Falcons made it two wins in a row after beating SLFN Reserves 1-0 in a tight game in Southfields.
There were a couple of changes from the previous league match with Ben, George and Toby all away. Pete returned for his first start since September while Lee made his league debut for the club.
Despite the wind against us and the sun in our eyes for the first half, the team looked comfortable throughout the first 30 minutes, with Conal only forced into action once to make a good, low save. At the other end, we had joy up the wings but couldn't convert a number of chances as Rob shot into the side-netting and Kieran and Steffen couldn't quite find the goal.
However, the home team had a strong finish to the second half as a goal was ruled out for offside and they pinged the crossbar with a free kick.
So, goalless at half time and a reminder to everyone that we could not afford to let our effort levels dip.
The second half was much better. Chris came on for Matt in defence and put in a very strong performance. At the other end, there were further chances for Falcons but they all narrowly failed to hit the target. When we did, there was huge controversy and Lee's low shot appeared to cross the line but the referee was too far away to be able to overrule the home linesman.
With 20 minutes to go there was a change in formation to provide more threat down the wings and there was an immediate return. Jimmy couldn't quite get his shot away but the ball fell to Steffen who turned and hit a great left-foot shot into the net to make it 1-0.
Jack replaced Kieran for his first league action of the season and, despite one good save from Conal, the hosts didn't put us under too much more pressure and Falcons held on to get their first away points of the season.
This was a solid if unspectacular win for the team. On a poor surface with windy conditions, it was tough to play good football but these are the games where we need to dig in and grind out a result. The defence looked assured, the centre midfield dominant, the wingers energetic and the makeshift front two doing very well.
However, tougher games await us and next week is a big test as we host league leaders, Royal Wells, who have been banging in the goals.
Squad: Conal, Matt (Chris 46), Ed, Pete, Kieran (Jack 80), Sam, Lee, Jimmy, Brady, Rob, Steffen
Scorers: Steffen (70)
