Total Sport Challenge Trophy: Second Round
Sunday 15 March 2009
RCA The Barnes exited the Total Sport Challenge Trophy when having to field an under strength side due to a 'birthday weekend' and a 'christening', at the hands of SRM Hylton Castle, whom RCA had beaten the previous Thursday night.
RCA started as if they had never played together and found themselves deservedly 2-0 down after 20 minutes, the result of first an uncharacteristic defensive error from Liam Dunn and then woeful defending against a quick counter attack.
RCA then seemed to be shaken out of their complacency and after a tremendous first time strike by the in form Andy Place dragged them back into the tie they equalised when the same player stooped to head home a corner after 35 minutes.
HT: 2-2
The second half failed to produce much decent football, other than a competent save from Brown in the SRM goal from, again, Place, but shambolic defending again from the RCA defence from a corner resulted in the ball being toe poked home from eight yards, and an uphill battle resulted.
Throwing caution to the wind RCA pressed for an equaliser and were rewarded somewhat fortuitously when an SRM defender unluckily deflected a Ross Hughes low cross into his own net after 88 minutes.
RCA should then have won the tie when Andrew Gilbert escaped down the left wing and squared to Anthony Teasdale at the near post, but with nobody near him and the keeper stranded he failed to bring the ball under control and the chance was gone.
FT: 3-3
Extra time commenced with RCA the more likely side, but as is their way they again failed to cut out a hopeful long ball over the top and man of the match Barry Cook just beat keeper Errington to the ball to lob it goal wards, the two of them then colliding as Alan Surtees was in the process of hooking the ball from the line. A penalty was probably the correct decision given the collision, but the ref then compounded the decision by dismissing keeper Errington for 'preventing a goalscoring opportunity', when in fact the goal was very nearly scored (a booking would surely have sufficed and SRM players were of the same opinion). Alan Surtees took over in goal, but Barry Cook confidently despatched it to give SRM a 4-3 extra time HT lead.
The second period of extra time still saw RCA on top but the lack of the extra man proved too much despite one or two decent opportunities which were again wasted due to lack of ball control, so the game went to SRM 4-3, and good luck to them in the quarter final.
Disappointing given our best chance for silverware is in the cups, so we just have The Kitchen Magic Cup to focus on with an away draw to Colonel Prior coming up shortly.