A freak combination of work, illness and injury left us with just 10 players (including Glen in his first game for 2 months) to face a full strength Littlebury, riding high in 2nd on the back of a 7 match unbeaten run in all competitions.
We set up 3-5-1 without the ball (Glen solo up top) and 3-4-2 with the ball (Kim doubling up from centre-mid). Despite being a man short we set about our business from the off and in the 4th minute Glenn spurned a 1 on 1 and when a minute later he did beat the 'keeper his flick ran out of legs without reaching the line. In the 10th minute we thought Kim had broke the deadlock, netting after a neat 1-2 with Darryl, only to be ruled offside! A minute later Ryan slotted Glen in 1 on 1 but the 'keeper came out on top and repeated the feat 30 secs later. We should have been 3 or 4 up by this stage and would rue these wasted openings.
In the 14th minute Olli broke the deadlock when his mazy run was brought to an end with a foul on the edge of the 18 yard box and he converted the free kick which followed with a lovely drive whipped over the wall and inside the far post, 1-0 to us. As expected Littlebury upped their game but it was a moment of panic when not under pressure Nathan lashed at the ball and scored an OG to draw them level.
We restarted on the front foot, Steve and Olli combined to nearly play in Glen and then Darryl headed against the post from Olli's cross. In the 35th minute Nathan still hadn't got rid of his nerves as he lashed at the ball again, this time across the box and we were lucky to avoid further punishment when they headed the resulting corner against the bar. We closed the half 1-1 but with by far the greater share of possession and chances.
At half time we were given a game plan to counter the fatigue which would set in during the 2nd half but we only really stuck to the instructions for the first 15 or 20 minutes. In the opening minutes Glen chased down Kims cross but a last ditch tackle denied his goal bound effort. Chippy headed against the post from the corner which followed. 7 minutes in Darryl released Ryan but again the 'keeper came out on top. At the other end Gary was called into action as a sweeper tackling outside his box and saving twice of the floor as they countered on the break. Ryan and Kim responded with a sweeping passing exchange only for Kim to be dened by the post.
In the 70th minute Chippy let himself down with a red rag moment, a charge off the ball instead of seeing the ball out, conceded a cheap free kick and whilst some refs would have shown a red for the afters this one just had a word in Chippys ear. That wasn't the end of the affair though as they converted the free kick with an unchallenged header. Within minutes Olli replied with a direct dribble into the box which saw him hacked down. Kim restored parity 2-2 with a clincally converted penalty. They responded and it took a full stretch save from Gary to keep out a fierce 20 yard goal bound drive.
We were only kept on level terms thanks to a fantastic recovery tackle from Ryan as they closed on Gary's goal - great commitment. 5 minutes later, after treatment for cramp, Ryan ran into acres of space but Kim couldnt find the energy to play the ball. With 10 minutes to go we were running on empty and were undone as they waltzed through 4 weak challenges to edge 3-2 in front. Chasing the equaliser we conceded a 4th on the break as the game drew to close.
It was only after the game that their manager realised that we had played with only 10 men which is testimony to the huge effort put in by all our players. In losing we were able to discover a few things about ourselves which we will speak about at training but for now we can can set aside our disappointment in the knowedge that the 10 that did play were unlucky not to at least share the points and that on any other day (any) 11 of ours would have come away with a different result.
Some big performances today and everyone did their best but Gary just edged out Steve as MOM for his overall performance and for the number of outstanding saves/stops.
