This week Oatlands were pitched against Darkside in the first round of this year’s County Cup. We have usually used the County Cup as an opportunity to give pitch time to players that have spent much of the season starting from the bench or have flirted with the fringes of the squad on a week to week basis. This week was no exception as some of our top performers this season were starting on the bench.

The team: Will, Ryan, Furno, Ross, Pod, Baynezy, Sean, Tom P, Joe, James R and Simon. On the bench Tom BL, Pete B, Jamie B and Jordy.

From the off it was Darkside who gained the upper hand. They were the livelier team, passed it better than us and created a couple of half chances early on. Our start was a mixed bag. There were times when we passed the ball round nicely, but too often a string of good passes would end with a silly mistake or someone dithering on the ball and getting caught in possession.

20 minutes in and it was a combination of Will’s heroic goalkeeping and Darkside’s villainous shooting that was keeping the scores level. We had one or two half chances but certainly not the sort of opportunity or build up that would make you stand up in your seat at a football match. Good work from Baynezy and Prycey was the highlight of the performance to that point.

We took a shock lead on about the 30 minute mark. A cross in from the right hand side evaded 3 Darkside defenders and fell to Pod. It was a clever finish, Steve swung his boot as if to smash it to the keepers right hand side, but at the last moment (and I don’t think you can teach this) he carefully angled his leg to skilfully guide it in with his shin and put it to the keepers left. Pictures HERE, HERE and HERE. 1-0 Oatlands

Although we were in the lead, there were numerous problems across the pitch and we looked like a team lacking leaders and people willing to take responsibility. Too often we stood off the ball in the challenge, failed to go and meet loose balls and too many players expected the game to come to them rather than getting stuck in and going and finding the game.

It was a break down our left hand side that culminated in the Darkside equaliser. For about the first time in the game, Ryan was beaten and the ball was crossed in low to their number 9 who couldn’t miss from 6 yards out. Picture HERE. 1-1.

At 1-1 Darkside were still the better team and at times they were simply going through our midfield and defence like a hot knife through butter and it took a number of good interventions at vital moments to keep the scores level. But shortly before half time more pressure from our opponents led to a tackle inside the box that was deemed to be a penalty. Darkside’s no.9 doubled his tally for the day with a penalty that was straight down the middle. 2-1 Darkside. Picture HERE

We went into half time 2-1 down and clearly struggling to get a foothold in the game, but Jim gave the players on the pitch the opportunity to redeem themselves and resisted the temptation to bring on the likes of Pete Butler.

The second half started badly and we were forced to make a change early on as Prycey pulled up lame with some form of injury. Both Tom BL and Jordy have been impressive in wide positions this season and it was Jordy who has missed a couple of recent games who got the nod.

10 minutes into the second half and Darkside were pretty much playing us off the park and with us offering literally nothing in an attacking sense it was only a matter of time until they scored their third goal. At 3-1 down, a lack of pitch time, particularly in midfield was now beginning to show as our back four became increasing exposed to and outnumbered the attacking force of Darkside.

With 20 minutes left we bought on Pete Butler and Sean made way. We also changed formation and put Ross in midfield, but it was a token gesture as our goose was well and truly cooked and our tired and frustrated players were now beginning to argue among themselves rather than helping out their team-mates.

Darkside’s 5 th goal deserves a mention. It was a beautifully crafted passing move from one end of the pitch to the other and a move that saw the ball shifted superbly from left to right. From the right hand side the ball was whipped in superbly and was met with a superb glancing header that left Will with absolutely no chance. It was the icing on the cake for Darkside who were well worthy of their victory.

Darkside made it 6-1 with the final kick of the game from the penalty spot and rounded off a thoroughly miserable day for OFC.

Overall it was a poor performance both on an individual and team level. On a positive note, some players that have not seen an a lot of action this year got 90 minutes on the pitch and will almost certainly improve with fitness and at least it wasn’t a league game. On the downside it is clear that attitude needs to change and rather than arguing with each other and blaming other people on the pitch when we make mistakes, we should be busting a gut to help each other out, taking responsibility and winning the ball back. The players that do this are likely to be the ones that find themselves starting most games going forward.

Baynezy got the man of the match for us. On numerous occasions he made vital interventions and never gave up despite the fact that many others already had. A mention has to go to Tom BL as well. He has arguably been our best player this year and bagged a hat-trick last week. This week his only contribution was running the line as an unused sub.

We have a week off next Saturday before we face Mytchett Rangers at home. They are usually a physical side, and beat us twice last year. A performance like the one on Saturday will certainly cost us more points.