SAM A ...JARV...SONNY...FRASER...ANDREW E...JIM...POD(1)...ROSS...STEVE C,,,HARPS...ROB...PETE H

Last week OFC secured a morale boosting victory against Milford and Witley and this week we were up against Mychett, a team against which we have a 100% record in our last 3 meetings and potentially another very good opportunity for 3 points.

The mounting long term injury list means that getting together a large squad is proving increasingly difficult and the long term injury list includes; Tim Furnival (knee ligaments), Elliot (dislocated shoulder), Gravy, (ankle ligaments), Jack (dislocated ankle / bail conditions), Ted (calf), Dom (ankle ligaments), Pete Butler (broken wrist). Other unavailability from our 30 man squad meant that come kick off on Saturday we were down to a bare squad of 12.

This week's squad; Sam in goal. Jarv, Sonny, Fraser, Andy at the back. Steve C, Ross, Pod and Djimi in midfield. Rob and Harps up front. Pete H on the bench. All in all there were only 3 players from the corresponding home fixture with Mychett.

Prior to kick off we looked very much up for the game and from the kick off we made a good start. Mychett were always going to be a fairly physical side, but despite this Pod and Ross found a fair bit of time in the centre of midfield in which to put their foot on the ball and use it wisely.

In the opening 10 minutes of the game we seemed to be in control. At the back Sonny and Fraser looked comfortable dealing with the wind assisted clearances from the opposition keeper and in the full back positions Andy and Jarv tidied up any threats coming from down the wings.

Up front we had our ultimate utility player Chris Harper and despite now being the wrong side of 30 (but looking much older), the OFC veteran used all his experience when playing up front and held the ball up well and ensured that we kept possession with a very high percentage of completed passes. Alongside Harps, Rob chased down hard on the defence and sought to get in positions where he could benefit from some of the headers that Harps was winning.

The windy conditions made life a little difficult for both teams when the ball was in the air, but with Ross and Pod in the centre, both of whom are more ball players than winners we played some nice football and it wasn't long before we were on the front foot and pressing the home side.

It was Djimi Beckram who had the first real chance on goal. The ball fell kindly to the OFC club captain in the centre of the penalty area and it looked like an excellent opportunity. Djimi got his shot off, but an excellent saving tackle saw it loop over the bar.

Although our attacking play was yet to really test the keeper we were creating pressure in the form of both corners and free kicks. It was from a direct free kick that the first test of the keeper came; unfortunately Ross's tame free kick was easily saved.

Our pressure led to a corner in about the 20 th minute of the game and with Pete Butler and Elliot out with injuries it was down to Djimi to put the ball in. From our left Djimi delivered a deep corner which was well met at the back post and put back to the penalty spot where Pod was waiting and finished coolly with a low finish for his second goal in as many games. 0-1 OFC.

Having gone 1-0 up we again looked reasonably comfortable and the main danger from the opposition came mainly from long clearances from the keeper, but again the defence and Sonny in particular either dealt with the long balls or had the turn of pace to recover from any difficult situations that arose.

As the game progressed towards half time things on the pitch began to get more physical and both teams wound each other up resulting in some off the ball shenanigans and a couple of yellow cards.

At half time we made a change bringing on Pete Hallam at left back for Andy. We knew Mychett would be wound up and would need to prepare ourselves for an onslaught in the second half.

We started the second half slowly and allowed Mychett to build some pressure of their own on the OFC goal. The pressure that we were experiencing was primarily of our own doing. Far too often we gave away silly free kick in our own half and allowed them the opportunity to get numbers forward. Thankfully we defended well and were generally able to clear the ball without needing to lean on Sam for assistance.

Having rode a brief storm at the beginning of the second half we began to exert some pressure of our own and again it was Djimi in the right place and the right time, but his shot was tame and didn't trouble the keeper.

Djimi then had another good opportunity 15 minutes into the second half, this time some good passing and build up play found him just inside the penalty area and although he caught the shot well, the keeper made a very good save to keep the score at 1-0. It was from the same incident that Mychett went on to get their equaliser. The keeper made a long clearance down field and for the first time in the game their striker got between our centre backs and was clean through, Sam came out to close him down but the shot was released early leaving Sam without a prayer of getting to it. 1-1.

Having got back into the game Mychett looked a bit nervous and had to defend for the next 5 minutes while we desperately sought to regain the lead. The pressure eased on Mychett when we suffered not one, but two injuries to Jim and to Rob Hunter. With our one and only sub used at half time we were forced to either play out the game with 9 men or with two cripples up front. The injury setback almost completely nullified any attacking threat from us and subsequently it was Mychett who started to run the game.

Things went from bad to worse 15 minutes from time when we conceded a needless penalty and the resulting spot kick squirmed under Sam to make it 2-1.

We tried to rally in order to get something out of the game but unfortunately like for much of the game already our decision making was extremely poor and far too often we held on to the ball and got dispossessed when others were screaming for a simple pass or we just kicked the ball straight to the opposition and put ourselves under more pressure.

As full time approached Mychett weren't subjected too much in the way of pressure or shots and held on for a victory.

Overall it was another bad day at the office. In the first half we had plenty of the ball and possession, but a feature of this season has been our inability to create chances and we probably didn't make the most of all the play we had. In the second half our attacking threat was compromised by a couple of injuries and a lack of available substitutes to replace them with, but far too often we gave the ball away cheaply and failed to do the basics right.

Next week we play Shepperton FB who are currently top of the league. Last year we beat them 3-2 at their place, but it will need to be a monumental effort by all concerned if we are going to get anything out of this year's fixture. Our injury list is huge at the moment so please make every effort to let Jim, Phil or Beater aware of your availability for next week ASAP.