The longest Cup run so far for the Lions came to an abrupt end at the hands (or should that be jaws?) of Lightwater Pumas in deepest Frimley. The scoreline is probably a fair reflection of how the game played out as the Lions were undone by a combination of slick opponents and calamitous errors.
Line-up:
Paige (GK)
Dale (RB), Matt (CB), Phil (CB), Julian R (LB)
Julian W(CM), JP (CM), Lee M (CM)
Richard (RF), Scott (CF), Gary (LF)
After waiting an age for the ref to finish up with his paperwork so that we could get started, we actually began the game quite well, holding our own against their big lads up front and getting the first couple of shots in on goal. On one of these occasions, Scott managed to work his way through the defence before pulling his shot just wide of the upright. We then took the lead through a wonderful shot from Rich.
We won a free kick just inside our half. Matt put the ball in, and we played it around until it found its way out to Rich on the right edge of the penalty area. Think he may have had a touch before sending a left foot shot curling into the far top corner, giving the keeper no chance. Perhaps slightly against the run of play, but it was a great goal and we gladly took the lead that came with it.
They continued to press, but didn't actually have a meaningful shot on goal until their opening goal itself, which from our point of view was an absolute comedy of errors. Their main forward - who I had a right battle with all game - had the ball on our right touchline just outside our box and after a few seconds of scrapping away, managed to nutmeg me and put in a cross. It wasn't particularly dangerous and there was no one really threatening in the box. There was just Julian R, who with his eye firmly on the ball, took a long swing at it in order to volley it upfield. Well that was probably the idea, but the reality of it, was that the ball looped backwards off his foot and just when I thought that Paige had managed to catch it, the ball bounced off his outstretched fingers into the goal.
We didn't stop hitting the self destruct button - in fact, we'd only just started. The oppo put a ball in over the top and it turned into a race between me and their forward to get to the bouncing ball. I thought I might have just taken the ball away from him, but as far the ref was concerned I'd taken him away from the ball and he pointed to the spot. The penalty was clinically dispatched right in the corner just beyond Paige's close dive.
The third goal was another header from a corner, with one of their guys running onto the ball to head home from close range. We did have efforts ourselves, notably Julian W's long range strike which curled the wrong side of the post and we got to half time feeling by no means out of it, but with a curiously flat attitude. We hadn't played badly but considering we had 45 minutes to save our Cup run, we didn't seem particularly worked up about it. Maybe we were just sick of the travelling.
Anyway, I don't think we made quite so many defensive errors in the second half, but the oppo seemed to attack with greater verve and they were becoming harder to keep at bay. When they got the fourth goal through their guy sliding in on a loose ball from the edge of the area, we were really up against it. We struggled to break down their defence and string meaningful passes together. I think their keeper only had to make one save from Gary and that was a comfortable catch. Their fifth and sixth goals came from well judged through balls putting in their players one-on-one with Paige. The scoreline could have been worse if not for some saves from Paige, some good tackling from our defence and frankly awful finishing from some of their players.
So our County Cup adventure is over, leaving us free to actually play some League games. At home, even. We have to pick ouselves off the groiund and be up for the other Cup next week when we face Cheam Machine in our first quarter final. Quite frankly, 2011 on the pitch has been an absolutely cack year for Surbiton Lions FC, so let's end this year on a high.
