After already crashing out of the League Cup we decided to experiment with the team deciding to go after the league but the experimenting created that cup magic we all know and love! We were missing a few key men so Woodman and Lewis enjoyed their first partnership at the back and Rob Wigley moved to the right wing where he had spent his first season and Tulley and Brock also made their first partnership in the middle with a very unfamiliar front line of Chris Wigley and John Gillett. We knew it was going to be close after previous encounters with the ravens but we signalled our intent from the off with Rob Wigley roasting their full back on various occasions within the first 5 minutes but we struggled to create any serious chances. They took the lead 10 minutes in after a free kick found their man unmarked in the box and he headed it in. We hit back almost instantly when Woodman found the ball at his feet from a corner and was hit with a tackle that reverberated around the ground and Rob Wigley made no mistake with the penalty. We nearly made it two when Chris Wigley found himself infront but put the header just wide and then we allowed them a spell of attacking and what was just a missed tackle Gillett clipped a Ravens man in the box and they got given a penalty and despite Driver going the right way it nestled in between his hand and the post.
We were confident going into the 2nd half that we could still very much win this game and we turned on the style in the 2nd half. 10 minutes in Brock aimed a ball into the box for Wigley who was felled and with that distracting everyone Paul snuck in at the back post and equalised with 10 minutes gone in the 2nd half. All of 3 minutes later Wigley was once again felled in the box and once again Bobby Wigley despite the keeper getting to the ball converted the penalty and the game had been turned on it's head. Literally 5 minutes after that the ball was looped into the box and Gillett managed to get up and beat the keeper to the ball and it bounced down at the feet of Rob Wigley who had a comfortable finish. After that it was a case of weathering the storm for the last half an hour and Kingston threw everything they had at us but the keeper and defence swatted everything away with the whole back line solid as a rock. Against the storm we could only really keep pumping the ball long and in turn everything was coming back at us and we gave away a vast amount of silly fouls and corners and it was only a matter of time until the dam broke and they managed to score a header from a corner with about 5 minutes to go. It could have got very rocky at this point but the game was sealed when a poor clearance from the keeper landed on the left foot of Chris Wigley who volleyed it back over the keeper and into the net. All in all a great performance, Driver making some good saves, the defence weathered the storm and Woodman was sensational, the midfield and attack battled hard and the wingers caused chaos with Rob Wigley putting in a belter on the right to nab a hat trick and man of the match.
A great result to start off November with the 3rd round draw on Wednesday, we host Charlwood this coming Sunday after beating them at their place on the first game of the season they'll be out for revenge!
Managers Comments -
Great work by all today! 5-3 win today. To only have 12 today and put in the effort we did for 90 minutes was superb. Firstly thank you for playing the way you did with a different formation that we wanted to try for today against the ravens, and overall Im very pleased with results.
First half it took us some time to get used to new positions for some of us and and new formation of 4-4-2, but we created good chances and where unlucky to go in behind at half time 1-2
Second half things started to click and we scored 3 quick goals from Paulie O'Keeffe and another 2 from Rob Wigley to complete his well deserved hat-trick, we withstood pressure near the end of the game but didn't overly panic and deserved the 5-3 victory
Mention to Nick Driver who has a solid game back in goal
Man of the match today was Rob Wigley for his excellent hat trick and giving their left back a terrible time for most of the game
