Croydon v Shoreham

Saturday 15 August 2009

FA Cup sponsored by E.on Extra Preliminary Road

Croydon FC (1) 2 (Rob Boddy 37 (og), Lelo Zim Zou 83)

Shoreham FC (3) 5 (Dean Smith 10, 39, Nick Fogden 23, Scott Marshall 89, Jimmy Beauchamp 90+7 (og))

Croydon’s FA cup dreams lay in tatters once again as they came of 2nd best against a pretty good Shoreham side that showed them no mercy.

Expectations were fairly low to start with. 2 emphatic defeats in the league were never going to give the Trams any degree of confidence going into this potentially money spinning match but the turnaround had to start somewhere and what better place.

Manager Mike Robbins shuffled his hand as best he could, bringing in Jamie Lawrence for namesake Jimmy Beauchamp at right back and introducing the burly Nana Agyei at centre back. Also getting his debut was Louis Clough wide on the left, pushing Aaron Agyeman inside. Clough didn’t last too long as he was sacrificed after 30 minutes for Beauchamp who was given the task of stiffening the midfield.

Croydon had a glorious chance to take the lead in the 3rd minute and maybe if they had snaffled it thing would have been different, keeper Chris Arnold punted the ball up field, Agyeman ran on and hit his shot first time with only the keeper to beat, unfortunately his effort flew wide.

The leaky Croydon defence then gave their spirited attackers no chance as they conceded in the 10th minute. Liam O’Brien could already have scored when he had the whole goal to aim at as he headed unmarked into Arnold’s arms from Richard Hudson’s cross. The goal came from similarly sloppy marking, Ryan Bradley was allowed to run unchecked towards goal and he slipped the ball out wide to Hudson who again crossed this time for Dean Smith who headed in unhindered from close range.

It was always going to be an uphill struggle from then on in and it got that little bit harder when a deepish free kick from the left by Hudson evaded everyone apart from Nick Fogden at the far post who headed past Arnold from what seemed an impossible angle. It appeared to be one the keeper should have kept out.

The Trams continued to flicker up front and indeed their goals return from this and the game against Chessington & Hook would have been sufficient to win if they could do anything other than resemble Swiss Cheese at the back. The danger this time came from the hard working Grant Cunningham, a revelation since he moved up from the back, he received a smart ball up the wing, held up his defender, turned and shot, Michael Hunter doing very well to tip the ball over.

Croydon’s 1st goal came from the resulting corner and just for a moment or 2 offered them hope. Steve McNamara hit an excellent in swinging corner in and Rob Boddy couldn’t deal with the problem, heading past Hunter with aplomb.

So much for the comeback, Croydon conceded a sloppy goal 2 minutes later to snuff out their hopes. Nick Fogden lumped a free kick forward from deep in his own half and there seemed no problem as the ball dropped in front of Dean Smith but he nabbed his 2nd of the game as his back header looped into goal past Arnold who was caught in no man’s land.

Arnold’s shot stopping credentials are not in question, and he made a particularly fine save to deny Smith, who again found himself unmarked from a right wing cross. And Arnold kept his side in the game once more in the middle of the half making a great stop at the foot of his far post.

With time running out, the Trams got into things again in the 83rd minute. Hunter made a sprawling save to deny substitute Jamie Marriott after brilliant work from Cunningham and in next phase of play Dan Westerman wriggled through and set up another Croydon sub – Lelo Zim Zou who crashed the ball into the net. Cunningham came excruciatingly close to getting an equaliser when a minute later his shot beat the keeper but dribbled just wide.

With Croydon pushing forward it wasn’t unforeseen that they might concede again, so there was no disgrace when the let in the 4th. Shoreham substitute Scott Marshall got his defender on the back foot, beat him and with no cover, moved forward and slotted coolly in.

It still wasn’t over, as Zim Zou bullied past his marker and unleashed a fierce shot the truly rattled the frame of the goal.

In the 7th minute of stoppage time, Shoreham were in again and Beauchamp had no option but to put through his own net as he endeavoured to clear a goal bound attempt of the line.

Defensively the Trams look all at sea, the keeper’s confidence must be rock bottom after letting in 12 goals in 8 days and the back for are suffering from unfamiliarity and a lack of support from midfield. There are bright spots, Tim Murdoch had a great came, working his socks off and trying hard to stop any rushes of blood to the head, Grant Cunningham leads the line very well up top and Aaron Agyeman scares everyone with his pace and commitment. Elsewhere Steve McNamara is becoming more influential and Jamie Marriott’s neat touches could make him an asset in the long run.

Croydon travel to Banstead on Tuesday for a 7.30 kick off against Epsom & Ewell and are at home again next Saturday when the face Bedfont.

Croydon: Chris Arnold; Jamie Lawrence; Steve McNamara; Richard White (Lelo Zim Zou 70); Nana Agyei; Sam Groombridge; Dan Westerman; Tim Murdoch (c); Louis Clough (Jimmy Beauchamp 30); Grant Cunningham; Aaron Agyeman (Jamie Marriott 56).

Subs not used: Rhod Davis; Leon Wallace; Craig Clarke (gk)

Simon Hawkins