M1 returned to the scene of a famous victory, as we won excellently against Old Georgians at the end of last season to give ourselves a chance of staying up (that we took!) This time round though the auguries looked more ominous, as with 5 regulars out (Bean, Cliff, JMH, Elgar and Bono) through absence, injury or sickness - and with OG rumoured to be dropping a couple of their 1s - it looked likely to be a tough afternoon.

OG started brightly, spraying the ball around from deep, while our press of Josh Bondzio, Isaac Hopkin and debutant Harry Rowe attemped to contain the opposition. While the OG midfield was clearly both mobile and skilful, in the absence of our usual screens the pairing of Matt Manwaring and schoolboy Alfie Ball stood up, both shutting down opposition attacks and also providing an outlet for our defence.

OG took the lead on a slightly controversial corner decision - a lifted ball in to the D at ‘top of sock height’ (umpire’s words) into a shin deemed not dangerous, and the PC was awarded and sweetly despatched past Brenchley in goal. However, we quickly equalised when a breakaway counter was made and finished well by Will Mead: 1-1 after Q1.

In Q2 things fell apart, not really because of anything Folkestone did wrong, but more because OG were ruthlessly clinical in their finishing, punishing any defensive indiscretions in the D, as well as slotting away their PCs. 4 goals followed to make it 5-1 to OG. We were at least still making chances, with our best opportunity falling to Rowe, who had a 1v1 with the keeper but was well foiled.

The halftime message was to stay positive and keep our heads up as a lot of our play had been really good. In particular Will Mead was putting in a real shift up front, while Tom Keating was reading the game excellently at the back.
Q3 saw even more pressure from OG, but we mostly stood firm except for a penalty stroke conceded after a giveaway and stick tackle in the D, but GK Brenchley continued his astonishing form against such opportunities with a big save. In between the best Folkestone chance fell to Bondzio on his reverse, but he failed to catch it properly, before OG scored the last goal of the game with a PC that seemed to be awarded long after the quarter whistle should have gone, but was allowed to stand.

By Q4 legs were tiring, with the squad this week containing a few newcomers such as Nick Hopkin, Luke Smithard (playing his first game for four years) and Garrett Llewellyn, who was making his 1s return but turned out to be carrying an injury. This also led to composures fraying, and we conceded two yellow cards in quick succession - one for a deliberate foot by Herd, which was followed by a poor stick tackle by Little. Somehow, we managed to ride being down to 9 men without conceding, and the game finished 6-1.

A disappointing scoreline - and not, to be fair, one that flattered Old Georgians, who are clearly the class of the league - but it also doesn’t reflect the performance we put in to counter a very strong side. In particular, Alfie Ball was immense in midfield and was a deserved MOM.

Goal: Will Mead
Yellows: Herd, Little
MOM: Ball
DOD: not relevant, it’s all a fix anyway isn’t it