Goals: Carter, Wellman, Tabram
And so we travelled to lands south of the river in the hope of continuing or decent league form. Although Cits are bottom of the league we could not afford any mistakes against a team with nothing to lose.
We set up with Lloyd in goal, a back four of Ziggy, Richard, Charlie and a welcome returning cameo by skipper Will. Midfield was Seb, Ben, Nick, Jed, Denzel and Alex up top. Kurt and Jack Bidiki started on the bench.
More or less from the off it became apparent this was a different Cits side from before. They were a lot more physical and some of them were just plain big. We dictated the play with Nick and Jed dominating midfield and Denzel causing havoc down the left. Early chances fell to Denzel and Alex who could have opened the scoring. Cits lack of quality meant we easily regained possession when they tried to break. The breakthrough came from a corner which bounced up invitingly for Ben to volley home from 8 yards. A second followed from Denzel whose pace had taken him through to calmly beat the keeper. We continued to dominate but became a little lazy with the ball as the game appeared won already. We just lacked a little speed of thought and movement. Jack and Kurt came on for Seb and Alex at the end of the half. 2-0 at the break and job seemed done.
Second half we wanted to raise the intensity but this proved harder than I thought. Cits physical approach made the game very fragmented and creating clear openings was hard. Kurt was doing his best to wind up the oppo’s centre half (a supposed lightweight was Kurt’s terminology). Jack was beginning to get into the game and was linking up well. We just lacked that sharpness to put in a good score. Seb came on for Ben and Alex for Kurt. Jack moved centrally and with Seb on the wing we created some better openings. Finally after some good work by Denzel the ball came to Alex on the edge of the 6yard box for him to poke home. A deserved goal for his efforts in recent games. Cits then created a couple of openings from a long ball which almost got their striker in. And a penalty box scramble where there was a hint of a penalty from Richards tackle, but seeing as the Ref spent most of the game in the opposite end to the ball it was never going to be given. And so the much needed 3points were ours and they were well deserved.
Don’t be misled though, Cits are a poor team and we should have scored more. But this season is about maintaining or 1st division status and to that end it was a good result. But we must be better in the coming weeks against tougher opposition.
Everyone played there part with Lloyd having to make one save and generally doing what was required. Defensively we were never really stretched and it was a comfortable afternoon for all. In midfield we were dominant with everyone playing well and doing a shift. Up front again it was tough going against a physical side, but they opened the way for midfield to break forward. All in all a satisfactory day considering it is one of the monumental away days.
Special mention to Seb who showed total commitment to the cause by only getting in from America on Saturday morning but still managed to make Kick off in South London. We salute you.
And finally the other thing we can take from this weekend is that if you are planning a night out on a Friday I would highly recommend taking your boots with you and maybe an A-Z, just in case on Saturday morning your exact location is in some doubt.
MoM: Bates
