THE MAGIC MOD SCORES AT CRAVEN COTTAGE
Fulham All Stars 10 v Celebrity All Stars 4
Saturday 23 May 2015 15:15
The Fulham All Stars retained their Shooting Star Chase crown with a 10-4 victory over their Celebrity counterparts on Saturday afternoon.
A Barry Hayles hat-trick, along with strikes from Paul Peschisolido (2), Sean Davis, John Pantsil, Andrejs Stolcers, the Magic Mod and Alan Neilson earned victory for the home side in our annual charity match.
Fulham kicked things off and looked to take advantage of the lack of height in the celebrity goal, but Davis’ effort from the halfway line cleared Felipe, of Apprentice fame, and his crossbar.
Hayles went close to breaking the deadlock with five minutes played when Peschisolido slipped him through, but his rifled effort found the side-netting.
And the pair combined again for the opening goal two minutes later as a curling Peschisolido pass sent him in on goal and he rounded Felipe before nestling the ball in the net. Manager Simon Morgan suggested that it may go down as an own goal after a recovering defender got the final touch, but there’s no doubt Barry will claim it.
Peschisolido then went from provider to scorer as he played a one-two with Davis before bending an effort inside the far post which Felipe couldn’t get a strong enough hand on to keep out.
Hayles grabbed his second on 14 minutes when he spotted Felipe off his line and sent in a chip from 30 yards which sumptuously nestled in the back of the net, before Davis scored a similar effort five minutes later from outside the area after being teed up by Hayles.
Kenny Achampong was known for bamboozling defenders in his playing days and he was at it again on 21 minutes when he beat his man before squaring across the face to Davis. He laid the ball off to Peschisolido who was never going to miss from close range.
Fulham fan Ben Taylor, AKA Magic Mod, should have made it six shortly after but he was missing the magic touch when he connected with Achampong’s cut-back and skewed his shot over the bar.
After conceding five goals inside the opening quarter of a game, Felipe made way to be replaced by Foundation Coach Chris Smith.
Following a lull where nobody really had a chance, musician Tinchy Stryder almost pulled one back shortly before half-time, but again Maik Taylor was equal to the effort, with the Fulham keeper then making another great save to keep out captain Jack Whitehall’s rasping shot.
They did pull one back before the break, though, as boxer Darren Barker converted from close range, meaning the score at the interval was just 5-1.
Fulham emerged for the second 45 with vigour and Elvis Hammond almost got on the scoresheet when he cut inside and rifled in a low strike that came back off the post.
But the sixth arrived soon after when Pantsil, having taken up a more attacking midfield position, nestled one inside the far corner. It was a neat finish which was greatly cheered by the fans in attendance.
The Celebrities didn’t give up the fight, though, and grabbed another goal of their own shortly after the hour mark as DJ Spoony burst into the box and finished coolly beyond Maik Taylor.
The five-goal advantage was restored not long after, however, as Pantsil slipped Andrejs Stolcers in and the Latvian smashed in a brilliant strike from a tight angle, although James Hill then notched another for the Celebrities.
On 83 minutes Davis took a theatrical tumble in the box to win a penalty which The Magic Mod put straight down the middle for 9-3, but the Celebrities reduced the deficit again on 90 minutes when former Liverpool midfielder David Thompson tucked home the rebound following a Taylor save.
But Fulham had the final say as defender Alan Neilson found himself well up the pitch and managed to chip the goalkeeper from a tight angle to ensure the game finished 10-4.
