| Match Report
An exciting day for the Pride of Bilbao as we return to County Cup action after missing last years competition. This is the most prestigious cup we will play in but also the biggest pain in the wossits, as you invariably get drawn away from home, miles away and with a stupidly early 10:30 kick-off. This game was eagerly anticipated as we were playing an unknown commodity and we were looking forward to testing ourselves against the cream of another league… this was almost comparable to playing in Europe.
The journey was fairly simple and as is becoming the case we turned up with a full squad of 15 plus a manager and our own linesman (Jonesy). The team was selected by Keith fresh back from his latest travels and reverted back to a 4-4-2 formation, Jenks was rested for Ben Heather, Tim came in for Paul Fagan and Sam partnered Phil up top.
The game kicked off at the normal frantic pace, what was soon apparent was that Ewell Village FC were a very solid team who were out-playing us in the early stages of the match due to some fine flowing passing football, this resulted in the first chance of the game, well saved by Russ. This was only to be a temporary respite though as Ewell soon took the lead with a low shot from the edge of the box that Russ managed to get down low for and get a hand to but the shot had enough on it to skid into the net.
So like last week Bilbao were going to have to roll up their sleeves and try and gain control of this match. I’m not sure why but this always seems to bring out the best in the Bilbao Army. We managed to snatch an equalizer quite soon after with a frantic segment of football, Tim hit a cracking shot from out side of the area that Cannoned off the bar, Benny H then headered the rebound back onto the bar, before Phil tucked away the latest rebound… that makes 5 goals in 4 games now for mini-Denny.
This goal really seemed to shake the Ewell defense as Bilbao really came back into the game as our more direct channel orientated game seemed to have them flustered and resulted in them switching from their effective flowing passing to trying to match us, which played right in to our hands. We then managed to take the lead late in the first half, When Ross had two free-kicks in quick succession on the edge of the box the second of these was well hit but straight the middle into the keepers arms… well it should have been, but the keeper somehow dropped it between his legs and over the line… I wouldn’t want to be him in the changing room after the game.
As half time closed out Keith seemed fairly impressed with our performance particularly the work-rate, and although they were a good side if we kept defending as a team then Keith thought the result was there for the taking. Also at half-time scorer Phil was swapped for Greg (Jonesy Jnr) and the quiet Benny H was replaced by Paul Fagan. The second had half started off following the same pattern with Ewell have more possession and playing the better football, but Bilbao were causing more danger when cleverly releasing the wingers and strikers. Sam and Greg were doing a good job holding the ball, Sam in particular with his ability to win the ball in the air, a quality we haven’t ever really had up front.
We had a great spell in the middle of the second half where from a series of corners throws and general play we created some half chances and sustained pressure. This resulted in a disallowed goal direct from a Billsy throw in, Steve’s acting here was terrible as he pretended he got a flick on the ball, The next flick he did win however resulted in him missing a header from about a yard which was blocked on the line and then neatly tucked in by Greg who now has 2 goals in only about 90 minutes of football for the team.
So with about 25 minutes to go Bilbao were in a strong position, but Ewell hit back strongly and made the remainder of the game a real struggle after the dis-allowed goal and then a elbow being sent into Sam’s face the aggression levels in the game picked and resulted in a fine finale to the match. Ewell were creating pressure mainly through Their left winger who was typically quick and tricky but like all wingers he went down at the touch of a feather. Calver was doing very well to keep him under control-ish.
The above mentioned winger then won a dubious penalty, as he ran into the box and went shoulder to shoulder with Calver he went down and the ref blew for the Pen. Anywhere else on the pitch and it was the right decision but the winger had no chance of catching the ball from going out of play. Justice was soon done though as Russ made a superb penalty save to his left to deny their cocky striker named Cheese… it was certainly a cheesy penalty… sorry v.poor gag. Ewell did however soon get their goal as Russ was made to look very silly having parried a shot he lost it then turned behind then back round again, while the ball sat bouncing by his feet, the Ewell player then scored the absolute present of a goal, while the rest of us looked on bemused at Russ’s strange dance.
From here in, Ewell continued to turn the screw but the defense and midfield defended the lead magnificently while the strikers managed to win us some much needed respite when given the opportunity. In the end we held out for what was a very good win over a very competent side. If Ewell had of kept their passing from the start of the match I would have expected the score to have been very different but as is often the case we outworked another team with our pace, power, spirit and a nice amount of skill we now progress to the second round.
Big games from the entire Defense and Midfield, Billsy showed again how useful a recruit he is going to be Tim worked very hard for the team with little opportunity to show the attacking side to his game and Sam gave us real physical presence up front. Man of the match for me though was Calver who is having his best ever run in the side, in fact he’s so hot at the moment he even burned his hair!. He did very well keeping up with their winger and was part of a great performance from the backline.
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