SAM A ...PETE H...SONNY...FRASER...ANDY B...PETE B...ROSS(1)...MIKE,,,TED...TOM(1)...JIM(1)...POD...STEVE C... HARPS(1)

A bitterly cold 2 nd of February2008 and the mighty OFC were being entertained this week by Shottermill & Haslemere a team in freefall in the Guildford and Woking Alliance, who, rooted to the bottom of the table, certainly had a point to prove at home to a strong Oatlands squad, sitting 8 th in the league respectively.

The day began with the OFC squad congregating at the Flintgate pub, when at 12:30 sharp the Oatlands players downed their bacon sandwiches and extinguished their cigarettes to prepare for the long journey to Haslemere.

Once we arrived at the ground the Oatlands players looked focused, with Phil Barr, as always, trying to instil belief and confidence into the minds of the players before they crossed the white line to do battle.

The game began with some wayward passing, with both teams desperately trying to put a foot on the ball, a well constructed move from Haslemere in the midfield saw them break down the right flank, with their attacker getting in behind the of defence who hit a low first time shot straight into the hands of Sam Ahern.

This seemed to rattle Oatlands who were increasingly on the back foot for the first 10 minutes of the match.

Despite the constant threat to the OFC goal, Sam Ahern seemed to fill with confidence, commanding his area well and barking orders to his ten team mates in front of him.

Pete Hallam, Sonny, Fraser and Bainsy responded well to this and they seemed to rise in stature to overcome the mounting threat to the Oatlands goal.

With fifteen minutes played, the OFC midfield began to take control, with tireless running from Mikey, great communication from Ross and sublime skills from Ted & Pete Butler,Oatlands were now up and running.

With the back four and midfield now working in unison, the two front men came to life, with Tom (proving to be a superb signing) getting into some great positions, alongside Jim Beckram (Oatlands' Captain and wearing the legendary number 10 shirt) who's movement was excellent on and off the ball.

Oatlands' first chance of the game came in the 18 th minute when Pete Hallam played the ball out of his own area to Pete Butler, who in turn went on a mazy run down the left flank beating two men and played a neat one-two with Jim Beckram who managed to square the ball into the path of Tom, he then fired a shot towards goal but was denied by the post.

20 minutes gone and Sam Ahern has to storm off his line to try and narrow the angle of the goal for the Haslemere attacker, who is now one on one and inside the 18 yard box, Sam bravely dives down and manages to retrieve the ball getting badly injured in the process.

While Sam is receiving treatment with the ‘magic sponge' it transpires that Ted has to leave the field of play due to a bad collision in an earlier incident.

Phil Barr quickly makes the change, replacing Ted with Stevie (Scouse) Clarke on the right side of midfield, moving Mikey into the centre to try and give Oatlands that extra steel alongside ‘Iron man' Ross.

This worked well, with Oatlands winning every loose ball and now creating more and more chances.

Half an hour played and Oatlands have the upper hand with Mikey and Ross covering every blade of grass, the two youngsters Clarke and Pete wreaking havoc down the flanks, their job made easier by the excellent distribution from Bainsy and Pete Hallam who seemed to be rolling back the years.

Another Oatlands attack began, Ross received the ball from Clarky who then played the ball to Jim Beckram, Jim with his back to goal received the ball and turned on a six pence to lay the ball off to Pete Butler at the far post who had run 30 yards down the left wing in anticipation of receiving the ball, when the ball finally came he had the goal at his mercy, and hit a good low shot across the keeper but was denied by the Haslemere left back, well positioned on the goal line.

Haslemere cleared the ball and immediately formed an attack, with Oatlands still wondering how Pete didn't score, the ball was played inside to the Haslemere attacker 20 yards out on the edge of the box, with Sam off his line, the number 9 found a lucky bobble and managed to almost miss kick the ball over Sam and into the Oatlands net. (1-0 to Haslmere.)

This lucky goal, certainly against the run of play, left a bitter taste in the mouths of the travelling Oatlands supporters who were already having to deal with the bitter smell coming from Paul Watson.

With Oatlands one nil down away from home they could have been forgiven if there heads went down and lost interest but this lucky goal from Haslemere seem to give the Oatlands players exactly what they needed to find a goal before half time.

Oatlands determination paid of in the forty second minute when Pete Hallam picked the ball up deep in his won half after breaking down Haslemere attack.

With the ball at his feet, he burst into the mid field beating two men before laying the ball off to Jim Beckram, Jim, then played a neat one two with Pete Butler, and a great delivery into o the box found Tom at the far post who coolly slotted home from close range (1-1) and a great move by Oatlands.

Oatlands end the first half on top.

After an inspiring from Phil Barr, Chris Harper is told he is coming on in place of Pete Butler who has picked up an injury.

After running the line first half with no complaints and starting the game as substitute Chris finally gets his chance and warms up franticly on the side of the pitch holding on to the fence with one hand and swinging his leg in the air like a ballerina to warm up his hamstrings.

Chris Harper is an old school footballer who never shirks responsibility or a challenge.

A ”play him anywhere” type of player he certainly rose to the occasion on this cold February afternoon.

Oatlands started brightly and almost immediately, Jim Beckram threads a delicious ball through the heart of the Haslemere defence, as Chris Harper now finds himself one and one with the Haslemere keeper.

Unfortunately for Chris the ball took a strange bounce on the bobbly pitch and Chris struck wide.

Oatlands kept the pressure on with everyone fighting for one another, Sonny, who won a wincing tackle on the half way line breaks through the middle beating two men and comes close to scoring Oatlands second goal, with a powerful left foot drive just wide of the post.

15 minutes played saw Jim Beckram break free on the left flank and cut inside on his right foot, he unleashed a stinging low drive that came back of the post only for Chris “fox in the box” Harper to slot home the rebound (2-1 Oatlands).

Haslemere, to there credit, never gave up and with twenty minutes gone had a good opportunity to level the scores, when there number 7 chased down along ball that bounced just inside the Oatlands penalty area.

Sam Ahern made the decision to punch the ball out and fell directly to a Haslemere player who hit a first time shot low and hard towards the bottom corner, luckily for Oatlands Fraser was superbly positioned as if he read the situation before it happened and cleared of the line

As the game wore on, Oatlands looked more and more comfortable in every area of the pitch, Chris Harper, chasing his second goal of the match, found himself well positioned on the edge of the Haslemere box, receiving the ball from Ross in the air, Chris swivelled and struck the ball with venom.

Anyone not watching at this moment could be forgiven for thinking Chris came close to finding the net with his effort from the 'OOOOH' that Chris himself sent ringing around the Haslemere arena.

His shot in fact, flew twenty yards over the bar.

Half an hour gone and another steamrolling attack from Oatlands saw Ross use great vision to thread a magnificent through ball to Jim Beckram, now one on one with the keeper.

As you would expect from Jim, he made no mistake and coolly slotted the ball home in the bottom right hand corner with a fine left foot finish.

Second goal of the season for Oatlands all time top scorer.

With only 15 minutes left to play, Haslemere kept plugging away and got their reward when a long ball, from the mere defence bounced in the Oatlands penalty area, with Sam leaving the defence to deal with the loose ball, the Oatlands defenders went to sleep and the Haslemere attacker capitalised on these errors to slot the ball into the Oatlands net. (3-2)

Oatlands upped the pace, with Mikey running everywhere, battling tirelessly to keep possession and inspiring those around him.

Ross, who was also having a great game, broke again from midfield to mount another Oatlands attack, he found Tom with a decent ball just outside the box.

Tom, with great skill dug the ball out of the boggy pitch to fire a lovely shot on the turn that was heading for the top corner, unfortunately the Haslemere keeper made a great save and pushed the ball round the post.

Phil Barr, chainsmoking and frantically trying to come up with an answer on how to keep Oatlands in the lead, decided to stick with the 4-4-2 formation and decided also to take off Tom, who had given everything for his club.

Phil made his 3 rd substitution of the game bringing on Steve Sweeting.

Steve immediately stamped his authority on the game with flashes of his immense skill and vision, helping Oatlands with attack after attack.

Steve showed that he hasn't lost any of his flair, despite being a 'tad' overweight.

5 minutes left on the clock saw Oatlands give a mighty push to secure to secure the win, with 3 consecutive corners, Haslemere looked dead and buried.

The inevitable happened on 43 minutes when a shot fired into the Haslemere penalty area was handled in the box.

The referee (Mark Jordan), who had a quiet afternoon by managing the game well and letting the game flow, had no doubt in his mind but to award Oatlands a penalty kick.

‘Iron man' Ross stepped up and with a cool head, slotted the ball into the bottom left hand corner, a fine goal to cap a fine performance (4-2) to Oatlands and three points in the bag the mighty OFC who now climb into fifth place in the league.

A well-deserved man of the match goes to Mikey.

Thank you for all the supporters that made the long drive to Haslemere, much appreciated.

Match report by: Alex Sanz

The win today is dedicated to one of Oatlands' original hardcore supporters: Cuz- May he rest in peace