OTFC IIIs – 1

Old Suttonians VIIs – 6

A Shakespearean tragedy told in 15 minutes of madness condemned the IIIs to yet another defeat. The snow attempted to fall but, unlike the ball, it failed to settle in the back of the Tiff’s net and left the score line, if not the 6 yard box the very worst for ware.

A first half shone bright and an instinctive save preceded what the goalkeeper must wake up in the night from, an in swinging corner/come shot gave Old Suttonians an early lead. However all was not lost. Neat play on the left by Joe Yates, led to superbly flighted shot by skipper Baptiste Reynaud, that flew over the helpless Suttonian keeper to level the scores and give the Tiffs a sense of hope.

Several chances at either end followed before the Sutt’s striker took advantage of the Tiff’s ambitious attack play and broke away, bearing down on the goalkeeper and blasting past his helpless hand. After an upbeat half time talk, the IIIs came out on the up, thwarting an early attack, we settled with some nice link up play between midfielders Reynaud and Williams.

Then those 15 minutes…

A parry by the keeper resulted in a second shot cannoning off of the cross bar, before an agonising shot was deflected past the keepers hand and low into the corner. Instead of bouncing back, the floodgates opened with a mixture of lapse ball control, defence isolation and goalkeeper error. Four followed, in-between which some last ditch defending, a fortunate handball decision, and some excellent saves kept the score below six. However, the IIIs were sunk for a fifth time in five games, form that stretches back to before Christmas.

The final minutes saw a more concentrated and focused attempt with a flurry of half chances, Jackson particularly, working hard to close the already damning deficit towards the end. However, the damage was done, Suttonians celebrated a tactically decisive victory.

As Shakespeare’s Richard the Third says “Now is the Winter of our discontent…”  OTFC IIIs must hope that they does not meet the fate of King Richard, and that it does indeed see a “Glorious summer”, and that it arrives in time for Spring.

Congratulations to Baptiste Reynaud for his first goal of the season, and to Dan Jackson for his second MOTM display of the season.