A combination of injuries, work commitments and child-minding duties resulted in the first team taking 3 of our regulars, leaving us with only 11 players. One of which was making his debut for the club and another pulled out of semi-retirement.
The team talk before the match centred around the need for us to retain possession better and stop needlessly giving the ball away. Unfortunately on a bumpy Woodside pitch this proved to be easier said than done. The opening exchanges slightly favoured Hadlow, who were relying on the fact that their centre-back could launch goal kicks half way into our half. We went behind after about 15 minutes when we ex-Pembury player Mark Graffin scored. What followed was probably our best passage of football in the match, when we broke through their average defensive line on several occasions. Unfortunately Steve Waterman reminded those who had seen him up front in his younger days, that he hasn't lost his touch in front of goal. Two good opportunities when one on one with the keeper were spurned. Then Matt Rice-Tucker was presented with the chance to lob their keeper, but could only place his shot straight into the keeper's arms. Steve then pounced on a poor defensive header and squared the ball to James Austin. However his shot was charged down. Another break led to Matt having another chance, but he was tackled before he could get his shot away.
At half time we believed that we could go on and win this game, now that the wind was more in our favour. Unfortunately tired legs quickly took over and we were unable to sustain the pressure we had applied towards the end of the first half. That said Luke Hattle making an impressive debut at right back was growing in confidence and linking up well with fellow under-16 Matt down our right. It was beginning to look like we would be unable to find the break through, when it came spectacularly out of the blue. Lewis Drury and James worked an opening down our left, which presented Lewis with the opportunity to send in a cross for the waiting Pembury players in the middle to attack. However Lewis scuffed his cross and sent it along the ground towards the edge of the box, wrong-footing everyone. Steve Waterman was quickest to react and sent a left foot shot arcing into the top right corner, over the despairing keeper. A leading contender for the reserves' goal of the season! This gave the side a lift and the increased confidence led us to believe that we could snatch all three points. An attacking free-kick was brought down in the six yard box by Steve and when his shot was charged down, it fell to Ali Turner. As match winning glory beckoned, it took Ali an age to steady himself for the shot and the Hadlow defenders were able to clear their lines. Then with only two minutes remaining disaster struck. The otherwise excellent Tony Crouch attempted to send a back-pass to Lee Thomson in goal, but was easily intercepted by a Hadlow player. He squared the ball and Lee made a great save from the initial shot, unfortunately the ball came back to the Hadlow player, who hooked it over his head and past the covering defenders on the line.
A disappointing result when all eleven players tried their hardest today. The one bright spot (other than my goal!!) was the impressive debut from Luke. If we can get a few more players of the same quality as Luke and Matt from the under 18's and under 16's playing for the Saturday sides next year, the future for these sides could be a lot brighter than it currently appears.
Team:
L.Thomson
L.Hattle
K.Waterman
T.Crouch
L.Drury
M.Rice-Tucker
I.Crouch
A.Turner
J.Austin
S.Waterman
M.Wyles