Croydon v Sandhurst

Saturday 6 February 2010

Cherry Red Records Combined Counties Football League

Croydon FC (1) 1 (John Gladwin 44)

Sandhurst town FC (0) 5 (Dan Simmonds 47, Danny Wilde 53, John Palmer 55, Louis Hibbert 74, John Fisk 80)

Croydon were distinctly 2nd best in this encounter with Sandhurst and got the beating that their performance deserved, the fact that they were on the wrong end of a hotly disputed referring decision probably distracting from the paucity of their performance.

Hamstrung from the start missing 2 key players, Bronek Dabrowa through work commitments and Junior Gyimah due to suspension, it was always going to be an uphill struggle against a side sitting 4th in the division but Sandhurst were top when the Trams went to their place and they got 2-2 draw then and they arguably could have gone one better with the rub of the green.

It was a different matter in this match and only poor finishing stopped Croydon from going behind in the opening quarter of an hour when Sandhurst dominated proceedings but were inept in front of goal, they had their chances and Adrian Jones had his 1st shaky spell in goal for the Trams although it was only in conceding the academic 4th goal that any blame could be laid partially at his door.

Croydon improved a bit as the half wore on and began to compete, a loose clearance from Dan Tilson in the Sandhurst goal fell to an unmarked Rob Wingfield who tried to chip it back into goal, the idea was right but the execution was well wide of the mark.

In the 25th minute there was an incident that may have had a significant bearing on the result, Rob Hughes beat the Sandhurst offside trap and bore down on goal, a chasing defender had 3 plucks at his jersey before eventually wrestling Hughes down on the edge of the box, it was a definite professional foul and with Hughes one on one with keeper a clear goalscoring opportunity. To everyone’s amazement with a red card a certainty, the referee signalled a free kick and took no further action.

Although Croydon were poor throughout the match it should have been 10 versus 11 for 65 minutes and that might have made a difference.

The rest of the half was probably the most even part of the game, Jones made an excellent save to deny Louis Hibbert, whose run behind the defence smacked of offside and a great corner from Hughes set up Wingfield at the far post but he could only direct his header into Gilson’s hands.

Daniel Penfold did brilliantly well to block a Sandhurst shot on the line and then was involved in Corydon’s best spell of the match as he linked up with Danny Clayton and Wingfield, who threaded the ball through to Joseph Loyzu whose shot was brilliantly saved by Tilson.

When Croydon took the lead in the 44th minute it seemed that a miracle could be on the cards but the lead only lasted 3 minutes in the end. Hughes took another corner and Ollie Young got half a header on it, the ball fell loose to John Gladwin some way out and he lashed the ball over Tilson and into the net.

Croydon knew that they would have to weather the storm at the start of the d half but they capitulated within 10 minutes and the game was lost. It was just a succession of straightforward goals, the defence seemed to crumble and Sandhurst walked through to score, as if, at will.

The 1st after 47 minutes saw the ball drift across the face of goal to be picked up at the far post by Dan Simmonds, the expected challenge never materialised and he drove the ball into the net form a narrow angle.

After 53 minutes another bit of shoddy defending saw the ball end up with Danny Wilde who fired in the 2nd under no discernable pressure, although his shot did appear to take a deflection.

2 minutes later and the game was beyond the Trams, a cross from Sand Hurst’s best player Toby Jannaway flashed across the face of goal and an unmarked Jon Palmer tapped in.

Dickson Gill made a triple substitution in the 64th minute and their was a degree of improvement for a while but 10 minutes later Jones made a feeble attempt to stop Hibbert’s header and palmed it into the side of the net when he looked as if he had got a good hand to it.

10 minutes before time Sandhurst completed the rout when John Fisk popped up to score after more sloppy marking.

Croydon are scheduled to visit Chessington and Hook this Tuesday (9th), but as I write this it is snowing outside, so beware the game will probably be off. Then it’s away to Bedfont on Saturday. Watch out for low flying aircraft!

Croydon: Adrian Jones; Daniel Penfold; Craig Phelps; John Gladwin (Adrian Ma 64); Justin Hemmings; Ollie Young; Danny Clayton; Joseph Loyzu; Rob Wingfield (Michael Johnson 64); Rob Hughes; Joshua Fraser (Jensen Grant 64).

Subs not used: Lewis Goddard; Manny Djornor.

Simon Hawkins