FC Samba Online

Samba finally got their season back underway with an away trip to Coopers Arms. It was Samba’s first game for 5 weeks and amazingly their first league game since 31 October, due to cup success, the xmas break and the big freeze.

Samba lined up in what is now becoming a familiar 3-5-2 system, but with Wilkinson missing in the heart of the back three, Wyatt returned from injury to take his place.

It was the home side that started the brighter, showing greater energy and threat in the opening 10 minutes. On one or two occasions they caused panic in the Samba box, but clear cut chances were at a premium.

Samba started to settle and within minutes took the lead. A well worked move saw Misouda create space for a cross, for which G.Taylor needed no second invitation and unmarked finished well, to give Samba a lead that they barely deserved.

The goal rocked the home side who looked shaky at the back. This was demonstrated further when the ball was misplaced in the middle of the park and Misouda, again the provider, fed G.Taylor who clean through on goal, finished confidently into the bottom right hand corner with the keeper comfortably beaten.

Samba had from nowhere engineered themselves into a 2-0 goal lead and at this point in the afternoon things were comfortable. The rest of the half saw Samba gain control, and they could on occasions added to their tally but in several instances the final ball let them down. Coopers Arms’ were still a threat yet struggled to break down Samba to create chances and Nicholls was untroubled.

Half Time: FC Samba 2 v 0 Coopers Arms

At half time it felt like it was going to be a good day for Samba and perhaps over confidence was a factor in a slow start to the 2nd half. Coopers Arms’ came out intent on getting back into the match and started with far more purpose than the Sandboys. Long range shots and a couple of half-chances signalled things to come but when Samba got a third you could have been forgiven for thinking the match was over. The third goal was a cracker as Brewer continued his love affair with the top corner, striking from 30yds to leave the keeper with no chance.

At 3-0 up the game should have been dead and buried but Samba gave the home side a hint of a chance when they conceded a penalty when Bassett was adjudged to have tripped Coopers’ midfield man in the box. Samba’s opposition to the penalty was not quite unanimous, but it felt harsh, and any contact was embellished with ‘a chest out, arms flung back’ style dive, which must have removed any doubt in the referee’s mind. The penalty was dispatched into the top corner but Samba still had a two goal cushion.




Only a few minutes later the arrears were reduced to one, when Samba gave the ball away in midfield and never recovered. The Coopers’ man dribbled his way through the backline and finished low under Nicholls and it was well and truly game on. Coopers Arms deserved to be back in the match and it was up to Samba to stand up to the task.

Unfortunately the writing was on the wall and when the equaliser came, the biggest indicator of how the match was going, was that it surprised no-one. Prior to the goal the home side had hit the bar and they gained their equaliser from a similar position to the 2nd goal. The forward wriggled his way through and had looked to be denied by a superb last ditch tackle from Hawkins. However, the ball rebounded back to the forward whose low finish was re-directed on the line by a despairing Bassett, but only through the side of the goal and the game was 3-3.

At 3-3 Samba actually threatened the home goal. C.Taylor was very unlucky to see his header hit the bar, whilst G.Taylor was denied twice by the keeper when he was one on one. The second save saw the keeper punt the ball down field and the Coopers’ man and Bassett challenged for a header. The ball clearly came off the Samba man and travelled to the Coopers’ forward who was standing in an offside position. The flag stayed down and the referee did not intervene and despite taking an age to finish, the Coopers’ man got the winner with less than two minutes to go.

Although the goal perhaps should not have stood, there was no denying that the Samba had contributed massively to their own downfall and that Coopers Arms deserved credit for sticking to their task even at 3-0 down. Samba now move onto a clash with league leaders Santos.