Match Report

“Farnborough old geezers outshine Diamond (4-2)”

A sparkling performance from the vets who mined a rich vein of form to register their third win of the season – and we are still only in October.”

Once again Farnborough had to dig deep to come up with: Darren Mace in goal; Patrice Mongelard, Roger “The Hulk” French, Steve Blanchard and Chris Bourlet in defence; Colin Ebdon, Chris Webb, Ian Shoebridge and George Kleanthous in midfield; Peter Harvey and Paul Smith up front. The subs bench was a bit bare compared with recent weeks: only Trevor Stewart and Toby Harlow (though Toby’s mind was really at Stamford Bridge – more on that later).

A very polished performance saw Farnborough take a 3-0 lead in the first half and another 3 goals would not have flattered us – a couple of long range shots from Peter Harvey were very easy on the eye. Two of the gems we scored in the first half are worth treasuring: a 30-yard left foot shot with very little backlift and deadly accuracy from Peter Harvey; and a 25-yard free kick from Paul Smith that was equally accurate and which with great symmetry went in the opposite top corner (from the first goal). In between these two goals Ian Shoebridge had added to our score with a header that he made look difficult from a cross by Colin Ebdon. Darren was rarely troubled in goal in that half.

For a while in the second half we feared that we would be pegged back again like last week even after Paul Smith had rounded the keeper to score our fourth and his second. Twice Diamond scored – feeding on scraps outside the box. But we help our nerve and worked hard – all of us including Trevor who joined the fray with some timely tackles– to keep ahead.

The second half was a fractious affair – made more so by one miserable Diamond player who was intent on spoiling the game for us, and his own team, with a stream of bad-tempered remarks, niggly comments and all-round unpleasantness. This drew a robust response from our own rough Diamond - Roger “The Hulk” French. The ref, Mick Gearing, got in on it too – I witnessed this exchange:

Said Diamond player: “Ref, you are crap”
Ref: “Just like you are playing”

Paul Smith missed a real sitter in the second half after a cut back from Peter Harvey (Peter suspects he may have to wait a while before Smithy reciprocates) – but I reckon Smithy must have realised that one more goal he would have had to get “De Beers”.

Men of the match were Peter Harvey and Chris Webb.

And back to Toby at Stamford Bridge – mixed fortunes for his two beloved teams today – the morning one had outclassed its opponents and the afternoon one had been outclassed. Sorry Toby - I have taken so much crap from you down the years I could not resist this one.