This was always going to be a tough game, Penshurst, newly promoted, used to winning, going well this season with a good home record including a 5-3 win over Southborough, not to mention the diabolical playing surface that they have always used to their own advantage so well. For the lads breaking their Penshurst Park hymens there was a few looks of disbelief exchanged when they arrived and took a walk over the pitch. There were rumours that the club had spent some money and improved the pitch....I’m not sure how much it cost to import that strip of Bermudan Blush but I’m not sure it can be classed as ‘an improvement’
The line up was almost the same as the previous week but with Sergeant Major Bish away on exercise with his platoon it was left to the Ginger Prince of Narnia to come in and plug the void left at the back.
We were shooting down hill first half, some might say the more difficult of the two halves at the famous Park piste. And it certainly looked that way early on. Some hesitant play in the Black and red ranks led to Penshurst creating some early chances. Hamish McBeth and Stan Bowles were struggling to deal with the ball over the top and the pace of the Park front man. And it was a hopeful ball over the top that led to the deadlock being broken. The ball dropped in behind Junior looked to be over hit as the Fragrant Daz Harrison came off his line to collect but at the last minute thought better of it and retreated. This let the Penshurst lad in and flash the ball back across goal and put out for a corner. Slack marking from the corner was punished and Park managed to bundled the ball over the line. After a few more moments of untidy and unsettled play Blackham started to get a hold of the game. They were now moving forward in a more fluid and determined fashion. Pat and Baggo were working the flanks and Spud and Huffers were trying to thread the eye of the needle. There were half chances, Hamish flashing a header over the bar. Then just as the pressure reached its peak Hamish slipped his marker and caressed a header into the top corner from a Thom Nowell free kick, as the boys wheeled away celebrating the ref looked up to see the Linesman’s flag raised and signalled for offside. The Penshurst resistance was short lived, another punchy break down the right wing forced their fullback in to a hand ball in the box which Thom Thumb confidently dispatched. B&A finished the half with a flurry but couldn’t quite find the second goal. Spirits were high going in to the second period so it was no surprise the game was now being played entirely in the Park half. Spud and Huffers had tied up the middle and now Gandhi and Junior were getting forward to support the attack. Around the hour mark Bertie Freeman picked the ball up a good 25 yards and thought he’d try his luck with a trade mark cheeky chip, the measure good but it clipped the crossbar and pinged out only to be met by the massive forehead of Captain Underpants himself, the Hobbit. 2-1 and massive relief around the travelling fans. Now the football really started to flow and there was no let up for the hapless Park right back as Baggo was replaced by fans favourite Zac Morris from Saved By the Bell. He continued to run the poor fella in to the ground. It was left to the stand in Skipper to offer up some breathing space as he picked his spot from 20 yards out curling the ball over the keeper and into the back of the net, 2 in 2 for Showerboy master. That would have been enough to send B&A home happy but there was more to come, Zac Morris went skipping past his man before being felled in the box, up stepped the Spud to stroke home his second and put some well deserved icing on the cake. 4-1, 3 points and B&A leapfrog the Park.
