It was Saturday and revenge was on the cards although few of us understood that. A cup match against Old Finchleians at New River. Plenty of changes to the starting line up but confident that the 3s good run would continue.
I started in goal (Michael Bardgett) with Max at right back, Jonesy and a happy return for Will at centre back. Left back was Ziggy. Midfield with Alex (3 pair prepared) Reynolds right wing, in the centre was Adam and Jed and Ashley left. Up top was Chris and Malachi floating.
AP started well helped by blustery conditions with thousands of leaves in attendance. Chances were created with the pace and strength of the attacking players. Malachi missing a chance that lately you would have expected him to score.
We were showing far more than Old Finchleians and that was deservedly shown when Ashley finished off with a nice tidy finish.
To be honest I spent a lot of the first 20-25 minutes thinking what food would be offered by Serge after the game with my only contribution the odd back passes .
With Old Finchleians first chance they scored unfortunately with the ball not cleared by Jones and Will. The finish was hit well but it should have been saved.
It was frustrating but we should have been confident of moving on. We got back into it with good moves from both sides. Excellent play from both full backs causing trouble. More importantly players were dropping in to cover showing good team work.
The half time score remained 1-1 but encouraging talk from Kurt confirmed our superiority.
The second half offered the wind advantage to the away side but when you play the ball on the floor like us there is no match.
I played sweeper for a lot of the second half picking up on the long balls. I was personally very happy with my performance and the support from the back four.
In fairness chances weren’t too frequent in the second half. Plenty of possession but the both keepers weren’t tested too much. The chances on target for AP were coolly taken by Ashley.
The second goal kind of killed off the oppo and Old Finchlians never looked to worry the AP back four as long we kept it simple. The third confirming our passage into the next round.
Substitutions also made an excellent contribution with Jason making some telling contributions.
Also the ref in my opinion had a good one- get him back.
Well done to all and the revenge was very pleasing. We should be in their league this season but lets concentrate on a cup run and more importantly PROMOTION
