BUCS Cup
Wednesday 28th October 2009

After a disappointing performance and defeat last week, Pompey 4ths were looking to move onwards and upwards with a convincing win against the School of Oriental and African Studies 1sts in the BUCS Cup. Before the game, Stacky made it clear that he wanted the team to progress as far as possible in the cup this year and the rest of the boys were in total agreement.

With a minor injury crisis sweeping the squad, we called upon 3rd team boys Bobby Folan and Sean Gadsby to fill in at right and left back and winger Gary Atkinson to act as cover on the bench.

SOAS turned up very late to the game which was hugely frustrating for the boys as we were unsure prior to kick off when they would arrive/if the game was going to go ahead at all. They finally turned up and were allowed a bit of time to warm up before the referee got the game started.

Pompey made a reasonable start, looking to get the ball out wide wherever possible to utilise the outrageous pace of Greg Walsh on the right. It was Greg who notched his first goal of the season within the first 10 minutes of the game after drifting in from the right and being picked out by Pettsy before turning on the edge of the area and slotting home nicely (embarrassing celebration followed). Soon after this Greg had to be replaced due to injury with Ollie coming on.

Despite taking the lead, Pompey lost their heads for a moment and were made to pay for it soon after going 1-0 up. The SOAS forward lobbing Farmer from close range.

With the boys frustrated, Pompey looked to get straight back in the game and after some decent possession play in midfield from Callum and Ed, the ball came free to Stacky who delivered a neat ball in to Pettsy, who tried to lob the SOAS keeper only to see the keeper make a mess of the save and the ball end up in the net…2-1 Pompey!

Half time came around and the boys were flat despite being on top. We all knew we could play a lot better and a few words from Stacky got the boys ready for the second half. We started well but were not really doing enough in the final third to cause the SOAS defence many problems. As the half progressed, we upped our game and started creating a few decent chances, most notable was Stacky’s effort which went over before he was clattered by the big SOAS centre half. Soon after, Pompey were awarded an indirect free-kick about 10 yards from goal. After a lot of complaints from the SOAS players, the kick was laid-off by Stacky to front-man Kye Barnfield who powered the shot home to make it 3-1. It was soon 4-1 after Stacky dropped a shoulder to beat his man down the right channel before playing a dangerous ball across the 6-yard box which a SOAS player put in his own net.

Concentration levels dropped again after the goal and Pompey were punished. An attack down the left led to GK Farmer rushing out of his goal to try and collect the ball but found the ball looping over his head once again and heading for the goal. The dependable Chris Bone was there to clear up the mess and looked certain to head the ball off the line and over the bar but he ended up heading the ball into his own net. Whether it was on OG or not is hugely debated throughout the squad with Bone in complete denial of course! 4-2. It was a familiar feeling when SOAS scored their 3rd. DOD was confirmed for Farmer as he completed his hat-trick (of lobs conceded) and left the 4ths with a nervy end to the game. Luckily Kye popped up on the edge of the area with a few minutes left and hit a curling left footed shot that was parried in by the SOAS keeper to make it 5-3 and left Kye to celebrate his 3rd goal of the season after some great hold-up play and work rate throughout the game.

So, the final score was 5-3 but the boys were deflated, knowing we had not played anywhere near as well as we could but we were content with the win and progression through to the next round of the cup. We are set to play Canterbury Christchurch 4ths and will be looking to progress further. Stacky and the boys know that to be competitive in the league we need to play much better and there’s no better place to start than in the derby against the 5ths this coming Wednesday at Langstone.