This week’s match saw us take on division two side Ashton Prime, in the preliminary round of the Tonbridge League Chairman’s Trophy. Being one of only a handful of division one sides in this competition, the team talk ended with the positive thought that this could be the first step towards a long overdue cup final for the club. This led the more experienced members of the side (dad’s army as Gunny Boorman would call them) to reminisce about past glories and share these thoughts with the younger players (teletubbies to Gunny).
We looked good on the ball early on, however we started the game poorly from a defensive point of view, as several times in the opening minutes we failed to deal with the hopeful long punts forward from the opposition. It was no surprise when we went behind, when from a poor starting position our defence allowed a long ball to bounce on the edge of our area, before failing to clear. Taking the lead clearly gave them a lift and we needed to show great character, not to let this dampen our spirits. A positional change saw Kevin Waterman and Steve Lindsey switch positions. This saw immediate benefits as Kevin was easily dealing with the long balls forward and Steve was winning good possession in the middle of the park with Benny. Shortly after we equalised when Benny showed speed of thought and movement (not seen since 1998) in meeting Matt’s corner and sending his shot past the keeper before he could move. The equaliser gave us a lift and we spent the rest of the half dominating possession. We were moving the ball well from the back and through midfield, however the final ball was lacking. Ten minutes before the half ended Lewis made a great run to meet Tom’s through ball and calmly slotted the ball past the onrushing keeper.
At half time the management team made another positional change, with Luke Hattle and Matt switching positions down our right. Going down the hill in the second half we continued where we had left off and dominated possession. The game should have been wrapped up after ten minutes, when great anticipation from Lewis saw him intercept a back-pass, before rounding the keeper. With an open goal beckoning, the thought of being top scorer in a side (for the first time Lewis?) got to him, as Lewis carefully screwed his shot the wrong side of the post. The silence of his gobsmacked team mates was broken by the opposition linesman pissing himself laughing. The half continued with Luke Hattle, putting in a man of the match performance down our right, consistently roasting their full back. From one of these attacks, Lewis made amends for his earlier miss with a clinical finish from a low cross from Luke. Their lino wasn’t laughing now. Ashton Prime then started to push more men on in a vain attempt to get back in the game. However everything they threw at us was easily dealt with by the back four and Garry in goal. Dean then came on for the Luke Smith and nearly sent one of their players through the trees and into the crematorium, when bulldozing him out of the way to win a 50:50 header. A fourth goal came in much the same way as the third. Luke Hattle made another great run down our right, and his cross was dispatched into the bottom corner by Tom Gent.
All in all a good day’s work. No-one missing because of inter-club cricket friendlies, our first win and good performances from all 13 players (young and old).
Team:
G.Knight
L.Hattle
S.Lindsey
N.Edwards
L.Smith
M.Rice-Tucker
Kevin Waterman
B.Turner
Tom Gent
Lewis Drury
J.Bush
Subs
S.Waterman (for K.Waterman)
D.Jacquin (for L.Smith)