Match report April 9 2011

The season ended with a match nobody wanted - Sanderstead beating the 2nd XI 4-3 - and two entertaining games for the 3rd XI - 3-1 winners over Old Reigatians - and the 4th XI, who went down 2-6 to Barnes Beerbarians

2nd XI 3-4 Sanderstead
A season to forget ended with a match nobody other than the league wanted, a forced replay of a game we had forfeited a fortnight earlier. The blame for the default was ours and we fully accepted that and the resulting fine, but replaying a match which had absolutely no affect on any league placings could be viewed as being petty. But at least the weather was nice. Little to say other than we made the scoreline respectable after trailing 4-1 with 20 minutes remaining. The umpires played their part with some interesting new rules – is it really always a defenders’ ball when any aerial is played into the 23? – but the two of them seemed to enjoy their day out, so that’s what really matters.

3rd XI 3-1 Old Reigatians II
The penultimate match for the 3rd XI was tighter than expected against an already relegated Old Reigatians side who appeared to have benefited from a few rather good recruits. Sadly, the absence of many well-liked regulars meant the match was more testy than is usual against ORs, but it was an end-to-end game which was enjoyed by all. ORs edged the first half but went in one down to a freak goal from Alex Lewis, a squeezed shot which ballooned wide of the goal but on landing spun slowly but viciously in a way Tiger Woods would have appreciated and trickled in behind a bemused keeper. After the break we upped the tempo, and although ORs equalised, we started to run their defence ragged and added two more well-taken goals - another from Lewis from an acute angle and a reverse stick sweep from Charlie Offord - to end the contest.

4th XI 2-6 Barnes Beerbarians
An almost carbon copy of the match six weeks earlier in that we lost by the same score – 6-2 - and drew one of half of the match. At Barnes it had been the first half, this time it was the second. Sadly, the game was over by the break as Barnes deservedly led 4-0, thanks to their running combined with our woeful marking. Oh, and James Armitage. Returning to the fold for an end-of-season romp, Armitage managed to turn two balls which were going nowhere past Nigel, the second a clinical poacher’s goal had it been at the other end. He made some amends in the second half, combining well with Tommy to give the midfield some structure, and strange to say we dominated first 15 minutes, even scoring, before the heat took its toll and the pace fell away. A pleasant end to the season.