Without regulars Chippy, Ryan and Sam it was a re-shaped side that had the task of taking us into another (our fourth) Cup Quarter Final. Joel switched to left back, George came in at left mid, Bill came in at right back and Jack pushed on to partner Kim up front. The hardest task fell to Kyle filling in at Centre Back after spending much of this season on the right hand side or up front. Once he'd shaken of the rust Kyle aquitted himself well thanks to an excellent MOM performance from Chris in the holding role.
Despite all the changes we settled early with Dan and Harry giving us a solid platform in midfield. Within 15 minutes Jack latched onto a loose ball from a midfield challenge and hit a sweet, trademark volley on the turn to give their 'keeper no chance. At 1-0 we were in control of the game, with long spells of possession but we lacked the cutting edge to convert openings into goals - their' keeper doing well on several occassions.
Jack and Ollie were switched to pose a different question but the change had little impact as we failed to build on our early lead. By halftime we were wondering just how to turn our domination into goals. Joel retired again with a sore groin and was replaced by Lee. The reshuffle pushed George into left back with Ollie and Jack occupying their usual wide roles and resulted in even more possession but no end product.
Almost every team member registered goal attempts with Ollie's penetrating runs unhinging Elsenham and Harry and Dan's distribution repeatedly carving openings. however it wasn't until the three quarter mark that we extended our lead when Jack ghosted into the back post area to bundle home Ollie cross - there was a hint of handball but the referee was unsighted! At 2-0 up we were coasting but a spell of casual play led to Kyle being turned and making a rash challenge when their player was heading towards the corner flag. A penalty was properly awarded and duly converted. The ball should have been dealt with earlier and Kyle as stand in centre back might have expected better protection in front of him but this was probably the only point in the game where we failed as a unit and we were unlucky to be punished so harshly.
With just a single goal seperating us Elsenham became noisy neighbours looking for an equaliser. Dan took matters into his own hands, going on a driving run that started in our half and finished with him latching onto Kim's clever flick and lashing the ball home from 12 yard - a great solo goal to make up for his earlier wayward strikes.
Lee came close twice as did Kim in the later stages but the game fizzled out as we stroked the ball about and Elsenham lost a little bit of interest. Well done Elsenham for their commitment - its their first season and like us they will be better for it. As for us, well this was another solid team performance with every player doing their bit throughout the game, from Gary in net with good distribution and a fine save at full stretch to prevent theie eqauliser, to Kim's ceaseless running up top. It felt like we could have stepped up a gear if we became under pressure - perhaps we're saving it for next week's Quarter Final v Heath Rovers - a big big game as we also have to face them in an outstanding league fixture (their last one) and the League Cup Final.
Mom Chris for a performance which was good from first to last.
