On paper a comfortable win for the Lions but in reality it was anything but as mistakes all over the pitch conspired to make this a nervy match until the last goal went in.
The Line up:
Phil (GK)
Adam(RB), Mike H (CB), Simon (CB), Julian (LB)
Matt P (RM), Brett (CM), JP (LM)
Kyle (RF), Lee (CF), Jon (LF)
Although we hadn't yet played Chessington Park Reserves this season, they couldn't hang around for a double header, hence this was just the single game. We needed to bounce back after last week's disappointment in what is now a race for third spot as the top two places are surely now between Woolpack and Esher.
Now I admit here and now, that I was a little hungover for this game, which may go some way to explaining my mixed bag of a performance in goal. However in that first half, the whole team seemed to find it difficult to keep the ball. We gave away possession far too easily at times with wayward passing and heavy touches that allowed the oppo - who to be fair were no slouches and quick in the tackle - to put us under a lot of pressure.
They made several good opportunities in the first half - quite a few admittedly down to the fact that I seemed to have lost the ability to catch the ball. They had a free kick just outside the area, which I should have easily caught but inexplicably, the ball dropped short and I was very lucky that the striker hit the bar on the follow-up. Another dropped ball resulted in Park hitting the post.
Every time a cross or a shot came into the area, we were all over the place trying to get it away and it was down to some last ditch defending by the back four and a few desperate saves that we didn't concede in the first half. At the other end, we were getting chances with Lee coming mighty close with a volley that just went wide. Another shot - don't know by whom - was parried away by the goalie and there was a header that just went over. All this came from us putting passes together like we've been doing for the past few games but which we struggled to do in this game.
We didn't really deserve to go ahead, but we did, thanks to a counter attack which resulted in Simon - who had an outstanding match - putting in a cross field ball right to left for Jon to carry forward before firing home.
Somehow we went in still 1-0 up and Dave was quick to point out how lucky we were that the team we were facing hadn't been able to take advantage of our lax play.
We came out in the second half if not vastly improved then at least playing better football. The oppo came out strong too and it suddenly developed into a very open and entertaining game. Unless you were a hungover goalie with problems catching the ball.
Anyway, we got the second from Simon making another of his runs from the back, which instead of ending up with him falling/shooting over, actually produced a goal. He took the ball from probably halfway inside our half and rode/stumbled past at least two fouls all the way to the opposition byline where he squared it for Brett to tap home. After seeing the rest of the defence (including me) get assists in the last couple of weeks, Simon was determined to get in on the act and he's managed to go one better with two in the same game.
They didn't let that get them down though and they just pressed us harder. I still couldn't catch the sodding ball, but the goal they scored was nothing to do with that. They put a long ball in over the top which bypassed everybody but dropped short enough for the striker to run onto and lob into the goal with me stranded on the edge of the box.
After that they had a period of sustained pressure where they had 4 or 5 corners in succession and they were getting a lot of shots in.We were getting penned in and badly needed another goal when another dropped ball by me resulted in a highly controversial decision.
Shot came in, I spill it forward on the floor and dive on it to gather it in. I had brought the ball into my body. just when their striker following up wellies the ball out of my hands and through my legs for a goal. I was a little stunned because I'm holding the guy's foot where I was holding the ball a split second earlier but then the ref blew for a free kick to us, which did not go down well with Park at all as they didn't believe I had the ball when the striker kicked it.
Just realised now that I hadn't actually mentioned that Dave reffed the game this week in the absence of one from the league. So yeah, a bit controversial and though I maintain it was the correct decision, it was undoubtedly a big point in the game as an equaliser would have gotten to us and fired them up even more.
As it was, it was still 2-1 but not for long as Matt P came up with a superbly taken effort soon after. JP put him through on goal on the right side and though the keeper blocked his initial shot, Matt followed up to finish from what looked to me like quite a tight angle.
The oppo's misery was complete when Lee was fouled for a clear penalty with a few minutes to go. Lee picked himself up to send the keeper the wrong way and we somehow managed a 4-1 win from a below-par performance. It's nice to know that we still have enough to win games when not at our best, but we definitely shouldn't make a habit of it.
