EAST PECKHAM JUNIORS

11th October 2008 - Otford III 3 - 1 East Peckham Juniors

Starting Lineup

				Nichols
	Tom Revell		Meager		Ryder		Miller
	Pearson (1)		Lardner		Scott		Tony Revell
			Jennings		Howell

Substitutes Used

Liam Payne > Brett Howell, Dean Hayes > Liam Jennings

Report

Juniors suffered Kent Cup defeat despite dominating affairs at Otford.

The away side went into the game expecting a tough match but started brightly with Pearson making his debut on the right hand side.

Juniors were having the lion share of the early possession, but without any real final product.  From the outset it was clear that the home side had a lively forward line filled with pace and strength, and it was around 10 minutes in when Juniors fell behind.  A break down the left found the young striker who lifted his shot over Juniors’ keeper but onto the bar, the ball fell 3 yards out, but the Juniors defence hesitated to clear and the onrushing striker bundled the ball home when Juniors really should have removed the danger.

5 minutes later, Juniors almost found themselves further behind as the nippy striker broke free of Juniors’ defensive shackles to find himself with the goal at his mercy but Nichols met him on the edge of the box and got down to his left to parry the shot away.

Juniors continued to attack but Otford were able to break with pace and around 20 minutes in they doubled their advantage.  There seemed to be no danger to Juniors’ goal as the midfielder picked the ball up just inside Juniors’ half on the small pitch, however two missed tackles left the home team through on goal again, the shot went to Nichols’ right and the keeper got to the shot taking the pace of the ball, but it trickled agonisingly into the far corner of the goal, Juniors finding themselves two goals down when they had deserved to be at least level.

Juniors continued to press with Pearson and Tom Revell interchanging down the right and creating chances.

Tony Revell managed to break free of his marker, but could not find the finish to match his surprisingly pacey run.

Hayes replaced the injured Jennings towards the end of the first half and the away team still had the majority of the possession.

Juniors continued looking strong, and a ball from the left was met sweetly by Meager, but the home keeper got down well to his right to gather the ball.  At the end of the half, Juniors very nearly found a way back into the game after Pearson’s header back across goal was met in the air by Howell, but the keeper managed to claw the header away while diving backwards.

At the break Juniors were the stronger side and were told to keep playing how they had been and goals would follow.

The away side started the second half even more brightly and very nearly scored after Tom Revell fed Pearson on the right hand side and his cross was met by Howell, but the youngster couldn’t beat the keeper, chances were coming and going for Juniors, but it wasn’t long before they were back in the match, Robert Pearson was switched to centre midfield to partner Ollie Scott and as Lardner crossed the ball in, the debutant met the ball with his chest before flicking it past the advancing keeper with the outside of his right boot.

With the goal to their name, Juniors were in the ascendency and could have drawn level soon after, Lardner broke through the defence with support in the middle, but before he could either square the ball or take on the shot, the Otford defender got back and made a brilliant challenge.  The challenge was crucial as it seemed to spur on the home side and as Juniors kept pressing for the equaliser, replacing Howell with Payne.  Juniors were committing men forward and Otford capitalised with around 10 minutes to go, again there seemed to be no danger, but as the throw was taken, a number of Juniors’ players went towards the ball and as it was played into the striker’s feet, Tom Revell slipped as the striker played a back heel to his team mate whose tame shot took a wicked deflection from Hayes as he attempted to block it and looped up over Nichols into the net.

Juniors kept hunting for goals but couldn’t find the net for the goals they deserved for a very strong performance.

As the final whistle blew and bought a very good game to an end, both sides and supporters alike were left wondering just how Juniors hadn’t made it through to the next round. EPFC!