Match Report 28.11.09: Benfleet 4 Faces 1

Faces travelled to Benfleet hoping to build on last week’s impressive victory. Liam Dooley and Shaun Crocker returned to the side at the expense of Gary Bird & Luke Roust. Reserve team skipper Craig Critchell also made his first appearance for the first team starting on the bench. Pre game activities included a ‘pant off’ which all the boys made a great effort in taking part. Notable mentions go to skipper Darren Chetcuti’s zebra print briefs and Director of Football Paul Baker’s leopard print thong, but the winner was Danny O’Driscoll who stole the show with a rascal pair of Leopard print silk boxers.

An inspection of the pitch before the game was not pleasant viewing. The pitch was very wet and boggy and was touch and go whether it was playable. The game did go ahead and the home side started on the front foot. Benfleet’s long ball game was better suited to the conditions and Faces tried to knock the ball around but just could not get going on the shocking surface.

The home side took a deserved lead on the 20 minute mark when poor defending from Faces allowed the forward in to open the scoring. 5 minutes later Faces fell further behind, details of the goal are sketchy as I was having a piss at the time but no doubt more bad defending was to blame! Benfleet cut through again just before half time to make the half time score a depressing 3-0.

The tea cups were flying at half time as I felt we’d undone all the good work from last week with a poor first half performance. The players were told to up their work rate or they would be spending their future Saturday afternoons at Lakeside with their bird’s as I would not tolerate that sort of performance again. A change of formation to 4-4-2 was made and Joe Kelly replaced Roy Darbo who was struggling with a groin strain.

Faces began the second half in much better fashion, and started to play some nice stuff given the conditions. Joe Kelly was making a big impact from the bench and the home defence was struggling to cope with his movement and quick feet. On the 55 minute mark Joe broke into the box and beat the defender with a lovely drop of the shoulder and supplyed a low cross which Jon Wightman stroked home with his left peg into the bottom corner. 3-1.

Faces were now well on top and were playing with much more freedom. On the 70 minute mark Joe broke through again and provided a super cross which Jon Wightman just failed to connect with his head from 6 yards out. A key moment in the game as Faces were well on top and a goal then would have had the home side rocking. Faces continued to attack but struggled to create any more clear cut chances as the momentum seemed to ebb away.

Benfleet scored a forth goal in injury time from a set piece to put a flattering gloss on the score line. Final score a disappointing 4-1

Star Man: Joe Kelly – Major impact from the bench at half time, looked a real threat.

Managers Verdict: Poor first half, better second. Need to improve defensively as a team big time.


Luke Roust 6
Joe Gadson 7

Darren Chetcuti 6
Billy Swick 6
Liam Dooley 6
Oti Ikomi 6
Jamie Moughton 6
Danny O'Driscoll 7
Damien Yoxall 7
Roy Darbo 6
Jon Wightman 6

Joe Kelly 8
Craig Critchell 6