Arnold Longbow — Sat 31 Jan 2009

Match report

Half time: 0 – 2

Samba took on local rivals Arnold Longbow looking to arrest an alarming slump in form that has become all too familar at this stage of the season. In mitigation Samba have suffered awful injury problems and for this game had no less than eleven members of their squad either injured or unavailable. Samba reverted to 4-4-2 with Elton making his first start since the opening day of the season and Bassett returning at left back after a three game lay off. Andy Smith made his first appearance for the Saturday side in goal. The opening five minutes saw Samba struggle to get to grips with Longbow, in what was challenging conditions, with a strong wind and a muddy awkward pitch. Although brighter Longbow didn't create any real chances in the opening period and slowly Samba started to compete. At times it wasn't pretty and there were a number of last ditch tackles but Samba appeared relatively comfortable. Just as Samba were getting a foothold in the match, Longbow took the lead. The goal had a significant element of fortune to it, with a shot from 20 yds being tipped onto the bar by Smith. The combination of spin on the ball and the wind took the ball over the line before Smith could recover and Samba were a goal down. From that moment Samba had their best spell in the match. Whilst the football wasn't always fluid. Samba were playing higher up the pitch and on a number of occasions the final ball or shot let Samba down. The best passing move of the game saw Samba switch the play from left to right and the cross nearly found a sliding Ballard but the keeper intercepted just in time. Confidence was growing although Longbow always looked likely on the break. Unfortunately for Samba this was their undoing as a few mnutes before half-time Longbow doubled their lead. Samba lost possession down their right and the ball was quickly played some the top and just above C.Taylor's reach. If the pass was good the finish was exquiste, with the striker hitting a first time shot which left the keeper no chance. Given Samba's distinct lack of goals in recent weeks it was a tall order to come back from 2-0 down.

The half time team talk mainly concentrated on the positives of the first half and it was plain to see that the next goal would be crucial. Within two minutes of the restart Samba had made sure that the game was over, gifting Longbow a third goal. Whilst the first two goals could have been defended better, the third goal was abysmal, with Longbow walking through the defence before playing in the forward to slot home for 3-0. For 10 minutes or so you feared that a hammering was on the agenda as Samba couldn't lift themselves to adequately compete with Longbow. Thankfully they weathered the storm and just like in the first half came back into the match to create some opportunities of their own. Brunt was unlucky with a shot, that was well saved after charging through the midfield and both C.Taylor and in particular Holloway had good chances with headers. Longbow still looked capable of adding to their tally though and Smith excelled on more than one occasion to keep the score at the three. The game faded as a contest towards the end of the match with both teams showing that the outcome had an air of inevitably about it at 3-0. To be fair Samba were down to the barebones and had shown good spirit for spells in the game. However, there was no denying that Longbow deserved the win for having a better cutting edge.