Today REAL DUNDONALD welcomed AFC Ripley to King Georges Playing Fields for a 10am kick off in the 2nd round of the Surrey Int Cup, today being the windiest day of the year
This fixture saw the introduction of roll on, roll off subs, 5 subs can be brought on or off at any given time in this competition, this was a first for the manager but the tinkering paid off in the end, the on and off use of the classy almost fit again "King ROBERTS" was to play a crucial part in the final result of this tense Cup tie.
The opening 10 minutes saw THE DOUBLE WINNERS stuttering to get into full stride, AFC had won the toss and kicked off with the ferocious wind behind them, REAL were up against it and conceded 4 early corners, no harm done, the ball continually picked out of the air by BIG BEN RADFORD, good early chances fell to both GYLES and GREEN but both were unable to capitalise, the away team continued to look for that early goal but REAL defended well with HOOPER and BLAKEBROUGH the two central defenders for this one, both men caught the eye with their solid work-rate and awareness levels, REAL only really got going just before midway of the half, only then starting to enjoy proper possession of the ball, HAYES, HOPKINS, YOUNG, GYLES and HARVEY causing problems with their intelligence and guile, with 18 mins played GYLES won a free-kick just outside AFC's box, GYLES took the free-kick and cleverly fired the ball under the wall, the ball was goal bound until it somehow deflected off a stray defender and away for a corner.....shortly after the opening goal came through a wind assisted free-kick from AFC's midfielder deep inside AFC's own half, strange, very strange!!!!, the ball somehow flying straight over everybody and into the top corner....REAL licked their wounds and restarted the game with more zest and determination, almost immediately a good chance fell to GYLES after a lovely pass from the middle of the park by skipper STEPHEN YOUNG, GYLES controlling the ball well but the shot was wide ..... AHMAD had replaced GUADAGNO early in the half, AHMAD enjoyed good spells with HARVEY on the left, AHMAD loves to dribble and created a couple of chances for himself, although his finishing was not how he'd of liked (yet!!), on more than one occasion he was involved in fine passing moves which involved the busy JAMES, HAYES, HARVEY, YOUNG, and GYLES, one move resulted in YOUNG having a decent 25 yard shot on target which was saved well by AFC's keeper.....also today saw 19 year old William GILKS make his debut for REAL and the kid showed some good touches and nice link up play for his 20 minute bow, just as the first half was about to finish, AFC Ripley scored again from an acute angle after a decent probing run by their LM, to all and sundry the kid let rip with a cross it seemed, however the ball flew in at the near post with venom to the delight of their team and travelling supporters, AFC Ripley 'thought' they had seen the real REAL DUNDONALD in that half.
REAL DUNDONALD came out for the second half with a different mentality, ROBERTS had replaced GILKS at the interval, within two minutes ROBERTS was involved in a nice exchange of passes between himself and GYLES, HAYES and the industrious YOUNG, the ball was teed up for GYLES who let a vicious 25 yard shot go from his right foot, to be fair AFC's goalkeeper made a terrific save because that was going in for sure.... AHMAD a trickery player who loves to dribble earned RDFC countless free-kicks in this tense Cup tie, HARVEY went extremely close not once but twice from 30 yards and 35 yards respectively, HARVEY'S first attempt crashing down of the bar, keeper beaten, but no REAL DUNDONALD player was alert to follow up the rebound, his second attempt being parried over... before the hour mark YOUNG looked then played a beautiful 60 yard pass to GYLES which completely sliced open AFC's midfield and defence, GYLES first touch was good but the ball seemed to get stuck in the grass which then gave defenders enough time to recover, was it going to be one of those days??? YOUNG himself came close with a powerfully hit dipping shot which was heading for the top corner but a defender blocked the ball for a corner kick, the manager changed things on the 67th (searching for THAT goal which would change the game) introducing the energetic GUADAGNO for ROBERTS ('King' ROBERTS work was not done either) HAYES now going upfront with GYLES, AHMAD going RM, GUADAGNO going LM with the returning from injury, impressive HARVEY at LB.... GUADAGNO started the game but was hauled off within 20 minutes for lack of concentration but the reaction GUADAGNO gave his team-mates when coming back on now was instrumental in REAL'S first (overdue) goal of the match, GUADAGNO is a warrior, aggressive, tough, pacy and a athletic wriggly so and so, he can tackle, win the ball under the most difficult of circumstances, so it was no surprise he should be involved in the tackle that won REAL a throw-in halfway inside AFC's half, HARVEY took the throw which AHMAD controlled superbly (what he was still doing over on the left, only The Good Lord knows ha) AHMAD cuts in and finds GUADAGNO, GUADAGNO plays the ball forward to the edge of AFC's box where YOUNG is standing with his back to their goal, YOUNG cunningly dummies the defender before firing a left footed shot across goal into the bottom right hand corner of the net, 1-2 with 10 minutes left!!!!!! REAL went ahead and pressed hard for the equalizer, GYLES and GUADAGNO opened up AFC's right hand side with pace and one-touch passing which resulted in GUADAGNO finding his own space to receive the ball back from GYLES to have a shot on target but the shot was straight at the keeper, a slight knock to HARVEY saw the manager replace him with GREEN for the last 7 minutes, GAUDAGNO dropping back to LB whilst GREEN filled in at LM...... now as you know when attacking so much obviously you can be wide open to the counter-attack....AFC Ripley were indeed on a counter-attack when Centre Back HOOPER won the ball in a 50/50 challenge, HOOPER and his opponent both fall to the ground, HOOPER is the first to get to his feet and surges forward with the ball, shrugs off another man, HOOPER was so determined at this point it was quite unbelievable, HOOPER has now travelled with the ball a good 30 yards from central defence, this run has taken him inside AFC's half towards the right touchline where he unleashes a powerful shot which the goalkeeper can only parry out away from his goal.... but there was one man lurking there, that's his territory.... GYLES!!!!!...REAL's number 10 takes one touch to steady himself, quickly surrounded by panic stricken defenders, two touches to get it out of their sight, then BOOOOOOOM the net bulges for the equalizer on the 88th minute.
This Entertaining Cup Tie now went into extra time!
The first half of et saw AFC again win the toss, so they chose to kick with the wind, which had not subsided....AFC didn't make use of the wind in this 15 minutes, its not to say they didn't try either, but the few occasions they went forward they were halted by a resilient and fitter REAL DUNDONALD side, REAL now smelling blood, fighting and skilfully playing their brand of football so late in the morning, GYLES, AHMAD and YOUNG all having half chances, the manager made another change on the 96th minute bringing back on ROBERTS for the hard-working GREEN, who done better in midfield for the time he was there, ROBERTS immediately had an impact with his freshness, skill, imagination, creativity, vision and awareness, ROBERTS linked up well with GYLES, YOUNG and HAYES, the sheer determination of REAL DUNDONALD was a formidable sight to see, the first half of extra time finished still at 2-2......
The second half of et..... REAL DUNDONALD enjoyed more possession of the ball with the wind now behind them, their tails up, skipper YOUNG and vice-captain and also motm BLAKEBROUGH roaring on the troops, BLAKEBROUGH time after time coolly brought the ball out of defence dropping the shoulder and going forward to kill the game, on his own if that's what it took!!!!!!..... totally against the run of play AFC played some good quick football and found REAL in a wee moment of tiredness to put the tie at 2-3 (to be fair, a good over-head kick completed their nice play) HOOPER was unlucky not to clear off the line too, great positioning so late on.......however REAL came straight back, "the best teams have will-power then reserve will-power again for extra time ha ha" and within 4 minutes of AFC's third goal who should equalize 'King' ROBERTS with a fantastic low hard finish on the edge of the box after great link up play involving AHMAD and GYLES, GYLES assisting REAL's number 23 for his second goal of the season (a very important goal too, and again off the bench like his opener in the league) HAYES immediately ran to get the ball out of the net, HAYES and REAL DUNDONALD FOOTBALL CLUB sensed that this was our game for the taking....six minutes left on the clock until penalties but with the quality, will and stubbornness of this tremendous Squad it was a beautiful sight to see AHMAD get the winning goal (his first for RDFC) with a pretty first time looping lob, HOPKINS, BLAKEBROUGH, JAMES, HAYES and GYLES all used the ball wisely before the finish by AHMAD....the goal was almost in slow motion but with enough power to beat the reaching hand of AFC Ripley's goalkeeper.
What a fantastic team effort to take REAL DUNDONALD into the next round of The Surrey Cup.
Heart and Talent to The End.
Everybody involved in this fantastic club was very pleased, as you'd expect, at the end of the game.
"A long hard morning which was RDFC's morning"
We wish our opponents AFC Ripley All The Best for the rest of their season.
Robert Harriott
