SAM...POD...HARPS...JARV...ROB H...WATSON(1)...PEEWEE...MIKE...STEWART...PHIL S...DJIMI(1)...DOM

Relegation threatened Oatlands had a week off the battle for Division 1 survival with a difficult cup tie at Premier division, Hambeldon (which is allegedly a nice place to visit during the summer)!

Hambeldon were currently 17 th places above Oatlands and had lost just once in their last 4 games and were sitting pretty in the premier division. Oatlands were still looking for their first competitive win of 2006 and this poor form was not helped by a lack of available players and like previous weeks Oatlands were struggling to field 11 players for the cup tie.

A lot has been said in the media (The Daily Flint) with regards to availability, injuries etc and it remains the single biggest concern for Chairman - Car Air Conditioning Mogul - Steve Gilliver. As a result of the shortage of players there were returns to the Oatlands squad for Phil Sweeting, Steve Sweeting as well as Paul Watson after lengthy lay offs. There were also welcome returns for Sam Ahern and Paul ‘I love Bognor' Robjohn. As a result the underdogs had to reshuffle and the line up was as follows:

The gaffer's team talk was succinct – go out there, enjoy yourselves, be positive, stick it up them and when you have done that, stick it up them some more – as they ain't going to like it!

The game started at frenetic pace and it was clear the younger Hambeldon side had the ability to get the ball down and play. Oatlands defended well early on against a side that was quick to break with two pacy forwards, one of which accidentally found himself on the floor after bumping into Harps twice.

The referee was clearly ‘it's a man's game' type of bloke so it seemed for a while you could tackle how you wanted as you as you were intent on breaking the opponent's legs and you could threaten your marker with little come back. Eventually, he calmed the game down (a bit) and some good football was played by both sides.

Oatlands looked organised and composed and started to gel. The centre midfield paring of Mike ‘I really shouldn't have worn that jacket and short combo' Taylor and Peewee were starting to get the better of their opponents giving opportunities for Spanglish and Stu to put the Hambeldon defence under pressure. Spanglish back from a long time was clearly up for the game and his positive and vocal nature seemed to put off the Hambeldon players.

Oatlands had created a couple of half chances with Spanglish pulling the strings whilst Stu ran his nuts off up front. The back four rarely looked trouble covered for each other when needed. The new duo of the two James's were working well down the left and little was getting past Rob and Dom down the right.

After about 25 minutes Oatlands composed but intimidatory (I would not say thuggish) style paid off. Gravy put the Hamdeldon defence under pressure after some good work down the right and this resulted in the Dons keeper making a poor clearance which Spanglish picked up and launched back into the unguarded net.

Superb finish from a player Oatlands have definitely missed.

Oatlands deserved their lead and were even more focussed than before but the young Don's side continued to press and the one individual piece of skill of the game came when the Hambeldon number 10 made Harps look old when his all in one Cruyff collect and turn put him clean through only for Sam to make an superb save at his near post!

Both sides continued to try and play football and exchanged thumping challenges but Oatlands were unlucky not to go into the break two up when a very harsh offside decision halted Stu Gravy's progress on goal.

At half time, the Gaffer half time team talk was ‘more of the same' and concentrate!!

Oatlands knew there was a chance for a big scalp and cup upset so started the second half brightly. Thankfully for Oatlands and the author of this report we were kicking downhill in the second half.

Ten minutes into the second half, it looked like Oatlands luck was going to change. A poor Hambeldon corner resulted in Spanglish trying to clear the ball and catching his studs in the turf and his knee went again. It was clear he could not continue and so was replaced by Phil whose own injuries have meant he has been out of action for a while.

Phil's introduction had a immediate impact was the youthful Don's defence unsure of how to cope with Phil's pace - sorry that's a lie - Phil's touch and awareness. Just over quarter of an hour into the second half saw a fantastic move from Oatlands nearly end in a goal. Good work down the left and great ball in from Jim saw Phil pull off the shoulder of his marker bearing down on goal, which ended is a cross shot that Stu was just unable to reach.

After a few more touches from Phil, he game was brought to a premature end with a pulled hamstring and with no subs left to play it was back's to the wall stuff for 10 man Oatlands.

As expected Hambeldon continued to press and Jarv covered well for an out of position Harps and Dom also made a couple of goal saving tackles. A mix up in the Oatlands defence, let in the small centre forward who one on one found the imposing frame of Sam too much and same pulled off another brilliant save as the young forward tried to go round him.

This buoyed Oatlands and appeared to knock Hambeldon and within a few minutes Oatlands broke down significant pressure from Stu led to Jim finishing well past a helpless goalkeeper. The possibility of a cup shock re-verberated around the dreary Surrey countryside and Oatlands continued to dig in.

To a man Oatlands put themselves on the line. The two centre midfielders never stop tracking their men and trying to support the now lone striker Stu. Jim was even using his head and Rob making some telling interceptions. Jarv, Sam and Dom remained solid with Steve looking as good as ever on his return and Harps even had the audacity to go on a run which rounded two Dons players before he realised he was not going outrun anyone and kicked it as far as he could! However, the most credit should go to Gravy – who worked harder than anyone on the pitch to keep Hambeldon under pressure giving them little space or time to create attacks.

The last 15 minutes seemed like hours and this was compounded by the fact, the only key Oatlands mistake resulted in Steve Sweeting accidentally nodding into his own goal. Ten minutes or so left and Oatlands had to hang on.

Whilst there were so nervy moments in those closing minutes, Oatlands coped well with the bombardment. The final four minutes ticked away very slowly and when final whistle blew there was elation for the Oatlands side. Some may say this celebration is unwarranted for the second round of the cup but this Oatlands side has not had much to celebrate this season and a premier division scalp meant the celebrations were well deserved.

I have not said too much about Hambeldon because the Oatlands performance warranted the praise.

However, the young side they have want to and play good football and are a good bunch of lads. There was no malice intended in the intimidation but a 32 year old is not going to do a 20 odd year old for speed so he has got to get the upper hand somehow, no matter how good a player he is. It happened to me as a player and hopefully they will learn from it.

They have a great set up, we enjoy playing them and we at Oatlands wish them the best of luck for the rest of the season.

Oatlands deserve the credit though. They fought for each other and fought some more. This was a true team effort with outstanding performances from everyone. It is hard to single out anyone, Stu- ran his socks off, the edition of Mike to the side makes a huge difference and it was good to see some players back into the fold performing better than could be expected.

For the Oatlands Management team it is frustrating – they and the team are aware of the ability and potential in the side but just cannot get it together consistently. Hopefully this will be the springboard to better things for the final games of the season and could also see a cup run for the Oatlands side.

There are some other things that should be mentioned. Massive thanks to Jordy who is turning out to be a better official than a player! Running the line is a thankless task but as a group of players our appreciation is sometimes not shown – however Jordy if you read this thanks – Jim will buy you a beer. Secondly – thank you to Greg – for coming to support when so many other things can be done on a Saturday. Lastly, thanks to Steve and Phil for not yet giving up – I know they have come close in recent weeks and this result is for them.

Onwards and upwards now and bring on Chilworth in the quarter final.
Come on the Mighty OFC.