Hambledon Vets FC vs Old Mid Whitgiftians Vets FC

It was an earlier start than usual for most, weird, given the later than usual kick off (cue a lot of last minutes pass requests to the better halves).
Destination, sunny Croydon. Competition, the Surrey Vets County Cup. The opposition Old Mid Whitgiftians Vets FC. Apparently run by Steve Sidwell’s dad. How good could they be?
With a couple of absences, Rickards had shuffled the pack strategically from the previous two wins but had put out another strong squad. There was no intention of capitulating.

Team:

Al Ritchie
AJ JT Toffer Rickards
Haines
Neil Robbie G
Graf Cookie
Cosser

Having arrived, we saw the reason for the later kick off, with a youth game going on before the cup game. Dons suited up and got on with the warm up, whilst the OMW boys casually turned up one by one. It was one of those situations where you recognised a few faces but couldn’t work out where from. With about 10 minutes to kick off, up rocked Steve Sidwell, and the Dons realised OMW were taking this game seriously.
Rickards team talk was all about high intensity and putting ourselves about. ‘Sidwell is just one man’. Get the ball down and play our game. And so, with the sun beating down, Dons wearing dark long-sleeved kit and lining up opposite a player who was playing in the Prem last season, we were optimistic.

Kick off – and straight from the off. The Dons played it around working it around to a ball over the back four for Graf to chase. Straight away the back four of OMW cleared up and started to move the ball from left to right. Cosser was closing everything down, and forcing the ball wide, where either Graf or Cookie were doing the same. Playing 3 in the Dons centre, Haines, Rob and Neil were all up for closing the centre down too, forcing the ball back each time. Lots of quick ball from OMW though, and when Dons were winning it back, it seemed we were very quickly losing the ball. Dons could see it was going to be a long day.

Early on, left and right back were tested. AJ and Graf combining down the right to keep any crosses out, with Cookie and Rickards doing to same down the left. Dons were holding their own, if not creating much going forward.
OMW switched to the middle seemingly flooding the area with men. If they managed to get past the three in the middle, JT and Toffer were equal to it. The first sight of Al’s goal came with a dinked ball past the back three, but the bounce beat the striker allowing AJ to come across and clear.

As the first half went on and both sides settled into the game, OMW were applying the pressure and Dons were soaking it up in equal measure. With the high intensity from the team came plenty of little fouls, but Dons, back in numbers for all set pieces, were dealing with those too.

Midway through the first half came Don’s first sight of the opposition goal. And what a sight it was. Rickards to Cookie on the wing, who beats one, inside Sidwell and looking up, from 40 yards lets one go, hitting the outside of the post. Ambitious….. great effort. He’s done it before.
Not a single goal kick from OMW went long, and with Cosser chasing around up front as the lone striker, the opposition was managing to get out with ease. The onslaught continued, the Dons effort was immense, could they keep this up for 90 minutes? Could they even keep it up for 45?
Al Ritchie in sticks covering for Mayur didn’t have a lot to do in goal, bit his usually trusty feet were letting him down on occasions. A couple of wayward goal kicks going straight off the side. To be fair, saved it coming straight back quite so quickly. The long ball wasn’t working at all, not least because of the 6ft5 centre back in the way.

As the half went on, the whole game started to open a bit. Graf was starting to see a bit more of ball on the floor, Cookie too and the centre three were getting the ball down and playing it around. OMW were starting to know they were in a game, but still no clear-cut chances. In a rare attacking free kick award, Haines floated a lovely free kick into the box only for the centre back to rise like a salmon and clear. The follow up was promising but ultimately it was another goal kick.

Anything kicks in the Dons half were now being taken by Ritchie in goal. A free kick on the right wing having been awarded, Al planned to loft it into the OMW box. A slight mis kick saw it drop to Steve Sidwell. Taking a touch, be fired it back at the open goal with Al looking to get back in time. With the ball surely going goal bound, it clips Al and slows down enough for the big man to gather. Great save.
OMW continued to batter down the centre of the park, and Dons continued to clear it up. Nearing half time and with legs starting to tire, the OMW looked to be through one on one, Ritchie making himself big, the OMW striker fired into the back of the net. OFFSIDE.
With minutes to go before halftime Dons were caught napping. The OMW striker through one on one with big Al. All the time in the world….. he shoots….. thrown in. And it’s half time.

That was a big half. Rickards asking the ref if he wanted to go straight to pens, the response came, ‘if you can do that for another 45, you’ll get them’. That felt like the longest 45 minutes of our lives, could it be done again? Could Dons nick a goal on the counter?
0-0 half time.

Sub: Box on / Cosser off

Graf shifting up front, Box’s fresh legs on the right wing, and away we go again. OMW to kick off and it was immediately more of the same, probing left, then right, then down the middle. Almost like they’ve done this before. Dons were caught a little cold and a poor defensive throw from AJ to Rob, immediately under pressure and a short back pass had to be taken off the striker’s toe by JT, out for a corner.
A quick corner and Sidwell ghosts in at the back post and heads in for 1-0.

Dons kick off and everything still to play for, heads are up. The midfield starting to see a bit more of the ball at feet, but the OMW boys are on top of them at every turn. Haines, Green and Neil all throwing themselves into tackles, their opposite numbers matching everything. Getting it out to the left wing, Cookie finds some space on the left, cuts inside and crosses. Man-mountain clears and it’s straight up the other end on the counter. A simple chipped ball over the back two and this time the OMW striker isn’t offside, beating Ritchie at the near post with a mis-kick. 2-0.

Sub: Rickards Off / Suarez On

Nothing to lose now, and with the OMW possibly sitting back a little, Dons started to get a bit more joy down the wings. Haines pulling the strings, the Dons were getting ball to Graf’s feet up front, and Box started to make a nuisance of himself down the right, with a couple rare overlaps by AJ, finding crosses into the box, but not creating any danger.
With Suarez pushing up from left back, Cookie was finding more space down the left, but still no danger. And for large periods, OMW seemed to be playing the ball around themselves.
Sub: JT Off / James On

With JT off, a change in the centre back pairing sees Neil drop back alongside Toffer, James on to the left wing, and Cookie up front with Graf. Don’s pushing up more, seeing if we could catch OMW on the ball. We couldn’t, but the higher line meant Dons could move the ball out quicker, with Cookie and Graf on the shoulders of the back four.

Sub: Graf Off/ Cosser On

The pushing up was leaving the back four a little more exposed, but with nothing to lose, 2-0 or 10-0 is still a loss. OMW started to overload the wings and were getting some success with crosses. Once again the defence were equal to it, closing down and blocking. A series of about 5 corners ensued, with some ‘body on the line’ clearances from several of the Dons players.

And then it came. Ritchie gathering a corner, and Dons were out quickly. Big Al throwing to AJ, who lofted the ball over the OMW back four and Cookie was one on one with the keeper. Surely, you’d bet your house on it….. but no, in storms Cosser, free in the middle screaming for the ball. Cookie caught in two minds. Pass or shoot….. neither. Straight to the keeper and the chance is gone.

As the clock ticked down, and legs tired, Dons beat everything away, but struggled to get out of our own half. Just as we thought the only thing we were getting out of the game were good memories…. A late tackle on Box left him with some stud marks as a memory.
Final whistle 2-0.

Fantastic oppo, great day, great battling from Dons against what turned out to be a whole team of ex-professional and non-league footballers. We did ourselves proud. And we go away heads held high, attentions now turned to the league.
Man of the Match: Hainesy (absolute Trojan in the middle)