DUNDONALD CHASE F.C.
NEWS ARCHIVE

6 April - Friendly (at Wimbledon Common Extensions)

Mitcham Strollers 3 (1)
DCFC 2 (1)
Richie 10, Matty 60

Mitcham Strollers are a prime example of how far you can come in such a short space of time. It's easy to forget that their first season (last season) was a tough one, suffering many a pasting along the way. Now, through hard work and determination they have matured into a good unit.

This may have only been a friendly, but to be fair it was still disappointing that we lost a game that we never should have. Right from the start, we were in complete control, our midfield, were running rings around everyone else and if it wasn't for more poor finishing, this game could have been all but over, well before the final whistle. Young Matty has enjoyed a good season and he was working well in midfield, the young man showed more neat skills and worked hard. Ed, despite his laid back style, also helped to bring something to the table, with some great skills, one example, where he rounded numerous Strollers, should have ended in a goal and what a fine goal it would have been, having done all the hard work, he fired his effort straight at the keeper. Damien is the man who can make things happen and he looked deadly down the right hand wing.

Richie gave us an early lead, heading home Ed's corner, from this point on, we looked very comfortable, but were guilty for not punishing Mitcham. This was perhaps our biggest downfall, as it gave Mitcham the belief that they could sneak a goal and get back in it and that's exactly what happened, with half an hour gone, when the tall forward enjoying so much freedom, headed home a free kick. Another example of poor defending from set pieces, it's been a season littered with such examples. Mitcham could have grabbed another when a cross, teased the Stroller forwards, but luckily no one could quite get on the end of it. Another great chance, saw Rob, pull off a great stop from a long range shot, as he tipped the effort onto the bar.

For ourselves, other missed opportunities included, Kirk firing wide, when it would have been easier to score and Damien firing a good shot from a tight angle after going on a little mazy run. Wayne may have felt unlucky not scoring on his debut, when his header was ruled out for offside.

The second half was more even steven, but it was the half that we chucked the game away. Strollers took the lead, when a through ball, saw their forward battle his way through to score, after a lot of pushing and shoving with Richie. We now had to raise our game to get something out of this, we did do that, but lost the game, through a glut of wasted chances. Gunes playing up front, could have had a hat-trick: Chance 1 - lobbed the keeper, with the effort going over the bar. Chance 2 - Somehow fired wired from 8 yards out, when again, it would have been easier to score. Chance 3 - Beat the offside trap having been played through, looked like he was going to round the keeper and score, but his touch let him down. Matty hit the post, but then later scored from a tap in. Then, in a season which has also been littered with goalie howlers, we saw Rob go to kick a strollers shot ??? Which, he missed and the ball ended up in the far corner.

So a disappointing game for us all round and to top it all the ref. who to be fair had done a good job up until the end, disappointed us even more, blowing up 5 minutes early. Well, it's only a friendly, but you can't help but feel disappointed with the result.