Sometimes these match reports poke fun at the club; sometimes they take a gentle swipe at the team. Well, the latest shortage is comedy material, because besides being a sad day in its own right, the club and the team performed immaculately yesterday.
From the tributes in the progcast, to the Cynical T-shirts, to the moving speech made by the chairman before the minute’s applause, the club got it spot on. Everyone involved should be quietly proud of themselves.
The management and players did their bit too, not least on the field.
All season, it’s felt like we’ve taken a “you score one, we’ll score two” approach. But yesterday was different. We managed the game from start to finish, didn’t really give Folkestone a sniff. The closest they came all afternoon was a mishit cross that smacked the post. Panic had the afternoon off.
Our first goal was another piece of Tanner magic, albeit with a dollop of help from his mates. Carlse burst down the left-hand side, Taylor pulled out wide to take the pass, creating a gap in the middle, that Tanner dashed into. He ducked past the remaining centre-back and shot low and hard, the ball eventually dribbling into the net after a strong hand from the keeper failed to halt its progress. Our old mate would have had something to stay about the goalkeeping, had he been on his normal terrace perch, I’m sure…
To be fair to Tim Roberts in the Folkestone goal, he pulled off a tremendous save not long after, when Salmon spun and shot from the penalty-spot and the keeper somehow palmed it over.
Folkestone had plenty of ball throughout the game, but rarely threatened to spoil it for the 800-strong crowd. Carey only had one save to make all game, a low drive that he dealt with comfortably, although Killian Colombie deserves a mention for a brilliant block late in the game.
Late is when our second and third goals came, too. Sub Razz Coleman De-Graft fooled two Folkestone defenders into thinking he was running down the clock near the corner flag, before he pulled off a lovely drag-back and fed the ball to Maloney on the edge of the box. Our diddy David Platt blasted his first effort at a defender, but he slammed home the rebound to settle the game.
The cherry on the cake came with almost the last kick of the game. Carlse burst down the left again, cut the ball back to Maloney, who almost shaped to shoot but instead squared it to Taylor, who pulled a sand wedge out of the bag and chipped the keeper.
Cue pandemonium and a goal celebration that Cynical would definitely have been right in the middle of.
I wrote a tweet yesterday morning that I regretted writing from the moment I pressed send:
It’s true – a football club is defined by the people, especially at a community club such as ours. But the management and players play a big part too, they’re not just passing ships as that original tweet implied.
We lost a great guy this week, but we gained a special bond with this set of players and management for the way they conducted themselves yesterday. (Dave would have caned me for writing a corny line like that, by the way, but it’s true.)
Lewes: Carey, Colombie, Carlse, Nelson, Salmon, Klass, Maloney, Pritchard, Tanner, Allen, Taylor
Subs: Gillea, Weaire, Olukoga, Parker, Coleman De-Graft
Video highlights:
Boyesy’s brilliant photos:
