Aldershot & Farnham (A&F) head coach Ian Jennings was left to count the cost of player unavailability after his side fell to a 3-1 defeat at Sevenoaks’ second team in the South East Men’s Premier Division.
The Shots had won their first two games of the season without conceding a goal, but their perfect start came to a shuddering end at Sevenoaks.
“It was always going to be a big ask to get something from the game with three senior players missing,” said Jennings.
“However, it was the performance, particularly in the first half, that I found so disappointing – and it would be fair to say we were toothless in our approach.
“The second half was much better, but missed opportunities and poor decision making cost us in the end.”
Jennings felt missing players limited his options to make changes during the game.
“It just makes any rotations I want to do virtually impossible – which puts a huge physical strain on those players in key positions who have no rest available,” he said.
“The annoying thing is Sevenoaks really weren’t very good, and had we had a full-strength squad I would have been confident we would have come away with all three points.”
In the first few weeks of the season, A&F have been faced with teams sitting off them in an attempt to stifle their attacking play.
However, Sevenoaks bucked the trend and came out the traps flying.
Early mistakes and lapses of concentration plagued the A&F squad, who struggled to keep possession and break through the Sevenoaks press.
It wasn’t long before Sevenoaks’ experienced forward line made A&F pay for their sloppy start. An intercepted pass out of defence from A&F allowed Sevenoaks a free run at goal.
The scrambled defence attempted to slow the attack but the opposing forward stayed patient and waited for the opening to slot the ball into the bottom corner to give the home side a deserved lead.
This was the first goal A&F had conceded so far this season, and it seemed to rock them as the early errors became more frequent.
Sevenoaks were winning every ball, picking gaps in the press and winning turnovers high up the field. A&F looked ragged and the second goal for Sevenoaks was inevitable.
Another cheap turnover and a few missed tackles left Hamish Hall helplessly overloaded, and Sevenoaks didn’t need a second invitation to double their lead with a simple pull back that was finished into an empty net.
At 2-0, the cards started to appear as the poor stick tackles became more frequent.
Jake Combes followed a Sevenoaks defender to the sin bin as both were awarded green cards.
Neither team made their respective numerical advantage count and the game staggered to half-time.
The break seemed to help A&F more than the home side, as they came out with more fight. They went back to basics and started to piece together attacks, with Will Caine impressing in the screen role.
It was Caine who won the penalty corner from which A&F hauled themselves back into the game, as Jamie Weston hit the subsequent drag flick in off the left post to cut the deficit.
But the comeback wasn’t to be. A&F were unable to push on despite managing to keep 11 on the pitch as further cards hampered the home side.
The small mistakes crept back in and any fledgling attacks were squandered.
Sevenoaks weren’t so forgiving. A high transfer from right to left was delivered through sticks to a forward on the baseline, who ruthlessly sealed his hat-trick with a shot which rifled into the top corner from a tight angle.
A&F will welcome Blackheath & Elthamians to Heath End today (Saturday) as they look to put this blip behind them and push back towards the summit of the table.
Several key players are set to return, and Jennings wants his side to get back to winning ways at the first attempt.
“Thankfully we are back to full strength,” said Jennings.
“It’s vital we don’t let this blip fester and we get back into winning habits straight away – so this week’s training was very much focused on doing just that and working on the areas of concern from Saturday’s game.”
Kevin McCafferty