A 1-0 Win Sees The Town Do The Double Over Knaphill.
Maybe it was the glorious spring sunshine, but this was a game that felt more like a pre-season friendly than a grudge match between the Town and those that had been exiled by the ‘Reid Revolution’.
In a match where little happened of note, the result turned on two moments of brilliance.
One on the pitch, the other off it.
Knaphill started the stronger and, in the fourth minute, it really seemed as though Smith must score, only for the Knaphill striker to be foiled by a superb save by Farnham ‘keeper Richard Ossai, reacting to the danger and blocking the goalbound with his chest.
Ten minutes later Knaphill had a second chance but Luke Taylor snatched his shot and screwed the ball wide.
The Town had created very little in the first 45 minutes, but the second half saw a significant tactical change.
This is, in fact, the third time that the new management team have taken charge of the Town (Tony Reid was unavailable for the home win over Camberley) and, on each occasion, they have demonstrated a welcome willingness to change things about if Plan A isn’t successful.
On this occasion, they encouraged the front three of Will May, Josh Ogunseye and Owen Dean to continually switch position, making things far more difficult for a Knaphill defence who had looked nothing more troubled than extremely comfortable in the first half.
And the tactical innovation was duly rewarded when Josh Ogunseye, now deployed down the centre, beat the Knaphill ‘keeper with a crisp shot as the plaintive cries of “you know what he’s going to do” went unheeded by a Knaphill defence who didn’t seem to know where he was.
For a match that had so little of note, the final minutes were incident packed.
First, Farnham Town old boy Kay Conteh played up to his role of pantomime villain by talking his way into the sin bin in the dying minutes of the match.
And then, right at the death, the Knaphill ‘keeper went up for a corner, the ball broke to Josh who bore down on goal only to be denied by a saving tackle from another Farnham old boy, Jack Mitchell.
Now thoughts turn to this season’s second ‘Coxbridge Derby’, at Badshot Lea on Easter Monday at 11:30am.
In the corresponding home fixture, it was former Farnham striker Charlie Oakley that settled the tie.
Perhaps Owen Dean can return the favour for Farnham?
Don’t forget, it’s an 11:30am kick off on Easter Monday!
MOTM : Findlay Warren
The Town’s final home match is the Combined Counties league game against Colliers Wood United Saturday 23 April. Kick off 3:00pm
