Calverton MW — Fri 14 May 2010

Match report

Half time: 0 – 1

Samba travelled to bottom club Calverton for their last game with a simple equation. Win and they would finish 4th, a draw would seal 5th and a defeat would see them remain in 6th place. Unavailability, coupled with the rigours of so many recent games, saw Samba make numerous changes including starts for Boughton, E.Taylor, Gamba and a return for G.Taylor who missed the win against Headstocks, only 48hrs earlier. The game kicked off and within a minute Calverton had a shock lead. The goal was a complete fluke as Boughton's attempted clearance rebounded off the shins of the striker, to send the ball into the far corner with Nichols beaten. The goal epitomised the slow start from Samba and this continued in an opening period where they had sufficient possession, but took too long in their build up play and showing insufficient tempo. Samba forced countless corners, the majority of which came to nothing but Samba lacked cutting edge to their play. One of the corners did produce a penalty, and an ideal opportunity for Samba to get level. The award was harsh in the extreme, given for a push in the area, but unfortunately for Samba G.Taylor rolled the ball wide of the right hand post and Calverton continued to lead. Ironically Samba should have been awarded a penalty later in the half, when Gamba was clearly tripped but the ref waved play on. Calverton could have even gone in 2-0 up, as one of few chances for the home team was missed right on the stroke of half-time, when the striker shot wide, despite being in space in the box.

Samba started the 2nd half looking to put right, the wrongs of the first half. If anything though Calverton were more of a threat in the 2nd half, playing on the counter attack. Samba probed and continued to apply pressure but a further succession of corners failed to pay divedends. Calverton nearly doubled the lead when Samba failed to deal with a cross and this presented an opportunity for the striker to get an effort on goal from 8yds. Bassett got a foot on the strike and it just went wide of the post for a corner. Samba pressed and eventually got an equaliser. Francis was released down the Samba left and he pulled the ball back for Bassett who squared for Hill. Hill's shot deflected into the path of G.Taylor who finished from inside the box for 1-1. Samba had barely 15mins to force a winner and whilst they were committed to the cause, the quality was not in evidence. They got a hit by a sucker punch in the last minute, when a long ball by-passed the Samba defence and the Calverton man was through on goal. Boughton brought him down, with the definition of a professional foul and the question was whether the foul was in or out of the box. The ref and linesman agreed on inside and a penalty was awarded, with Boughton being shown red. Calverton scored and won the match 2-1, to bring about a very disappointing end to an up and down season. Samba were left to reflect on a 'nearly' cup season and a league campaign that started very poorly and left too much to recover. The form since February gives cause for optimism but Samba need to step up to the plate, if they want to compete for trophies in Season 2010/11.