2's SURRENDER UNBEATEN RUN AFTER 28 GAMES.....

On the 9th of March 2013 Ashford 3's came to College Meadow and won 2-1. Since that day the 2nd XI had played 27 league games, won 23 of those, drawn 4 and lost 0 in a run that lasted over 3 seasons. In that time the boys had scored 114 goals and amassed a total of 73 points from the previous 81 available. It was a great shame then that the boys had to lose their run to a 1st XI. SV had 'made' their way down to Kent Div 1 on the back of some strange goings on at the end of last season that saw 7 of their team suspended and the 1st XI folding out of the South Prem. So, even though their 2nd XI was relegated out of the league above, they turned up with a better side than they could ever have dreamed of having in this league this year........also, on the back of 12-1 win against Old Wills the week before they were in buoyant mood. Only time will tell if they are far too strong for this league but 18 goals in 2 games suggests they might do ok this year.

All that said, the boys put up an exceptional fight and the effort levels were superb. But for individual errors both up front and at the back the game could and should have been a different story. The opening 20 minutes were tight with both sides having plenty of possession when Michael Wickenden broke free down the right, sprinted into the D and rifled a shot across the keeper, 1-0. 37 seconds later and without BOE touching the ball 1-1........HOW!!!!! 5 minutes after that we gave away a sloppy ball on the right, conceded a short and from the resulting corner we found ourselves 2-1 down. BOE needed to react and after nicking a ball in midfield, Heath won a stroke after a fairly reckless challenge in the D and Edd Thorogood slotted the pen 2-2 and the game had become very open. Just to keep up with the rest of the 1st half BOE would give the ball away again and SV played some delightful hockey to make it 3-2 at half time. 20 goalless minutes followed by 5 goals in 15 minutes.......wow.

The second half was much the same as the first half with SV keeping it tight early and giving nothing away, it was good to see Luke Kellaher return from a knee injury to bolster the BOE midfield, and before long BOE had hit the post, failed with a neat move down the right and fired over with a lose ball in the D, eventually the ball would run free and Richard Archiebald would find the net 3-3 and game on. If the SV pressure was too much for BOE then the home side showed it as in the space of 15 minutes 2 misplaced passes and a silly short corner were punished, SV scoring 3 from 3 strikes on goal, all or which were near impossible for Jason Loveless to save in BOE goal. 3 good chances to make it 5-3 to BOE wasted and 3 balls given away in critical areas and suddenly that potential win was out of our grasp. 6-3 the final score, SV were clinical, we were not. You cannot fault the effort of the boys however if we want to challenge at the top of this league we need to eradicate the mistakes and be more clinical in front of goal.

A very good test for the lads and the lessons learned should hold us in a good place for the rest of the season.