GEOFF...2-GUN...FURNO...TOM...JARV...ELLIOT...PEEWEE...ROSS...MIKE...JIM B...STEW...HAMISH...HARPS... JACK

After 4 consecutive victories against lower league opposition (with the exception of Staines Lammas), this Saturday OFC turned their attention to top of the table Pirbright. Last time out it was a closely fought affair in which Pirbright came out on top due to a last minutes defensive mix up. This week we were keen to make amends for this and seize the opportunity to go 2nd in the table.

The weather ruled out training this week, which was not ideal preparation, but none the less we were still able to take a squad of players that were more than capable of winning this match. The only change to this weeks squad was the swap of Sam for Rob Hunter.

The team: Geoff, Jarv, Tom, Furno, 2-Gun, Jim, PeeWee, Ross, Mike, Stu, Harps. On the bench Sam, Hamish, Elliot and Jack.

Despite the terrible recent weather conditions it has to be said that the Stoke Recreation Park pitch was in absolutely superb condition and despite being extremely narrow you couldn’t have asked for better conditions to pass the ball.

It was Pirbright who got the game started and immediately exerted pressure on the OFC goal. Sluggish starts have been a feature of recent OFC fixtures and subsequently we have had to come from behind to win in our last 3 matches, but this weeks opposition were clearly of a much higher standard than our last 2 opponents and would probably be a much tougher nut to crack if we had to come from behind again.

For the first 10 minutes of the game we looked very much out of sorts. This appeared to be partly down to our own shortcomings and partly to do with the pressure exerted on us by a very good pair of strikers. Up front for Pirbright they had 2 very strong strikers and in particular the no.7 was a very hard working and intelligent player. We struggled from the start to get to grips with this and far too often we were needlessly caught either dithering or carelessly trying to dribble the ball out of defence and take on their strikers.

It was on 10 minutes that we conceded. I don’t like to criticise the team but it has to be said that it was a sloppy goal. They got a throw and took it quickly, using the wind to chuck it down the line, we weren’t organised quickly enough and Pirbright had all the time in the world to put in a cross. The ball went across our box and we just seemed to leave it. Their striker nicked in at the back post unchallenged and scored from a tight angle. 1-0 to the home team.

Things went from bad to worse in the next 15 minutes. Despite the excellent playing surface we were poor in possession and struggled to retain possession, there were occasions when we got the ball up front held it up and then put the ball behind our midfielders who were trying to support which resulted in a break down in our momentum and counter attack down the other end. Thankfully a combination of some good goalkeeping in blustery conditions from Geoff and some wasteful finishing by Pirbright kept us in the game up until the 20 minute mark, but we couldn’t hold out for long.

Our bad day at the office continued especially when defending our own net.
This seemed to be incited buy the fact that their throw into the box was probably about as devastating as a corner and there were many opportunities for Pirbright to send numbers into the box. Because we were already struggling to organise at the back we appeared to be guilty of probably putting too many of our own bodies in the 18 yard box to defend the net, subsequently some of our clearances ricocheted off our own players back towards our own goal and it was carnage at the back. The second goal came from another cross and again despite having numbers at the back our marking was poor and a player at the back post had too much time and put a well directed header beyond Geoff out stretched right hand. 2-0 Pirbright.

Having been given a 2-0 deficit to overcome we began to pick things up a bit. For the opening 25 minutes of the game we had struggled to put 3 passes together along the floor, but as soon as we did we were able to cause trouble for the back line of Pirbright and Jim Beckram found himself with quite a bit of time and space out on the left, he subsequently put in some nice balls for our strikers to latch on to but unfortunately it looked like it wasn’t going to be our day in front of goal as a couple of good crosses just struggled to find an OFC player.

The balance of the game seemed to shift in our favour for the last 15 minutes of the first half mainly as a result of our midfield winning a higher percentages of the challenges they were contesting and we did mange to push the opposition back in to their own half and created some half chances. Jim Beckram came closest, hitting the side netting, but really we gave their keeper very little to do. We came in at half time quite fortunate to only be 2-0 down.

The reason for us being down at half time was primarily our own fault, poor marking and passing were the main problems and despite the fact that the front pairing of Pirbright were very dangerous you felt that if we were able to get on our game we should be able to comfortably reduce the deficit in the second half.

Half time basically revolved around marking and passing and the need to start doing these things. We also had to swap Mike for Jack on the right hand side due to injury.

For us the start of the second half set the tone for the rest of the game.
Jacks first touch was to sprint past his marker and bear down on goal. But at the key moment and when the shot was on, Jack swung but all he connected with was fresh air and the chance was gone.

The first 10 minutes of the second half were fairly evenly balanced and played mainly in midfield, you felt that for us to get back into the game our attacks needed to consist of more than a shot from distance or a ball through the middle. Really, we needed to get Jack and Elliot involved from a more attacking perspective or construct attacks that allowed us to get numbers forward.

We took another blow 15 minutes into the second half, this time more carnage and loose marking resulted in a ball at the feet of a Pirbright player in our 18 yard box. With still a lot of work to do the striker skilfully avoided a challenge and finished well to Geoff’s left. 3-0 to the home team.

From the sideline it looked like Pirbright took their foot off the gas after the 3rd goal and looked like they were content to consolidate the lead and subsequently they left their strikers in a more isolated position while the midfield prioritised cutting off any threat from our attack. After conceding the 3rd goal we enjoyed the lions share of possession and looked to press Pirbright back into their own half. Despite the increased possession, we still lacked the fluidity of many of our games this season, I don’t know whether it was down to the relative narrowness of the pitch but when we got the ball down in midfield we all seemed to be on top of each other and subsequently we seemed to be constantly digging the ball from out under our feet and breaking up our own attacks.

I don’t want to sound as if this is just a report that endlessly criticises our team and players but the bad day at the office theme continued deep into the second half and even on deadballs we struggled, rushing corners before players had the opportunity to get into the box and rushing free kicks that subsequently resulted in shots going high and wide.

With 10 minutes left and with the game out of reach. We probably had the most positive moment of the afternoon. Hamish, who has patiently waited on the substitutes bench and not got a run out since the Lightwater home game was finally given an opportunity to play and extended part in a game. Having to chase the game, Phil threw 3 up top; Djimi, Gravy and Hamish. Despite his relative inexperience and lack of years everyone on the side felt that Hamish linked well with other players in the team, made some good runs into space and showed composure beyond his age and experience and will almost certainly be pushing for more regular appearances towards the back end of this season.

The referee drew the game to a close and Pirbright had ended our succession of league victories.

Overall it was just one of those days where we never really got going, I don’t think that there will be any inquests and no individuals were at fault. Our defeat wasn’t entirely down to us, Pirbright were a good side, who were well organised in all departments, wanted it a bit more than us and deserved the points. So good luck to them for the rest of the season. We need to get focused again and make sure that we get down to training. We are still very much in the hunt for promotion and we need to make sure that we don’t let one poor performance effect us. Next week we play Guildford City Weysiders at home who have lost their last three games and as such they will be very much up for putting things right against a higher placed team, so lets make sure that we treat this game in same way we would prepare for a game against the top of the league and give them the respect they deserve.

A big thanks to those that braved it on the sidelines this week, you support is always appreciated and we will hope to see you next week.