Old Challoners V Economicals reserves
LOB Intermediate Cup; round 3
Team: Williams; Beill (Maker, 70), Foster, Lord (Dann, 80), Croker; Daw, Bevins P, Weidner, Rae; Thomas (Cawley, 65), Fitch
Score: 3:2
Scorers: (Fitch, Daw, Dann) aet
The 2's stepped out for what we fully expected to be a tough match against a team that has not lost in their respective league all season. Our hopes of an easier passage thru to the quarters were buoyed when we found out that the oppo only had ten men, and that their goalie was an outfield player, but unfortunately, Economicals 10 men proved to be a tough cookie to crack!
With a strong squad of players available, OCFC 2's started off brightly. The passing and movement were excellent for the first 15 minutes of the match, and we seemed to be making the extra player advantage count, especially down the wings where, at times, some of the passing was as good as it's been all season. However, as has been common-place this year, we failed to turn our possession into chances and Economicals came right back into the game.
With very few moments of note in the first 45 minutes, the half-time whistle was looming. Economicals picked up the ball in their own half and picked out their lone striker on the right wing. After a good run culminating in getting to the by-line, the ball was crossed in waist-high through a melee of players. Jamie called for it and stepped across his goal for an easy take, but the ball ricocheted of a defender to the feet of an Economicals player who duly tapped into an unguarded net with an assured finish.
So there we were, 1-0 down in a game we felt we should be dominating, and as the half-time whistle went soon after, we trudged off almost in disbelief. Surely we couldn't repeat the shambolic performance of the last game......or could we?
After much half-time debate, it was agreed that we had actually been playing some good, no some great football - the only thing missing was that final ball. So our 2nd half plan was clear - "More of the same, with a final ball at the end of it, please!". And almost as soon as the second half kicked off, we turned our intentions into reality.
Again there were some slick passing moves and within 5 minutes of the restart our first clear cut chance of the match was created via a cheeky chipped thru ball (from whom no-one seems to remember!) for Fitchy to pick up on the edge of the area, in what looked (and felt!) like an offside position. However, having already had 2 perfectly good goals ruled out for off-sides this season, this was no time to argue! Having managed to beat one covering defender he let fire a rasping (meaning soft in this case) shot heading for the top right hand corner, which took an ever-so-slight deflection and ended up in the bottom left. The end result was all that mattered - goal!! And a deserved 1-1 scoreline for Challoners.
The good football continued and within 5 more minutes we had our next breakthrough. Our utility-man and skipper, James Foster, picked up the ball in the left back position. As the head came up for a quick look around, the whole team knew something special was about to happen - when this guy's head is coming up, he's a genius. And there it was, no-one else on the pitch could see it, but there was a small (but clear to Foz) "channel of uncertainty". With his right foot, he curled a delightful cross-field defence-splitting pass. Whilst Economaicals looked on, spell-bound by this George Best look-a-like (if only in terms of his stomach vs Bestie's in his late-40's), Phil Daw was clearly on the same wavelength. His run was timed perfectly and he neatly touched the ball around the advancing keeper and passed it calmly into an open net to confirm his top goal-scorer position.
2-1 to C's and we seemed to have control of the game. However, Economicals had other ideas, and whilst Challoners had been boozing & eating themselves to oblivion over the festive period, these 10 men had clearly been taking their mid-season break far too seriously with training every other day - an accusation they flatly denied on the car journey to the pub afterwards, but more than one of our players saw them drinking low calorie white wine spritzers at the bar!! (That's my "Lancaster Line" for this report!).
Much to their credit Economicals came right back into the game. C's seemed to drop a gear after taking the lead (something we are getting in the habit of & we need to correct). After 2 or 3 sustained waves of attacked down their left flank, the pressure eventually told and their impressive centre forward, who would be well advised to enter the London marathon after all the ground he covered, met a good cross from their right winger, just managing to avoid Beilly's challenge and finish well at the near post beating the advancing Van Mistletoe. 2-2 and the teams were level once more at around the 70 minute mark.
The game was fairly even after that, but one point of note around 5 mins from time saw a patient build up, which must have included over 15 passes, resulting in the ball reaching the C's right flank. From their Dawsy delivered an excellent tantalising cross that, if converted, would easily have been the move / goal of the season. Unfortunately, Fitchy had put his Toblerone head on that day and managed to put his diving header over the bar from about 7 yards out.........and so we headed into extra time.....AGAIN !!!!!
In an evenly matched extra time, chances were created and missed by both teams and we looked destined for our first penalty shoot out of the year. However, with time running out the impressive James Dan picked up the ball on the right-hand edge of the oppo area and looked up. He could easily have chosen to shoot, but he must have seen a better option. He put in what can only be described as a "feeler" of a pass which it seemed the defenders were too scared to approach for fear of scoring an own goal. As it bobbled slowly across the 6 yard area, Jim Croker (nose-bleeding from the centre back position) swung a right foot at it. Little did we all know this was a cunning dummy which sold everyone, including the oppo, and we all watched as in slow motion JD's "pass" rolled into the bottom right corner sealing a 3-2 win and a quarter final berth in the next round.
Economicals deserve a lot of credit for playing so well for 120 mins with only 10 men, and to be fair, a penalty shoot out would have been the fairer result. That said, Challoners' did play some really good football at times, and we're finally starting to create some decent goal-scoring opportunities. Every player should take many positives from this performance - the defence were solid on the whole (as they have been all season), the centre midfield looked as assured as they have all year, the wingers were outstanding and the forwards are linking up well and creating some good goal-scoring opportunities.
In a game where the TEAM has performed so well, it's difficult to pick out one individual for MoM, so I will take any splinters that may come my way, and duly sit on the fence, leaving that tough decision for the Skipper.
Report by Neil Fitch
Manager's comments:
An event filled 120 minutes with a deliberate handball in the build up to Economicals first goal, a controversial decision not to send Foster off after cynically hacking down the oppo centre forward when clear through, a brilliant early save by Ruud, and Fitch blazing a volley over in the dying seconds all missing the abbreviated highlights. This was a fairly decent performance by the 2s - the only complaint was the lack of clear chances created given all their possession. Full credit to Economicals who looked to frustrate Challoners and catch us on the break, which they did very effectively. It's the first time this season we've been matched, if not surpassed, in terms of work rate. MoM a virtually impossible decision this week with everyone buckling down and getting on with their job - 6/7s out of 10 all round. This week the award is going to one of the season's more consistent performers - Ali Rae. Got forward well and, but for a couple of last ditch defensive interventions, would surely have given OCs an early lead. Also did an admirable job covering the attack minded, right footed centre half playing left back behind him - at least Pascal Cygan has a left foot!
