Otford United 3-4 Chipstead - I'm not going to say we deserved to win, admits Chipstead boss

OTFORD UNITED  3-4  CHIPSTEAD
Haart of Kent County League Division One
Wednesday 19^th October 2011
Stephen McCartney reports from Otford Recreation Ground

CHIPSTEAD manager Eddie Rawlins said tonight was not good for his blood pressure after his side staged a heroic fight-back to claim the points in a remarkable local derby on a bitterly cold night.


Struggling Otford United, who went into the game in the bottom four of the Haart of Kent County League Division One table with only two wins from their first seven games, stunned fourth-placed Chipstead by racing into a 3-0 lead through Jamie Knight’s sixth goal of the season, a Jack Saunders’ lob and Callum Hill’s close-range header.

But Chipstead, based near Sevenoaks and not to be mistaken by the Surrey outfit who play in Ryman League Division One South, were given a lifeline in the 37^th minute when Tom Wilken punished sloppy defending from the home side.

Chipstead camped themselves in the Otford half for the second half and they pulled a second goal back through Harry Greville in the 76^th minute and they were still losing as the game went into stoppage time, but long-throw specialist Luke Dunne launched two balls into the box, which Otford failed to deal with and Stephen Bagnall and leading goalscorer Liam Smith snatched a dramatic last-gasp victory for the Chevening Road outfit.

“Definitely a game of two halves,” Rawlins, 50, admitted afterwards.

“I thought first half our defending left a lot to be desired to say the least, but we gave ourselves a chance by scoring.

“At 3-1 down, to be quite honest with you, I was quite pleased because I didn’t think we deserved to be in the game at all.

“We had a few words at half-time, we came out with a completely different mind-set and I thought a draw would probably have been the right result if I’m perfectly honest with you.

“I’m not going to say I’m not happy to gain all three points.”

A bitterly disappointed Denis Leigh, the Otford United manager, admitted losing their biggest game of the season was a bitter pill to swallow.

“First 45, a solid start, playing some great football.  In previous games we’ve had chances and never taken them.  This game we created three excellent chances, took all three.  We saw ourselves 3-0 up expecting to go and finish the game off,” said Leigh.

“I did strike a word of warning to the lads because we were in a similar situation last week when we were 3-1 down (to Coney Hall) and we won it 4-3 so the watch word was ‘defend, keep  your shape, keep your composure, let them come and chase us.’

“They closed us down all over the park, they shut us down and they didn’t let us play.  We gave it away cheap, we started sitting deep, giving away throw-ins and free-kicks.  We were going to be under the cosh and we didn’t defend them effectively.

“It was just like de-ja-vu from last week and I said to my assistant ‘I can see this going pear-shaped’ – and it did!

“We sat deeper and deeper, completely lost our composure.  I can’t take anything away from them.” 

Chipstead created the first chance of an enthralling classic inside the opening four minutes.

Left-back Ashley Crawford fed winger Wilken, who whipped in a cross towards the near post and Adam Steward hooked wide from 20-yards, before Wilken’s right-footed free-kick arrowed over the top of the far post.

But Otford United struck first, taking the lead after thirteen minutes, through leading goalscorer Knight, a full-back turned left-winger.

Mike Cunningham split the Chipstead defence with an excellent low through ball and Knight cut inside and drilled a low right-footed shot across keeper David Baker as the ball nestled into the bottom far corner.

Leigh said: “He’s (Knight) an extremely good attacking full back.  Over the last few games we’ve actually played him wide left as supposed to full-back because once he’s in the game he’s very effective.   He’s good at pulling sides out of shape.  He can finish as you saw tonight.

“He’s a bit of a hot-head.   He’s very passionate, he sometimes lacks a bit of self-control but I think with Jamie to him this was an important derby game.  He’s an Otford lad, he knows a lot of the Chipstead fellas and I think in a way that took an eye off the ball as well because some of them were pre-occupied having one-to-ones out there rather than just concentrating on the game.”

Rawlins, who spent ten years managing Eynsford and is now in his fifth season in charge of Chipstead, said: “Well, to be perfectly honest with you, the first goal was a ball played through the middle.  Our centre half (Charlie Imms) wasn’t really fit enough to play and I felt if he would’ve been fit, he would’ve cut it out.  The fella tucked it away really well.”

Chipstead went close half-way through the first half when Crawford swung in a right-footed free-kick from 35-yards and Dunne’s glancing header sailed agonisingly wide of the far post.

But Otford United belied their lowly status as they doubled their lead in the 25^th minute.

Skipper Hill clipped the ball over the top of the defence to release Cunningham through on goal and his initial shot was blocked by the advancing Baker and the ball fell nicely for Saunders to send a delicate right-footed lob into an empty net from 25-yards.

Leigh said: “Super goal.  Jack’s really come on leaps and bounds.  If I’ve got one criticism of Jack he holds it a wee bit too long.  He lollipops when he should be looking for the give and go.  Again he took the goal with his chocolate foot, struck it well, straight in.”

Rawlins added: “I think it was then when I decided to take the centre half (Imms) off and I put our captain (Porter) at centre half, which left us a little bit light in the midfield.

“Our captain James Porter sits just in behind the midfield four players and he’s our screen, if you like, just in front of the back four.

“It took us the rest of the first half and probably ten minutes of the second half to get used to the way we set-up really.”

Things improved for Otford as they made the score 3-0 in the 36^th minute through Hill.

Knight whipped in an in-swinging corner from the right with his left-foot, which sailed over a hapless Baker and Hill’s run towards the far post went un-noticed and he nodded the ball down into the near corner from two-yards out.

“We’ve been talking about attacking the ball far stick when we get a decent delivery in and when it comes to corners he can really ping them in and unusually for us we got on the end of it.  We really attacked the ball and fair play to Skip, he’s banged it in,” said Leigh.

Rawlins refused to blame his keeper for Otford’s third goal.

He said:  “I was disappointed with our goalkeeper but I was more disappointed with the centre midfield player (Peter Nolan) who left his man to run twenty yards with a free header.  That run started about ten yards outside of our penalty area.  I was more disappointed that he had a free run on goal.”

But despite that set-back, Chipstead didn’t have long to dwell on such a poor start, as their revival started with a crucial goal just 104 seconds later.

An attempted clearance from Otford defender Ali Stoner bounced off team-mate Sean Ellis and the ball was struck by Wilken, a  low, right-footed volley, which nestled into the bottom near corner.

“I would say that was the most important goal of the game, I suggest,” highlighted Rawlins.

“Ok, you could say that the winning goal was the most important goal but that goal gave us a little lift going into half-time, which we didn’t deserve.

“They (my players) played in the second half how we’ve played all season.  Going forward I never have no problems with this team, it’s when we don’t out the work in, when we lose the ball, that’s what lets ourselves down, which we did in the first half and we didn’t in the second half.”

Leigh spoke about his disappointment with the goal.

He said: “Without wishing to sound boring, each and every one we concede a goal, it’s because we’ve actually gifted it, it hasn’t been created.

“We haven’t got it away when we should’ve done and we allowed ourselves back into the game and that was a little lifted for them at 3-1.”

Otford keeper Jordan Busby came out to avert a dangerous situation five minutes before the break, blocking Steward after the Chipstead winger brought Greville’s flick on under control with his chest.

Leigh added: “I think in the second half it could’ve gone one or two ways – they drop their heads and we get into the ascendancy.  They didn’t drop their heads, they kept on battling.

“At 3-1 up you can either assume that you’ve got it in the bag and sit back a little bit and they chase it.  From their point of view at 3-1 down they can either drop their heads and capitulate or they can dig in as they did and fair play to them.  They dug in and spoilt our style of play completely.

“From an outsiders point of view you could say there were two Otford sides out there tonight – one in the first 45 and one in the second!”

“I thought for a local derby it looked like a derby in the second half more than the first half.”

Chipstead dominated the entire second half and were camped in the Otford half and it was only a matter of time that they would claw themselves back into the game.

They pressed early on, left-back Billy Chapman’s ambitious right-footed half-volley from 40-yards dropped just wide of the far post with only 33 seconds gone.

Smith’s right-footed volley from 28-yards sailed just over the Otford crossbar, before Wilken cracked a right-footed volley, which screamed wide from similar distance.

Otford did have some respite from the wave of attacks coming their way when Phil Perkins escaped being punished for going straight though Smith inside the penalty area and Otford swiftly counter-attacked and after Saunders was lashed to the ground by Dunne, Cunningham bent the resulting 25-yard free-kick around the wall and the ball caressed the side netting.

Terry Masher drilled a right-footed angled drive from 25-yards towards the Chipstead goal and Baker caught the ball high above his head.

Chipstead called Otford keeper Busby into action when Smith’s left-footed hooked shot was blocked by the Otford keeper, but Steward’s scuffed follow up shot was cleared off the line.

But Chipstead finally pulled a second goal back with only fourteen minutes remaining.

Steward’s corner from the right was headed out by Stoner and an unmarked Wilken drove a right-footed shot from 35-yards, which was saved by Busby, who couldn’t keep hold of the stinging shot low to his right and Greville steered the rebound beyond the stranded keeper.

“I’ve got it into him time and time and time again, you must follow the ball in and that was a classic following the ball in after it came back off the goalkeeper,” added Rawlins.

Leigh added: “We spoke about it at half-time.  We’ve got to attack the first ball and we’re guilty for not doing that and you can’t allow the ball to be bouncing around like bombs in the 18-yard box.   You have to get the things away!”

There was a scene of controversy just three minutes later when Otford thought they had converted a match-winning fourth.

Cunningham floated a free-kick from distance into the Chipstead penalty area and Masher rose to head the ball across the face of goal and keeper Baker touched the ball onto the post.  It appeared that the goal-net had bulged as Mark Lampard felt he had smashed in a goal-line melee, but despite the home side’s protests no goal was awarded.

The Chipstead manager gave his view on the incident.

“I actually thought the way the Otford boys all went up that it was in,” he admitted.  “I couldn’t actually see a lot from where I was standing.  There was too many bodies in the way.  Had it been given, I’d be in no position to say if it was or wasn’t a goal.”

Leigh, obviously, through the goal should have stood.

“It gone in! It actually hit the net and came back out again!  I think it came off of Lampard.  I’m not too sure but that decision and quite a few other decisions really changed the flavour of the game.”

You sensed that Chipstead would get at least a point from this amazing game inside the final ten minutes as Otford sat back, failed to make the ball stick up front and balls kept coming back into the home side’s penalty area.

Chipstead gave their local rivals a warning when Peter Nolan swung in a corner from the left, which was flicked on at the near post by Greville and Steward’s glancing header was caught above Busby’s head.

Another free-kick, this time taken by Chipstead skipper James Porter, was headed towards goal by Smith from 12-yards, which Busby held on to.

But Otford went into the 90^th minute hanging on to a slender 3-2 lead, but they failed to deal with two desperate last-gasp, long-throws from Dunne.

Dunne launched the ball into the penalty area and the ball bounced and dropped to substitute Bagnall, who steered his shot into the bottom left-hand corner.

“I thought that was a good goal,” said a relieved Rawlins.

“I thought three-all, I’ll take three-all.  I was getting myself ready for a great come-back.”

A draw would have been a fair result, but Chipstead completed the comeback with 48:14 on the clock.

Dunne once again looped the ball into the penalty area from the hands on the right hand side and once again Otford failed to deal with that threat and Busby’s hesitancy didn’t help either and that gift was accepted by Smith, who nodded the ball over the line from just a yard out at the far post.

Rawlins said: “Luke Dunne was absolutely out on his feet and he kept looking at me and I said ‘you have to take it!’

“I made two substitutions and brought two big fellas on and I feel once those two were on the pitch, his long throws became a weapon because they couldn’t deal with them and both those goals came from flick-on’s.”

The Otford manager was devastated with the way his defenders failed to deal with Dunne’s long throws.

“Again, at half-time we spoke about the fact that we’ve got a good, long-throw specialist (Sean Ellis) and he didn’t get a lot out of his long throws, although they were good deliveries.

“Their fourteen, who was taking their throws, again, a good throw but we didn’t deal with the second phase ball when it came off.   We said at half-time if we don’t win the first one, we’ve got to make sure we get the second phase ball correct.”

Rawlins was full of praise for striker Smith, who has now scored seven goals in eight games.

“He’s been great for us this year,” he said.  “He’s our no 9, he’s a good goalscorer and more importantly he works his socks off.  I have to keep telling him to stay on the half-way line.  He wants to work and help his team, which is great, but at the end of the day he’s there to score goals and you can’t ask for no more than you’re number 9 popping up with the winner.

“It was a game of two halves.   I’m not going to stand here and say we deserved to win.  I think a draw was a right result.

“There’s a lot of people watching tonight and I should think if you’re an Otford supporter or an Otford player you’re going home very disappointed but if you’re a neutral and a Chipstead fan it was a great night’s entertainment.

“I could be hyper-critical tonight and say we shouldn’t have shipped in three goals but then on a positive side we’ve come back from 3-0 down, that’s only a positive.

“My blood pressure can’t take that!”

Leigh added: “A draw would’ve been a fair result, without a doubt.  To actually come away on your own turf losing 3-4 when you were 3-1 up is a bitter pill to swallow but it’s back to the grindstone for Saturday to get back on the case again.

“I think this is the first time this club has played Chipstead for about ten years’ so there was a wee bit of history there.  I’m a little bit disappointed that the away side had a lot more support than we have.”

With six points from eight games, Leigh hopes he can turn around his beleaguered side’s fortunes.

He said: “Father Christmas is not here yet but we have to make sure we change things around and get ourselves safe as it were by the time he comes down the chimney.

“We just want to get ourselves some points on the board, get some self-belief back.  You saw it in the first half that we can play.”

Otford United: Jordan Busby, James Sandiford, Phil Perkins, Sean Ellis, Ali Stoner, Mike Cunningham, Terry Masher, Callum Hill, Mark Lampard, Jack Saunders (Martin Cooley 83), Jamie Knight.
Subs: Sebastian Christopher, Tom Mahon, Ryan Lee

Goals: Jamie Knight 13, Jack Saunders 25, Callum Hill 36

Booked: Callum Hill 53

Chipstead: David Baker, Billy Chapman, Ashley Crawford, Charlie Imms (Leighton Reece 19, Stuart Rawlins 55), Luke Dunn, James Porter, Adam Steward, Harry Greville, Liam Smith, Peter Nolan (Stephen Bagnall 58), Tom Wilken.
Subs: Luke Pattinson, Nick Johnson.

Goals: Tom Wilken 37, Harry Greville 76, Stephen Bagnall 90, Liam Smith 90

Booked: Harry Greville 53, Luke Dunne 66, Billy Chapman 81, James Porter 87

Attendance: 48
Referee: Mr Danny Swannell (Maidstone)