You didn’t need to be Einstein to realise that the ferocious wind would play a massive part in this game. Both Nottsborough and West Wickham have some excellent footballers – they can control the football under normal conditions but have little chance of deciding what effect a capricious, swirling wind would have on the path of the bag of wind.
The ball was blown from “here to everywhere” and almost to eternity at times but had little effect on Freeo’s barnet which was conspicuous by its absence.
We had the wind behind us in the first half which did us no favours at all. We were too anxious to get on the front foot and attack the Nottsborough defence and I lost count of the wasted 40 yard passes that ended up on the Kingston Bypass. The home keeper looked to be a potent weapon bearing in mind that there was no chance of the wind changing direction. His goal kicks were already reaching our half of the field and we would be in big danger of him reaching our penalty area in the second period – luckily with Adam Freeman and Mark Williams in defence we have a strong aerial presence and they did an excellent job when required. Several early chances came via corners from both sides of the park but we couldn’t get any headers on target.
This was never going to be a game for the purists and although we spent most of the first half in the Nottsborough half we failed to really trouble their keeper. It was pretty much one way traffic but the home defence coped with it – their high defensive line worked very well.
Nottsborough opened the scoring with a neat goal after we lost possession just inside our own half – the ball was transferred to their right winger who was in plenty of space and his low cross was easily converted by their young striker. John Chisholm, who had been a virtual spectator, had no chance of stopping the shot.
Going in at half time a goal behind was not what the doctor ordered and the boys needed a strong, effective, diagnosis from Doctor Foster during the break and an effective treatment plan for the remainder of a game that looked like slipping from our grasp.
We were much better in the second half and Nottsborough had even less clue than we had in how to handle the blustery conditions. Their keeper was their best attacker with his monumental goal kicks several of which threatened aeroplanes heading for Heathrow Airport. Freeman and Williams were defending them on the edge of our penalty area but I was never worried that we would crack under this pressure. For the last 15 years or so we have had our own Air Control Unit - remember Neil Currie, Paul Barham, James Gibson, Ross Simmonds, Adam Freeman and James Williams. We are still as strong in the skies with Jack Doyle, Joe Kelly and Ollie Clark supplementing Adam and Mark.
I don’t remember the home side having more than one shot at goal in the second period but they defended their one goal lead very well. We lost Connor Byrne after 50 minutes with a tweaked hamstring – he was replaced by Charlie McGeary.
Jack Doyle burst past 4 defenders but shot wide with Joe Kelly waiting for the pass which would have given him a tap in. We continued to press for an equaliser which somehow evaded us so Fozzie introduced Charlie Kallas for Joe Walby and later Ian Brooke for Josh Tutt.
The fresh legs did help as the home defence wilted under the pressure wih Kallas playing a prominent part but we continued to squander chances. Nottsborough should have been reduced to 10 men when one of their players deliberately smashed the ball into Sam Murray’s face when he was lying on the ground after fouling him. The referee was 5 yards away so clearly saw the offence -- he only showed a yellow card – don’t ask me why (other than that he had an excellent game).
A strong penalty claim was missed by the ref but this is not unusual in a crowded penalty area and the game looked like ending in Nottsborough’s favour. Both sides were lacking key players and it looked as though over anxiety would cost Wickham the point that we wanted in order to tip the scales in our favour in next week’s show down with Polytechnic.
Both Sam Murray and Joe Kelly had good chances – Muzza blazed his over the bar and Kells couldn’t beat the keeper when he was the only remaining obstacle.
And then – the real drama – we were into added time when a foul on Charlie Kallas in the six yard box was spotted by the referee. A stone cold penalty – top scorer Sam Murray stepped up to the plate and sent the keeper the wrong way – pandemonium. Josh Tutt replaced Muzza for what remained of injury time. Charlie McGeary then had two chances within a minute – one lobbed effort went well wide but his second brought a fine save from the home keeper.
We deserved all three points but came away with only one. John Chisholm, in our goal, had only one difficult save to make in the second period when he palmed a shot into the air and caught it at the second attempt. We defended well and kept the free kick count down to a minimum.
Next week we travel to West London to play Polytechnic in the title decider – make sure that you come along and support the squad. It’s an easy journey from East Croydon and we are expecting a big Wickham presence at the Quintin Hogg Memorial Ground – kick off 2pm. Win, lose or draw we will be hitting Clapham by 5pm to celebrate a fine season for Andy Foster’s squad.
Man of the Match said Fozzie was Ollie Clark -- my vote, narrowly, went to skipper Jamie Askew who hardly put a foot wrong.