Gedling Southbank A — Sat 30 Oct 2010

Match report

Half time: 0 – 0

Following a 3-3 draw against Ashland the previous week, Gibbons opted to change formation for the away game at Gedling Southbank, and lined up 352 in an attempt to take the game to the opposition. Francis, Gibbons and Misiuda all came into the starting line up, in place of Tuxford, Wilford and G.Taylor. With injuries and unavailability ravaging the squad, Letford, Altman and M.Gamba made up the bench for what would be their first appearances for the first team. After winning the toss, stand in captain Brewer elected to kick up the (slight) slope. The start of the game was scrappy with neither side able to retain the ball for more than a few passes, but it was the home side who settled quicker and earned a succession of set pieces (largely because the referee appeared to have his whistle permanently glued to his lips!). Fortunately, the Sandboys defence showed a steely determination not to concede - a welcome sight after several weeks of vulnerability. Gamba and Dollochin picked up early injuries, and the constant stop/start approach taken by the ref for both sides resulted in a frustrating opening half an hour. Samba slowly improved as the half wore on, but remained far from their best. At wing back, Gibbons was having some joy down the left and combined with Francis to good effect. And it was the ginger Samba forward who went closest for the yellow and blues after a clever jink and rasping shot from 25 yards brought the best out of the Southbank No.1. However, Southbank were also creating a few half chances and more importantly were beginning to control the midfield battle. Midway through the half, the Samba management team moved Gibbons and a hobbling Dollochin into midfield, with Taylor buffering the defence and Misiuda moving out to the left flank. The tactical change gave the team a more natural feel and although chances at both ends remained limited, Samba were definitely starting to look more comfortable.

Following a few strong words at half-time, Samba emerged a different team after the break. With Gamba flying into tackles at every opportunity and Brewer leading by example in the centre of the park, Samba quickly found their rhythm early on in the second half. Southbank, now kicking up the slope were playing a high back-line and it wasn't long before Misiuda took advantage and played a ball over the top for Street to latch onto and coolly place the ball beyond the keepers' reach. One goal soon became four in a seven minute Samba blitz! Gibbons was becoming increasingly more involved as the game developed and it was his ball onto the chest of Francis that put the striker through on goal. His scuffed shot lacked the normal power required to find the net, but the accuracy of his strike was good enough to beat the frustrated Southbank keeper. Although not at his best, it was Francis again who notched Samba's third after charging down an attempted clearance from the keeper and rolling the ball into an unguarded net. And Francis again was involved in the fourth goal after linking well with Gibbons on the edge of the Southbank box and his slide-rule pass gave Gibbons the opportunity to lash home a left footed blast into the far right corner of the goal. With the 3 points effectively in the bag and with half an hour to go, Samba were able to replace the injured Dollochin with Letford. The substitute worked hard in midfield and was very unfortunate to concede a penalty after being judged to have held a Southbank player during a corner. After all players from both sides had all lined up for a Samba free-kick (assuming the Samba keeper had been fouled) the bemused teams jogged back from the halfway line to watch Nicholls pull off a fantastic double save to cap a disappointing second half for Southbank. After diving to his right for the initial save, Nicholls leapt quickly to his feet and managed to dive the other way to stop the penalty takers rebound. It was the keepers second excellent save of the half, although he knew little about his first great save when a point-blank-range header hit him firmly on the nose! With 15 minutes to go Altman replaced Francis to make his first team debut and his willingness to drive into the box could have resulted in a goal if Street had opted to square the ball instead of blasting wide. Gibbons took himself off with 5 minutes to go and was replaced by M.Gamba. At the final whistle, Samba congratulated themselves on a job well done in the second half, but they must start games stronger if they hope to rise up the league table quickly.