The playing surface at the University of Kingston ground at Tolworth looked in great condition for the Reserves game with Nottsborough yesterday but some steady rain after the snow meant that the surface was loose and slippery and it was no surprise that players from both sides lost their footing at crucial moments. However, the players did exceptionally well, and although the Bluebloods ran out 4 – 2 winners, the game was very much closer in terms of both possession and chances. Luckily for us, the home keeper had a nightmare and presented us with two goals when his side were bossing the game.

Fozzie started with a big, strong looking bench in Kane Allen, Connor Byrne and Nick Gibbs and brought back Neil Currie into defence alongside James Williams with Sam Kemp and Russ D’Urso forming a very experienced back four.
As usual Nottsborough had some tidy young players on view but had an early stroke of bad luck when a free kick from Sam Murray was helped goal wards by Craig Rathbone – the ball was then deflected past the keeper who was diving to his right – the ball went in the opposite direction and into the net which was the start of a bad day for the huge custodian.

Nottsborough began to dominate the play with their pony tailed centre back looking a very good player – he would have been a lot more effective playing as an attacking midfielder. They had some good attacks down their right flank but the final crosses were easily cut out by Currie and Williams although several chances were created late in the half but they passed harmlessly past Jon Chisholm’s right hand post. Their centre back should have been dismissed for dissent early in the game after telling Mr Whiteman “to go forth and multiply” – is it really necessary to use this kind of language on the football field – Mr Whiteman, who had an excellent game, administered a stern lecture but it had no effect on the player who continued to swear his way through 90 minutes.

The game ebbed and flowed and it was only a matter of time before the floodgates opened – but at which end? Joe Kemp, in his lone role up front, was giving the Nottsborough defence no peace with his constant chasing but it was Sam Murray who turned the game in our favour. The ball was played back to their keeper who had plenty of time to clear his lines but Muzza chased him down – the keeper tried to dribble past him but Muzza took the ball off him and deposited it into the onion bag.

The slippery conditions meant that there were plenty of misplaced passes but the game was very much still in the balance when Neil Currie popped up in the Nottsborough penalty area, rescued a loose ball following a right wing corner swivelled and cracked a left foot drive into the top corner to give us a 3 – 0 lead. This allayed some of the anxiety of the Blueblood supporters who numbered double figures – but both Fozzie and I knew that the game was far from over.

The home side were still playing some good football and the pony tailed guy reduced the arrears with a very well taken goal after some injudicious defending and Nottsborough pressed forward looking for a point. They added a second when Chissy spilled a low long range shot and the rebound found an empty net.

So the game was far from over and a Nottsborough point was a strong possibility and would, perhaps, have been just reward for their endeavour but their keeper made another howler when he helped Sam Murray’s right footed inswinging corner into his own net.

It ended 4 – 2 – it was an exciting end to end game with plenty of chances, plenty of mistakes and plenty of swearing (thankfully not from the Bluebloods). The only bloke that their centre back didn’t swear at was his own keeper – well he was 6 foot 7 inches tall and was unlikely to take kindly to any invective directed at him after the game that he had had.

My Man of the Match went to Joe Kemp who put in a huge 90 minutes on his own up front – he held the ball up well on occasions but his hassling of the home side defence was a big factor in us turning over possession in vital areas. The Manager agreed with the award but Cuzza ran him close along with Craig Rathbone who scored his first goal for the club .

We have a very young side and retain our unbeaten status – however, there were lessons to be learned today – in tight situations “play the way you are facing” particularly in greasy, slippery conditions – don’t make life hard for yourself.

The Vets/Sevens lost an AFA Cup thriller at Crouch End – they went down 6 – 5 after extra time. We were behind 4 – 3 with a minute to go but equalised – it went to 5 – 5 before the home side got the winner. Our goals came from Brutus, John Waite, James Gibson, Matt Waite and an own goal.