Match Reports
12/01/08
Chichester 4-1 Men's 4th XI
Brighton took the hop along the coast full of hope for a good close game against one of the leagues stronger teams Chichester. Also buoyed by the inclusion of young Tom Scopes and a youn…. well and Mr Bond. We also had a long wait for both young Will Wells and you CJ Fowler as both got the meet time wrong, very wrong. With them suitably ticked off for tardiness we could get on with the match.
Both teams were fairly evenly matched with arguably Brighton having the greater of the chances thanks to attacking the end with the umpire who loved giving short corner when the offence occurred outside the D. Sadly, the Brighton routine was a little wayward and we failed to trouble the ‘keeper except for one deflected effort which made him pull off a wonderful diving save.
Chichester’s incessant probing earned themselves a short corner and as is par for the course this year they scored from it. A less than rasping effort evaded Brooksy’s foot, College let out a comfortable yelp of "Yeah!!" only to realise he had strayed a little too far from his post and we were 1-0 down.
By no means out of it though and Bondy showed some neat skills in midfield but the final pass in the final third just wasn’t there. Chichester looked far slicker in attack and another chance saw Brooksy make an ugly double save only for the gangly centre half to lift it over his beached body and through a gaggle/herd/school of Brighton defenders. 2-0 down as the half-time whistle went.
There was no panic in the ranks as things were getting better, and compared to the performance in the first game of the season this was a vast improvement. (yes alright I am clutching a straws for some positives). The heads were soon to drop a little when the Chichester skipper arrived unmarked at the top of the D to finish with power to give them a 3-0 lead. The deficit was quickly reduced to 2 again when Graham took one of his shots/high powered passes which CJ bravely deflected in. To be honest though if he hadn’t got his stick to it, it probably would have crippled him when it smashed into his legs. A chance for more positive words because young CJ who had a storming game in midfield. The years of being berated by Wappy seemed to have paid off. He can now look forward to the rest of the season being berated by Bondie.
Chichester killed off the game but not before some dodgy "advantage" decisions made sure that both Matt and Bondie would not be allowed clear chances at goal in return for another short corner. It should be said that Matt actually scored. Oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles.
With the game drifting away there was still time for Shef to lose it and try and start a fight with the tallest bloke on the pitch. If only the award for the handbag was still around, it would have been no contest.