7th
February 2010 @ 10:30 County Cup 3rd
round
Having set off at the
crack of dawn to make the longest county cup trip in the clubs
history, Lombard arrived at a cold, wet & miserable park in
Margate to play Strokes F.C. Lombard knew very little about the
seasiders but what they did know was that this side were a decent
outfit having won back to back promotions and were currently top of
their league.
The team news was as bad
as it possibly could be not only were Myles, Jim Bryant, Dan Black,
Alex Lightfoot, Will Justice & Dan Black all unavailable. Liam
then pulled out on the morning of the game and the majority of
those available had been out celebrating Myles's party until five
in the morning!!! On top of this Bill and Ant were both forced to
play through the pain barrier to ensure we started with eleven on
the pitch.
First
Half
--- 4-5-1
---
Dave Barnett
Stu
Frost Bill
Beaumont Matt Luck Jim
Anderson
Sam
Harding Ant Frost
(c) Matt
Godbeer Charlie
Justice
Nick
Mews
James
Bell
Sub(s):
none.
Scorer(s): none.
Strokes started the game
in top gear and kept Lombard pinned in there own
half for much of the first half. However Lombard did have chances
mainly from set plays when firstly James and then Sam went close to
opening the score line.
However having got over
the early pressure Lombard then un-usualy conceeded from a set
play. Although there was more than a hint of a push on the Lombard
player the Strokes forward headed home inside the six yard
box.
One soon became two when
Lombard were caught out on the counter attack. With many players
caught ahead of the ball Strokes broke and to be fair took full
advantage to take a strong lead into the
break.
---
Half-time: Strokes F.C 2 - 0 Lombard Phoenix
F.C ---
Second
Half
--- 4-4-2
---
Dave Barnett
Stu
Frost Bill
Beaumont Matt Luck Jim
Anderson
Nick
Mews Ant Frost(c) Matt
Godbeer Charlie
Justice
James Bell Sam
Harding
Sub(s): none
Scorer(s): Anderson(Harding)
Lombard knew they hadn't
performed in the first period and set about getting themselves back
in to the game and it was now there turn to pin Strokes back in to
their own half.
The pressure finally told
with 20 minutes to play when Sam's knock back found Jim 25 yards
out from goal. Jim then took the ball under control and hit a firm
low drive which seemed to catch the keeper out as it fizzed past
his outstretched arm.
Lombard now threw the
kitchen sink at Strokes and Matt had two glorious chances to bring
Lombard level but hit both efforts wide.
Then against the run of
play a mix up between Jim and Dave in the Lombard goal let the
Strokes forward in on goal and he had the simpilest of tasks to tap
in to an empty net.
Strokes then added shine
to the result with a further two goals in the last five
minutes.
--- Full-time: Strokes
F.C 5 - 1 Lombard Phoenix
F.C ---
Managers
Comment's
Firstly, I would like to
thank everyone of you for making the long trip to Margate
especially after the night before! I thought that after a shaky
start we got into the game and the scoreline more than flatterd
Strokes and had we had a couple of subs we could have driven on in
the last 10 minutes to force extra time. Secondly, I must thank
captain Ant and vice captain Bill for putting their bodies on the
line as they always do to ensure we had a team to put out at
all.
Lastly, if we were going
to lose any game I would have chosen this one as our focus must be
on the League and the Jack Standen cup, so no need to dwell on this
result the sooner we get this out of our system the better. See you
all at training.
Special
Mention
Today's thanks goes to
Mark and the team from Strokes. They played the game in the right
spirit from start to finish and then were excellent host's after
the game. Thanks alot lads and good luck for the rest of the
competition.
Thanks also to Tig who
camed down and ran the line for us to avoid us paying a fine!
cheers mate.
Men of the
Match
There was not much to
choose between 4 or 5 players today and that was reflected in
the spread of the votes which resulted in a three way tie between
Jim Anderson, James Bell & Matt
Godbeer.