The Days Between
Another day, another draw. This time FA Vase Third Round. Drum roll please…We travel to Salisbury! A level above us but they are currently 19th in a 22-team league. I have hope.
The scouting report for Chatham comes in and they have a pretty darned good Striker, Dave Buckley, who’s scored 3 goals in 2 league games. We actually might face a challenge here!
Chatham are on a five-game winning streak, just like us. This might be The Clash of The (Midget) Titans!
Southern Counties East
at Chatham, 13 September 2017
Formation: Spade
Starting XI: Friend,
Johnstone, Clark, Spearing, Parker, Cullen,
McAdam, Jones, Taylor,
Martin, Rae
Subs Webb,
Maguire, Day, Carroll, Jefcoate,
Cullen, Smith, Pearson, O’Donnell,
Duckett, Macey
Well, it finally happened, 17 minutes in and the defense screws up royally, with a defender sending a weak back-pass to an unobservant GK and the ball goes in the goal. It happens pretty regularly in FM14 but I hadn’t seen it at all until now in FM18. Oh, Rae was the lucky guy. And finally we get a goal off a set piece, though from a free kick, kinda. Taylor sends in the freebie from way out on the left side and a Chatham DC heads it up field right to Donaldson, who sends a flier in from about 25 yards out. And just before half Spears sends an extremely long ball into Chatham’s half and Rae out runs the defenders and sends one in from 19 yards out.
Second half begins with another odd play. Chatham’s right central defender tries to lob one in from the halfway line but it bounces off Taylor who came charging in, the deflection went straight to Rae, who was busy watching the sky above the Chatham goal and when he realized what had happened, he ran after the ball, got a one-on-one and sent one in from 16 yards out. What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on out there?! And to cap things, off, Duckett sends in a free kick from the right to the far post where a lonely Taylor waits to get in on things. I switch to Defensive for the last 15 minutes but 6 minutes later Duckett puts an exclamation mark on matters and sends in a weak effort from the left corner of the 6-yard box. Jesus. A minute later, Rae makes is 7-0 with another breakaway. I guess my players just don’t understand not to boot things forward, no matter the instructions I give them.
That striker I feared? He was down as low as a 5.4 but ended the match with a 6.0 and “Very frustrated” Body Language.
POM: Alex Rae (4 goals)
