Tonbridge Invicta Under 16's v Orpington Rovers

JUST SHORT

ORPINGTON ROVERS 4 TONBRIDGE INVICTA 1

13.04.03

This defeat finally saw our Title challenge fall by the wayside and that makes it hard to swallow. On a very warm afternoon we just couldn't find the kind of team performance needed to match this rather impressive Orpington Rovers side. They are certainly the best team we have played this year and unfortunately they had a good day while we didn't!

The opening exchanges were fairly even but once Rovers got in front on about 15 minutes they never really looked back. In fact we conceded two similar goals within the first 20 minutes - long balls played through the middle of our defence for their speedy and skilful Number 7 to run onto. He outpaced our back line both times and finished in accomplished style.

We battled for a while but then went three down with five minutes left before the break. We failed to track a runner at the back post and he placed a straight forward header past Ben Fitzer. In fact we missed a couple of gilt edged chances just before half time and that might have made a difference, but it was not to be.

At the start of the second half we looked like we might change the complexion of the game. Suddenly we were competing with more belief. We exerted some sustained pressure and within 5 minutes we had earned a penalty. Our Man Of The Match Daniel Powell despatched this with ease and now we felt the game was back on!

Gradually though Rovers weathered the storm and our threat subsided. The more the game went on the more comfortable the opposition looked. They grabbed a fourth from a corner. For once this was not really poor defending. The ball took a deflection as two players went for the ball and it ended up in our net! We never get any breaks when it comes down to it. This effectively killed the match off.

There were some brave efforts. Apart from Daniel Powell's tireless work as ever, Tom Collins and Neil Wilson had good games at full back and Paul Muddle gave a good account of himself after coming on just before half time.

We had drawn the second half 1-1, but overall we had fallen short of the challenge.

It would be easy to dismiss our season as a disappointment. We must not lose sight of the fact that we have only lost 5 league games out of 20 and a total of 7 games out of an overall total of 25. This is an excellent record and one we should all be proud of. Let's carry that thought with us as we go on our way to Holland!