Injury-hit Fizzers grind out victory

Published 27 Aug 2010 09:00 0 Comments

BY SHAKILA BARABHUIYA

AN injury-ravaged Sandhurst Town grinded out a 2-1 win over Croydon to move up to second in the Combined Counties Premier Division.

The Fizzers had to make-do without 11 of their first-choice players through injury, holiday and other commitments but managed to cobble together a side for the trip to Croydon Arena.

They were already without captain and midfield dynamo Grant Nesbitt who is out for six to eight weeks with medial knee ligament damage after last Tuesday’s draw with Guildford.

Sandhurst Town manager Jon Underwood was delighted the team picked up maximum points despite fielding a severely depleted side, which saw new signing Adrian Smith get his first run-out. They were so short that Underwood had to come on for the final 12 minutes of the game.

The win was all the more impressive as the Fizzers had to come from a goal behind after Martin Smith connected with a cross after 33 minutes.

Sandhurst kept it tight at the back but did not begin their comeback until the final quarter of the game when two quick-fire goals sealed the points.

Dan Simmonds slotted home the equaliser from substitute Charlie Oakley’s superb through ball after 75 minutes.

Assistant team boss Dean Thomas, who was not fully fit, helped create the winning goal three minutes later by flicking the ball onto Bobby Hogg’s head for his first goal for the club.

“We’ve had a bad run of injuries since the start of the season,” stated Underwood. “Seven of the eleven were injuries so we were really up against it. But we dug in and I’m delighted not to have dropped any points.

“Croydon are having a bit of a tough start as well and probably weren’t at full strength but we just about edged the game.”

He added: “It’s early days yet but we want to try and keep the consistency. We look a lot more solid this year.

“I deliberately made sure we were strong in terms of numbers but you don’t expect 11 players to be out two weeks into the season. It’s a bit of a nightmare. Hopefully we’ll get to a stage when everyone’s available.”

Underwood is also pleased not to have a midweek game so his players can recuperate in time for the Bank Holiday matches against Hanworth Villa and Badshot Lea.

FIZZERS: Agov, Watson, Smith, Hogston, Weston, Hogg, Rapley (Oakley 62 min), Jannaway, Thomas (Underwood 78 min), Simmonds, Hibbert. Subs not used: Palmer, Murphy.

Tweet

Post a comment

Your Comment:

Registered users log in here

Username or email

Password

If you are registered with us, you can login here. If you are not registered, do so now.
Once logged in you wont have to complete word verification each time you post.

Prefer not to register?

Screen Name *required

Email (not displayed) *required

Usernames must be 4 - 20 characters. Registration only takes a few minutes. Registered users can also take part in competitions and other features of the site.

Word Verification:
Enter the text as shown.

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.

Follow @bracknellnews