Match Report

An encounter with a traditionally tough team and Bridon Ropes were on a high and second place in the league. Could we upset the form book? You betcha!!

I have always believed that at our level there is a fine line between success and defeat, and that if belief, passion and commitment is present then anything is possible. FOBG teams are capable of beating any team in any league. It is down to individual belief and commitment that stops FOBG teams from being successful. Well this performance proved that.

A strong performance last week led to Danny making some tough decisions over selection, however it was looking iffy when before the game Danny looked perplexed and shortened his team talk to ''just a few words'' due to having only 11 players. With ''a couple on their way'' and ''don''t worry lads, we will put our Farnborough top scorer in at left back to steady the ship'' I was not sure if Danny had gone along to the Fourth team school of player placement!

With ''watch him and talk to him'' ringing in my ears I decided to ''have a quiet word'' with Mr Paul Burford.

It went something like this;

Me: ''Played at left back before?''
Burford: ''Nah, but I have man flu and I don''t fancy all that running''
Me: ''Ok, just don''t go too far upfront and keep on your feet''
Burford: ''Yeah OK''

Ten minutes in and Bridon Ropes are 1-0 up after a great volley from the right winger………….

We are not down hearted and I remind Paul of his defensive responsibilities……….

So with this in mind Paul B rises nonchalantly at the far post and powers a header in to make it 1-1!

Paul Tanton and Dan Head are full of running and giving the Bridon back four no time to settle, Paul Tanton unleashing a scorching bobbler into the far left hand side that the keeper could not stretch far enough to reach, 2-1 (see Sam Evans, you do not have to bullet the ball and rip the net apart to score!). We were full of confidence, but not full of belief, and Geof needed to pull off a couple of great one on one saves on the edge of his area to keep us in front. The midfield with Peter Kirk on the right and Sam Evans on the left were beginning to dominate the midfield battle, the excellent pitch conditions bearing in mind the weather we had had, really suited our more flowing game. Daragh as usual got kicked while in possession (who wouldn''t want to kick him?) and it was from Richard Davies'' pin point free kick from within his own area that it duly went in off either:

1. No-one. Richard meant it!

2. Dan Head meant to dummy it, to confuse the keeper or

3. Bridon Rope defender.

I will leave it up to you lot to make up your own mind!

At 3-1 we couldn''t put the game away and out of reach (or rather Sam couldn''t!). The second half was again about stopping the Bridon Ropes forwards from having any time on the ball, which myself and Ian Parsfield seemed to accomplish. Chris Greenhough was tough in the tackle and linking well with Jay Hardy who came on for the injured Richard. Jay''s impact to the game was to rough it up a bit, and Peter Kirk was also forceful in his ability to challenge and win the ball from the Bridon opposition at every opportunity. Eventually we got our deserved 4th, when Sam again managed to run well with the ball down the left, take on a defender and square a ball across the box for Daragh to ''skip'' one in from close range, a birthday delight! A good move and one that was a constant threat all game.

Paul Burford went missing searching for glory, and wanting some of the action, and he got a tackle in on the left wing, Sam Evans got another great cross in and Dan Head smashed one into the roof of the net to make it 5-1. It was a good opportunity for Louis to get back into action after a long lay off and he performed admirably with 15 minutes remaining, coming on for Sam. Lots of commitment, lots of belief at the end and a very satisfying performance all round, with again the majority of the team getting at least one vote. Before I finish, the referee was excellent, he controlled the game well.

This week it is top of the table Crofton. As long as we graft as hard as the last couple of weeks I am sure we will come away with some points.