SAM A ...PETE H...TED...FURNO...ANDY B...STEW...ROSS(1)...POD,,,STEVE C...JIM(1)...JARV...DOM...2-GUN(1)...JACK

Oatlands were up against Staines Lammas this week in a vital league game. With some very tough fixtures to come, this would be our last match against a team not in the top four and it was therefore a must win.

Preparation for the game was somewhat hampered this week with several regulars not available in the form of Sonny, Fraser, Mike, Pete, Harps, Andy and Tom to name a few. But, it did provide an opportunity for players who have not played much this season to get a run out and challenge for the absent players places. There was also a return to the team for Furno who has been out for most of the season following a cruciate ligament replacement.

This week's team; Sam in goal. Pete H, Furno, Ted and Bainsey in defence. Midfield consisted of Stew, Pod, Ross and Steve. Jim and Jarv up top. On the bench were 2-Gun, Jack and Dom.

The game kicked off with us playing into the sun and from the off, it was Staines who took control and passed it round nicely to each other leaving us to chase shadows on a fairly heavy looking and large pitch.

In the opening passages of play we seemed lethargic all over the pitch and far too often it was a Staines player picking the ball up in midfield unchallenged and being allowed the time to control it and make a simple pass. Subsequently there was quite a bit of pressure on the untested central defensive partnership which was initially dealt with well by Ted and Furno.

Our lacklustre start was punished after just 5 minutes and a terrible defensive mix up led to the first goal. A soft cross from the Staines left appeared to be going harmlessly into the box and around the penalty spot. Furno was well placed to make a simple clearance but got the shout of “keepers!” from Sam. As instructed, Furno simply ducked under the ball to let it through, but was unaware of the striker looking to pick up any scraps. The striker nipped in well before Sam got there and scored from a tightish angle. 1-0 Staines .

The early goal should have given us a kick up the arse, but following the goal there were no signs of an Oatlands rival. Our problems were lying in our inability to get the basics right. From the centre of midfield we had many opportunities to play a simple ball to another Oatlands player but went for the killer ball to Jarv or Jim over the top, held on to the ball for too long or we simply just gave it away to the opposition.

Staines doubled their lead after ten minutes. More chaos in the box resulted in the six Oatlands players failing to pick up the 2 Staines strikers and a soft cross across the face of goal was again converted by Staines.2-0.

At 2-0 down some urgency and desire seemed to inject itself into our game and we pushed Staines firmly onto the back foot.

Ross was the first to give the Staines keeper something to do and after a trip occurred just outside the penalty area, his free kick forced a good save out of the small but agile Staines keeper.

After 15 minutes Jarv had a golden opportunity to make it 2-1. About our only decent bit of build up play in the 15 minutes resulted in Jarv being put clean through from Jim Beckram, but probably due to the fact that it was his first touch of the game Jarv failed to test the keeper and the ball went wide of the keeper's right hand post.

We were putting the pressure on to Staines but still not playing anywhere near the standards we have achieved in recent weeks. One of our main threats over recent weeks has been down the flanks and the link up play between full backs and our wide players, but Saturday's game was full of misplaced passes as we tried to attack the flanks that inevitably forced Furno and Ted to have to provide good cover as our attacks broke down and Staines countered.

As we progressed towards the 30 minute mark in the game Steve Clarke and Jim both forced good saves out the Staines keeper but on the half hour mark we were presented with our best opportunity of the game. Bainsy picked the ball up on the edge of the area and beat a couple of players to advance into the box. He was forced across the box by the number of bodies in front of the goal but was tripped in the process. The referee awarded us a penalty.

Ross stepped up and drilled the ball to the keeper's right. 2-1 Staines .

Despite now having something to build on, the next 15 minutes were dreadful to watch. The ball spent most of the time in the air and the second touch for both teams was usually a tackle. Staines shot wide a couple of times but didn't look as though they would be troubling Sam again before half time.

Unfortunately we were to be proved wrong. On the stroke of half time, Staines gained possession down our left and with no obvious pass or crossing option on, the player in possession released a speculative shot from near the touch line. From Sam's perspective the ball almost certainly got lost in the sun and 2-1 was now 3-1 on the stroke of halftime.

We desperately needed to score first in the second half to stand any chance of gaining something out of the match. We made one change in the break and put Jack on for Steve Clarke on the right. We would be looking to Jack to provide us pace down the right and whip some balls in for our strikers.

The opening 10 minutes of the second half offered little in the way of encouragement for the Oatlands cause. As in the first half possession was often wasted by us and far too often we were second best to headers and 50/50 challenges. Up front Jim and Jarv barely got a kick. Staines on the other hand, despite not being individually superior to us just kept their game very simple. As soon as they got the ball they simply made space for each other and made five and ten yard passes.

Staines grabbed a fourth 10 minutes into the second half. A long ball down the centre, in which there striker got to the ball first and went round Sam. 4-1.

We made our second change not long after the goal. It was looking increasingly likely that Jarv would be picking up his 5th card in as many matches which would result in a ban, so Phil was left with little choice but to bring on 2-Gun up front for his first appearance in 13 matches.

Our efforts were summed up 5 minutes after Staines scored their fourth. Gravy who worked tirelessly all afternoon was sent clean through and just had the keeper to beat. Clearly, Gravy favours his right foot and just when it looked perfect to pull the trigger with the left boot he did a full 360 spin to try and set it up on the right, giving the chasing defender the opportunity to rob the ball back. A bad mistake, but you certainly couldn't question Gravy's commitment to the cause.

At 4-1 up and playing well, you could sense that Staines were confident and as such it looked as though their high back line might find itself exposed to the pace of someone like Jack. Also with Staines not having picked up a victory in a while, a goal to us might just rock them and hopefully trigger the sort of collapse you might associate with Tottenham Hotspur or England tail end.

Djimi who has put in some very solid performances of late and has re-discovered the scoring touch that once saw him signing off his emails with “Striker” was heavily involved in Oatlands 2nd goal. Some decent play down the OFC left resulted in Djimi receiving the ball. His through ball looked awkward for 2-Gun to control, but our make-shift forward controlled it well on the chest, bought it down and finished superbly with a shot that was a slide rule finish under the advancing keeper. 4-2.

With 25 minutes left on the clock there was still plenty of time get further goals and press for an equaliser.

I don't know whether it was because we had a number of players missing and were failing to gel, but we continued to battle ourselves more than the opposition and it would be fair to say throughout the match it was difficult to remember OFC stringing more than 3 passes together and it was clear that frustration was beginning to get the better of us. As the clock wore down and we approached the last 10 minutes of the game Staines inevitably began to slow things down and wasted quite a bit of time, particularly in fetching the ball for goal kicks and deadball situations. This clearly rubbed us up the wrong way and resulted in a lot of frustration being unleashed on the referee.

With not more than a minute on the clock we got a third. This was without any question the finest moment of the game from our perspective. The ball broke down for Staines on the edge of the OFC penalty box. I think it was Bainsy who subsequently collected the ball and rolled it into midfield. From midfield the ball was played out wide right for Jack to run on to. Using his pace, Jack was past the Staines left back, got into a superb crossing position and whipped in a great ball. Like a man possessed Bainsy had made an awesome run from the back overtaking our midfield and 2-Gun to get into the box and on the end of anything coming in. Unfortunately for Bainsy his efforts came to nothing as Djimi bullied him out the way to get on to the end of Jacks cross. Djimi controlled the ball well but the shot would have to be left footed. Unlike most training sessions Djimi caught the ball perfectly and smashed it past the keeper. Great goal. 4-3.

Unfortunately there was not enough time for us to press for an equaliser as the ref blew the whistle about 30 seconds after Djimi's goal.

Overall Staines deserved the victory; they wanted it more and outplayed us in virtually all departments. From our perspective we didn't get the basics right and we conceded some very poor goals.

On the plus side it was great to see Furno back in the team after such a long absence and if there was any doubt concerning his commitment to challenges, they were quickly erased with a crunching tackle midway through the second half. It was also great to see Jack back in action and despite a series of injuries; he seems to have lost none of his pace.

Next week is a critical game for OFC as we take on Shottermill and Haslemere in the League Cup Quarter Final. We are more than capable of winning this game, but we need to improve our performance dramatically from Saturdays efforts.

Big thanks to all the OFC supporters who made it to the game to cheer on the lads