BoC's 10 match unbeaten run came to a dramatic end last night but only after leading for 2/3 of the match. 3 late goals (4 if you count injury time after the Hoff had left the field) which meant no replication of the invincibles of 1880s Preston NE or 2003-04 Arsenal.
After a bit of a tonking earlier in the season Reay brought out there best team and the early exchanges suggested that we might be up against it.
But there were some encouraging signs. A beautifully floated cross from Hanning saw the Hoff attempt an audacious volley that would have been his best hit since Jump in my car.
Sure enough it was BoC that brought the deadlock after 10 minutes in slightly fortuitous circumstances. Some good BoC pressure saw the ball spin to Latchford 30 yards out and just as Professor Yaffle shouted "don't shoot" he shot. Despite the shot going fairly tamely towards the keeper he misjudged the bounce. it span up off his arm but as he moved forward to grab it he slipped on the astro and stumbled to the ground. What followed was agonising as the ball span back slowly towards the bottom corner as the keeper recovered to only see it beat him as it trickled into the goal. It was painful watching and even the goalscorer wished the hapless keeper to save it.
In some ways this moment of luck was also to prove a bit of a curse as it did encourage us to consistently shoot when there might have been better options available. There was also the first good example of cheating as Yaffle/Jack blatantly handballed to block a potential through ball.
Despite missing the leadership of Charlie at the back and the in form Daley the defence did a great job. and Reay had few meaningful chances in the first half. There was one cross/shot across goal nearly turned in at the far post but mostly they just blazed the ball out of the Battersea cage giving us all a welcome breather.
Come half time it felt like there was a very real chance we'd hold on for a result - we kept a good shape and worked hard closing them down and they kept looking for holiday balls ( (c) Sheedy). But in the second half we found it very difficult to get a foothold in the match. We had a few good long range efforts - particularly from Sheedy - but struggled to get behind them like we did in the first half.
They continued to put us under more and more pressure. They had good penalty shout as Hoof got a little of the ball and a lot of the man - mixed views amongst BoC but the oppo's calls were ignored as play quickly continued. They struck the bar and Tyson did well with a few shots. The score began to feel a bit of an anomaly and it looked like it could be one of those nights when the results made no sense but then Reay one a corner after their diminutive but tricky midfielder waltzed through 3-4 tackles before wining a corner. Their ever popular but this time snoodless striker flashed a shot from the partially cleared corner back across goal. Mark "Suarez" Hoofer handballed this off/behind the line but there was a Reay player there to tap it in (and prevent more controversy).
Moments later the Hoff, with few options upfield passed the ball to Sheedy on the edge of the box who was then robbed by the shorty who beat another man before a great finish. Just as it felt like it was going to be tough to get back into the game thy scored again with a good strike from the edge of the box inside the near post from one of the Valley boys and that was pretty much that.
A tough game and I don't think we would have pushed them that close were we not in such good form but ultimately they were just to strong.
They are a good side but the fine margins on the rules means that they have become one we particularly enjoy getting a result against - something we must do next time we play them.
Few additional points:
The over use of skin tight tops was a bit to homo-erotic for Jack The use of aftershave by a central midfielder also put Jack off Good to see the full 11 expected turn up
