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Samba took a break from league action and welcomed Central Midlands Premier Side FC05 to Burton Road for the 1st round of the FA Cup. Samba made two changes to the side that had convincingly beaten Gedling Southbank with Misouda and Rose and replacing Jones and Gamba in midfield.

FC05 knew they had dropped down a level when both sides were forced to change on the side of the pitch as the Council failed to turn up and open the changing rooms. Fortunately it was a bright, sunny day, made even more colourful by G.Taylor’s fluorescent yellow pants.

Thankfully for the Sandboys they started the actual match with a lot more class, passing the ball confidently in the opening exchanges and bossing possession. A high proportion of Samba’s moves came from playing short from the fullbacks, particularly Bassett at left back, with Rose, Gibbons and G.Taylor all heavily involved in linking the play. On occasions it felt like Samba hit G.Taylor too soon, in that at times he was a little isolated but the midfield five worked extremely hard to support at any opportunity. For all Samba’s good possession, clear cut chances were at a premium, with the best falling to Wilford those shot was saved from 8yds after a good Rose pass. Samba caused uncertainty in the FC05 penalty box from a well flighted free-kick and G.Taylor had a shot saved by the keeper but this was the limit of the goal scoring opportunities.

On the half hour mark C.Taylor picked up an injury, which forced the centre half off for several minutes and this affected Samba’s rhythm in the game and FC05 grew as a threat. There best chance came from a cross from the right which was hit first time from close range and forced a brilliant save from Nicholls. What enhanced the save further was his speed in getting up and clawing the ball away from the striker, who would have had a simple tap in. As it happened the offside flag had been raised so it would not have counted in any event.

As the half time whistle blew Samba reflected on a good performance but wondered whether they would rue not turning their first half dominance into goals.

Half Time: FC Samba 0 v 0 FC 05

With the sun still strong, and now in Samba’s eyes kicking up the pitch, the second half started with the game still deadlocked. FC05 had improved through the first half and they were the side that created the best chance of the game, early in the second half. The ball was played up in the air to the striker, who was tightly marked by Hawkins. A clever flick on exposed the Samba defence and the runner had a clear route to goal. Nicholls came out to narrow the opportunity, and although the angle was acute, the FC05 player steered the ball past Nicholls towards the goal. Every player held their breath but luckily for Samba the ball cannoned off the post and was cleared to safety.

Moments such as these can have a big affect on the game as very shortly afterwards Samba took the lead. Brewer, was constantly busy in midfield, threaded the ball through to G.Taylor and the pass was aided by a slight deflection of Gibbon’s shins. G.Taylor took the ball out of his feet and headed towards the box in the inside right channel. He finished low, with the confidence of a man who had scored 6 in his previous 3 appearances and Samba were in front.

As the match drew towards the final quarter, Samba were struggling to gain territory up the pitch and it seemed like they would need to defend for the final 20 minutes.

On the whole they did the job in outstanding fashion, particularly as a number of players had picked up minor knocks in the process. The defence was however breached on a couple of occasions, but Nicholls made two outstanding saves to deny FC05 when they seemed destined to equalise. Firstly Nicholls dived to his right to turn away a well placed header, then a few minutes later he rushed out to block the striker bravely at his feet.

These were the main chances and although the pressure was maintained until the final whistle, a succession of headers and blocks protected the Samba goal and gave them a notable and hard fought victory.