This Sunday saw us as one of only a handful of teams across the league to have played, as the weather conditions throughout the Tandridge area put pay to any patch of grass being used, be it down to the rain or the heavy frost. Lucky for us we weren't playing on grass though, as we took to a fabulous 4G pitch in deepest darkest Tunbridge Wells. However, for the first 30 minutes of the match it seemed we may have wasted this opportunity as we really struggled to slip in to gear and find our passing game.

The match started brightly enough when on 3 minutes Reece won a throw-in deep in the Predators' half. Not for the first time this season, Callum unleashed his catapult of a throw into the box for Cameron to help himself to his 12th goal of the season.

After that however it seemed our entire session of shooting practice the day before was entirely wasted as we failed to hit the target with the few chances that we did create but it was the lack of composure on the ball that was infuriating the interested onlookers. Having started him on the bench, Noah was introduced to the fray on 14 minutes. Unfortunately, his first job was to give the ball away in midfield which led to their equalising goal thanks to some awful defending. A goal they certainly didn't deserve but it was a sharp reminder that we needed to up our game. We created a few chances in the remaining minutes of the half but failed to pull the trigger, until it was too late, time and time again. The one time we had an early shot, Noah saw his 20-yarder plucked out of the top corner by the Predators keeper. A superb save.

Having seen us continually give the ball away cheaply in the first half of the season and in last week's tough encounter, I set the challenge of simply keeping the ball on the pitch and to concede 5 or less throw ins in the match. Sadly, that got off to a shaky start as we conceded our first throw-in in under 30 seconds. It may sound like a harsh challenge, but that is the point of the challenges. The boys are meant to think about what they are doing and improve every facet of their games. The challenge was dead by half time as we conceded 6 first half throw-ins. Nevertheless, we only conceded 9 throw-ins in total, so there was a definite improvement in the second half. So, I was pleased with the reaction.

The boys seemed much more frustrated with themselves during the half time team talk than I was with them. A reminder to return to doing the basic pass and move football that is the foundation of our game was put into practice, as we immediately strung several passes together as we advanced in to their half. We were camped in their half for a spell of about 15 minutes of the second half. Reece Beard had been reintroduced at half time and played up front, to better effect than the first half, his lay-off on 34 minutes saw Noah chip the keeper from the edge of the box for two in two. 5 Minutes later and the same two combined again, as some good play by Reece down our right channel saw the Predators defence gift the ball to Noah with the goal at his mercy. Despite nearly gifting the ball back to the goalkeeper, Noah dispatched his second goal of the game at the third bite of the cherry.

Following our third, the opposition enjoyed their best spell of the game as they had a couple of efforts that struck the side netting and/or called Paolo in to action. From one of those chances, Paolo's big kick up field was picked up by Reece who carried it forward before slotting home to move him in to second top scorer for the season. Paolo was pleased to get off the mark with an assist too.

The last 10 minutes saw our dominance of the ball return and chances came and went without troubling the scorer. However, I was much more pleased with how we controlled the game in that period than at any other stage of the match.

Man of the Match today was Noah. Not least for his two goals, but more because of the way he looked after the ball and passed his way through their midfield. More often than not he was an option for a teammate to use.

The second half of last season petered out after the high of the cup final. I'm keen that lightning doesn't strike twice and that, on the contrary, we really kick on this year. I can see it's in the boys, but, with the exception of the Hamsey Rangers game and the second match versus Elmstead Bantams, we haven't put a 60-minute performance together. Even so, we gifted goals to the opposition in those games. Much more, we need to play like we train and take those lessons from a Saturday into Sunday's matches.

Thanks as always for your great support. Hopefully that's the last time we have to slope all the way down to Tunbridge Wells!!