Farnborough OBG FC

Match Report

Sunday 6th February 2022

Friendly

Senior Vets
Kypros Michael
1 - 1
Catford Wanderers Vets

By George Kleanthous

Gritty performance ends with honours even in hard fought contest

We played at home again this week and a bit of rain during the week helped soften the surface slightly, but more bouts of rain would have been even better. Nonetheless, the pitch played well and we entertained a much-changed Catford side to the one we have seen in previous seasons, and they came with a strong squad of 17-18 players, whereas we had just 12 so it would turn out to be a gruelling challenge for the Farnborough team but one we stood up to well.


FOBG Squad: Tom Girling (GK), Colin Mant, Peter Harvey, Michael Hills, Giles Foister, Dave Morgan, George Kleanthous, Sinisa Gracanin, Jay Hardy, Simon Thomas, Kypros Michael, SUBS: Waine Hetherington.


Referee: Paul Parsons. An outstanding performance from the referee who controlled the game exceptionally well from start to finish. It would be needed, and Paul dealt with a delicate situation that arose when old acquaintances were renewed between old teammates Peter Harvey and Roger French who have a little history and some “previous” that made a difference of opinion likely. They did not disappoint but the flashpoint was handled superbly by Paul.


Kit sponsor: The Dog and Duck, Outwood.


Manager:  George Kleanthous.


Interim Chief Football Correspondent:  George Kleanthous.


We have played some tough games this season against some very good sides and still had the lion’s share of possession in most of these games. Today felt like the first time this season that we found an opponent that probably matched us in how fit they were and how good they were on the ball. We pride ourselves on our ability to try and play simple effective football and like to press our opponents to try and wear them down as the game goes on. We now know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of that. Catford had some very good ball players on the pitch, right throughout the side and they made us work extremely hard for lengthy periods today just to stay in the game. Taking into account this fact, if you add in that they were able to continuously rotate their players, while we were limited in numbers today, this most definitely had an impact.


When you look back on a game and try and play it back in your mind to establish whether the result was reflective of the performance, a draw today was probably a good result for Farnborough. This is despite the fact that had we been sharper in front of goal today, we may have won as despite the lack of possession, we made quite a few clear-cut chances, but wasteful finishing meant we had to be happy with an even result. Had we won, I think that Catford may have felt hard done by. They hit the crossbar 3 times during the game so on another day, had those chances gone their way we could have tasted defeat. 


The wind was very strong, and we decided to play against it in the first half with the tactic of trying to contain the opposition and use it to our advantage in the second half. Despite a lot of pressure, we did exactly that and were able to go into half time level. Mission accomplished, or so we thought but the second half was not as plain sailing as we would have liked and Catford did an admirable job themselves of keeping us contained.


In the first half, Kypros Michael had a very early chance to put Farnborough ahead as he found himself through on goal, but he lofted the ball over the keeper but sadly wide of the goal. Whilst at one end we were missing chances, at the other end we were coping well and were bending but not breaking. Catford had a very strong centre forward who probably gave our back four one of their toughest assignments of the season. He had a good touch and was a real handful all game and this was complemented well by some clever midfield play from a couple of very skilful players who looked like they had played at a decent level. I think it’s fair to say that our midfield was being given the run-around in the first half. There were a few times where some very good defending and some very well-timed tackles saved our bacon. Welcoming our captain Michael back today was good news as we are a much more solid unit when he is marshalling everything from the back, my opinion is that he had a very strong outing today.


As both teams traded chances, the first goal went to Catford when a communication mix-up between midfield and defence meant that a ball that could have been cleared easily was left for the defender to clear but he seemed to hesitate which meant their forward was able to nip in front of him and run clean through on goal where he provided a very good finish placing the ball low and to the left of a sprawling Tom Girling who managed to get a strong hand on it but not quite enough to keep it out.


Things could have got worse when Giles Foister was put under pressure by a Catford player, and his pocket was picked which led to what looked likely to be a second goal for the visitors, but a very smart double save from Tom kept the deficit to only a single goal. Yet another important save at an important moment in the match.


With the way the game was going, it looked like Farnborough were going to need something special to get back into it. They got it just before half-time. Peter Harvey scored an absolute thunderbolt last week and that has obviously re-ignited his confidence. He curled a beauty of a free kick from 25 yards out which beat the keeper all ends up but missed hitting the net by millimetres as it hit the inside of the post and ran across the goal line where a gleeful Kyps was the first to react and smashed the ball in from less than a yard out. From that distance I’m not sure the full force of how hard Kyps kicked the ball was absolutely necessary but like any good striker I guess he just wanted to make sure.


As half-time came and went, the second half was to lean more towards Farnborough in the same way that Catford bossed the first half. The wind was a big factor and proved to give the team playing with the wind a distinct advantage but it’s fair to say both teams did a good job of dealing with it.


In the second half, Farnborough had two very good chances to take the lead. Once chance was to fall to Dave Morgan, the other to Kyps. They were similar in that they were both played in and put through on goal and had only the keeper to beat but Dave would probably admit his touch right at the vital moment let him down and the ball got away from him and Kyps rounded the keeper only to lean back and slice his shot well wide of the gaping target.


The rest of the game passed mainly with no further incident other than the previously mentioned clash between Pete & Roger providing some added spice to an otherwise fair and good-mannered game and so the scores finished level at 1-1. We play Catford again later this season in what looks likely to be another closely fought contest and a game that we should look forward to.


There is one final necessary note on this match report and one worth every player taking note of moving forwards. The element of inter-team squabbling is very much alive and well and has been a constant irritable scar through much of the season, despite some very good team performances.


It would be a shame if internal bickering was to potentially derail what is so far proving to be a very successful season. No one player makes a mistake on purpose and although criticism is part and parcel of the game, I am making a strong request that we endeavour to keep this criticism a little more constructive than has been shown lately. My feeling is that less is more in terms of how much we as teammates berate each other.


Man-of-the-match:  


Michael Hills deservedly picked up several votes today, but it was Dave Morgan’s industrious performance which won the day with him collecting the overall majority. Another good performance in a string of good games that Dave has had since joining us this season.

Man of the match: Dave Morgan