Results
Hersham F.C. 1 Oakhill United 1 AET (Hersham win 9-8 on penalties) Surrey Cup 1st Round
Set against a backdrop of club turmoil and against all the odds, Oakhill produced a performance full of grit and determination and were desperately unlucky not to proceed in the Surrey Cup. The boys may have narrowly lost this cracking cup tie, but they found the team spirit and never-say-die Oakhill attitude which till now had been lost amidst divas and tantrums.
Yet another peach of a cup draw saw Oak travel to leafy Hersham with a patched-up side and no subs. Even Big Fred was missing with the dreaded 'man-flu'. Logan was selected in goal, Brett at right-back, a recall for Little Tosser at left-back and the trusty Mitch/Hughes combo made up a back five desperate to shed their goatees. Beigeinho made a rare start at right midfield with Elz on the opposing flank and the Carnt/Holtie axis in the centre. The real shock came up front, as Nathan was joined by Dave Holt, a move forced upon the management team by absentees whose appalling quitters mentality was matched only by their inability to bond with the squad.
Coming off the back of two successive 6-1 defeats, and faced with many problems not of their own making, the starting eleven could have been forgiven for nerves and a slow start. It was anything but as the Oak tore into Hersham from the first whistle, exemplified by Johnny Holt ripping into the opposition Number 9 and benching him and Dave Holt terrorising their defence. Having taken a real battering a shocked Hersham were clearly glad to make it to half time at just 0-0.
The second half began with the hosts regrouping and Brett was forced into a fine clearance off the line to ensure parity remained. The game became a pulsating end-to-end affair, which was finally punctuated when the Brothers Grim teamed up to break the deadlock. Johnny Holt received the ball from the feet of the dancing Beigeinho and fed a slide-rule pass through to his onrushing sibling. In turning inside the centre half, Big Dave's boot fell off, but he still managed to despatch a sock rocket into the roof of the net to give Oakhill the lead. It was an audacious piece of skill straight off the Copacabana Beach, and The Beige One was reminded of his origins and was pleased. Greatly. 0-1.
Again the hosts redoubled their efforts and Oakhill were forced to survive wave after wave of attacks until finally, in the 82nd minute cruel fate struck. The ref fell for a theatrical collapse, after slightly clumsy 'pressure' from Beigeinho, just inside the area from a forward who went down faster than Dobson in the showers. Penalty. With Beige looking whiter than Holtie, Logan pulled off an amazing save to rescue him from ignominy. Kisses and back-slaps abounded in recognition of a great stop. Then we gave a goal away four minutes later to a header from the smallest player on the pitch. Shit. Extra time with no subs. Shit. 1-1.
Extra time became a war of attrition, with both sides tiring badly and cramp setting in. Joel made countless interceptions and clearances, ably assisted by what could only be described as a back nine. The game had the look of veering towards the lottery of the dreaded shootout and so it transpired. The team gathered and watched open-mouthed as every single penalty hit the back of net, despite Hughesy and Kev's attempts at the crossbar challenge. In a sudden-death scenario calling for calm and poise, Joel duly stepped up and carefully smashed a 'clearance' high, wide and un-handsome, with a shot which just kept on rising. This left the score on 8-8, with Hersham in the driving seat. But yet again, the big fella produced heroics to get his team mate out of jail, with a bear-paw swatting away a penno which looked in all the way. The stage was set for Beigeinho to give Oakhill the lead and provide Logan with the platform for a game-winning strike of his own. Alas, after confidently striding forward and sending the keeper the wrong way, a smooth connection passed narrowly over the bar. With Logan unable to prevent the final pen, Hersham ran out 9-8 victors.
But the result didn't really matter. By this point we had won back our pride and seen what it takes to shore up a defence which till this point was leaking 5 goals a game on average. The big man/small man combo worked a treat up front and the use of wide midfielders capable of graft and aggression meant Holtie and Neil were freed up to cause the oppo problems with their quality passing. It's difficult to pick a man-of-the-match, as the whole team worked their backsides off for the cause, no-one went missing and the spirit and attitude was unbelievable, even towards the unfortunate penalty-takers. Ultimately, Joel gets the nod, but Logan's penalty saves and Dave Holt's goal and performance both deserved more. Oakhill till we die never seemed more true than this game, which bore all the hallmarks of a turning point in the season.
Team: Logan, Philpott, Hughes(c), Mitchell, Francis, Hewlett, J.Holt, Carnt, Beigeinho, D.Holt,White.
Subs not used: A Redmond, P Dobson, T Logan & Bazza
Goals: D.Holt
Man of the Match: Joel Mitchell
