Snow, Frost, Wind, Rain, more Rain, more Rain and then Sun ?! 4 seasons in 3 unpredictable hours of Sunday morning weather.
Having awoke to find snow falling it was hard to see if the game would remain on, but the light drizzle defrosted the pitch and it was game on. Jameo covered in goal after various mis fortunes regarding the other 3 goal keepers/stand-ins - dealing with all that Imperium could throw at him, kicking well and remained calm under the little pressure he was under, a little hesitant when Imperium scored but made up for it with 3 good saves across the rest of the game. The impressive defence marshalled brilliantly by vice captain Daren kept the Imperium forwards under wraps and gave Ebbsfleet the perfect platform for their fantastic team performance. Everyone put in an excellent performance, coping very admirably with the harsh wintery conditions.
Within the opening minutes the theme of the match was set as the ever improving Rich Sav blasted a thunder shot at the Imperium GK which he just about managed to scrabble wide, more goal attempts followed as Plumb was found wide on the left by Eddie who delivered a wicked cross into the box, which was met by the Imperium defender who shanked his clearance into the back of his own net for 1-0. within 2 minutes it was 2-0 as Plumb was found down the right this time by Rich Sav, Plumb's movement causing Imperium no end of problems, Plumb scoring with a fantastic effort from on the side line, a high arcing shot that went in, over the keepers head, to the far side of the net - brilliant goal #1. The game ebbed and flowed, with Ebbsfleet's quality shining through, a joy to watch from my point of view as I was the man in the middle and got a real sense of our quality as the ball was quickly passed around with a great sharpness to it, even though the conditions were becoming increasingly difficult - chances came and went, but Imperiums spirit was high and they capitalised on a defensive mix up and it was 2-1. The heavy rain moved in but it failed to dampen the spirits of our faithful support who all deserve a special mention, Jay, Leah, Mike, Darren, Jim, Kerry and Josie, braving it along with Dave and the couple of Imperium supporters - it must of been the flask of coffee !
The second half started with no changes and it was pretty much a case of same again, early second half chances falling our way but that 3rd goal was becoming elusive. On the hour Cheesy came on for Hambo and Plumb moved right side, Sam replaced Ryan and Ed moved left, this gave us new impetus and we started to dominate even more our defence barely touched the ball all second half as Imperium began to fade in the heavy conditions. A foul given for a late tackle 30 yards out, led to brilliant goal #2, Rich Sav stepping up to blast the ball into the top corner with the precision of David Beckham, an absolute quality strike, Rich mobbed by all and sundry. Within a minute it was 4-1 as Cheesy fired in brilliant goal #3 with his thunder left foot, good work again by Rich Sav allowed Cheesy to take aim and thunder it past a hapless gk from 25yds. Incredibly brilliant goal #4 was to follow as Eddie and Mo ceased upon poor midfield play and released Sam who drove the ball into the top of the net from 30yds, another brilliant goal... Imperium left stunned by the sheer quality of our goals, making our choice for goal of the season very hard indeed.
The main thing is that we are through to the next round and have come through the game unscathed as we go into our biggest game of the season so far, away to FC Longfield.
