Teversal Reserves — Sat 6 Nov 2010

Match report

Half time: 2 – 1

Samba entertained Teversal Reserves from the Abacus Lighting Central Midlands Reserves Supreme Division, in a testing 2nd Round FA Cup tie at Eagle Valley. The Sandboys were without some key players as G.Taylor missed out with a thigh strain and Boughton was unavailable. Gibbons opted for 3-5-2 against his former club, with Street and Francis up front for the home side. The game started and Samba passed the ball reasonably in the opening exchanges, but didn't quite seem sharp enough without possession. A classic example of this was from a Teversal corner on 5 minutes which saw the number 10 get an unchecked run at the cross and the time to power an easy header past the unprotected Nicholls for 1-0. Going a goal down so early against a higher ranked side and not being particularly high on confidence, could have rocked Samba, but it had the opposite effect. They started to compete better without the ball and players were finding plenty of space to play in. Gibbons released Francis with a perfectly weighted pass and the front man's pace took him through on goal, albeit in a wide position. Street was ready for the pull back but as the keeper narrowed the angle, he smothered Francis' effort to deny Samba. Samba weren't to be denied much longer though as they had Teversal defending on the edge of their box for prolonged periods. When the goal came, it was rather route one. Francis hassled the centre half who looked uncomfortable dealing with a long ball out towards the right side of the penalty box. Francis forced the mistake, took one good touch infield and as the goal opened up, shot left footed and low to the keepers left to equalise from 20yds. The equaliser was no more than Samba deserved and a few minutes later they went ahead. Gamba was having a spell where he could do no wrong, and a lovely shaped cross found its way to the back post where Wilford was waiting to pounce with a downward header into the bottom left corner of the net. It was the perfect way for the Samba skipper to celebrate his 200th first team appearance for the club, an unprecedented milestone for the 73 players that have represented the Sandboys at first team level since their inception in 2003. Samba were looking menacing , whilst Teversal had gone into their shell and were allowing the home side too much room and time on the ball. Samba should have gone 3-1 in front when Francis blazed over a chance from 6yds after a great cross from the Samba left.

At half-time Samba reflected on their best 45 minutes of the season, with the aim simple, repeat the energy and quality on the ball showed in the opening period. The second half started in similar fashion with Samba in control but as the game approached the hour mark, there were signs that Teversal were getting a foothold in the game. Following a crude challenge on Francis on the Teversal by-line, which went unpunished, the away side broke to good effect, cumulating in a shot which rattled the cross bar, proving the game was far from over. Whilst Teversal were a greater threat than their first half performance, they didn't have the cut and thrust of Samba going forward, with every player contributing to all round team performance. As the clock ran down, the game was still on a knife edge though, and perhaps this explained the rash of yellow cards dished out by the referee. The gritty Gamba was one of the offenders, with the associated fine ruling out a trip to the local Chinese that night for the Samba wing back. The next major incident involved Gamba, but this time he was the victim of a clumsy challenge as the Teversal player earned a second yellow, which resulted in an early departure with 10 minutes to go.. As Teversal pushed for an equaliser, Samba sprung on the break, with Gibbons who had been tormentor-in -chief against his former club, carrying the ball 50yds before passing to Francis. He opened his legs and drove towards the penalty box before finishing superbly across the keeper into the side of the net. It was a brace for Francis and safe passage into round 3 of the FA Cup for FC Samba.