Otford United 4-4 Guru Nanak - Promotion's a must for us this year, says Guru Nanak's Andy Stevens

OTFORD UNITED 4-4 GURU NANAK
Haart of Kent County League Division One East
Wednesday 16^th April 2014
Stephen McCartney reports from Otford Recreation Ground

GURU NANAK manager Andy Stevens praised his side’s character after they maintained their unbeaten league record despite playing without a recognised goalkeeper for 59 minutes.

The Gravesend based club moved four points clear of Saturday’s opponents Kennington at the top of the Haart of Kent County League Division One East table – and appear destined to clinch the title as they have three games in hand over the Ashford side and have six games left to cross over the finishing line in first place.

Guru Nanak, who arrived for this floodlit game with a league record of ten wins and three draws, raced into a commanding 2-0 lead inside the opening 25 minutes courtesy of strikers Tommy Vine and Sam Hinds.

But the turning point arrived when Guru Nanak lost goalkeeper Vicente Matsanka for a professional foul and Otford United took advantage when striker Mark Lampard scored twice in four minutes to take his tally to eleven goals for the season.

But Vine, 22, went on to complete his hat-trick to put the league leaders back in the driving seat, taking his goalscoring tally for the season to seventeen goals.

Otford United pressed and they clawed themselves back into the game courtesy of striker Adam Bunyan and substitute Matt Bunn, but left-winger Jamie Knight, who whipped in excellent crosses for those two goals picked up his second yellow card with four minutes remaining, which also saw squad member Jordan Busby also sent-off after encroaching onto the pitch in an angry manner as both sets of players clashed following three crunching challenges that led to Knight’s dismissal.

“Well, considering we were down to ten men with a loss to our goalkeeper and we didn’t have a goalkeeper on the bench, I thought we’ve done really well to defend to get the draw,” said Stevens after the eight-goal thriller.

“I thought we done really well. Credit to the boys, they’ve worked hard this season, still unbeaten so I can’t moan about it!

“It certainly was thrilling, end-to-end stuff. We was under the cosh for much of the second half but the boys done us proud, defended well. 

“At one stage we thought we were going to win it but I’m happy with a 4-4 draw to be honest.”

Otford United manager Jim Gillan admitted he was disappointed that his side couldn’t beat a team playing with a right-back in goal for large chunks of the game.

“I’m disappointed really because when they went down to ten men, I thought we should have done a bit better,” he said.

“We wasn’t in the game until they went down to ten-men so that’s what’s disappointed me.

“I think we deserved the point. I actually think on balance on how the game went I think we should have got the three points. The same when we was up there, I thought we were unlucky not to come away with at least a point there (when we lost 2-1 on 22 March).”

Otford United, who went into the game in sixth-place (out of eleven) with seven wins and three draws from their 17 league outings, created the first chance of the game inside the opening three minutes.

Knight whipped in an excellent cross from the left, which sailed over Matsanka’s head but Lampard volleyed his shot into the side netting from a tight angle.

But Guru Nanak opened the scoring with their first attempt on goal inside seven minutes.

Sam Cuthbert picked up the ball and scuffed his shot across the penalty area and Vine steered a first time shot across keeper Mark Lambourne to find the bottom far corner from eight-yards.

“A goal’s a goal, that’s what they say,” said Stevens, who accepted their slice of luck.

“All the way down the line both score some cracking goals, but you take the ones that you scuff and you take the ones that hit the back of the net and that’s all that counts for me. We looked good for fifteen minutes there.”

Gillan was disappointed to see a reoccurring theme with the opening goal of the game.

“We’ve been guilty of that all season,” he said.  “We’ve given away two silly goals away tonight. It’s something that we’ve worked on in training but it’s not coming to fruition yet.”

Otford United were to be denied by a fine save from Matsanka in the thirteenth minute.

Phil Perkins played a lovely diagonal cross from the right to find Knight unmarked inside the box and his left-footed drive from fifteen-yards was pushed around the post by the diving keeper.

Guru Nanak were to be denied within two minutes when Ryan Jarrett reached the by-line to cut the ball back towards the near post where central midfielder Oscar Saxton stabbed the ball towards the bottom corner, which was blocked by Lambourne’s legs before the Otford keeper gathered the loose ball.

The home side immediately counter-attacked and Bunyan sent a right-footed shot sailing over the crossbar from sixteen-yards.

Otford squandered an excellent chance to equalise when right-back Mike Cunningham cut the ball inside to Bunyan, who linked up well with Lampard but Bunyan stroked his right-footed shot straight at Matsanka from fourteen-yards.

However, Guru Nanak doubled their lead after 25 minutes, following a swift three-man move.

Ross Murphy clipped a long ball out of defence to release Vine through on goal who squared the ball to strike partner Hinds, who had the simplest task to tap the ball into an empty net from six-yards.

“Great finish, again, there you go, that’s what the boy’s all about,” said Stevens.

“At this stage, going through my mind was we’ve got another three points in the bag, but football’s a funny old game. It changes from minute to minute as you saw out there.”

Gillan admitted he was fearing the worst at this point.

“Again at that point then I didn’t know where we were going to go from there.  I just thought we’re on a hiding at that point,” he said.

“I decided to change it a little bit and tighten up a little bit more at the back.  I made a couple of changes there and luckily we get an attack and the referee sends the goalkeeper off and it’s our game from then on I think.”

Otford United appeared to be facing an uphill struggle at this time.

However, that was until Matsanka lost the plot and gave away a penalty and was shown a controversial straight red card by referee Trevor S Bailey, despite the attacker going away from goal.

A poor back-pass from Guru Nanak defender Murphy was latched onto by Bunn and the keeper came towards the corner of his penalty area to bring down the striker and a penalty was awarded and Matsanka was replaced in goal by right-back Ryan Perkin.

Gillan said: “It didn’t look like Matt was going anywhere and I actually thought he might get away with a yellow card because he was going away from goal so the referee decided to send him off, which done us a favour, but he didn’t have to do it (make the foul). It turned the game really, made it exciting.”

Lampard stepped up and sent brave Perkin the wrong way with his right-footed penalty, which he slotted into the right-hand corner.

“I don’t think he’s missed a penalty this year so he’s doing quite well,” added Gillan.

Stevens added: “The sending off changed it a bit. They came back into the game.  Two-nil up, I think if we stayed with eleven players out there it would have been a different result at the end of it but there you go, it’s football.”

But the Guru Nanak manager refused to blame his goalkeeper for his huge mistake.

“He didn’t have to do it but he did it and you have to stand by him,” he said.

“He’s saved us enough this season so we have to stand by him.

“He was outside the box, so the spectators said, but from where I was standing I couldn’t see, but there you go.

“A penalty’s a penalty. It’s in the back of the net. It changed the game didn’t it?  That’s when it all started and that’s why you saw a roller-coaster tonight.”

Knight whipped in a telling cross from the left which forced Perkin to back-peddle to push the ball over his crossbar at the last second.

“He’s never played in goal before but I tell you what maybe be luck but he made a few saves there,” added Stevens.

But Perkin was at fault for Otford United’s equaliser in the 37^th minute.

Knight played a sublime pass which put Lampard through on goal and he punished hesitant goalkeeping to slot his right-footed shot into the bottom left-hand corner past a man who didn’t come out to narrow the angle.

Gillan said: “Jamie put a great ball through. It was a little bit too long really in truth but because the keeper didn’t come it gave Lamps the extra step he needed to put it away and I know once he was there he wasn’t going to miss that!”

Stevens added: “He’s never played there before so we can all say what we think and how we feel but at the end of the day he’s got to make that decision and he made the decision to stay where he was and it ended up in the back of the net.”

But Perkin made amends for that poor judgement when he made an excellent save to thwart Otford from taking the lead.

Substitute Nick Johnson played the ball forward from the half-way line to release Bunn down the right and he cut the ball back towards the far post and Perkin made a brave save to deny Knight sliding in at the far post to poke home from close range.

That save proved vital because Guru Nanak immediately went up the other end and took the lead in the 41^st minute.

However, they were gifted the goal as a mix-up involving central defender Ryan Lee and keeper Lambourne gave Vine the simplest task to slot his right-footed shot into the bottom left-hand corner, which changed both manager’s half-time team talks.

Stevens said: “He’s got two on Saturday, he’s scored seventeen goals this year.  He’s done really well. He’s a top striker Tommy. He works hard. He worked up in London today and he had to get down here so I’m proud of him getting down here and doing the business for us.”

Stevens was asked what he told his troops during the half-time interval.

He said: “We got all the (spare) shorts and socks out on the floor and showed them how we wanted them to play it, how we wanted to keep two banks of four and just keep the one up at the front but keeping our shape the best possible way.”

Gillan, meanwhile, was not very impressed with his side during the half-time break after conceding the third goal four minutes before the interval.

He said: “That sort of changed the half-time team talk really. I was quite angry at half-time because really it should have been two-all and we should have been coming out to finish the job in the second half, but we’ve given another stupid goal away. It seems to be the story of our season this year!”

Otford United performed better during the second half and they issued the league leaders a warning when substitute Nick Johnson swung in a corner from the right which was headed wide by skipper Callum Hill at the far post.

But Guru Nanak scored a quality goal in the 56^th minute to put daylight between the two sides.

Vine curled a right-footed free-kick around the wall and past the keeper’s right hand to bounce into the left-hand corner of the net.

“Anywhere around the eighteen-yard box, especially on the right-hand side, Tommy can put it in the back of the net and there he did it,” said Stevens.

“It looked rosy for us at 4-2 but things change the game but that’s football.”

The Otford United boss added: “When you put the ball in like that and it bounces just before the keeper, it’s always difficult to deal with especially on a hard pitch like it was tonight. I thought it was a well thought off, intelligent free-kick.”

Gillan was asked what was going through his mind at this stage of the game, losing 4-2 at home to a team without a goalkeeper and with ten-men on the pitch.

“That was what was going through my mind! We’re 4-2 down, no goalkeeper, we haven’t really troubled him.  It’s not what I spoke about at half-time so that’s what I changed. I decided to push three up on top and three at the back and actually try to get at them. It nearly worked!”

Lampard drilled a right-footed shot which was fumbled by Perkin at his near post and Cunningham flashed the rebound agonisingly across the face of the goal-mouth and Guru Nanak survived.

Gillan made a more attacking tactical switch and he was rewarded when his side scored their third goal in the 65^th minute, two minutes after Stevens replaced hat-trick hero Vine for another striker in the shape of Simon West.

Lee played the ball out of defence to release Knight down the left wing and he whipped in an excellent cross towards the far post where an unmarked Bunyan planted his free-header into the top near corner of the net, although Perkin almost kept the ball out when he stuck out his left hand high to his left.

Gillan firstly praised Knight, who was whipping in some quality deliveries with his left-foot.

He said: “I think James’s been off the boil, he’ll be the first to admit this season. He’s just come back from a long lay-off where he was injured and suspended. He’s got two yellow cards again and he’s out again now. I think he was brilliant tonight. I think he was back to his old self and he may get looked at now for the rep side as he’s back on form.”

He added: “Adam’s done well to get his head on it. He’s not renowned for his headers so it was good for him to get one.  At least it went on target!

“Maybe their keeper would have stopped it, if I’m honest. We got a bit lucky there.  He was in the right place and did all the right things and directed the ball in the right place, so well done!”

Guru Nanak manager Stevens added: “He got a hand to it, he just needed one of those big foam gloves really to really grab hold of it!

“Yes, he done well. He’s not a goalkeeper. He never will be but he done us alright tonight.”

The home side pressed for the equaliser that they deserved, leaving Guru Nanak on the ropes for the rest of the game.

Cunningham whipped in a corner from the left and Bunn’s stopping header was cleared off the line by Oscar Saxton and Guru Nanak escaped the goalmouth scramble that followed.

Right-back Cunningham was then given time and space to unleash a right-footed drive from 35-yards, which stung Perkin’s fingers.

Perkin raced out towards the edge of his penalty area to block Bunn as he raced through on goal and Lampard’s follow-up shot was cleared away by Courtney Rayfield, although the away side got bodies back.

Bunyan and Jamie Shield were both off target for Otford United with shots from just outside the penalty area, before the home side scored the deserved equaliser with nine minutes of a thrilling game left.

Knight whipped in another excellent cross from the left and Bunn showed quick feet at the near post to dance his way past his marker before drilling a left-footed shot into the bottom far corner from a tight angle.

Gillan was full of praise for striker Bunyan, who has now scored eight goals this season.

He said: “I think Matt’s performance tonight was game changing as well. He’s not been on form but tonight we had a few people out so it forced a few changes and Matt’s come in and done a great job and showed that he is capable at this level. I think he deserved the goal. I thought he had a really good game when he came on.”

Gillan added: “Then, I thought we might be able to nick it and I think we should have done!”

The Guru Nanak manager admitted: “They deserved a point but you should do against ten-men, without a goalkeeper.

“If the boot was on the other foot, I’ll be really upset with the 4-4 draw, but I’m quite happy. It keeps us going.”

But Knight, 28, showed the ugly side to his game when he was collected his second yellow card of the game with four minutes remaining.

Tackles were flying in, with Hinds going in strongly on Lee, who seconds later retaliated and targeted Hinds, although play was allowed to continue.

But Knight put in a crunching challenge on Sean Taylor, which spared a melee which saw members of both technical areas storm on the pitch.

Otford goalkeeper Busby, who was watching the game next to his management team, stormed onto the pitch to join in with the fracas.

With club men running the line, referee Trevor S Bailey must take credit in the manner that he defused the situation, without any support from two assistant referees or stewards that you have at games at a higher level.

Knight deservedly picked up his second yellow and Mr Bailey walked over to Busby and took his name and sent him away from the side of the pitch.

Otford created one further chance but Johnson sent a right-footed free-kick sailing harmlessly over the crossbar from 30-yards, but a thrilling game finished with honours even.

Both managers were asked their thoughts on the flashpoints.

Gillan said: “Obviously as a club we’ll sort Jordan out. He shouldn’t have done that!

“I feel for Jamie because they set their sights on him at the start of the second half. They were kicking away. I think he did well to control himself.

“If the referee had given the foul instead of playing the advantage it would never had got to that situation but unfortunately the referee played the advantage and then it’s gone in and Jamie went in a bit hot-headed I suppose.

“He’s been kicked off the park for 20 minutes.  Every time he got the ball he scared the living daylights out of them and they just wanted to kick him so I can’t blame him.

“But I’ll be having a word with him because it’s another suspension and he’s too good a player. I don’t want to miss him.”

Guru Nanak boss Stevens said: “He got booked earlier so it’s two yellows then, the referee has done his job. It’s definitely a yellow card. No problem with that, so two yellows, it’s a red.”

When asked about Busby’s shocking actions, Stevens added: “We don’t want to see that in football do you? I’ve refereed for many years as well and he’s done his job out there. I thought the referee had quite a good game really. I’ve got no problems with the way he refereed tonight. I’m quite happy with the end result.”

Otford complete their campaign with two league games against third-from-bottom New Romney.

They travel on Saturday, before completing their league campaign with a home game on Easter Monday.

“You’ve got to be pleased when you play the top of the league and they’re unbeaten all year and we haven’t lost to them,” said Gillan. “You’ve got to be pleased but I can’t help be disappointed because I think we had enough chances.

“Good luck to Guru Nanak.  They’re a good footballing side and their management team are a nice bunch of people as well.

“There’s been two good games against them this year and I’ve enjoyed those so good luck to them.  I hope they go on and do it.”

Looking ahead to their last two games, Gillan said: “It will be nice to get six points and then have a look at other results and see where we finish.  It will be nice to get top five and let’s see what happens.”

Guru Nanak travel to Kennington on Saturday, before hosting fourth-from-bottom side Malgo on Easter Monday.

They complete their campaign with three away games against Hollands & Blair reserves, Malgo, Borden Village before hosting Kennington on the last day of the season on 10 May.

Stevens said: “We’re still riding high in the league and we’ve got a lot of hard games coming up. We’ve got a Saturday and Monday game.  It’s going to be another hard game down at Kennington.

“That’s a big game Saturday, Kennington away. All to play for. The boys will be up for it I’m sure.”

Stevens revealed he will delve into the second string to cope with the hectic fixture back-log.

“It will be difficult. I just hope there’s not too many injuries but at the moment we’ll just have to dip into the reserves and use them. That’s why we’ve got a reserve side, so we can dip in and pull them up and make it so we can have a good squad to go wherever we go.”

Stevens revealed the title has not been won yet, despite the club’s position.

“It’s all there to play for. They’ve got their feet on the ground and all I can say on their behalf is they go out every game. We haven’t even thought about winning the title yet.  I suppose it can be in the back of their minds.

“It’s the same as it is for Liverpool in the Premiership but you just go out there and play your football because things like this happen, like what you saw tonight. It can happen.

“We’ve still got Borden Village to play, who are probably our biggest rivals at the moment.

“Promotion’s a must for us this year really with the squad we’ve got but we’ve still got to win it.”

When asked whether their ground can host Haart of Kent County League Premier Division football next season, Stevens replied: “Yes, we’ve had the ground inspected, everything’s ok.  If we win the league we should be promoted but we’ve still got to win it. There’s a long way to go.”

Otford United: Mark Lambourne, Mike Cunningham (Steve Knell 79), Ryan Lee, Sean Ellis, Jamie Shield, Rory Catt (Adam Bunyan 62), Callum Hill, Phil Perkins (Nick Johnson 40), Jamie Knight, Mark Lampard, Adam Bunyan (Matt Bunn 27).

Goals:  Mark Lampard 33 (penalty), 37, Adam Bunyan 65, Matt Bunn 81

Booked: Jamie Knight 80

Sent Off: Jamie Knight 86, Jordan Busby (squad member) 87

Guru Nanak: Vicente Matsanka, Ryan Perkin, Randeep Sabharwal, Ross Murphy, Ryan Jarrett, Arun Suman (Alec Hollywood 46), Courtney Rayfield, Oscar Saxton (Sean Taylor 83), Sam Cuthbert (Dan Carrington 73), Sam Hinds, Tommy Vine (Simon West 63).
Sub: Narinder Bains

Goals:  Tommy Vine 7, 41, 56, Sam Hinds 25

Booked: Simon West 83, Randeep Sabharwal 86

Sent Off: Vicente Matsanka 31

Attendance: 53
Referee: Mr Trevor S Bailey (Gravesend)