After a break of 3 weeks from league action and mild success in this years cup competitions, Oatlands were back in action in the competition which we really have set our objective of doing well in.

This weeks opponents were AFC Woburn Arms, whom sources have told me are comprised of a lot of ex-Abbey players and therefore would almost certainly be a strong outfit.

Our inability to consistently field the same (or our best) team continues and as per usual there were 4-5 changes to the squad. Changes from last weeks team; Sonny, Dom, Jack, Jim, Dan all out. Mike, Pod, Baynezy, Jordy and Gravy back in.

The squad: Sam in goal. Pete H, Harps, Mike and Fraz in defence. Sam C, Gravy, Butler and Baynezy in midfield. Pod and Jordy up front. On the bench; Merrick, Dom, Joe, Andy and Jarv.

This week we were playing at Victory Park, Addlestone which is a tidy little ground, with a nice pitch and the only slight downside being the lack of parking.

Oatlands got off to the worst imaginable start on Saturday, conceding within about 90 seconds. I think it was Mike Taylor who gave away a foul near the corner of our box, conceding a direct free kick. We were still clearly half asleep because no one stood in front of the ball while Sam was making his adjustments to the wall. In the meantime, Woburn asked permission to take it quickly and scored a brilliantly executed and thought-out free kick. 1-0.

I think we were still whinging to the referee when Woburn scored their second. A long ball from the back to one of their pacey strikers caught our keeper and defence in no mans land. The striker was round Sam in a flash and squared it to his unmarked strike partner who made no mistake in front of the undefended net and from near the penalty spot. 2-0 with 3 minutes gone.

Unless we immediately got 2 goals back, it looked like the afternoon would be a long uphill struggle.

We looked OK in possession and from the side we looked quite comfortable on the ball. However, Woburn were easily the best attacking side we have played this season and when their keepers massive punts down the field caught our back four flat footed or back peddling, the Woburn strikers were like a group of wasps round a picnic to try and capitalise on our mistakes. Some good last ditch defending from Mike Taylor kept things at just 2-0 to the home team.

If we thought the referee had cheated us for the first Woburn goal (which he clearly hadn’t), he came to our rescue on a least 2 occasions later in the half when he made some abysmally poor decisions to halt play when playing advantage would have almost certainly seen Woburn bearing down on our goal. Fortunately, we were better prepared for the following free kicks and kept the score to 2-0.

As we got toward the 30 minute mark of the game Oatlands began to look like they might get something out of the game and forced Woburn on to the back foot. The main danger came from wide positions where Baynezy and Sam Campbell looked lively but too often we failed to get numbers in the box allowing their keeper to collect some relatively good crosses out of the air while under little pressure.

Approaching half time we also had the majority of possession, with Woburn tending to hit us primarily on the counter attack. Unfortunately the culmination of all the passes that we strung together and for all our possession the most we managed was a few a pot shots from distance that failed to trouble the target.

At half time Phil was understandably angry about the performance and threatened early changes in the second half if things did not improve early on.

Oatlands began the second half with a bit more vigour and looked to match Woburn across the pitch. But another mix up at the back again saw their lightning fast striker capitalising on our errors. This time the ball was played into an area between our keeper and our defence just outside the 18 yard box. Again it was the nippy striker who was there first, around Sam in a flash and finishing comfortably from close range. 3-0 Woburn.

After going 3-0 down we dominated possession for long periods and strung numerous consecutive passes together, with Woburn doing lots of gritty and determined chasing. Sadly for us, far too often things would break down in the final third with us failing deliver the killer pass, having to pass it backwards because there weren’t any options in the box or taking a frustrated pot-shot at their goal.

While we arguably had the overwhelming majority of possession, Woburn again looked lethal on the counter and probably because he was the only one getting near the Woburn strike force, Mike Taylor conceded a succession of fouls which tested the referees already stretched patience. It was after about foul 7 or 8 that the referee finally produced a yellow card.

With 25 minutes left we struck back. In the centre of the pitch Gravy and Pete had linked up with Pod on numerous occasions, but either hadn’t spotted, executed or had the option to play the killer pass. On this occasion however Baynezy made a great overlapping run down the right and was found by a superbly weighted Pete Butler pass, Baynezy took one touch before drilling it hard and low past the advancing keeper from a tight angle. 3-1.

Upon getting one back, we looked as though we would be capable of potentially getting something out of the game. Woburn were pressed very much on to the back foot and for about 15 minutes we dominated the game, getting into a series of promising positions. Pete Butler was extremely unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions after some superb build up play saw him twice denied from close range.

With 15 minutes on the clock we inevitably went to 3 up front but it was really at that point that we actually began to look less threatening. Again as before our goal, far too often good build up play was scuppered by poor decision making, a lack of genuine options to aim for in the box and shots that were from an increasing distance away from goal.

As the game drew toward its conclusion, Woburn increasingly hit our understaffed defence on the counter and this in turn meant that Mike gave away more and more fouls, testing the referee’s patience further. Mike probably should have been sent off 5 minutes before end after clearly holding back the Woburn striker who was clean through but the ref again resisted the temptation to get out another yellow.

The inevitable happened with about 30 seconds on the clock. Mike had won the ball on the left hand side of the pitch and put it out for a throw. But upon being brushed by a passing opposition player he decided to push the opponent. Despite the points being clearly in the bag, the Woburn player went down clutching his face and making a howling sound, which was enough to convince the referee to finally dig out a second yellow and send Mike off. The game ended 30 seconds later.

Overall it was a performance that just wasn’t good enough and AFC Woburn deserved to win the game.

The consensus from the sideline was that in the first half (and not for the first time this season) we were second to a lot of challenges and far too often waited for the ball rather than going to find it. It also looks pathetic when numerous players continually bleat at the referee about decisions that don’t go their way, while the opposition are busy looking to expose our lack of concentration on the game.

Again on Saturday, for long periods we dominated possession and strung together numerous passes and in that sense we look do like a decent team, but when it came to the final third we weren’t good enough and failed to create enough genuine chances. Despite having some superb creative players like Pod, Butler, Baynezy and Gravy, we look like a team that badly needs a 15-20 goal a season striker or the so called “fox in the box” player. In an attacking respect we were given a lesson by Woburn, whose strikers we direct, challenged and anticipated the result of long balls, and were ruthless in front of goal.

Next week we play Knaphill at home. Knaphill have already beaten us this season in a game which may have ended in a more even or different result had we taken our chances. We can’t afford to lose this one as another defeat will almost certainly condemn us to another season of being “also rans” in the league. A win on the other hand would put us back into contention for promotion.

A big thanks to the 20 plus supporters who braved the arctic conditions to offer their encouragement to the team and hopefully we’ll see you all next Saturday.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Chris Harper picked up his 100 th cap for the club on Saturday. I think it was in our second season that Harps joined the club after moving down from Luton area, but since that time Chris has been one of most loyal and committed players, always giving 100% to the cause and providing us with many memorable Gargamil moments along the way. A big thanks goes out to Chris for his contribution to the club over the past few years.

Note from the Chairman: achieving 100 caps is a very special thing for any club but when we started Oatlands FC I never imagined that anyone would achieve 100 caps and certainly not 3 people. Harps has shown great commitment to Oatlands FC on and off the pitch and has reached the milestone in a very quick time since joining in 2003. The Club sincerely thanks him for his continued contribution.