Match Report

Farnborough pay the price for lack of cutting edge

Four weeks is a long time in football.  Four Sundays ago, we beat today’s opponents 9-1.  Five players scored that day and none of them were available today.  There were other players missing which made it a good day to play us.  The Erith team looked unchanged except for a very youthful keeper and, clearly, they wanted it more.  We got what we deserved.

The Queen Mary University Ground in Chislehurst is a wonderful setting and the pitch was in excellent condition, probably the best surface we are likely to play on this season.  The morning was overcast but stayed dry, and the breeze though on the fresh side did not make it too challenging to get changed al fresco.  Colin Mant will have to think again about doing that in the winter.

FOBG Squad: Matt Angelo, Sean Blackwell, Steve Blanchard, Jay Gasson, Sinisa Gracanin, Danny Hetherington, Waine Hetherington, George Kleanthous, Colin Mant, Patrice Mongelard, Andy Osborne, Neil Pearce, Joe Skinner, Bram Wouters.

Kit sponsor: The Dog and Duck, Outwood.

Supporters: Phil Anthony, Hannah and Michelle Kleanthous, Natasha McCartney, Claire Mills Skinner, Lorna Stewart.

Director of Football:  Mick O’Flynn.

Chief Football Correspondent:  Patrice Mongelard.

Sometimes less said the better.  And today is one of those occasions.  I cannot recall a game in a long while where we gave the opposition keeper so little to do.  He will have enjoyed this Vets football lark and he will have fond memories of this game when he becomes a vet, in fifteen years or so. This said Erith could have played Captain Tom Moore in goal today and they would still have edged the game. 

Both teams moved the ball well on the lush surface but Erith carried the greater threat from the off.  Matt Angelo kept us in it for long periods with eye-catching saves.  A point-blank block brought tears to his eyes as the ball impacted high on the thigh.  Shouts of ‘one careful owner, rarely used’ did not help.  We could move the ball at the back and in midfield just as well as Erith but it was in the final third that we got stuck.  The incision, the penetrating runs, the final passes, the crosses were never there.  There weren’t too many shots either.  Erith managed the game better, getting big numbers behind the ball, packing their box and looking to release their most dangerous player up front.   

We fell behind from a penalty just before the half-hour.  Jay Gasson was the unfortunate player who fell victim to the new handball rule, having dropped back to help out in defence.  It felt just as harsh as what I have seen on the box latterly.  The spot kick was hammered home with glee. We spluttered on to half-time without falling further behind, and without giving any signs that we would find a way back into the game.

The second half was not much better from our point of view.  There were perhaps a couple of half chances for us with shots from distance but we never occupied the Erith box and could not keep the ball for the length of time we wanted.  There was not much relief to be had except for a moment when ‘Mad’ Matt Angelo went for a quick one in the bushes. 

The second Erith goal came late, again from a set piece, and with not a little help from Farnborough.  An Erith corner had led to a cross into our box which was met by Colin Mant.  But the contact was not as he would have wished and the ball fell invitingly two yards out to the Erith hit-man who lashed the ball into the top corner before anyone could react.  And that was it.  Erith had their revenge and we cannot argue that the better team won today.  The game was played in excellent spirit and the referee had a trouble-free game on his hands. 

So, that was our third consecutive defeat.  Mick O’Flynn revealed that he was glad he was Director of Football rather than Manager.  He labours under the notion that managers get sacked, but directors of football go on.  When we win games, he is wearing the hypothetical managers’ sheepskin coat, when we lose games, he has the spivs’ sharp suit on.

We need to turn things round but injuries are piling up and it could get harder.  Inter Vyagra at the barracks next Sunday.  Let’s hope we are up for this one.

Man of the match:  Neil Pearce, by the slenderest of margins from George Kleanthous, two out of only a handful of Farnborough players that emerged with any credit from the wreckage today.