AS Camboli stayed top the league after a fine victory against Maraceley Shots cheered on by a capacity crowd at The Lodge.
On a sunkissed and crisp winter's morning the Camboli faithful turned up in their droves for the third successive home game hoping to see the first side this season to win four games on the trot. Having scored 12 goals without reply in their previous three matches, the bookies had Camboli as hot favourites going into the game. However they faced a Maraceley side that had not been beaten by Camboli in their last 3 encounters and had recently knocked them out of the cup.
Camboli made just two changes to the side that had pulled apart Rushmoor in their previous match. Jim Welburn returned to the midfield and Andrew Bradshaw was deployed at rightback in an otherwise familiar lineup with Tom Welburn in goal and Ritch Putman, Charlie Fisher and Dave Aird completing the back four. Sam Welburn and skipper Jonny Gosnell completed the midfield and Ryan Adger and Dean Penfold were tasked with supporting the season's top goalscorer Gary Smith up front.
The home side started brightly and were quick to pressure Maraceley at every opportunity, being rewarded with a steady flow of corners and throwins in attacking areas. The visitors at times struggled to cope with the variety and subtlety of Camboli's passing game and spent much of the opening 20 minutes on the back foot, often resorting to crude challenges in an attempt to stifle the hosts' expansive play. In fact, the home side were comfortably the better side and a goal would have been fitting reward for their efforts with a solid Camboli backline dealing with anything that was thrown their way.
Tormentor in chief was Ryan Adger, the club's record scorer with 47 goals in 56 appearances, who was a constant threat and involved in much of Camboli's attacking play. Adger almost bagged his 48th goal with an audacious left foot volley from 20 yards that left 'Jez' in the visitors goal stranded but crashed against the bar. Camboli continued to control the midfield with Jim Welburn showing some nice touches and allowing Sam Welburn and Gosnell to support the forwards. Gosnell himself was unfortunate not to convert on a couple of occassions while Sambo smashed a volley from 18 yards that 'Jez' was fortunate enough to be standing directly behind.
As the half progressed Camboli continued to threaten. The home support that included their injured talismanic 'keeper Pricey, cheered on the team with a deafening noise that could be heard across all the surrounding pitches. Their clamorous bellowing was eventually rewarded with 10 minutes of the half remaining. It was no suprise that the opener came from the craft of Adger who, with the help of a good interchange between Smith and Sambo and a slight defensive deflection, found himself inside the area and tucked a typical low drive into the far corner. The 'Tifosi' were still celebrating when Adger's guile won a penalty as he was clumsily pushed inside the box. Skipper Gosnell stepped up and blasted the ball high into the net to double the advantage.
If the home support were enjoying what they were seeing, they were about to go delirious as Agder and Gosnell combined to set up Sam Welburn, playing for his hometown club, to side foot home from 8 yards and leave Maracely Shots reeling. The halftime whistle must have seemed like heaven for the visitiors as they trudged off the pitch with a mountain to climb.
The second half started well once more for the hosts. A change to the side had seen Smith move out to the right with Penfold playing through the middle. It began to reap immediate dividends with Smith embarking on a mesmerising run skipping past 3 defenders and then skipping past them again for good measure as Camboli continued to torment their guests. It looked as though Camboli might add to their tally as Gosnell, Adger and Penfold all had shots narrowly off target. However, Maracely Shots to their credit continued to battle and found themselves back in the contest 10 minutes into the second period. A speculative attempt from 30 yards seemed to catch veteran 'keeper Welburn off guard as he palmed a low drive wide of his goal that he should have held. Unfortunately for Camboli, the visitors were quickest to react to the error with their forward skipping round the flailing recovery attempt by Welburn and passing across goal for a simple tap in to an unmarked team mate.
The goal seemed to rock Camboli's confidence slightly and they began to stutter a little. Their passing began to desert them a little and one or two players began to tire as their more youthful opponents started to exert more pressure. Smith and Penfold made way for Stanborough and Burgess who had both impressed in recent matches. Sadly, their introduction was not welcomed by all as Ed O'Flaherty was seen to storm down the tunnel and was unavailable for comment as he left the ground early. The fresh legs briefly helped stem the surge of spirit in the vistors' play but, with just over 15 minutes remaining, the scores were 3-2. Maraceley firing a low cross shot from a tight angle that seemed to beat Welburn a little easily although replays showed a deflection off Dave Aird had in fact left the 'keeper helpless.
With their tails up, The Shots poured forward. Camboli's pressing game that had served them well in the first half seemed to evaporate which led to the visitors' having more possession and forced the Camboli back line ever deeper and under more and more pressure. Johnny Hannaway was introduced for the tiring Adger and you sensed that Camboli were beginning to wish for the final whistle. In the event, the reshuffled back four held out extremely well with Aird, Fisher, Hannaway and Bradshaw all playing their part as Maraceley tried to loft the ball into the area at every opportunity. Even 'keeper Welburn finally held onto a deep cross or two and he looked a relieved man when claiming an overhit freekick as the referee signalled the end of the match.
Overall Camboli can be delighted with three points against a difficult opponent and will look to continue their form with another home game against Blackwater Badgers on the 26th February. Their closest challengers look to be Camberley International who interestingly have an identical run-in, including what many feel will be a title decider when they face one another at The Lodge.
"The 3 points were all that mattered today. I was exceptionally pleased with our first half display but a little disappointed with the second - although credit to Maraceley for not making it easy. We saw today the importance of performing for the full 90 minutes and it will take the whole squad to do that between now and the end of the season. I don't want to talk about O'Flaherty as it takes the shine off a good win. I hear he's flown to Ireland. When he's back we'll deal with it internally but I won't tolerate anyone who is not supportive of the whole squad nor will we let incidents like that affect morale." Tom Welburn, AS Camboli Manager
Tickets for the next game will be on sale soon and latest league stats can be found on: http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?league=9028271
