Good win against Colliers Wood

There were no fewer than three changes to the starting eleven and one on the bench from the midweek win at Banstead, presumably in attempt to keep the side fresh for the demanding end of season programme.

On a reasonable surface the side started well with some neat inter play opening up the Colliers Wood defence with ease. It seemed as if it was only a matter of time before the opening goal as our visitors struggled to deal with a series of crosses from Weir and Todd, that just failed to reach their intended target.

Then as always seems to happen in football a rare attack by Colliers Wood after 9 minutes saw a goal scored from nothing. In fairness whilst the striker’s shot was reasonable, it was more to do with Mark Daniels losing his footing at the crucial moment. The first goal we had conceded since the cup game at Godalming.

If a quick response was needed then to equalise straight from the kick off without an opponent touching the ball and timed at fifteen seconds is pretty good. Andrew Weir supplying the perfect cross for Reece Jackson to convert. With the initiative firmly back with us we took the lead just five minutes later when Adam Cheadle was tripped in the box for a penalty to be rightly awarded. Malik Buari claiming ownership of the ball from the usual taker to confidently slot home. It should have been comfortable given our early dominance but perhaps as a result of this, laziness crept into our play particularly when Colliers Wood had the ball, which invited unnecessary pressure onto our defenders. The fact that they were able to deal with this comfortably somehow was not the point.

The second half proved a bit better in this regard, as with us playing with more energy and honesty at times, the game almost totally was played in the Colliers Wood half. Any lingering worries about the result were dispelled just after the hour, when a free kick from a full forty yards was driven home by Andrew Weir whose effort deceived the goalkeeper much to the amazement of the crowd. With the points now secure we again started to play some decent football and looked likely to score each time we went forward. The usual changes were made to rotate the playing staff and the fresh legs served only to drive us on further.

A fourth duly arrived from the returning Daryl Swaby who had replaced Reece Jackson just minutes earlier when he rounded the keeper and confidently slotted home to ensure that we matched our highest win of the season.