London Falcons and Surbiton Eagles both left it to the death to share the spoils in an attritional and battling affair full of late drama.
Falcons XI: Matt H; Joe, Callum, Jeff, Chris T; George (c), Baps, Duncan; Myles, Pete, Will
Subs: Mitch, David H, Ed
Goals: Pete
POTM: Joe
On the silky green carpets of Motspur Park, the neutral was treated to periods of much slicker football than that seen of on the bogs of Barnes in the previous week, but make no mistake about it, this was a truly physical encounter across the pitch with battles taking place in every position.
The visitors immediately put their hosts under intense pressure, working the wings and pinning the Eagles into their own defensive third, but admittedly struggling to create many clear cut chances.
At the other end, Surbiton remained a constant threat with set pieces as the game moved on, hitting the woodwork twice and going close on a third occasion. On the stroke of half-time, it looked as if they had bagged the lead as a swift, passing move from left to right caught the Falcons’ back line napping. As the right winger fizzed a ball into the “corridor of uncertainty”, the striker directed the ball towards the Falcons goal with a drilled right-footed half volley. Unfortunately for him, he came up against the ageless and evergreen Matt “The Cat” Hall, whose instinctive flying save kept the scores level at the break.
As the clock ticked away, the Falcons’ pressure grew and grew, with the hosts rarely stringing passes together in the opposing half. Pete went close with a header and was also denied a tap-in after Will’s drilled ball across from the right-hand byline was snuffed out by the outrushing keeper. Finally though the visitors did make their break through with less than two minutes on the clock. A delightful through ball by substitute Mitch was met by Pete, who scored another of the signature lob finishes that saw him claim last year’s Wimbledon and District League Golden Boot.
However, as the old adage says, there is no more dangerous time in football than when you have just scored, and this turned out to be devastatingly true for the Falcons. Having worked so hard to seemingly secure their first win of the campaign, the team switched off at the worst possible time, as the Eagles carried out their first successful passing move of the second half. From kick off they moved the ball around their midfield and out to the right wing, where a burst of pace took their man into the box. All that was left for him to do was fire a ball across the face of goal, where one of the many onrushing Eagles was able to slot the ball home and grab a point with the last kick of the game.
Having lost 4-0 and 4-1 to the Eagles in the last campaign, a well-deserved point shows the improvements made by the team in the last twelve months and point towards a positive campaign focused more on looking up the table as opposed to those below them. We have a couple of weeks off before we’re back in league action and hope to start soaring up the table!