Sands United FC Brighton and Hove vs Queens Park Reserves
SSFL Junior Invitation Cup First Round
1030am Sunday 3rd November 2019 – Buckingham Park
Attendance 28 + 2 dogs
Final score 6 – 0 (HT 3 – 0)
After the torrential rain and howling gales of the day before, Sunday morning saw clear skies and a pitch in great condition for this SSFL Junior Invitation Cup First Round tie against Queens Park Reserves of Division 3.
Queens Park Reserves arrived in poor form but with goals in the team and hoping that a win verses a team in the league below might kick start their season. But despite their early season results, Sands United were coming into the game with results improving, buoyed from 2 excellent Charity Matches during Baby Loss Awareness Week vs their brothers representing Solent and Kent, a 3-3 draw vs Woodingdean Wanderers in their last league match and a thrilling 4-2 defeat vs Division 1’s Pevensey and Westham in the Roy Terrington Trophy. The whiff of a cup upset last week still fresh in the nostrils of the squad, giving us the desire to go one better in this competition.
We welcomed back Dave Thaxter into the squad this week after a few weeks of unavailability, Jason Bantock after missing last week through injury following a nasty collision towards the end of the Woodingdean game and Grant Ashworth joined the squad for the first time, representing his daughter Myla.
Before the match began the teams surrounded the centre circle to impeccably observe a minutes silence in memory of Myla Ashworth and Teresa Hyde. The camaraderie of this squad can really be seen in these moments and the roar that goes up after the ref blows his whistle only serves to motivate the team further and remind us of why we’re here.
Sands lined up as a 4-3-3, with Youseff Khier in goal, a back 4 of Jon Goodwin, Chris Mates, Jamie Hyde – captaining the team today on the anniversary of his mums passing – and Dave Thaxter, the midfield trio of George Whiting, John Westcott and Luke Kennedy looking to get out and boss the game early and a front line full of youth and experience with Jason Bantock, Mat Crann and Jamie Pardoe. Starting on the bench were Grant Ashworth, Dan Brice, Andy Lindley, Tom Silverson and Kev Thaxter.
Sands kicked off and immediately took the game to Queens Park, with some nice interchanges between Luke and John in centre midfield. Despite the biblical downpour the day before, the playing surface was in excellent condition and perfect for our passing game, with plenty of zip in the ground. The first chance was carved out following a set piece on 4 minutes, with the ball dropping to Chris who struck a beautiful half volley from the left edge of the box. The Queens Park keeper scrambled and was beaten all ends up but the far post denied Chris a fantastic first goal for the club and the ball bounced back and into the arms of the grateful keeper.
Chances
The chances started coming thick and fast after that. 2 minutes later Jason was put clean through on goal after a lovely bit of work from the midfield but the keeper held his ground and made a good one on one stop, then on 9 minutes a superb corner from John found George unmarked between the edge of the six yard box and the penalty spot, but Georges header missed the mark.
Finally the deadlock was broken on 15 minutes, when Dave found Jason in acres of space on the left. Jason drove into the box looking for his 4th goal of the season, his effort was slightly miscued but found the covering defender who put the ball in his own net, the keeper powerless to do anything about it. The upset was on!
5 minutes later a ball over the top gave Queens Park their first real attack and an opportunity to get back into the game. Some initial confusion between Jamie and Youseff lead to their forward being allowed the ball in a dangerous position but then both recovered to limit the attack to a half chance, but a clear warning to us not to get complacent, the match was far from over.
On 25 minutes our midfield maestro John felt a pull in his calf, and rather than risk a worse injury and a spell on the side lines took the decision to come off, replaced by Dan Brice. A minute later, Dan was on the score sheet with a cross-come-shot that completely bamboozled the keeper and beat him from the best part of 35 yards. The goal was caught on camera, look out for it on our socials and decide for yourselves if it was meant or not.
Queens Park continued to battle, with most of their good moments coming through their Number 8. They were frustrated on several occasions through excellent work from our forwards tackling back, with Mat being exceptional as the first line of defence on numerous occasions throughout the game. But on 32 minutes Youseff was called into action again, coming out to close down their forward and making a very good save.
We were back on the attack not long after, with some excellent work between George and Mat put George clean through on goal, but unfortunately the final effort didn’t match the quality of the build-up and it saw another chance go begging. The game wasn’t yet put to bed and we hopefully wouldn’t be left to rue these misses as the game went on against a young side.
Nearing half time and another ball over the top called Youseff into action, again making an excellent save one on one. We then went forward and forced a corner with what would surely be the final act of a gripping first half of football. Jason’s in swinging corner from the left found George at the back post, who towered above everyone and made amends for his earlier misses, putting us 3-0 up at the break.
Focus
We had been here before having lead Woodingdean 3-0 before drawing 3-3, and Manager Jamie Stratton was in no mood for the same thing to happen again, ensuring the team stayed focussed and gave nothing away in the second half. Jon Goodwin made way for Grant to come on at Right Back, and Jamie ceded the captaincy to Grant on the match day dedicated to his Daughter Myla, whose 6th Birthday was on October 21st.
The team talk hit the right note, and there was no drop in intensity from the boys in the second half. A quick free kick from Luke 3 minutes into the half found Dan with time to shoot from range, but the bar denied Brice a brace on the day. Luke was clearly loving the freedom his role as the anchor of the three man midfield was allowing him and 2 minutes later was pulling the strings again, pinging a superb ball out to Jason, now on the right hand side of the trident of the front line. After his initial cross to Jamie Pardoe was blocked, the ball fell back to him and on the angle from 12 yards powered the ball home, beating the keeper at his near post. We seemed home and hosed now, but with 40 minutes left to play, focus shifted to the importance of not only a win but a convincing one and a clean sheet to boot.
Thriving
Jason was another player thriving on the day and the freedom he was finding on either side of the pitch. He was again put clean through, going one better than his previous one on one and beating the keeper, but unfortunately a Queens Park defender got back on the cover and cleared before the ball could cross the line. Not long after he beat his defender with a cheeky step over and a dirty nutmeg that left his man with his head in his hands contemplating his life choices and our supporters raucously cheering on the side lines.
Another quick Queens Park break was shut down quickly thanks to an excellent starting position from Keeper Youseff.
As we moved into the latter stages of the game and with the front line working incredibly hard throughout, Andy was introduced to lead the line replacing Jamie Pardoe who’s tireless effort throughout deserved more tangible rewards. Not long after, Tom and Kev were introduced for George and Mat.
On 73 mins, we scored our fifth, with Andy banging one in low and to the left of a stranded keeper, taken unaware by the early strike. Shouts of ‘Feed the Beast and he will score’ came from the touchline and who could argue? This was Lindleys 4th goal in 5 matches, keeping him level with Jason in the top goal scorer standings.
Despite the game being all but over, Queens Park kept coming and 2 minutes later finally put the ball past Youseff as he closed their striker down, but an excellent clearance from Grant – who had a superb debut – underlined how much this defensive unit wanted the clean sheet.
As the game moved into the final 15 we made one final change with Jon coming back on for Dave. The game was rounded out after Luke found Tom in space 20 yards out. His eyes lit up as the ball sat up nicely for a strike, only to fluff his lines, but the resulting pressure from Kev lead to the defender showing Tom how it’s done and belting the ball in from 15 yards out.
The final 10 minutes were uneventful, and Sands romped in to the quarter finals of the cup, setting up a tie verses the winner of Sussex Albion and Hassocks Fatboys Reserves – formerly managed by Stratton.
Thrilled
Talking after the game, Stratton said he was absolutely thrilled by the performance today. We executed the game plan to perfection and dominated the game from start to finish. We said before that we fancied the upset, and we’re targeting this cup as an opportunity to raise even more awareness for the Club and the Charity.
Matchday Reports 