So the first of the Ryman League Play Off finals saw me at the Fullicks Stadium, Folkestone for a Ryman One South Final as Folkestone Invicta hosted Merstham.
The hosts finished the season in the runners up spot whilst Merstham finished five points behind in 4th place, and with both teams having scored 107 goals in the league you would of expected an open attacking game.
The hosts looked to stamp their home advantage straight away by putting the visiting back under some early pressure but they were caught cold on six minutes when from Merstham’s first attack of note they scored. A ball lobbed into the area found full back Cooper in acres of space and the hosts looked in horror as no flag went up and saw Cooper drill across keeper Roberts and into the far corner.
So an early set back for the Kent side but they continued to attack and on 10 minutes from their umpteenth corner Everitt headed the place kick towards the far corner and saw it cleared off the line. Soon after another corner saw Chappell head over. The visitors were giving away multiple free kicks around the box and from one such free kick on 17 minutes saw the ball swung into the dangerzone and Chappell again headed at goal but this time was thwarted by an brilliant save by Daly.
All these fouls were upsetting the hosts and on 24 minutes another foul outside the box caused temper to fray and Merstham centre half Okoye appeared to lean his head into the face of his opponent after they squared up but after the referee had calmed it down it was just a talking to for both players. The resulting free kick saw Draycott’s effort well saved by Daly and then saw the follow up kept out too as the hosts were well on top.
Just before the half hour visitors Merstham won a free kick in a decent area but saw Saraiva hit a poor effort straight at Roberts in the Folkestone goal but this was a rare attack from the Surrey side as the hosts were creating all the chances, and one such chance on 34 minutes saw a free kick find Atkins but he could only glance his header wide and then a minute later Atkins found himself in again but could only drill into the side netting.
Seven minutes before the break more good play from the hosts saw Wright into the area and as keeper Daly came out he lobbed the keeper but saw the ball go just over the bar. And then on half time came a sucker punch from Merstham as they doubled their lead with only their second meaningful attempt on goal when a corner from the left saw Henriques power home a header from six yards out. It had been all Folkstone in the first half but unbelievably they found themselves two goals behind as the half time whistle blew.
Half Time: Folkestone Invicta 0 Merstham 2
The hosts knew they had to score the next goal to have any realistic chance of winning this tie but six minutes into the half this was blown out of the water as Merstham scored again. The visitors won a free kick some twenty five yards out and Saraiva stepped up and cracked a wonderful left footed strike into the corner of the net. Three shots, three goals, you could say Merstham were clinical when it mattered.
The home side and the majority of the 1,465 crowd were shell shocked and Folkestone now faced a monster of a mountain to climb if they were to even force extra time. Just before the hour mark a good header from Invicta’s Draycott forced another decent save from Daly as it was just not the hosts day in front of goal. Merstham nearly made it worse moments later when they broke down the right hand side and the ball was played into Adeniyi who took a touch before hitting a effort just wide.
The second half was no where near as lop sided as the first and the visitors were creating more chances as a result. On 67 minutes one such chance saw the ball fall to Okoye in the box but he could only hit straight at Roberts and then four minutes later a free kick from the visitors saw Hutchings whip just over the bar as they finally looked comfortable with their three goal lead.
On 77 minutes Folkstone’s Atkins turned on the edge of the box and hit a more than decent effort just wide but the hosts were struggling to create anywhere near the amount of openings they had done in the first half and the game was starting to drift away from them and you could sense this in their body language and in the crowd too.
Merstham full back Cooper, who got the opening goal, went close as he ran onto a pass to burst into the area but saw his effort fly inches wide and then two minutes after this sub Hall wriggled away from his marker before firing just over from an angle as the visitors were now in cruise control.
The hosts had one last effort at goal, a header straight into the arms of keeper Daly, before the referee blew for full time and saw jubilant scenes from Merstham, who reach the Ryman Premier Division for the first time. For the hosts it was one of those days in front of goal where they would not have scored had they played until next season, but they will have to re group for next season and go again.
Full Time: Folkestone Invicta 0 Merstham 3
No comments:
Post a Comment