Maximum points were needed this week as we faced off against old foes Lightwater United. Oatlands were without a win in five games, and with that run our now slim hopes of promotion will probably be based on the need for us to win every game until the end of the season and the hope for freak results elsewhere.

Going into the game we were desperately short on numbers due to a large number of injuries, illness and long bans for a couple of our players. But we eventually managed to pull together 11 individuals, including a couple of who looked like they had come direct from the stomach pumping ward at St Peters.

The team; Will, Ross, Sonny, Ryan, Furno, Butler, Mike Taylor, Baynezy, Pod and Jiz.

We arrived massively late for the game because a couple of our players didn’t get to the pub until 30 minutes after they were supposed to be there and secondly, only one person had a map meaning that everyone else decided to just drive off towards the GU postcode and put a phone call in when we started seeing signposts to Lightwater.

This week pitch looked like a difficult surface to play on as it had probably suffered from the effects of being chewed up in last weeks muddy conditions and then hard baked by this weeks sustained period of sunshine. It was bobbly and had goal mouth areas that resembled to crown of 2-Gun’s head.

This week’s game was refereed by legendry GWA official Bill Fenning, a man who’s been refereeing football games since players wore plus-fours and matches were played with a bag stuffed with feathers for a ball. Bill always does a good job and is one of the few referees where you know exactly how he will referee a game.

When things kicked off, which was about 5 minutes after we had got changed; the general standard of the early exchanges was low. Both sides looked nervous when receiving passes because it was such a bumpy surface, there were lots of misplaced/mis-hit passes and both sides decided the best thing to do was to keep the ball in the air. From the off it was fairly physical with both sides getting stuck in, Bill rarely reaching for his whistle and just leaving the teams to get on with it.

Early on it was Lightwater who were probably just edging it. The majority of the play was just inside our half and although not particularly threatening, it was them who had the first shots of the game. From our side we looked a bit nervous in possession, this was probably due to the fact that we found the surface difficult to pass on and the fact that Lightwater were giving us very little time on the ball.

We did have one early chance when Pod found himself on the left hand corner of the six yard box and with an opportunity to volley it with the left foot. Unfortunately the ball went over, but it was a difficult chance as Pod was under pressure and it ball would fall kindly.

At our end of the pitch, we defended stoutly and although Lightwater did have a couple of half chances, the main danger was from their throw ins or corners as they were a taller side than us.

In the first 25 minutes of the game, we were fairly subdued in terms of our own attacks, and our main threat was from down the right hand side where Baynezy used his pace and ability to go past players to good effect. In fact it was from the right hand side that Oatlands opened the scoring somewhat against the general run of play. Mike Taylor made late run into the box from midfield and smashed it home from close range. 0-1 OFC

The goal seemed to give us confidence and every one seemed to up their game. We were now passing the ball around crisply and playing at higher tempo as players received the ball, controlled it and moved it on quickly. We also discovered that if we moved the ball quicker, our players were finding more time and space and therefore opportunities to get at the back line of our opponents.

We might well have gone 2-0 up through Jiz when a superb passing move from back to front found Tom with time and space to cross. Tom whipped it superbly into the six yard box and Jiz did everything right except the finish, which just flashed wide.

We might well have had another opportunity no long after when Pete jinked into the box from the left hand side, beat a couple of players and then was clearly scythed down. Unfortunately the ref didn’t see it that way and waved play on.

We continued to play football and there was good movement around the pitch and we didn’t have to wait much longer before our efforts were rewarded. This time it was Pod who stepped up to the plate and smashed home a crisp left footed volley from the edge of the 18 yard box. 2-0 OFC.

Our third goal was a beauty and arguably the goal of the season so far. From a short goal kick we stroked the ball round superbly in the defence and midfield as we looked for an opening. Pete picked the ball up in midfield and drifted past a couple of players just inside the Lightwater half. As he progressed towards the opposition penalty area there were options on both sides, but Pete decided to let rip from about 30 yards. It was like a cruise missile after it left his foot and if it was shown in super slow motion it would have been one of those shots where the ball doesn’t rotate in the air. There was nothing the keeper could do as it snuck in under the bar and hit the back of the net.

At 3-0 up we cruised towards half time and looked totally in control.

It was imperative to get a good start in the second half and not concede early, particularly given our fragile confidence of late. However 5 minutes into the second half and all Phil’s instructions had gone out the window and we were now coming under increasing pressure from Lightwater who were far from dead and buried. It wasn’t long before Lightwater got a foothold in the game and it looked like we might be in for a bumby ride throughout the second half. Lightwater’s goal came from a long ball that was flicked on and it was a Lightwater head that got there first and sent the ball looping over Will and into the back of the OFC net. 3-1 OFC

Having scored the goal, Lightwater put us under a sustained period of pressure for about 20 minutes and although Will wasn’t forced to make a save, our penalty area was under constant bombardment from Lightwater who were now full of confidence themselves.

For us, we were doing well in winning the ball at the back but too often things were breaking down in midfield as we had too many players back and not enough to support those who were further up the pitch and very often our attack were totally isolated.

As we approached the last quarter of the game the pressure on our penalty box began to lift and we were able to mount a few attacks of our own. As in the first half, it looked like we were most likely to get some joy via Tom or Baynezy who were out wide for us. In the centre Pete and Mike worked like Japanese prisoners of war, but the best of their work was in a defensive rather than attacking capacity. Defensively we looked very sound. At the back Furno and Ross cleared most of the stuff that came their way in the air and out wide Sonny and Ryan helped relieve the pressure by covering well and bringing the ball out at their feet.

It looked like we might be in for a nervous finish in the last 10 minutes when an over enthusiastic Furno came out of his lair in defence and clattered Pete Butler with a Furno special. Pete was left with a massive lump on his shin but it didn’t look to serious.

Although we were down to 10 on the pitch, we played out the remaining minutes fairly well and although there were a couple more long throws and corners to deal with, it was nearly always Oatlands who were there first and we looked fairly comfortable in the end.

Overall it was a welcome 3 points. Although we didn’t play particularly brilliantly for much of the game, we did enough in our best 25 minute spell of the game, to put it beyond Lightwater and Pete’s goal was arguably one of the best of the season. I am not sure who officially got the man of the match but an industrious performance from Mike Taylor stood out and Ross and Furno played really well at the back.

The 3 points puts us fourth, but there are teams around us who have played fewer games and we still have to play two of the teams above us before the end of the season.

Next week we play Dunsfold away. This represents another good opportunity to get 3 points, but we will have to be on top form as Dunsfold have found a bit of form of late and have won their last 2 encounters.