Match Report

With the Ferrier Estate in all her basking glory overlooking us across the busy Kidbrooke Road on this chilly Remembrance Sunday we lined up against Toby Vets as follows.

GK - Gary Rosslee
LB - Robin Lipscomb
CB – Tony Simpson
CB – Mark Friend
RB – Darren Burkett
LM – George Kleanthous
CM – Grant Gable
CM – Daragh Nott
RM – Richard Davies
CF – Paul Tanton
CF – Pete Harvey

Subs

Danny Saines
Paul Brett

After both teams tastefully observed the minute’s silence the game got under way at a fast pace due to the damp playing surface underfoot and Toby’s tactics became apparent from the start; a long punt by the goalkeeper with the 2 front men who were a real handful for the Farnborough defence for 90 long minutes. It was however Farnborough who had the clearer chances but again and not for the first time this season they seemed to lack the cutting edge in front of goal. Pete Harvey was unlucky not to put the OBG’s in front after an excellent move that had started from a Toby corner being claimed by Rosslee who released the ball early and after 2 neat passes Paul Tanton drilled a low cross from the left wing but Pete Harvey could not keep his first time effort down, but in his defence the ball did seem to zip off the pitch and catch him quickly; had that gone in it would have been a contender for goal of the season so far.

The breakthrough came after 20 something minutes courtesy of Peter Harvey who had 2 bites at the cherry after the Toby keeper did well to save his initial effort but was helpless in saving the rebound. 0-1 Farnborough. Toby didn’t give up though and were relentless with their long ball strategy which finally paid off when Darren Burkett was outjumped in the penalty box by the Toby forward who deftly headed the ball to an unmarked player 10 yards out and he placed his header into the bottom corner leaving Rosslee no chance. 1-1.

Darren soon made amends this time setting up Grant Gable with an excellent ball into the danger area from a free kick in the Farnborough half that Toby failed to clear and Grant hit a first shot into what seemed an open goal due to some dubious positioning from the Toby keeper, but taking nothing away from the smart finish either. 1-2 half time.

Toby introduced fresh legs at the break and this change paid dividends, as they were level courtesy of a counter attack sucker punch with Rosslee exposed at the back and forced to close down the forward he was able to pick out his strike partner who had lost his man due to his sheer pace to smash the ball home past a despairing attempted block by Tony Simpson. 2-2.

Grant Gable was on hand to restore Farnborough's lead with another fine finish into the top corner after being put through one on one; this goal coming a minute after Rosslee had pulled off a smart one handed save down to his right to deny the hosts taking the lead. 2-3.

The Toby Vets continued to press forward for an equaliser and Farnborough were thankful of some excellent defending by Simpson and Brett in the centre of defence that kept Toby at bay, but how long could they put up with this onslaught? Then out of the blue Farnborough snatched a fourth and that man Gable was on hand again to net his 3rd of the game and to surely break Toby hearts. 2-4.

Toby were still not done and they pulled another goal back with a well worked diving header at the far post after Danny Saines was shown a clean pair of heels out on the left hand side, 3-4. Could Farnborough hold on to a morale boosting victory against a stubborn Toby Vets who just refused to lie down? With 5 minutes remaining Farnborough were nearly caught out again, this time Darren Burkett was beaten down the right flank and although the Toby player was clearly unable to keep the ball in play neither the ref or the linesman signalled for a throw in so play continued much to the dismay of all of the OBG players who had all stopped and while they were waiting for a whistle the Toby forward had all the time in the world to head his effort goalwards from not much more than 6 yards out but thankfully Rosslee was alert and on hand to deny the forward with a good one handed save low down to ensure Farnborough held on for the deserved victory . Full time 3-4 to the OBG’s.

Today we had come out on top of a hard fought game but with no disrespect to the oppo we should have put this game to bed by half time but as mentioned earlier we seem to be lacking that killer touch in front of goal. And the stats don’t lie, we had notched up 32 goals in our first 8 games last season compared to this season where we have found the net 20 times. There were some good individual performances out there today from several players but the MOM award went to Grant Gable for his hat-trick and all round industrial performance.

Next week Tiger Vets away venue is TBC.

PS Don’t forget to bring your annual subs along!