After advancing in the cup last week Chaseside were hoping to secure their place in the 2nd Round of the Nicholas Reed cup against Division 8 Talbot Utd. Chaseside kicked off and knocked the ball around with confidence setting up a couple of early chances that nearly resulted in the lead. After an attack was broken down by the opposition a Chris Bryant long throw was only half cleared and fell to Matt Hicks who played the ball across the six yard box for Paul Kanolik to half chest/knee the ball into the corner of the open goal. As with every week so far this season Chaseside pushed on but could not find the second goal they deserved and let Talbot Utd find their feet and start to pass the ball around which led them to step up their game a couple of gears. A header from a corner and a couple of weak shots were well held onto by stand in keeper Steve Dunford and he and the Chaseside defence were not really tested. A few more chances went begging before half time and a mediocre first half was drawn to a close.
The second half started off well for The Squirrels, but within 5 minutes that had changed. Chaseside started to give possession away easily and were inviting pressure on themselves. A change was soon made after this and new boy Craig Newey was bought on for the slightly injured Chris Bryant. This change gave a bit more edge to the centre of the park and the game started to balance itself out once again. After some more pressure Talbot Utd drew level after a through balls path was misjudged by Steve Dunford who hesitated coming out and just got to the feet of the striker a fraction too late. Normally this would have spurred on Chaseside but the team looked like they had nothing in the tank and were soon down to 10 men due to having no more subs when Tom Collins picked up an ankle injury in the 60th minute and could not continue.
Against the run of play Chaseside got a corner which was taken by Matt Hicks and Karl Gostling lost his marker and was there to hit a controlled volley in from 8 yards. For the final 20 minutes Chaseside were under pressure and being down to 10 men did not help. Talbot Utd were trying to press down the right hand side but was being well defended by Ty Wilson (playing his first game for a few weeks). With about 5 minutes to go a dubious free kick was given on the edge on the Chaseside area and only a good save stopped the ball from going into the bottom corner. Into injury time it looked like Chaseside would just about scrape through but then a lapse in concentration on the left let in the Talbot Utd right winger who cut inside and hit a shot into the far corner, this was well saved by Steve Dunford but unluckily the ball fell to the striker who after a bit of a scramble poked the ball into the corner and took the game into extra time.
Already tired after playing 30 minutes with 10 men Chaseside took to the field once again and started to dominate the game all over the pitch. After a great bit of skill down the left hand side Paul Kanolik whipped a perfect ball across the pitch to Adam Moore who took one touch and hit a half volley which the keeper got to but could not keep out. With both teams tiring the game petered out into a scrappy affair and no more clear cut chances were created before the quick turn around for the second half.
Talbot Utd started pushing men forward to try and get the equaliser and gaps started to appear all over the place in their defence. After a great ball split the Talbot Utd defence open it was Craig Newey vs. the goalkeeper of whom the latter won only to see the ball bounce back to Craig who then poked the ball into the goal, however it was not given as the ref and linesmen adjudged the ball to not be over the line. Craig was understandably frustrated and after some dissent towards the ref he was promptly booked. One more chance was to fall to Matt Hicks who lobbed the ball over the keeper only for him to recover and gather the ball just before it crossed the line.
The final whistle was finally blown and Chaseside had worked hard for the win and showed a great mental attitude to hold on after playing 60 minutes with only 10 men. Back to the league next week!
Up The Squirrels!
