Cheam Mens 3rd XI

Report: Let's face it, this should be a title decider with only one game each left. The 3s went into this game a point behind Leatherhead, the only team to beat them in the league all season. The game at Nonsuch was a tight affair with Leatherhead defending in depth and this game was similar. If either team had an effective short corner routine the scores could have been much higher but only one counted the whole match, and that was Leatherhead's very late consolation goal.

Cheam started brightly with Stewart running at the Oppos defence with some success but the defence seemed determined to self destruct for a while, giving away a succession of short corners and being lucky to escape. Cheam were making the best open play chances but couldn't quite finish one off. As the half wore on Cheam made more effective use of subsitutes with Simon and Matt Hall giving the defence a real test. They threatened increasingly and eventually it was break down in the Cheam half that led to a lightening break up field, a square pass from Stewart to by-pass the keeper and Didier had loads of time to clip in the first goal.

The second half saw increasing domination for the away side and the only fear was getting caught on the break. The shortie count grew and it just seemed inevitable that Cheam would conced from one. Let's face it, Cheam never looked like scoring one their own! Before Leatherhead could register, though, Didier made the game safe after a Leatherhead error and an advantage played after a leatherhead foot pushed the ball in Cheam's favour. Didier applied an expert thump to send the 3s to the top. Leatherhead eventually scored from a short corner but, with only 15 seconds remaining, Cheam survived to top the table at last. There's just one game left, at home to Sanderstead on 15th March - 4pm at Nonsuch and, as Leatherhead play Merton (who beat them last time out) on 8th, we'll know what Cheam need to do. If Leatherhead fail to win then the 3s will be league champions again. BE THERE

Report: Well, this was nowhere near as close as the scoreline suggests. It would have helped if Cheam had started with a keeper but Krish was delayed by having to pick up Hools and some wayward directions. So by the time Krish made it into goal the mighty 3s were trailing to a third minute goal.

Valley should have probably had a second after 6 minutes but managed to mess up and that was about the last action that happened anywhere near the Cheam goal. By half time Cheam were wondering just what they’d done to upset the hockey gods, they had so much of the ball and created a couple of great changes for Matt Mabin but they just couldn’t get the goal they richly deserved.

When Cheam finally got the ball in the net it was a moment after the whistle blew for a short corner. It was all beginning to feel like the 3s game at Horley last season and, in the second half it was the same player who brought the team back on terms as that day. A short corner broke to Simon who smacked in a cross after the umpire played an advantage, the ball smacked of a defender and past the ancient but excellent Valley keeper and into the goal. The second came after another shambles in the Valley D when the umpire allowed a couple of advantages, perhaps knowing how bad the 3s are at short corners, before Julio got the last touch for a birthday goal.

There was still time for Matt Hall to produce a scintillating run to the line and pull the ball back for Matt Mabin who made it a hat-trick of near things. Valley huffed and puffed and defended superbly but could have no complaints about the Cheam victory which was made even sweeter after Kenley beat Leatherhead to leave the 3s top of the league. The next league match is away to Leatherhead on 1st March, a potential league decider.

Report: This floodlit encounter was played in the icy tundra of South East Croydon with a dedicated and very welcome plethora of sideline supporters, comprised of members of the mens 1st and 2nd XI. Their presence and unwavering support certainly spurred on our performance – thanks guys.

The early phase of the game was the battle of the midfield, with The Rock demonstrating, why he is so called, letting nothing through and leaving the back line with little to do but sweep up the occasional break through ball. Great running from Duncan, Ben, Barry from Eastenders and Simon ensured that Cheam enjoyed the lions share of the pressure, forcing the busy Sanderstead keeper to make several fine saves.

Some great linking play with Slasher saw the ball played down the left and into the ‘D’, where the ball was skilfully sneaked through the Sanderstead defence to Barry from Eastenders, who had got himself in exactly the right spot to fire the ball into the back of the net.

More of the same pressure culminated in the oppo’s ‘D’ doing a very good impersonation of a pinball machine as the ball pung* around the 15 or so players that were in the ‘D’ at the time. The ball, having racked up quite score eventually found a foot or two. However, Mark WS in Wizardly fashion was the only person to play the whistle and slotted the ball in the goal. After consultation with the video judge, the umpires awarded the goal. 2-0 at half time.

The second half saw much of the same pressure and an oppo defender kicking the ball off the line. Up stepped the Snooker Cue to take the consequent P-Flick. Snooks’ majestically taken P-Flick, heading straight for the top left corner was outshone by the keepers even more magnificent save. Having felt cheated out of his goal, the Snooker Cue, shortly after, found himself one-on-one with the keeper and made amends by calmly and confidently lifting the ball over the fast approaching keeper into the back of the net.

With about 15 minutes to go the Oppo managed, from a short corner, to somehow get the ball past the normally impenetrable Cheam 3’s Defence. This was the catalyst for a 10 minute spell of pressure from the oppo. Some good play saw a Sanderstead sharp-shooter take the ball around Krish. With only thin air between him and the goal, the second goal seemed a certainty. ‘No way’ thought Sparky. Not content with already having made one goal line save, with a flagrant disregard for the laws of physics and with no contemplation for his own personal safety, Sparky somehow made up the distance between himself and the attacker and got his stick in front of the ball to deflect it wide of the goal.

Some great saves from Krish and resolute defending from Dhirren, David, Aj and Mark saw cheam regain their composure. Then, like a bullet from a gun, Simon picked up the ball on the half way line and shot down the length of the pitch to the corner and fired in a superb cross, (just like the ones we do in training). Had the forwards been as quick as Simon, we might have added to our tally.

Top of the table clash next week! Bring it on!!

*pung – past tense of ping (ok, so not in the Oxford English Dicionary, but in the little dictionary in my head)

Report: Today, the 3s played Merton. Memories of past games came to mind, but the 3s are on a high, comfortably winning the first two league games of the season, both 4-0. However, today we faced our toughest opposition to date. Merton scored during the latter part of the first half, with an incredibly tight angled shot, which some people believed had found a gap in the goal net from outside the post; however after some examination, it had not. 1-0 to the opposition. Half time came round soon after, and after a constructive team talk, we found that our performance level had gone up. Around half way through the second half, Cheam finally levelled the game up, with great run from Gary, drawing the keeper towards him and then slipping it to the spot, where Julio redirected the cross into the goal. The game finished 1-1, which could have been a different result, as there was a very clear shout for a penalty! flick, but as it was not given, the game did not swing our way.

Throughout the match, incidents occurred which made tempers rise, and moments of chaos in which members of both teams got involved. End of the day, we got a point out of a very tough game, and we should look forward to the next week, in which hopefully, we will have a better game overall and get the result in we deserve.