Match Report

So sat here watching the Man Utd Liverpool game evenly poised at 2-2 when all of a sudden the electricity in the house goes completely off and an EDF man then knocks on the door to explain they have to carry out some “emergency work” down our road and therefore it could be off for a number of hours (try till 4am). So armed only with a fully charged laptop and a melted bag of peas on one's ankle it has given me plenty of time to reflect on not only today’s hard fought game against Cudham but an eventful past seven days since our last outing against The Buff.

In the last week we have seen Pope Benedict XVI visit the UK where an honoured Susan Boyle got to sing for the pontiff and when asked live on national TV news if she spoke to him in person she replied ‘no I just kissed his ring’!
Meanwhile the world of sport was brought into disrepute yet again this week with further allegations of corruption and irregular betting scandals when a single £5 bet was put on West Ham to win at the weekend. And Ricky Hatton has finally come clean and admitted to the entire world that he is addicted to CAKE, I don’t think that one came as too much of a surprise did it!

Anyway……on to today’s game away to Cudham Vets down at the ever familiar Beaverwood Club AKA The Meat Market Club for the over 30’s every fortnight, I don’t know what it is like in there myself but I have it on good authority from a Toby Manchip Esq. that is one of his favourite haunts.

Farnborough were looking to make it two wins on the spin after despatching The Buff last week with ease. However as we all knew and especially based on last year's 6-3 defeat to Cudham this was likely to be a far tougher game. And you could see why because when you watch Cudham play not only are they a very strong team when they have the ball but they seem to work harder when they don’t have the ball so any result today here for Farnborough would be a huge huge step in the right direction.

We lined up as follows

GK – Gary Rosslee
LB – Neil Connelly
CB – Tony Simpson
CB – Matt Wright
RB – Darren Burkett
LM – Jason Miller
CM – Paul Tanton
CM - Daragh Nott
RM - Simon Harvey
CF – Pete Harvey
CF – George Kleanthous

SUBS
Robin Lipscombe
Dan TBC

Early exchanges were made by both teams pressing and trying to open the scoring but it was Cudham who probably had the best of the first half chances; the two most notable efforts came from stinging shots that fortunately sailed over from 8 or 10 yards out on more than one occasion, I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt to the Cudham attackers though because the goals today did not appear to be FIFA regulation sized goals, well certainly height wise; either that or Rosslee in the OBG goal had grown 12 inches over night and alas not in the preferred area!

There was an early scare for Farnborough when Rosslee severely twisted his left ankle in one of the Cudham attacks. Ignoring the excruciating pain and even though his ankle had made a terrible snap crackle and pop sound his first concern was "did they score?". That’s commitment for you! Rosslee looks to be a 50-50 for next week’s fixture home to Maidstone.

With the game poised at 0-0 and Farnborough riding their luck at times and matched with some excellent last ditch defending from the likes of Simpson, Wright and Burkett, Farnborough started to create some very good openings for themselves with Jason Miller proving a threat down the left wing not only with his feet but with his Rory Delap style throw-ins and George and Pete linking up well on the edge of the Cudham box. Next thing Pete Harvey latched onto a ball into the Cudham area and deftly flicked the ball over the onrushing Cudham keeper, Pete sensing the initial shot did not have the “Dougies” to pass the goal line was able to get himself up from the floor and poke the ball home a yard or two out. 0-1 Farnborough. Half time.

Cudham started the brighter the second half and nearly nicked an unfortunate equaliser when Mat Wright ignored a call from Rosslee who was rushing out to gather a simple cross when he glanced the ball home and towards an empty net. Thankfully (I don’t how) Rosslee was able to get back in time to save Matt’s blushes and prevent him from winning first OG of the season, and I bet there would have not been many better either! Still 0-0 but Cudham continued to press.

Then from a regulation goal clearance from Rosslee which in fairness was probably the only one that didn’t find Miller out left all game Cudham snatched an equaliser with a move that all I can say seemed to wrong foot the whole team. 1-1 and a cracking strike from the edge of the OBG box in which Rosslee didn’t even flinch for, but in his defence…these new balls move a lot don’t they! 1-1.

If that was in Rosslee’s defence there was no excuses for the second goal that Cudham grabbed. After further Cudham pressure they swung in a corner which Rosslee misjudged the flight and clutched at thin air. Even though the attacker still had a lot of work to do at the back post he neatly tucked the ball away. 1-2 Cudham.

Farnborough to their credit continued to battle for every ball, every second ball and every challenge and even after Daragh Nott missed a glorious chance from a header with the goal at his mercy they finally got what they deserved when Neil Connelly was brought down in the box for a “stonewall” penalty. Now I mentioned how small the goals looked in the first half didn’t I, well what I may have forgot to mention was how bloody big the Cudham keeper was and how big the Cudham keeper looked standing on the goal line! Pete Harvey then seemed to have an eternity to wait to take the resulting penalty kick and with every second that passed the goal looked like it was either shrinking or the Cudham number one was getting bigger - it resembled a scene from Alice in Wonderland where she had taken a mysterious potion!

This was huge amount of pressure Pete Harvey’s slight shoulders but as we all know Pete Harvey eats pressure for breakfast, although I was later informed he probably eats a pack of Marlboro Lights. Thankfully Pete confidently despatched the penalty past the keeper's despairing dive and the scores were level at 2-2.

The full time whistle was gratefully received by both sets of players, as this had been hard fought match played at a fast tempo and a draw was probably a fair result in the end. Next week sees our first match of 6 straight games at home against Maidstone Vets who on their day are able to give any team a run for their money.

MOM was marathon man Daragh Nott.