FC Samba Online

Samba had received a bye in the 1st round of the league cup, so took the opportunity to entertain The Peacock at Burton Road, in a re-arranged league fixture. Samba who were looking for their fourth straight win, made a couple of changes to the side that beat FC05 in the FA Cup. In came Hill, returning early from an ankle injury, and Boughton, replacing Rose and Wilkinson respectively who were unavailable.

Before kick off it was apparent that the wind would play an important factor in the match, with conditions best described as very blustery. Samba had the wind behind them in the 1st half, and allied with the slope, set about attacking The Peacock.

The conditions made it difficult to keep full control of the game and passes went astray in the wind at regular intervals. However, Samba were certainly in the ascendency and territorially played more of the game in the Peacock half. At the back for Samba, Boughton was a giant, with a succession of booming headers announcing his presence to the Peacock frontline.

The first real chance, came through a piece of opportunism from Brewer. The ball was played high towards the centre back, whose clearance was poor, inviting Brewer to shoot from the edge of the box. The shot bobbled on its way to goal but its placement beat the keeper, and Samba were unlucky to see the shot cannon of the post.

At the other end The Peacock were generally well marshalled by the Samba defence, though on one occasion they were overstretched as the game resembled pin ball in the Samba penalty box. Fortunately for the sandboys they threw enough bodies in the way to block the danger.

Samba took the lead with the best move of the match. With the game frantic in midfield, Hill opened up the game with an excellent ball to Gibbons, who had pulled wide left. His cross to the edge of the area was supported by Misiuda, who intelligently nodded the ball back to G.Taylor who struck a low shot past the Peacock keeper into the bottom left hand corner.

Although Samba had sneaked in front they were mindful that they needed a greater cushion going against the wind in the 2nd half. They came very close to extending the lead on several occasions, notably when G.Taylor had a powerful left foot shot, well blocked by the keeper. They came even closer when route one football was demonstrated at its very best. A huge kick from Nicholls evaded the Peacock backline and Misiuda sensed an opportunity. He reached the ball before the advancing keeper and executed a lob that was destined for the net. The keeper, however, had other ideas and managed to sprint back towards his goal, dive towards it and divert the ball onto the post. It was a great save and ultimately a very important one.

As the half drew too a close, Hill got booked for a lunge which didn’t connect with the Peacock man, though the referee seemed to suggest that any contact would have resulted in a red card.

Half Time: FC Samba 1 v 0 Peacock Utd

At half-time, Samba boss McDonald, chose to make a sub, replacing Misiuda with Jones. As the second half got underway Samba found themselves unsurprisingly on the back foot straight away. The Peacock were on top, although they did not immediately create too many chances.

Samba were sluggish in getting up the field, when what they required was possession in The Peacock’s half.

The best chance that the Peacock created was when the striker got clear for a split second, but had to hit his shot early as defenders advanced around him. This brought a good flying save from Nicholls, though the shot was at a good height.

Samba were not testing the Peacock forward and their best opportunities were from set pieces. Boughton headed wide, after climbing highest in the box, but Samba posed too little threat. Boughton was later booked for a block on the Peacock forward.

The game was entering the last 20 minutes, and you sensed that Samba were happy to adopt a policy of defending their slender advantage, perhaps in the knowledge that tey had done something similar the previous week. To be fair the Peacock were not opening them up, but a 1-0 margin always leaves scope for a fall and unfortunately this happened. A routine long ball was chased by C.Taylor who appeared in control. His clearance however did not get the full connection he desired, and dropped invitingly for the Peacock man to swivel and hit. It was a good finish, nestling in the bottom right hand corner of the net for 1-1.

The problem was that Samba now had to get going in search of a winner, when they had played below par for all of the half. Unfortunately the inevitable happened. A deep cross was the right was not cleared and the Peacock forward hit the ball first time, finding the same corner and turning the game on its head.

Samba threw on Francis to try and rescue a point but it never looked likely and the Sandboys that dropped three points that they should have claimed for themselves.