Match Report

This could easily be a round up of both matches. It felt like we had been robbed in broad daylight. Not by the referees, not by the opposition really, but by ourselves!

In both games we had 70% of the play and 90% of the good football. We played excellently in the first halves of each game, Adam Steward getting plenty of the ball out wide and running the opposition ragged down the flank. In this last encounter Lee Cross was doing the same on the left and there was good commitment from the forward line of Simon Davies and David Thompson. James Behagg and Piers Moss were putting in great challenges all over the field (and it really was a field this week!). After approximately 15 minutes Toby Manchip made a strong punch out under pressure, which led to a hopeful lob come shot from midway between centre circle and penalty area that caught everyone off guard and it flew over Toby and in. One of those moments that no-one can legislate for.

We immediately attacked and with some great interplay between Ben Tomkins and Adam, Adam squirmed into the box between three defenders and was brought down. Adam decided to take the kick and it was drilled down the middle and against the keepers legs. We continued to exert immense pressure on the Chislehurst Sports defence, and a combination of luck, post (a great header from Luke Dunne) and desperate defending by them made it look impossible to score. However with a couple of minutes left in the half another massive throw from Luke Dunne into the box resulted in Simon Davies being persistent and squeezing the ball in at the near post on the turn. 1-1 and no more than we deserved at half time.

In the previous encounter we were 1-0 up at half time and couldn’t believe we were not 6 up, this time we felt gutted not to be ahead but there was some excellent play down the wings, and the midfield were supporting the forwards well, Piers was challenging strongly in midfield (MOM) and his distribution was excellent. Our defence was strong, with Jack and Luke soaking up everything that was heading their way and Toby was making good use of his kicks and willing to throw out to the full backs so we kept possession. More pressure from us ensued, with James crashing the crossbar with another spectacular free kick that we have seen in recent weeks, Dave weaving his way into the box on a number of occasions and Adam causing chaos by taking on defenders and getting to the by-line and crossing in for Simon and David, but all to no avail.

We could not break down the resolute defending of Chislehurst. With 15 minutes to go Chislehurst launched a long ball upfront that beat the offside trap, the striker rounded Toby and slotted it away for 2-1, much to the dismay of the back four who felt it was offside. However we carried on and pushed more bodies up to clinch at least a draw, but the final shot or pass again didn’t get past the last man and we failed in our attempt to get a point.

The stats over two games would probably look some thing like this; Chislehurst 30% of the game FOBG 70%. Chislehurst 6 shots, FOBG 18. Chislehurst 6 points FOBG 0. The football looks great, the passing good, the tackles being made, running off the ball is excellent, a little bit of composure to hit the target and just a tiny bit of luck needed and it will all come good.