On Sunday the Rebels made the long journey down the A3 to visit Worcester Park for another league fixture. The preparation was hampered yet again by the news that two players were injured on the morning of the game, and another felt a niggle in the warm up. Despite the setbacks we started the game well keeping the ball comfortably and forcing a number of early corners in the first 10 minutes, James heading just wide from a good delivery from Freddie. Luca then went close from a Zahir right wing cross but his header looped over the crossbar and went close again soon after but his long range shot was just off target. Kris was moving the ball well in the centre of the pitch but despite our early possession we were struggling to create any clear cut chances with the home side defending in numbers. We did however open the scoring in the 18th minute when good work down the left, initially from Luca found James in an advanced position. His dangerous cross from the left took a slight deflection but found Zahir who had made a good run into the box to smash in from close range. After the goal we lost a little bit of momentum mainly down to taking too many touches on the ball and not moving it quickly as we had done in the first 20 minutes. The game got a bit scrappy and we huffed and puffed our way through to half time without threatening their goal too much more. Dom had a few long balls to handle coming down the slope which he did well and Isaac, Hayden and Erim were confidently seeing off any forays from the opposition into our half. HT 0-1. The first 10 minutes of the 2nd half were much the same as the end of the 1st, so we made some changes in personnel for some fresh legs and ideas. Freddie and Lewis could not find the target from free kicks and Oli was working hard but not able to create many clear cut chances. You could sense the frustration building which was not helped by some questionable refereeing decisions, but finally our territory and pressure told and we made it 0-2 in the 51st minute. A free kick from the left was initially cleared but Josh did really well - reacting first to the loose ball to beat his man and find Luca on the edge of the box. Luca found a delicate little through ball to find Freddie who finished well across the keeper into the far corner. We couldn’t find the killer 3rd goal with Zahir and Luke both going close. We then completely switched off at a corner and conceded a soft goal with 8 minutes to go. We responded well though and killed the game on 67 minutes when a corner from James found Isaac rising highest to power a great header past the keeper to secure the 3 points. FT 1-3. Dom again did what he had to do well but was protected well by the defenders. Hayden was committed in some crunching challenges whilst Erim, Josh and Jacob were solid throughout. Lewis worked hard but found opportunities scarce. Kris battled for everything and did well, particularly in the first quarter moving the ball excellently. Luca could have had a couple of goals in the first half and found a nice assist for the 2nd goal. Zahir got his goal as did Freddie, but it wasn’t Oli’s day in front of goal, his nice control and finish being ruled out for offside. Luke nearly got in the scoresheet too. James did well again but MoM went to Isaac for a composed and controlled performance at the back and leaping highest to secure the points with his first goal for the Rebels. Overall it was pleasing to get the win and sometimes you can’t play great every week, but there will be better performances to come as the season progresses.
