Match Report

Looking Good….

Saturday saw us complete our fourth friendly of the season with a comprehensive win over Division Two East Side, Platt United. From the start we pretty much dominated the game but missed a hatful of chances before some fantastic inter-play and finish from Stevens saw us go deservedly one-up, but not before Abbott’s effort had been denied by the linesman’s flag.

At one-nil we were still missing far too many chances to but daylight between the two sides and a one-nil lead means nothing until the final whistle. Our only mistake at the back lead to a goal in the first five minutes of the second half when a poor back pass was smashed home by the Platt centre forward leaving Hawkes with no chance.

After a disruptive first ten minutes after the break, we found our rhythm again and created countless opportunities that came and then went, before Parmenter pounced on a mis-hit shot by Williams J and buried it emphatically into the corner. This was no more than we deserved. Two-one became three-one when man-of-the-match Travers broke into the box from midfield and emphatically converted a pinpoint cross with a bullet header. The final ten minutes were played out with Farnborough really needing to work on their finishing!

Three-one was the least that we deserved and we did completely dominate Platt. If we had converted all our chances we could have hit double figures and that’s not forgetting an excellent free kick from Williams that struck the bar and a mazy run and strike from Wray which rattled the left hand upright.

In general, we played very well and we are starting to look like title contenders. We looked comfortable on the ball, passed it well and created countless opportunities. We broke forward with pace and width and scored some really good goals. We have a great blend of youth, pace, experience, craft and guile and we need to put it to good use once the season commences. However, we do need to improve on organisation and timeliness and start getting into good habits. We also need to remain focused when we go a goal to the good.

Please be reminded that this season we will be approaching every game with 16 players being picked for the squad on Monday. We will travel to every game with a minimum of 14 players. This selection policy will put us in a strong position for the coming season, but this type of policy will require your patience and your participation. You need to trust me on this, rotation and squad size means everything across a season and everyone will get a fair crack. This policy alone can be the difference between a successful and unsuccessful season.

Man of the match was Travers. The 17 year old is progressing as a player with every match and proved this with a very productive and energetic box-to-box performance.

Well done Josh.