Post by youngspur on Aug 28, 2023 19:12:03 GMT
A second straight bank holiday at Nyewood Lane - and something tells me we should get used to them being topsy-turvy affairs!
At the business end of last season, a remarkable show of resolve and no little quality saw us emerge 4-1 winners in spite of Deon Moore's red card (this his first away outing since). Today, we once again came away flushed with the feeling of a job well done, but only because Bognor had capitalised on our second-half slump to overturn a 2-1 half time deficit. Nothing, it seems, can be taken for granted here: least of all both sides finishing with a full complement of players, as the hosts ensured by contriving to get two of their number sent off in a lengthy pitched (sorry) battle between both sides after the final whistle had blown.
For the reason why the Rooks, irresistible at times in the first half, failed to win at a canter, look no further than the very last act before the interval: Calvin Davies, Bognor's best player by a mile but evidently bent on reprising his pantomime villain role from last time out, cleaned out Ryan Gondoh in the middle of the park in what looked a deliberate hit. This, if memories need refreshing, is the same charmer who was lucky to stay on the pitch back in April, provoking the push that resulted in Deon's red. The outcome was similar this time: Gondoh didn't reappear in the second half - and the Rooks' zip went with him.
We were always going to miss him. Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala was subdued in his place, but almost anyone would have struggled to match Gondoh's first-half levels - to say nothing of Deon's; the man himself tried to no avail! Bognor's opener in the 18th minute was so out of the blue as to be mildly outrageous, but it had precious little to do with them anyway, a stray back pass from either Arthur Penney or Harvey Hughes falling far short of the impeccable Nathan Harvey and handing Jasper Mather an unmissable opportunity. Within six minutes, though, we were back on terms, Gondoh's free kick sneaking around the wall and finding the bottom corner as the keeper stood motionless.
Fast forward ten minutes and it was two. When Deon beat his man for the umpteenth time and bent in a cross, not many would have bet on Brad Pritchard (one of two midfield changes alongside the excellent Archie Tamplin today, as Chris Whelpdale and Alfie Egan sat it out) being the one to burst forward and meet it at the near post with what looked to me like a smart glancing header. Whether it was his head or his foot, it beat the keeper all ends up and the Rooks were suddenly looking in insolently fine fettle. The one blemish at half time was that Gondoh had passed up a gilt-edged opportunity to round off a sublime one-touch passing move by finding Deon at the far post and instead vacillated between greed and an only marginally better option. The fourth goal of the game slipped from our grasp.
Two minutes after the restart, Bognor made a double substitution, with the yellow-carded Calvin Davies rather surprisingly making way. Contrary to expectations, the reshuffle turned the home side into a much more robust unit. They seemed to gain a man in midfield, restricting our supply line to the wings and turning the first twenty minutes or so of the second half into a stodgy midfield battle in which they were gaining the upper hand. Then they struck with a close-range finish from Tommy-Lee Higgs that had a strange air of inevitability about it. Six minutes later, it got even worse when Penney inexplicably opted to pass sideways to Will Salmon in front of our box, Salmon (deputising for Ronnie Vint today) flapped at it, a forward robbed him and Penney brought the pickpocket crashing down in the area in a desperate attempt to make amends. The penalty was a rocket.
At last, the Rooks stirred and suddenly we had a game on our hands. Towards the end, Tommy Wood handed his passenger seat to Chris Whelpdale and we began to pour forward with an abandon reminiscent of those first-half forays. As Bognor wobbled, we passed up a series of half-chances, dropped unlucky with the bounce a couple of times and thrice had reason to curse our choice of final ball. Then, deep in added time, our 'Hornchurch moment' arrived. Harvey cut in from the left and swung over a cross. Up went the Lewes heads, but they needn't have bothered as a defender rose highest, sending an arcing backward header soaring over the Rocks keeper and into the top corner for a Rooks equaliser that felt just about right.
We could even have won it at the death, with Keiran Murtagh, the lone survivor of Saturday's central midfield, seeing two shots in quick succession repelled on the edge of the six-yard box. In truth, though, that would have been a tad harsh on a Bognor side that will give quite a few teams a tough game this season.
Nine shy of a thousand saw this one, of whom four senior citizens in Bognor colours rather disgraced themselves midway through the second half with their boorish insistence that Tamplin was play-acting as he lay on the deck for several minutes after being almost cut in two in a rough aerial challenge. It's probably fitting that this report should end with an honourable mention for Archie, who somehow shook off this body blow to play his part in a full-blooded closing half an hour or so of action. He strikes me as one to watch this season: a deft touch, telescopic vision and, as today demonstrated, a never-say-die attitude made to measure for the rough and tumble that Isthmian football sometimes throws up.
At the business end of last season, a remarkable show of resolve and no little quality saw us emerge 4-1 winners in spite of Deon Moore's red card (this his first away outing since). Today, we once again came away flushed with the feeling of a job well done, but only because Bognor had capitalised on our second-half slump to overturn a 2-1 half time deficit. Nothing, it seems, can be taken for granted here: least of all both sides finishing with a full complement of players, as the hosts ensured by contriving to get two of their number sent off in a lengthy pitched (sorry) battle between both sides after the final whistle had blown.
For the reason why the Rooks, irresistible at times in the first half, failed to win at a canter, look no further than the very last act before the interval: Calvin Davies, Bognor's best player by a mile but evidently bent on reprising his pantomime villain role from last time out, cleaned out Ryan Gondoh in the middle of the park in what looked a deliberate hit. This, if memories need refreshing, is the same charmer who was lucky to stay on the pitch back in April, provoking the push that resulted in Deon's red. The outcome was similar this time: Gondoh didn't reappear in the second half - and the Rooks' zip went with him.
We were always going to miss him. Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala was subdued in his place, but almost anyone would have struggled to match Gondoh's first-half levels - to say nothing of Deon's; the man himself tried to no avail! Bognor's opener in the 18th minute was so out of the blue as to be mildly outrageous, but it had precious little to do with them anyway, a stray back pass from either Arthur Penney or Harvey Hughes falling far short of the impeccable Nathan Harvey and handing Jasper Mather an unmissable opportunity. Within six minutes, though, we were back on terms, Gondoh's free kick sneaking around the wall and finding the bottom corner as the keeper stood motionless.
Fast forward ten minutes and it was two. When Deon beat his man for the umpteenth time and bent in a cross, not many would have bet on Brad Pritchard (one of two midfield changes alongside the excellent Archie Tamplin today, as Chris Whelpdale and Alfie Egan sat it out) being the one to burst forward and meet it at the near post with what looked to me like a smart glancing header. Whether it was his head or his foot, it beat the keeper all ends up and the Rooks were suddenly looking in insolently fine fettle. The one blemish at half time was that Gondoh had passed up a gilt-edged opportunity to round off a sublime one-touch passing move by finding Deon at the far post and instead vacillated between greed and an only marginally better option. The fourth goal of the game slipped from our grasp.
Two minutes after the restart, Bognor made a double substitution, with the yellow-carded Calvin Davies rather surprisingly making way. Contrary to expectations, the reshuffle turned the home side into a much more robust unit. They seemed to gain a man in midfield, restricting our supply line to the wings and turning the first twenty minutes or so of the second half into a stodgy midfield battle in which they were gaining the upper hand. Then they struck with a close-range finish from Tommy-Lee Higgs that had a strange air of inevitability about it. Six minutes later, it got even worse when Penney inexplicably opted to pass sideways to Will Salmon in front of our box, Salmon (deputising for Ronnie Vint today) flapped at it, a forward robbed him and Penney brought the pickpocket crashing down in the area in a desperate attempt to make amends. The penalty was a rocket.
At last, the Rooks stirred and suddenly we had a game on our hands. Towards the end, Tommy Wood handed his passenger seat to Chris Whelpdale and we began to pour forward with an abandon reminiscent of those first-half forays. As Bognor wobbled, we passed up a series of half-chances, dropped unlucky with the bounce a couple of times and thrice had reason to curse our choice of final ball. Then, deep in added time, our 'Hornchurch moment' arrived. Harvey cut in from the left and swung over a cross. Up went the Lewes heads, but they needn't have bothered as a defender rose highest, sending an arcing backward header soaring over the Rocks keeper and into the top corner for a Rooks equaliser that felt just about right.
We could even have won it at the death, with Keiran Murtagh, the lone survivor of Saturday's central midfield, seeing two shots in quick succession repelled on the edge of the six-yard box. In truth, though, that would have been a tad harsh on a Bognor side that will give quite a few teams a tough game this season.
Nine shy of a thousand saw this one, of whom four senior citizens in Bognor colours rather disgraced themselves midway through the second half with their boorish insistence that Tamplin was play-acting as he lay on the deck for several minutes after being almost cut in two in a rough aerial challenge. It's probably fitting that this report should end with an honourable mention for Archie, who somehow shook off this body blow to play his part in a full-blooded closing half an hour or so of action. He strikes me as one to watch this season: a deft touch, telescopic vision and, as today demonstrated, a never-say-die attitude made to measure for the rough and tumble that Isthmian football sometimes throws up.
