Casuals and Pelham played their third game in a week and bowed out of their final cup competition losing 5-1 away at Abacus Athletic. A depleted bare 11 Pelham side, 6 of which were defenders were the only available resources to the away side. A lot of the guys were still lagging from the previous two games and/or carrying various knocks. It was looking fairly bleak from the start however when the game kicked off Pelham created their first chance within seconds. Some simple passing through the middle of the park saw Jamie Richards break through on goal, only for him to hit the post and the ball to just not make it over the line. However even after a good start it woukld be Abacus who would have the first say in this game. Just five minutes into the start of it the ball broke forward to the Abacus striker who got in behind and finished cooly making it 1-0. That advantage was doubled just minutes later as Abacus took full advantage of a struggling Pelham side. However after that second goal Pelham were given a kick up the arse knwoing if it carried on as it was it could be embarassing. Pelham slowly got back in to the game but couldnt really create too many chances. They did however come close again through Steve Callan only for the keeper to save well. However with just over five minutes left before half time Pelham struck back as a ball came in from the right hand side and Steve Callan had tucked in from the left, heading home to half the deficit making it 2-1. The teams went in at the half at 2-1 and Pelham were well and truly in the tie. The second half started as the first ended with Pelham having some good possession and good play but unfortunately not quite being able to find the finish and find that elusive equaliser. As the half went on and it got in to the latter stages you could tell the three games in a week against tough opposition were taking their toll on Pelhams bare 11 and in the end the home side just ran out of legs. The last 15/20 minutes were that step too far for the home side and very quickly it became 3-1 then 4 and eventually 5-1. The rest of the game played out and Pelham were out of the final cup competition of the season. An unbalanced bare eleven carrying a lot of knocks and tired legs were only going to do so much today and it seemed as everyone who was there knew that and everyone was in good spirits having a laugh before and after the game. After the week and the fixtures we had we could have done with more options really and it looks as though another recruitment drive is going to be needed for next season again. A couple of weeks off now and some much deserved rest for everyone. We now have three league games left and we need all hands on deck for them all. If we win all three which we are very capable of doing we can still take the league title which would be a massive achievement. So rest up and i want a big response and turn up for the next game!! Todays man of the match i have given to Ant Hamilton-Pilot. Its great to have him back and he makes a huge difference to the team. After coming back not long from injury if i had the choice there is no way he would have played a full 90 minutes this soon but he battled through, performed well and hopefully plays a big part in this vital last part of the campaign. Like i say rest up now boys and we move back on to the league. Its all completely in our hands, so we have to pull together and take advantage of it. We've got a real good squad this season and nows the time to perform and win these last three games, to see where it will take us. COYCAP!
