Chequers United 0 Plumtree 4
(Omar Kocacik 3, Matt Court 1)
County Cup 1st Round, Sunday 28th September 2008
Despite having 20 willing players on Thursday evening, we were hit by a large number of late drop outs on Friday , Saturday and Sunday which left Manager Atkin with 11 fit players (and himself nursing a broken finger) for the game against Chequers United.
Despite having a shortage of defenders, the 11 players were of the highest quality and with Mark Hawkins agreeing to play at right back, the team took to the field. Our opposition were Chequers United who were top of our league following an unbeaten start to the season. After having 2 weeks off and only having 11 fit players, this was always going to be a tough ask to progress into the second round.
The game started in a lively fashion with Plumtree creating a number of chances with Hawkins and Kenward linking well on the right hand side of the pitch. Despite controlling the first 15 minutes, Chequers had the 2 best chances of the game with Matt Fry making a couple of good saves to keep the scores level. After 20 minutes, the course of the game was changed as the referee had no alternative but to send off the Chequers goalkeeper for handling outside his area. With the opposition down to 10 men and a reserve keeper in goal, it looked like the game was there for the taking.
As often happens when a team goes down to 10 men, they suddenly found an extra gear and put Plumtree under sustained pressure. The defence, marshalled expertly by Chris Kay held firm and on the break and against the run of play, Plumtree scored the opener. Matt Court passed the ball to Omar who we all expected to unleash a powerful shot but instead lofted a delicate chip over the stranded keeper for his first league goal of the season.
With five minutes to go until half time, the referee saw red for the second time. A Chequers player appeared to aim a head butt at Paul Thomas and was given a straight red. Inexplicably, Paul was then given a yellow card for no apparent reason. Two minutes later, Matt Court doubled Plumtrees lead with a calm finish from inside the box. Half time, Chequers United 0 Plumtree 2.
The second half kicked off and after a tough first half, the Plumtree players were starting to show signs of fatigue as the opposition tried to claw their way back into the game. After a period of resolute defending, Plumtree scored their third goal. Matt Court passed to Ryan Kenward, who floated in a perfect cross, which Omar headed powerfully into the net from 6 yards out.
Even at 3 goals down, the opposition continued to press and Andy Cameron was cautioned for kicking the ball away. Then with 5 minutes to go, Omar completed his hat trick after another pass from Matt Court was smashed effortlessly into the side of the goal.
The game finished 4-0 to Plumtree and without the 2 sendings off, it would have been a much closer fought game. All in all it was an excellent team performance from 11 players who all battled for 90 minutes and will doubtless be feeling sore today.
