Chessington & Hook United 3 vs 1 Croydon

However the New Year brought a much-needed win and a fine team performance, and if this level can be sustained for the remainder of this season we will be fine.

Our visitors, Croydon, had crept quietly into the top half of the table with a consistent run of results and were immediately busy in their approach. On the day though we matched that, and our own intensity probably caught our opponents by surprise as we competed for everything and worked tirelessly.

The breakthrough came after seven minutes when clever combination play between Burns and Buari saw the latter finish well with his left foot, after his initial shot was blocked.

We were certainly in the ascendancy but needed another goal to settle us completely and we had the chances. Buari again set free by Burns had his one on one opportunity saved by the goal keeper when he may have done better, and Heath twice with headers could have scored with White also shaving the post with one attempt.

Thankfully we were not made to pay, and in the thirty second minute we increased our lead. Jimmy Harding who was excellent throughout received the ball in the inside left channel and cleverly cut inside before hitting home a low right foot shot from the edge of the box.

The two goal cushion brought a huge sigh of relief and an expectation to push on for more goals, and Buari`s persistence nearly brought that goal when his own work resulted in a shot going narrowly wide. At the other end though Croydon were at the very least workmanlike and on occasions their tenacity troubled our back line. Thankfully their finishing left a little to be desired, and by and large our defenders most notably Dan Gurney were on the top of their game so we were able to deal with what was thrown at us.

Five minutes before the break though Croydon scored. Their tricky left-winger evaded the challenge of Zach Powell, before chipping to the far post where the header back into the centre of the goal was easily converted from a metre out by the unmarked Croydon centre forward.

At the break we had maintained our slender advantage but only just, as with almost the last attack of the half Michael Sharpe saved smartly when an equaliser looked certain.

The concern at the restart was that our confidence had taken a knock but we were back into our stride straight away. We weren’t quite carving out chance after chance but were back on the front foot and playing at a tempo that denied any foothold to the visitors.

The next goal was again all important, and when Burns ran clear ten minutes into the second half everyone expected him to finish but his initial shot was blocked by the goalkeeper and his follow up deflected away for a corner. Chance gone or so we thought, but Cole Bolts corner found its way via the head of a defender to Green, positioned beyond the back post and his volley found its way through a number of players to nestle in the back of the net.

Although it didn’t seem to be the case at the time this effectively ended the match as a contest, and without question we were guilty of not making absolutely sure of things during the following fifteen minutes or so.

Recognising that we didn’t need to chase the game and with pitch conditions decidedly heavy, we sat a little deeper, choosing to limit our forays into our opponents half in favour of being compact and behind the ball. This though if anything opened up space behind our opponents who saw our approach as their cue to be more offensive, and further one on one chances for Burns and Green should have been taken.

The fact that they weren’t, kept the game in the balance. Croydon had their moments but defensively we stayed strong, and Sharpe in the Chessington goal wasn’t overly worked. But when you are without a win for several games you remain unsure of seeing the game through.

As the players of both sides’ tired three Chessington changes were made in the final fifteen minutes, and although this wasn’t the type of game where coming off the bench was easy they all acquitted themselves well and contributed to getting us over the line.