United FC — Sat 17 Feb 2007

Match report

Half time: 0 – 2

Samba faced a top of the table clash against an in form United side that had accelerated up the table in recent weeks to sit only behind Samba on goal difference. Samba were weakened by the loss of Broughton with a broken rib and his defensive partner C.Taylor was struggling with a knee injury. As a result D.Bassett and Sharp were paired at the heart of the defence and there was a second start in three games for Shenton. As the game got underway Samba made a decent enough start, looking more confident than in recent weeks and appearing up for the challenge. The pitch was extremely tight and Samba were playing uphill in the first half. After a positive start Samba hit the self-destruct button when a routine throw in exposed the back line and the United attacker lost his marker and had the relatively simple task of lobbing Ballard who was stranded by the poor defending. It was a bitter blow to Samba’s confidence to concede such a goal, but things didn’t get any better a few minutes later. A defensive header by D.Bassett went in the wrong direction but with the United striker and Sharp chasing the ball, there appeared no real danger. Sharp couldn’t clear the ball though and the United striker didn’t need a second invitation, beautifully finishing from an acute angle off the far post to give United a 2-0 advantage. The goal marked a terrible ragged spell for Samba where they suffered from the abuse from each other as much as the quality of the oppositions play. Before half-time they managed to create a great chance though, when Wilford got forward and with the keeper quickly emerging he slid the ball just the wrong side of the post.

There was a few harsh words spoken within the Samba camp at half-time and the players knew that they had to improve. The second half started and there was a greater intensity to Samba’s play but it was United who created the first chance when from a cross the United forward headed towards goal to bring an excellent fingertip save from Ballard onto the post, before D.Bassett scrambled the ball clear. There was no doubt that Samba were improving though, as territorially and possession wise they started to press United. However, the Sandboys were hit on the break when a cross from the United left was turned in by the striker, at the near post, despite Ballard getting hands on it. At 3-0 down Samba were out of the game but immediately hit back when G.Taylor found some space in the left channel, ran at the keeper and despatched the ball into the net to reduce the deficit to 3-1. Getting a goal buoyed Samba and they began to boss the game for a spell. United were clearly concerned at this point and appeared to be wilting under the pressure. It was clear that if Samba got the next goal they could definitely rescue something from the match. The goal should have come after a scramble in the box, but amazingly they didn’t convert and ball stayed out of the United net. As time went by a Samba goal looked increasingly unlikely but Francis was very unlucky with a lob that just beat the crossbar after a clever ball by M.Bassett. At the other end United were still a threat and when a cross was half cleared the United man thumped the ball against the crossbar with a tremendous shot that left Ballard’s goal reverberating. The game was finally killed off, when a break down the United right, led to Samba defenders being outnumbered at the far post and despite Hawkins shout for cover, the defence was split by a pass and the United player walked the ball home. In truth 4-1 was perhaps a little harsh but there was no doubt that United deserved their victory and that Samba no longer deserved to be top. It was the first time since late September that Samba had not been top of the division and by the time other results were known they had slipped to third, behind Greygoose to compound their misery.