SAM A ..JOHN...FRASER...HARPS...DOM...STEVE C...POD...TED...SAM C(1),,,JARV...ROB H...JIM...JORDIE...ANDY

After last weeks mini tear up in the league with Milford and Witley, it was the romance of the cup and an opportunity for giant killing this week as we faced unknown but high flying Brockham. A team who are currently 3rd in the Redhill and District Premier League.

This week there was an extensive injury and unavailability list which forced 7 changes to the starting line up and this meant that Harps, Dom, John, Sam C, Stevie C, Jarv and Rob all came back into the squad and Sonny, Ian, Mike, Jack, Els, Gravy and Pete were all out.

This week's team; Sam in goal. Dom, Harps, Fraser and Jon at the back. Stevie C, Pod, Ted and Sam C in midfield. Jarv and Rob up front. Jim, Jordy and Andy on the bench.

This week we had to make quite a substantial journey to Box Hill, but upon arrival we were greeted by a very nice set up at Brockham including a pitch that looked perfect for a game of football.

Brockham started the game and immediately it was obvious that this was going to be a very tough task. We were under pressure right from the start and it was only a very good stop from Sam that prevented Brockham opening the scoring in the first minutes of the game.

Brockham's pace and movement caused us no end of trouble during the opening 10 minutes of the game and subsequently they created chance after chance from a whole host of angles and situations and it was only our dogged defending and their misfortune in front of goal that kept the scores level.

Brockham eventually did get the breakthrough in about the 15 th minute of the game. After more attacking play down our left, they won another corner. This time the inswinging corner caused chaos in the OFC six yard box and it looked like the final touch came off an OFC player. 1-0 Brockham.

We were getting pulled apart by Brockham's movement up front and occasional 3 man centre midfield so Phil took the rather drastic step of going man to man when not in possession. This meant that rather than having a stable back line of four, we had Dom and John doing an out and out marking job on their strikers leaving Harps and Fraser spare.

The tactical change seemed to work well and we began to get a foothold in the game. Our best outlets again seemed to come from wide areas. In going forward Brockham were willing to commit their full backs into advanced positions and this meant that there were spaces in behind for Stevie C and Sam C to exploit if we broke down their attacks and reacted quickly.

We were afforded very little time in possession, but when our central midfield did get the ball they used it well and it was Steve Sweeting who created our first opportunity on goal. After combining well with Jarv, Steve threaded through a perfectly weighted through ball which scythed open the Brockham defence and Sam Campbell was again in the right place at the right time and despite a scuffed shot, it was enough to beat the keeper and register his 3rd goal of the season. 1-1.

After drawing level, we probably enjoyed our best spell of the match and Brockham looked rocked by the fact that they had let us in to the game. We were almost certainly at our best when we made the simple pass and talked to each other and for 15 minutes after the goal we played well, matching Brockham all over the pitch. It was more good football that involved a number of passes that led to an outstanding opportunity to take the lead. An excellent through ball from the defence sent Rob Hunter clean through, unfortunately the ball appeared to be trapped under his feet and as a result he didn't hit his shot as cleanly as he would have liked, but none the less it was a good piece of goal keeping that kept the scores level.

Having been let off the hook, Brockham stepped up a gear and shortly before half time, they once again took the lead. This time a break down the left resulted in a thunderbolt of a shot from the corner of the 18yard box and it was 2-1.

Going into half time we did well to contain the opposition and were still in a position to possible cause some form of unlikely cup upset.

At half time the message was simple. The forwards had to hold the ball up, the players Phil singled out had to be tracked and hounded when they were in possession and we had to move the ball quickly when we had possession.

Immediately after half time we were still in the game and giving as good as we got. But 5 minutes in the opposition made it 3-1 with a shot from distance that moved in the air and left Sam rooted to the spot.

At 3-1, the wind went out of our sails and we looked like we were probably going to have to accept the inevitable. Despite Phil's instructions at half time, we began to get caught dithering on the ball and the fourth goal came as a result of us giving the ball away cheaply in attack and then being caught on the break. 4-1.

In the 60 th minute of the game we made our first change of the game and bought on Jim Beckram for Sam Campbell. This was the sort of game you suspected might be suited to Jim as the referee was fairly happy to let things go as long as possession was retained and if the truth be told he was pretty much anonymous for most of the game which is never a bad thing.

In the 65 th minute of the game we made our second change of the game and bought on Jordy for Jim Beckram who pulled up with a recurrence of the thigh injury that has kept him out for so much of this season.

Despite being overrun for much of the game we weren't without our chances and we did create a number of half chances mainly from set pieces.

As the game wore on the Brockham passing and movement began to take its toll on the OFC team and it was very apparent that there were some very tired legs on the field. Almost unbelievably the player with who apparently had the most left in the tank was Jarv. Despite, picking up his 108th consecutive slight knock before the game, OFC legend Jarv was superb up front. He never gave up, constantly defended from the front, held the ball up well and did everything that was asked of him. Other commitments have limited his appearances this year but hopefully we'll see more of him on the pitch as the season progresses.

Unfortunately before full time the score did become 7-1, but had it not been for the efforts of the back four it would have been considerably more. All four defenders did everything they could and none of the goals that were conceded could be put down to individual mistakes. Dom and John were both asked to do a man marking job which they did tirelessly and never gave up on and Harps and Fraser who were spare, both had good games in which they cleared up well and used the ball wisely when in possession.

The game ended with a 7-1 defeat and us out of the cup in round one.

Overall it was a heavy defeat, but Brockham are in a much higher division than Oatlands and that's the lottery of the County Cup . Despite being outplayed for long periods, there was never any question of Oatlands giving up and we kept going until the end (even though some players were quite literally dead on their feet). What the game did give us was an excellent learning experience; many of our players are young lads and probably haven't come up against a team of that quality before. What Brockham did was very simple; they were all talking to each other when in possession and every time they passed the ball they were immediately moving into a position where they could get it back. If we can apply more that to our game we certainly have the individuals to help us do even better than last year. This week's man of the match was Jarv who put in a great all round performance and worked tirelessly up front and this weeks Donkey goes to Jordy who's only touch in the game was the worst bit of ball control you've ever seen.

Brockham were a good team to play against and we wish them all the best in the Cup and with the rest of their season.

Next week we are at home to Godalming . This is a new team to the league, but they are flying high in the league. Let's make sure that we get to training on Thursday and make sure we prepare properly for our next game.

A big thanks to Jack and Els who despite picking up injuries last week still came down to watch and to Zoe who is currently favourite for the OFC supporter of the year award.