Claygate Royals 2   Chiddingfold 4   (League)

12^th December 2004

‘You played a what formation?!’

Manager

The Manager left specific instructions on the formation to play against Claygate but the committee of assistants ignored that and came up with an unusual 1:3:1:4:1 formation. This was probably a mistake as it resulted in people playing out of position and feeling uncomfortable as to their roles.

Despite that, the game started well when after only five minutes Rupert scoring with a powerful shot from close range into the top of the net. Jon Bn playing sweeper relieved his boredom by dribbling around most of the opposition's players on a run from our own penalty box into the Claygate six yard box, however the final pass went astray. Will  failed to convert two close range chances following excellent work by Rupert, crossing from wide on the right.

As the game wore on Chiddingfold became petulant and frustrated, failing to play as a team. This let Claygate back in and after them looking the more likely to score for a while we duly gifted them a soft goal just before halftime.

The second half started better when Jon hit the underside of the crossbar, however, this only caused us to think things would be easy and we failed to chase back. Claygate took the opportunity well and scored a second with a well taken goal. Our equaliser came from a corner which was headed out as far as Hassie on the edge of the box. His low shot towards the corner of the net was touched in by Richard . Three minutes later and we saw the goal of the season when Eddie thumped a shot from all of 30 yards which sailed into the top right hand corner of the net. Expect him to try this again at every opportunity.

Chiddingfold looked well on top at this stage and there was finally some good movement and passing. The pass of the game was a crisp, first time ball from Richard out to Scott who had been using his speed to great effect on the left wing. Scott was the one player to be consistently good all game and this earned him the Man of the Match trophy. It was Scott who also scored the fourth goal when a mishit longshot bounced straight over the embarrassed Claygate keeper.

We were awarded a dubious penalty, which Hassie sportingly pushed wide, only for the ref to insist on a retake due to encroachment by a Claygate defender. Clearly Hassie could not be seen to miss again so Eddie stepped up to, Iassume, miss by deliberately hitting the post. Perhaps this was a mistake because several further chances fell to Claygate and only brave tackles by Daryl and Jon Br and some excellent saves by Mike kept our advantage. The final attacking action of the game was a great effort by Steven , who saw his shot from 25 yards just drift over the bar. 

The only other item of note was a brave effort by Ben Baker to take the silly hat competition, however his entry was judged only mildly ludicrous and Lionel romped home with a green thing with ear muffs.