Match Report

Losing most weeks is bad enough but losing as a result of on pitch injuries combined with no substitutes and failing to find the pitch really shows how our season is going. Things always look good when the newsletter goes out and this week was no exception with a potential squad of 15 players (everyone of them would have been used) available. Nine of us set off from the clubhouse albeit in different directions to rendezvous with the rest of the "squad". Having finally managed to find somewhere to park and regrouped it was then discovered that we had lost one player along the way (Kevin Moynihan – left at red traffic lights) leaving us with 11 players to start the game. Our thanks to Ian Coles and Mick Gearing for helping us out at very short notice.

We started well enough and it looked like it would be an evenly balanced game against a new team to us. This soon changed when after 10 minutes Chris Bays pulled his hamstring when chasing a ball into the penalty area and could not continue. With 10 men on the pitch for 80 minutes we knew it was going to be tough but we held the line and things were looking OK under the circumstances. It didn''t last long though as Colin Ebdon was next to suffer with a pulled calf muscle and with no substitutes he continued on pitch but was struggling big time. Obviously the extra players allowed Lynwood to play the ball around without too much trouble and they notched up a couple of goals before half-time. Things were getting desperate and Toby Manchip in goal switched with Colin Ebdon for his first game out on pitch this season. Glyn was next to suffer following a fifty-fifty challenge resulting in a smack on the head when landing on the ground but he managed to continue.

The second half saw us getting more and more stretched and it wasn''t long before Glyn was in the wars again following a pretty hefty challenge in the back. Unfortunately he was unable to continue so at one stage we were down to 9 players on pitch with an injured goalkeeper. As we had supplied the referee (Micky Gearing) Glyn agreed to switch with Micky so we could have a replacement to get us back to 10 players. We were awarded a free kick just inside the Lynwood half (some 40 yards from the goal) which was taken by Patrice. Must mention at this point that I forgot to point out the fact that our best chances in the game against Tiger Vets last week all came from long range shots from Patrice. Therefore it was no surprise to see his excellently struck free kick whistle in off the underside of the crossbar to give us a glimmer of hope making the score 2-1. In the end the shortage of fit players on pitch took its toll and Lynwood ran in 3 more goals despite our valiant attempts to score, notably Toby Manchip''s effort that was pushed onto the crossbar by the Lynwood keeper.

This was very frustrating to say the least as this is a team that we could easily have matched. Good effort from Colin Ebdon in going in goal despite being unable to move and still making a very good save at the foot of the post. Can we find a sponsor who will supply us all with satellite navigation systems so we can all get to the ground?!!! Failing that perhaps we ought to practise driving in convoy a bit more...luckily our next two games are at home.

Another good, friendly team to add to our fixtures - looking forward to the return game.