Cray Valley 1-2 Lingfield - It would have been nice to repay the chairman with a Vase run - Chapman

CRAY VALLEY (PAPER MILLS) 1-2  LINGFIELD
The FA Carlsberg Vase First Qualifying Round
Saturday 1^st September 2012
Stephen McCartney reports from Badgers Sports Ground

CRAY VALLEY (Paper Mills) manager Steve Chapman admitted too many of his big players had off days after they suffered from a smash-and-grab raid from Lingfield.
 


Cray Valley went into their first ever FA Carlsberg Vase tie sitting in second place in the Kent Hurlimann Football League table, with 10 points from their five league outings – five points adrift of Erith Town.

Lingfield were in fifth-place in the top-flight of the Sussex County League with three wins from their opening five games – six points behind leaders East Preston.

But the Surrey side progressed through to the next round after they accepted a couple of gifts from the progressive Eltham outfit.

Lingfield’s impressive left-winger Harry Sintim whipped in an excellent cross from the left and Cray Valley’s left-back Steve Springett inexplicably headed the ball into his own net inside the opening seven minutes.

Lingfield dominated the opening twenty minutes, with stocky midfielder Gareth Graham pulling all their strings, but Cray Valley regrouped after the break and they deservedly equalised seven minutes into the second half thanks to Chris McGinty’s excellent volley to register his third goal of the season.

But Lingfield grabbed the victory when central midfielder Daryl Coleman smashed home a 64^th minute penalty.

“We deserved more out of the game.  A penalty and an own-goal but at the end of the day if we don’t put the ball in the back of the net, then we don’t win games and that’s it,” admitted Chapman, 49, after his side fell at the first hurdle.

“Too many of our big players today had off days I think as well.

“Heads are down, without a doubt, and we need to raise their heads now. They know they should have played better and won the game.

“Too many of our senior players didn’t perform on the day and that’s when you’re looking at your other players to rise to the occasion and they didn’t do it today so they’ve all got to take a long hard look at themselves.  That, again, is another part of the learning curve.   I’m sure we’ll bounce back (at home to Fisher in the Kent League) on Tuesday.”

The Kent League side went into their historic but swift appearance in the FA Vase with a lengthy injury list.  Jack Carthy (thigh), Billy Parkinson (ankle), Casey Scotter (knee), Richard Morgan (wedding), Matt Knuckey (ankle) were all ruled out and Springett was added to that list when he was forced off with a strained thigh muscle in his left leg.

Both sides should be applauded for playing the ball out from their defences and it was Cray Valley that created the first chance when former Bromley Academy striker McGinty drove a left-footed shot straight at visiting keeper Rob O’Hara from just inside the box.

But Cray Valley were facing a mountain to climb as they gifted Lingfield an early lead.

Sintim had time and space to whip in an excellent cross into the area of uncertainty with pace from the left towards the far post and Springett’s downward header from just four yards out bounced beyond his own keeper and into the net.

Chapman said: “I think it was one of those crosses that you would have loved to put in yourself!  It was a brilliant cross. He (Springett) had to attack it (with Pitterson ghosting in) and made the wrong decision. It could have gone the other side of the post. It could have hit him and gone the other way, but it went in but we still had enough time to come back and we did!”

Club stalwart, Stewart Back who was making his first appearance of the season in goal for Cray Valley and he kept his side in the game in the 13^th minute.

A right-wing corner from Gareth Graham delivered an out-swinging corner and Coleman was left unmarked on the edge of the penalty area and his first time right-footed drive flashed through a crowded penalty area and Back dived low to his right to turn the ball around his post.

Graham, 33, who was given time and space to pull the strings in the middle of the park for the opening 20 minutes, showed glimpses of talent that saw him play for Northern Ireland’s under 21’s, Crystal Palace and Brentford earlier in his career, before Cray Valley negated that threat by asking Mark Allen to get closer.

And when Cray Valley did that they started to get a stranglehold on to the game.

Speaking about Graham, Chapman said: “He’s experienced, an ex-pro and he did (pull the strings) but once we realised that and we changed our shape slightly to counter that we had the rest of the game.”

Robbie Bryant flashed a low left-footed drive wide from 20-yards after he pounced on to a poor headed clearance out of the Lingfield penalty area by Graham.

Springett hit the near post after he swung in a corner from the right after eighteen minutes and burly central midfielder Paul Votier hooked a volley into the arms of six foot ten inch goalkeeper Rob O’Hara as the home side pressed.

Lingfield created a chance when Craig Pitterson played the ball into Jamie Lawrence’s feet, whose hooked pass released Pitterson down the right and he whipped in a cross which picked out Lawrence, whose looping header was nodded away by Springett close to the far post after the ball sailed over his keeper’s head.

But Chapman rued his side’s best first half chance when it came in the 24^th minute.

Striker Luke Tanner wriggled his way in from the right and played the ball across the face of goal to Bryant, who laid the ball off for McGinty, who skied a rushed right-footed shot over the bar when he only had O’Hara to beat from eight-yards.

Chapman said: “He should have scored!  But we are a team, as we know from last year, that we have been behind 1-0 on numerous occasions and it doesn’t really bother us when we’re 1-0 down at half-time.   We go in and we re-group and invariably we have a much better second half. I think we did today and Chris McGinty atoned for his miss by scoring an equaliser, which was a brilliant volley!”

The lively Bryant and Springett combined down the left, but Allen failed to trouble the Lingfield keeper when he looped his header wide when left unmarked at the far post.

Miller then played the ball inside to Votier, who cracked a speculative right-footed drive from 40-yards which went through a crowd of bodies but former Bromley keeper O’Hara had time to watch the ball get down low to his right to make a comfortable save.

But Lingfield squandered an excellent chance to double their lead in the 37^th minute and once again it was Graham who played a part.

Graham hooked a first time ball over the top of top off and Springett was caught in two minds what to do with the ball but in a poor attempt to pass the ball back to his keeper, Simon Wallace nipped in and dragged his shot across Back and wide of the far post.

Another fine cross from Sintim saw Coleman ghost in unchallenged and his looping header brought a fine catch from Back, who climbed high to prevent the ball finding the top corner.

Back was called into action again on the stroke of half-time when he caught Freddie Fleming’s downward header after the central defender came up for Graham’s right-wing corner.

Chapman kept calm during the half-time interval and said: “We’re always constructive at half-time.  We never throw tea cups around the room or anything like that. We use those ten minutes to iron out any issues that we have and gee the players up and generally it does work and it did work again today right up to the time when they scored the penalty.”

Cray Valley upped their urgency after the interval and McGinty cracked an angled right-footed shot on the turn, which narrowly missed the foot of the near post inside the opening four minutes.

But they deservedly restored parity in the 52^nd minute with a fine move.

Votier smashed a ball up field and Tanner flicked the ball over his markers head and the ball came out to McGinty, who produced a classy finish, unleashing a right-footed volley from sixteen-yards, which screamed past O’Hara’s giant frame to find the far corner.

This lifted Cray Valley even further and Miller’s ball over the top of the Lingfield defence was latched onto by Tanner, but he had to stretch to sky his right-footed shot over the crossbar.

Springett then went on a 40-yard run before he passed to Bryant, who played the ball inside to Tanner, but his curling shot from the corner of the penalty area deflected agonisingly just wide of the far post.

But after that ten minute spell, Lingfield closed the game out for a time and poor defending from outside the penalty area gifted Lingfield the winner.

Cray Valley skipper Miller played a poor back pass back to his keeper but the ball was intercepted by Sintim, who dropped to his knees after it appeared that he ran straight into Back, who had advanced off his line to meet the winger.

Female assistant referee Donna Neuth flagged for the penalty and Coleman stepped up and emphatically smashed his right-footed penalty over the diving keeper into the roof of the net to score his fourth goal of the season.

Chapman had turned around to his coach Martin Barnard and missed his keeper’s challenge on Sintim.

He said: “I didn’t really see it to be honest.  It was a poor pass back from Jamie Miller, which put Stewart in a very difficult position.  I think it was a tussle between Stewart and their player.  It could have gone either way.  Stewart said he didn’t push the player but he would, but there’s nothing we can do now.”

Chapman revealed the reasons behind leaving his leading goalscorer Mo Conteh on the bench until three minutes after Lingfield’s winner – a move that backfired and cost the club £500 in prize money.

He said: “We rested Mo Conteh today. He hasn’t been training all week, which is a club rule so he sat on the bench.

“I don’t regret putting him on the bench because Tanner and McGinty played very, very well.  We brought Mo on immediately after the penalty and pushed three up front and I thought we’d get that goal but we never.”

Cray Valley threw the kitchen sink at Lingfield for the rest of the game, but Lingfield were content not to offer anything in the final third.

Conteh drove a right-footed shot from sixteen-yards straight at O’Hara after fellow bench warmer Aaron Guard whipped in a first time cross from the right.

Bryant and substitute Guard combined down the left and Guard played the ball inside but all McGinty could do was sky his left-footed shot over.

Conteh then cut into the corner of the Lingfield penalty area and his right-footed curler agonisingly sailed narrowly wide of the foot of the far post.

But Cray Valley should have forced extra time with the last throw of the nice.

McGinty chased a lost cause and cut the ball back from the by-line and after a game of pin-ball off a couple of Lingfield defenders the ball fell nicely for substitute Harry Dolby, who smashed a low left-footed shot towards goal, but O’Hara stuck out his legs to make a smart block.

Chapman added: “It’s unfortunate it fell to Harry, he’s a defender as well. He did well to get into that position. He’s slightly miss-kicked it, if anything, if he connected with it more sweetly I think it would have gone in but it was a good save from the keeper.”

Losing a game like this was a very bitter pill to swallow.

Chapman said: “I thought we defended very well and at one stage I had to move our young right-back (debutant James Golding, who played for Sevenoaks Town last season), to left-back when we lost Steve Springett and I thought I could bring myself on at that stage and it would’ve still been comfortable.

“At the end of the day we had one lapse in concentration and at this level that all it needs sometimes.

“It’s a frustrating day for the club.  It’s a big day for the club.  I don’t think we froze. We played our part in the game. We were just beaten by the odd goal.

“We’ve got a few injuries at the moment, which is a little bit worrying.  Steve Springett picked another one up today, he’s done his thigh muscle so he’s a doubt for Tuesday.

“Sam Gent played at the back today. He normally plays in midfield.  I think he was our man-of-the-match.  I thought he did extremely well today filling in at centre back but we missed him in midfield.  All our defenders are falling like flies at the moment.”

With a wedding reception taking place inside the plush bar facilities at an impressive Badgers Sports Ground at Middle Park Avenue, Chapman said he wanted to have a run in the FA Vase to pay-back chairman Mac MacAnallen.

Chapman said: “The chairman’s put a lot of money in the club over the last couple of years and it would have been nice to repay him by having a couple of runs in the Vase and put some money back into the kitty.

“It was a good experience.  At least we can now focus on the league, which is a bit more important competition for us and move onto Tuesday night when we play Fisher.”

Cray Valley (Paper Mills): Stewart Back, James Golding, Steve Springett (Harry Dolby 57), Joe Matthews, Paul Votier (Aaron Guard 74), Sam Gent, Robbie Bryant, Jamie Miller, Chris McGinty, Luke Tanner, Mark Allen (Mo Conteh 67).
Subs: Ben Healy, Iain Kemp, Ade Adeniyi

Goal:  Chris McGinty 52

Booked: Jamie Miller 70

Lingfield: Rob O’Hara, Chris Head, Dean Hamlin, Freddie Fleming, Scott Elgar, Harry Sintim, Gareth Graham, Daryl Coleman, Simon Wallace (Dan Elgar 57), Jamie Lawrence (Josh Coulson 90), Craig Pitterson.
Subs: Dan Oakins, Darren Maziere

Goals: Steve Springett 7 (own goal), Daryl Coleman 64 (pen)

Attendance: 58
Referee:  Mr Martin Osbourne (Leigh-on-Sea, Essex)
Assistants: Mr Paul Whitmore (Leigh-on-Sea, Essex) & Ms Donna Neuth (Leigh-on-Sea, Essex)