Leatherhead 1s 2 - 1 Cheam M2s

The summer holiday spirit seems to be alive and well at CHC. With just about enough player scraped together to field 3 teams. This meant a number of new faces in the might 2s. All of whom pulled together and worked brilliantly as a team.

Ok, so the result may not reflect this entirely, but sport can be cruel!

The early season rust wasn’t helped by the amazing amount of bobble on the pitch causing more than a few missed balls and even more “squeaky bum” moment in front of goal.

Cheam looked to be the better side for most of the first half with a decent amount of possession and a number of chances on goal. But a moment of confusion allowed the Leatherhead striker to pounce on a loose ball and drive it past the keeper at close range. The keeper will tell you that the close quarter strike left him with little chance. Some others might say he was beaten at his near post…. Albeit at head height. The jury is still out. 1-0 Leatherhead.

After a number of reasonably successful penalty corners, Cheam’s routine clicked enough for a shot on goal to be stopped by a defender on the line with his foot… and a penalty stroke was duly awarded.

An unlikely candidate stepped up to take the flick. Depending on who you ask, the flick can be described as one of the slowest and most telegraphed penalties you will see. Aussie Tim did manage to send the keeper the wrong way, so there may be some truth to his version of events described as “accurate, confident and measured”. It’s not for me to say…

As the second half continued, the game became more end to end with chances in front of both goals.

A flurry of Leatherhead penalty corners was kept out by the solid Cheam defence but an unlucky deflection off a defender’s stick put the ball over the keeper and into the roof of the net. 2-1 Leatherhead.

The score stayed that way. The game was a physical affair but played in a good spirit with a number of Cheam players standing out. MOM went to Taylor for a strong defensive performance. We expect to see a lot more of him in the 2s this season.

DOD goes to Misty for another lower league footballer performance of dives and arm waving.