South London Alliance Division 1

Saturday 28th February 2009

This was a massive result for FOBG Reserves' season. Seven Acre and Bridon still have to play each other twice so to have won today puts them in a great position to finish at least second. It was a fantastic performance from everybody with some spectacular goals too.

The first 20 minutes were tough. Playing against the slope Farnborough were trapped in their own half for long periods of the game and their back four and goalkeeper had to work hard to keep the score at 0-0. George Burkett made a couple of good saves early on. Farnborough gradually started to come into the game more and Paul Tanton began to link up play well upfront.

Farnborough's best move led to their first goal. They worked the ball to Richard Tapsfield who played the ball down the right to Daragh Nott. Nott played it square to Sam Evans and he touched it back to Stuart Lenton just outside the box. Lenton sold the defender a dummy and created space for a wonderful shot which arched over the keeper and into the far corner of the goal.

Arguably 1-0 flattered Farnborough at half time but they knew they were in a strong position as they would be playing with the slope in the second half. To their credit Bridon came out fighting and got an equaliser soon after half time. A well struck shot from outside the box found its way through a mass of bodies and into the bottom left hand corner of the net. There was a danger that Farnborough would capitulate at this point but they dug in well and continued to create chances of their own. Chris Charlton went close as the ball fell to him in the middle of the box and the keeper made a good save. As Dan Head followed up for the rebound their massive centre half put in a great saving tackle.

Soon after this Charlton had to go upfront for a few minutes as he tried to run off an injury. This worked in Farnborough's favour when a long ball from Tapsfield found him in a little space on the left wing. He had a great first touch and as the ball sat up nicely he half-volleyed it into the far corner of the net. This was a really good time to score for the visitors as it massively steadied their nerves. Unfortunately it was Charlton’s last contribution as he was replaced by Johnny Piper who came on as a straight swap in centre midfield.

Bridon continued to apply the pressure and Burkett made a string of good saves in goal, one in particular where a shot inside the box was heading for the top left hand corner and he got a powerful hand to it to push it away. He also held a good few shots from outside the box. Ricky Simmons and Matt Pragnell at centre back organised things well and Tapsfield and Peter Morton at full back worked hard to deal with the constant threat from both wings.

Midway through the second half Spencer Havers replaced Tanton up front and immediately began to cause problems as Bridon tired. His first chance came when a good run got him clean through but a good tackle blocked his shot. Soon afterwards though he used his body well to roll his defender and find himself in on goal again. This time he delicately lobbed the ball over the keeper and into the net.

Bridon really went for it at this stage and switched to three at the back. They got their reward soon after when Farnborough failed to clear a corner and the ball fell to their centre back whose shot from 12 yards ricocheted off the bar and into the net.

At 3-2 Nott was replaced by Aaron Carpenter and the game became quite open with chances at both ends. Farnborough's defence remained resolute and they scored a fourth with 15 minutes to go. A good ball from Lenton found Evans just onside on the right wing and with the Bridon defenders tiring he was able to get in on goal and shoot from close range. The keeper parried it but the rebound hit a defender and dribbled over the line. In the closing few minutes Farnborough's defensive concentration remained excellent and even though Bridon threw everything at them they held on well.

So all in all this was a great result for the Guild. Literally everybody played really well and Danny Saines made some good tactical decisions. There were two contenders for goal of the season and all of their goals came at really good times. Once again the value of digging in under pressure was shown.

A special mention to George Burkett who was making his debut for the Seconds and turned in an excellent performance between the sticks. The Man of the Match award however went to Pragnell who turned in a commanding display at centre back. He was first to every ball and didn’t really give Bridon's strikers a sniff which was a great achievement when you consider that Bridon did spend long periods of the game on the attack.

FOBG Reserves:

Burkett(GK); Morton(LB); Pragnell(CB); Simmons(CB); Tapsfield(RB); Nott(RM); Lenton(CM); Charlton(CM); Head(LM); Tanton(CF); Evans(CF, Captain).

Subs: Carpenter, Piper, Havers.

Report by: Sam Evans