1 gained, or 2 lost?

COWHC 3s 2-2 Addiscombe 4s

22nd February 2014

The return match against local rivals Addiscombe, our home game, took place at Croydon High, a pitch I'm pretty sure I've only ever played at as an away player.  But given that the away game was played at Oasis, our normal home pitch, I guess it all makes sense!

Sadly I missed last week's rather heavy defeat (hence the lack of match report), which according to Radders was rather frustrating.

Well this week was probably even more frustrating.  The core of standard 3s players were available, but with regular keeper Paul painting himself green (maybe) and spending the afternoon in South West London, before drowning his sorrows in the evening (probably), Martin had to once again deputise in goal.  As a bonus though, he had bought along his brother Keith for his first game in years.

We started the game well and were passing the ball confidently, playing a high line and pushing the opposition back into their half for much of the first 25 minutes or so.  As a result of the pressure though, we somehow only managed to score once, a move down the left ending with a cross from Andrew being converted on the turn by Alex for his first ever goal.  Minutes after that he was inches away from doubling the tally, running in at the back of the D onto another cross, but his lifted shot flashed wide.

Unfortunately it looked like we might be made to pay for our profligacy as towards the end of the half Addiscombe managed to string a couple of passes together through the middle and got into our D.  As Martin tried to change direction, he lost his footing and slipped over, leaving the opposition player with an empty net to slot into.  Worse, shortly after that, in similar fashion, they had another shot, this time one which skipped, bounced and spun like a Shane Warne wrong 'un and beat everyone to cross the line.

From 1-0 up and dominating to 2-1 down at half time was a situation that we would not have expected.  However, we refused to let our heads drop and started the second half in much the same fashion as we had the first.  Again we had the majority of possession, territory and chances, but as before we were only able to convert one.  This time the move was down the right, Qaz dummied the cross and left Trevor with an easy finish.

Back on level terms we pushed hard for the winner, often playing with 9 outfield players in the Addiscombe half.  On another day Qaz could have had a hat-trick, with a couple of chances just going the wrong side of the posts.  Others two had shots that weren't quite on target, or crosses that somehow managed to miss everyone.

So the score remained 2-2.  Given our post-Christmas record it could easily be seen as a point gained, but on the basis of the match it was most definitely two lost.

POM was Alex for breaking is goal-scoring duck and for his all round midfield play.  Although he was pushed close by Keith showing that he's lost nothing in his time away from the team and is more than welcome to turn out for us again.