This contest was reminiscent of two heavyweight boxers slugging it out toe to toe for twelve rounds.Both teams had the other on the ropes at certain times without being able to deliver the knock -out punch until Needham Market did so in the 92nd minute.
It was our first defeat at home for almost four months and, despite coming so late, we still had a penalty claim for handball before the final whistle signalled our exit from the competition. It's perhaps as well that I have not seen the DVD before writing these notes as I have a feeling that my worst fears would be confirmed about this decision. Suffice to say, that after a full blooded cup tie between two evenly matched and committed teams, it was a cruel way to lose.
Maybe, for once, inexperience cost us dearly. We were pressing for the winner with our opponents seemingly out on their feet. Extra time would have suited us but somehow we conspired to allow a counter attack from our good possession before a succession of errors led to Damian Hilton tapping home from close range. There is no point in apportioning blame here. The players know what went wrong and we must learn from it.
We will look back on this match with lots of regrets and a feeling of what might have been. It is easier to handle defeat when you know that you were well beaten by a better side but we feel that we let Needham Market off the hook after our goal and, having weathered their early second half storm, we did not create enough clear cut chances to win the game.
That said, we should still have given ourselves the opportunity of another 30 minutes to win the tie. To say we are frustrated to go out in such circumstances would be an understatement.In summary, several of our players were off the pace and we slipped below the high standards we have set all season but still shot ourselves in the foot to lose.
We didn't start at our best but having used the analogy of a boxing match earlier, the opening spell saw both teams gently sparring rather than going for the jugular. As we expected, Needham changed from the 4-3-3 formation they used two weeks earlier to a 4-4-2 and looked to press the ball at every opportunity.
The penalty, won by a moment of deception from Maz, was our first real foray into their penalty box after 25 minutes and Luke Berry sent their keeper the wrong way to open the scoring. We needed to then press home our advantage as for the remainder of the half we felt that we were on the front foot and our visitors looked anxious in defence, especially when we were able to drive at their back four.
Luke Berry and Liam Hughes both shot wide before Maz missed a gilt-edged chance to double our lead with a close range header straight at the keeper. Then moments before the break we got caught with a sucker punch when JP failed to double up with James Brighton and left their dangerous right winger one v one. He evaded all challenges, which became more uncertain as he got closer to our penalty area, and crossed for a tap in from close range.
The first fifteen minutes of the second half saw us withstand a battering. Our visitors threw everything at us and we showed great resilience and character in seeing out this spell with our goal intact. We gradually got a foothold back in the game and started to enjoy more possession. However, we lacked our usual penetration and the end product in both wide areas was non-existent.
Our territorial advantage was only rewarded with the odd strike from outside the box. It was a disappointing aspect of our play in both of our best spells. Some of our initial approach play was excellent but the final pass or ball into the box lacked our usual quality and cutting edge.
We should give credit to our opponents, who screened our front players, doubled up in wide areas and were really well organised but we needed more from all of our forward players. It is also probably the fewest set plays we have forced in ages and our only clear cut chance was created through a touch of class by Maz, nut-megging their centre half before forcing a fine save.
With Needham looking there for the taking, we tried to give the team some fresh legs and added impetus by introducing Christy Finch and Chris Tonks (above). Unfortunately, we failed to exploit the holes that opened up by either picking the wrong option or poorly executing the key pass.
The winning goal will give me nightmares and taught us a very painful lesson. Even when you are on top and pressing forward, you must always lock things up at the back. Having weathered the storm at the start of the second half, we should never have conceded. I have said before that 99% concentration equals 100% failure. Well, this goal will live long in the memory as proof of this adage.
We have to dust ourselves down from the disappointment, learn from it and move on. We can take the respect shown to us by a team who has such an impressive recent record in this competition as a massive compliment. We must also not lose sight of the fact that at the same time four products of this scheme (Robbie Willmott, Rory McAuley, Darryl Coakley and Sam Ives) all started for the first team at Eastbourne.
We entered the FA Vase to aid the development of our young players. We are disappointed not to have gone further as we thought the latter stages, with big crowds and opponents from different parts of the country, would be a great test and a fantastic experience.
However, whilst our adventure is over we would like to wish Needham Market every success in the last 32 and genuinely hope they can go all the way to Wembley.
Team:
Davies, Thorpe, Brighton, Carr, Hudson, Hughes, Eades (Tonks 75), Bailey (Finch 75), Marriott, Patrick
