcons demolished Dagenham Motors in a specially arranged match at Staines Town's splendid Wheatsheaf Park ground on Wednesday, October 10.

Gay Football Supporters Network League new boys Falcons produced a Rolls Royce of a performance against employees from Dagenham Motors dealerships in West London. The game was sponsored by Dagenham Motors as part of their total commitment to equality and diversity, and preceded the Football Association's national Kick It Out campaign week starting on October 18.

The match was particularly poignant for Falcons' impressive goalkeeper Aaron Jameson who works for Dagenham Motors as Accountant for the West London Division, having helped to organise the game, with Falcons' sponsorship manager Gary Britnell also undertaking a lot of the organising work and playing his part on the pitch as well.

After an early kick-off Falcons waited 20 minutes to take the lead when captain Dan Walton led by example from centre-back, firing home at the second attempt after player-coach Chris Maughan's right-wing corner had not been cleared properly.

Six minutes later late arrival Edeki, who had replaced stand-in striker Britnell only minutes earlier, burst through and shot home at the far post to make it 2-0.
On the half-hour mark Falcons survived a scare when defender Andy Grace cleared superbly off the goal-line.

And on 37 minutes Lewis Marshall showed superb skill to rifle home, giving the goalkeeper no chance at the near post after being set up cleverly by winger Kieran Evans.
Only three minutes later Edeki combined with Marshall whose first attempt was blocked by the keeper but he followed up to fire home the loose ball from close range for his second goal.
Falcons' domination continued and they entered the interval by making it 5-0 in first-half stoppage-time when Marshall pulled the ball back cleverly from the left for Edeki to return the compliment by shooting home unmarked at the far post.

Shouts of "We want six" from a good-sized crowd were answered only three minutes after half-time when Tom Price and Walton combined for Edeki to complete his treble by firing home.
Motors reduced the arrears two minutes later when Jameson could only palm a 30-yard shot under his crossbar. But rampant Falcons made it 7-1 on 74 minutes when that man Marshall set up midfielder Price who fired home from close range.

Another two minutes later Jameson was adjudged to have fouled a striker in the penalty area but he redeemed himself by saving the spot-kick, going the right way, and following up his heroics by blocking the subsequent attempt.

The scoreline was completed after 84 minutes when Motors cut the deficit again following a superb run which evaded the dependable rearguard as Jameson was given no chance at his near post.

An early finish perhaps put Motors out of their agony but this was a hugely enjoyable contest which will hopefully be repeated in future years as strong links were formed between both teams.

Skillful striker Marshall received two well deserved man of the match awards afterwards following his accomplished brace and celebrated his success with a bottle of champagne, being joined by jubilant team-mates buoyed by their evening's exciting exploits.

London Falcons squad: Aaron Jameson, Tony Carpenter, Jamie Okaro, Dan Walton (c), Andy Grace, Kieran Evans, Tom Price, Chris Maughan, Joe Zouheir, Lewis Marshall, James Edeki, Simon Patton, Sam Elliott, Gary Britnell.
 

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