Old Bromleians 1 - 0 Old Parkonians (Old Boys Cup, Round 1)

Old Parkonians suffered their second 1-0 reverse in a row in the Old Boys' Cup on Saturday at Old Bromleians. In a repeat of the league fixture of three weeks ago, Parks travelled to Bromley to meet their SAL Division 2 rivals in a cup match.

Having played them 3 weeks ago, and won fairly convincingly, it was slightly concerning to see about 20 players warming up - none of them having been involved in the previous league match. It turns out their 1st XI had been demoted to the 2nd XI, and a new team drafted in to represent the 1st XI - the joys of an open club. A coach whipping them up, 8 subs on the line, sprinting, chasing and full on tackling - and this was just the warm up. They did look very young, which had our new grey haired sweeper, fresh from a 3 week pre-season break in Florida, quaking in his boots.

An brisk opening 15 minutes by both sides, and it was clear that this side was no better than the one Parks had faced previously - in fact, although very keen, they lacked the experience and shape of their predecessors. In a rather uneventful first half, played out in the bobbly midfield of the Pig Farm, it was a full half an hour before the first chance was created. Parmenter broke the offside trap, and forced the Broms' keeper to make a good save down to his left. Keogh had a particularly good day, getting plenty of joy going forward down the left flank, and pushing his opposite number back on every occasion. The only other incident of the half was a neat move by the home side down the left, which Nicholls was at full stretch to clear from inside the six yard box.

After the interval, it was Parks' who restarted much the better of the two sides. Dominating from the back, where Gaughan and Bernstein are developing a very solid partnership, the visitors pressed to break the deadlock. Good solo work from Knapman out on the right, and a good cross saw wing back Keogh head just wide, when perhaps he should have done better. Cross and Mason got the better of Michael Jackson (one glove) and Bubbles (tiny monkey fellow) in the Broms' midfield - and it only seemed a matter of time before Parks' opened the scoring. Both sides proceeded to miss open goals, lobbing wide of empty nets when the respective keepers were stranded. After good footwork from Jamieson and Parmenter, Knapman was upended with one man to beat, and from the resulting free kick on the edge of the home side's box, Mason drove disappointingly into the wall.

On 85 minutes, the ball dropped to Parmenter, whose 20 yard strike looked to have wrapped the game up for Parks, but a fantastic save by Broms' gigantesque keeper kept the game goalless. Just as both sides were settling for another half hour of extra time, in the 90th minute, a speculative ball into the box dropped in between Jamieson and Knapman, and the Broms' sub beat Turner at his near post. Parks' could salvage nothing from the remaining minute, and for all their good approach play, Parks ended another 90 minutes not having troubled the back of the net. However, after two games where Parks' have created plenty and not scored - it shouldn't be too long before the goals start coming again for the red and whites.

Man of the Match: Keogh
Team: Turner, Gaughan, Nicholls, Bernstein, Keogh, Mason, Jamieson, Cross, Knapman, Parmenter, Chadwick. Sub: Kuforiji.

This Saturday, Parks host Old Kingsburians in the AFA Cup at Oakfield, KO 3pm.

Report by TC