This was one of those games that is hard to sum up. A draw was probably a fair result, as both sides were very committed, played good football at times and were defensively very poor for a large part.
For us it was the defensive part of our game that was a disappointment. We are not used to having to criticise the defence, however had they been anywhere near their normal selves then I think we can safely assume that we would have won this game. Also we perhaps didn’t play enough football, often resorting to the longer ball when we could at times have moved the ball shorter and wider. Some of this was certainly down to the pressure we were being put under but there were certainly times when we could have been more composed. We also looked like we hadn’t played for five weeks and lacked sharpness.
The opening exchanges set the tone for the match, both sides snapping in to tackles and looking dangerous when going forward. Both sides had opportunities to score before Gardeners took the lead on the half hour. In what was to be a recurring theme for each of their first three goals, they broke down our right and on this occasion crossed in to the box where we failed to adequately clear and the ball fell to their forward who finished from close home. To our credit we responded immediately and the best move of the half saw Genty and Ollie link well down our left before Ollie’s cross was dropped at the feet of Dave Burren who similarly finished from close in. Gardeners re-took the lead with three minutes of the half remaining when Austin broke down the right, cut in and fired a shot in to the top corner. A good individual goal but we should have dealt with him better. Again we followed up with a swift equaliser when a good ball over the top from Millsy set Dave Burren away. Despite being under pressure from two chasing defenders he calmly held them off and finished well in the corner.
At half time we asked for better ball retention and increased activity around the second ball, we knew we hadn’t been at our best but were still in the game level. The second half began much the same as the first but we managed to get our noses in front (even without our biggest nose being on the pitch) when they handled in the box and Dave completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot. (Millsy took delight in getting the jug afterwards on Dave’s tab!). We had a short spell of dominance afterwards but knew that we needed another to kill the game off. This proved to be true when midway through the half they again got free down our right, crossed in and their forward nodded home from inside the six yard box. Within five minutes they were back in front this time getting in down our left and finishing from close home. By this time we had introduced Harps with Alun Evans moving to the right of midfield. It was from here that we began to look dangerous with some good deliveries in to the area not quite reaping reward. However, with ten minutes remaining Evans whipped in a great free kick from the right that was met perfectly by Galey beyond the far post and his header sailed back across goal in to the top corner. Almost from the restart a moment of madness saw Jason dismissed for a second yellow following a foul on the edge of our box and a melee during which he retaliated. The resulting free kick was parried by the Chimp to a Gardeners player who fired home. Fortunately the eagle eyed Phil Craxton had flagged for him being in an offside position when he became active and the goal was ruled out. Down to ten men we were suddenly under pressure but Manse moved in to the back four and we stood firm. Numbers were evened up in the final minute when a second yellow saw a Gardeners player sent off and the game finished we no further alarms.
All in all we are probably pleased to have won a point in difficult circumstances. We know, however, we are better than this, certainly defensively, and that having lost the point advantage we had over Simla we need to get back to our best with a tough three weeks coming up.
Team:
L.Baker
M.Wood
N.Coxon
J.Gale
O.Allman
M.Millins
G.Manser
M.Lester
L.Gent
D.Burren
A.Evans
Subs:
S.Gray (for Millins)
S.Harper (for Lester)