07/08/01 - Neutral v The Bull
12/08/01 - Away v Ashampstead
21/08/01 - Away v Stockcross
28/08/01 - Home v GWRSA

August 7th 2001 v The Bull

4-3

 Pre Season Friendly
Danny Feasey and Andy Boness made impressive debuts for the Steamers tonight as DC beat The Bull 4-3 in a preseason friendly. DC started brightly and produced a number of goal scoring chances which came to nothing. It was The Bull though who opened the scoring ten minutes from half time when a mix-up in defence allowed their striker through and place the ball past Rory. It wasn't until halfway through the second half that the Steamers got back into the game. Danny received the ball, turned his man and drove a 20 yard effort past the outstretched boot of the stranded keeper. The Bull then regained the lead when an expected offside flag failed to appear. The opposing player advanced towards Paul Allen, who had replaced Rory in goal, and placed the ball past his despairing drive. In a mad couple of minutes, DC soon found themselves leading 3-2 as Nick Smith levelled the score with a well taken long range effort before Rory rose at the far post to send a powerful header past the keeper. Danny then added to his earlier goal when he latched onto a through ball and fired his shot into the far corner of the net. With time ticking down, The Bull pulled a goal back after a big defensive clearance bounced in front of Paul. Although he initially caught the ball, it slipped from his hands which allowed the advancing Bull player to slot it into the net from an acute angle. The starting line-up was as follows: Rory O'Neill, Howard Cooke, Wayne Makepeace, Duncan Glen, Paul Allen, Chris Taylor, Mark Jarman, Andy Boness, Steve Danby, Nick Smith, Danny Feasey.
Scorers: Danny (2), Nick, Rory
Subs: Ray Townsend and Steve Bell - Rolling Subs

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August 12th 2001 v Ashampstead

2-3

Pre Season Friendly
The Steamers lost 3-2 to Ashampstead this morning despite having the majority of the play and the greater number of chances on goal. Nick Smith broke the deadlock midway through the first half from the penalty spot after Chris Taylor was scythed down in the area, chasing a through ball from Seb Rivers. Playing downhill in the first half, DC had enough opportunities to bury the game with efforts from Chris, Nick, Steve Danby and Paul Allen. It was a former Steamer though who got Ashampstead back into the game. Steve Bell, now playing for the third division outfit, flicked the ball on to the Ashampstead striker to calmly slot the ball past the advancing Jensen, (who I believe was making his goalkeeping debut for the Steamers). The second half saw much of the same from the Steamers although a defensive error allowed the home side to take the lead and they increased that soon after when Steve Bell was allowed to beat the offside trap and put the ball past Paul Allen (who had just swapped with Jensen and was still putting his gloves on at the time). Mark Jarman pulled a goal back with a well place low curling drive late on in the game but that was the end of the Steamers fight back. The starting line-up was as follows: Jensen Langford, Howard Cooke, Wayne Makepeace, Duncan Glen, Paul Allen, Danny Feasey, Mark Jarman, Steve Danby, Nick Smith, Seb Rivers, Chris Taylor.
Scorers: Nick Smith, Mark Jarman
Subs: None

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August 21st 2001 v Stockcross

1-2

 Pre Season Friendly
The match got underway at 18:45 and both teams looked bright at the start. The ground was hard and fairly uneven which made play a little disjointed. However, the Steamers settled into a good rhythm of passing play, and forced a number of early free kicks in dangerous areas outside the Stockcross area. DCS were forced into an early change as new signing Las suffered a Hamstring injury and left the field. Paul Allen moved onto the left with Seb moving into the middle and Steve Danby slotting in at left back. Stockcross's strength was clearly their front players who eventually made a break though. The DCS defense froze expecting and off side decision which never came. There were good passages of play from both sides with the best equalising chance falling to Jensen who made a good run down the left leaving the defender in his trail but failed to get a decent shot on target with just the keeper to beat.
The teams went into half time 1-0. The second half had only just got underway when Stockcross scored their second goal from another blatant offside. DCS rallied at this point and really pulled their sleeves up, the whole team were more competitive and clearly looked the fitter side even though SC had the benefit of frequent subs. DCS made several further chances but failed to convert. Nick Smith eventually pulled one back with a shot through a crowd of players going straight in with the goalie unsighted. Danny made an excellent run passing several players before putting his shot agonisingly past the near post, and Jensen missed the final chance of making honours even after another shot missed by inches.
The man of the match was Seb Rivers for an outstanding performance in central midfield.
 The starting line-up was as follows: Rory O'Neill, Howard Cooke, Wayne Makepeace, Duncan Glen, Paul Allen, Danny Feasey, Mark Jarman, Laszlo Petnehazy, Nick Smith, Seb Rivers, Jensen Langford
Scorers: Nick
Subs:

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August 28th 2001 v G.W.R.S.A

7-1

 Pre Season Friendly
DC entertained GWRSA in their final pre-season friendly tonight although with traffic problems in Reading causing players to arrive late, the match eventually got underway later than hoped. The Steamers settled into the game quickly but received a suprise early on when the visitors took the lead from a corner. The ball dropped into the penalty area and was not cleared by DC. This allowed an opponent to smash the ball high into the roof of the net past the stranded Paul Smithson who was making his Steamers goalkeeping debut. That gave DC the kick up the arse they needed and straight from the restart Chris Taylor raced down the right hand side and cut the ball back to Jensen Langford to equalise, firing low into the near post. This goal opened the floodgates. Minutes later, Danny Feasey scored the first of his hattrick, beating the offside trap and passing the ball into the net before adding a second in  similar situation. GWRSA did not have much reply to this first half onslaught and what they did have was cut out by our stand-in keeper. Nick Smith kept up his goalscoring run when he side footed home his 4th goal in 4 games to end the half with Steamers leading 4-1.
 The second half saw Paul Allen replace Paul Smithson in goal, Mickey Sheehan come on for Duncan Glen in midfield and JJ slot into the defence. GWRSA came out much brighter than the first half and contained DC's advancing moves. Eventually Danny completed his hattrick with a ferocious drive that the keeper could not keep out despite getting hands to it. Nick then added to his increasing tally before being substituted with 20 minutes to go for Paul Smithson. All that was left then was for Steve Danby to round off the scoring with a deflected shot. The starting line-up was as follows: Paul Smithson, Chris Taylor, Wayne Makepeace, Duncan Glen, Andy Holt, Danny Feasey, Steve Danby, Andy Boness, Paul Allen, Nick Smith, Jensen Langford
Scorers: Danny (3), Nick (2), Jensen Steve Danby
Subs: Mickey, JJ

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