CHIPPING SODBURY TOWN MANAGER NEIL SIMONS REFLECTS ON HIS TEAM'S 1-2 FA CUP WIN AT EASINGTON...

Chipping Sodbury Town’s Manager Neil Simons Writes About His Team’s 1-2 FA Cup Victory @ Easington Sports…

“Firstly, yesterday was always going to be tricky for us as we had 8 players out either suspended (due to tough, very tough competitive games against Reading City in the last round), injured or on holiday. 

For me there needs to be a question asked of the FA as to why they are scheduling FA Cup games on a Bank Holiday weekend in the early rounds of the competition. The teams are non-league and are made up of players for whom football is more of a hobby or passion than a livelihood, so some have to use that weekend as a time to go on holiday with their families, whilst they are on a break from work. The importance of these FA Cup games in the early rounds to smaller non-league teams is massive financially and it seems as though these factors are not considered by the FA at times… So yesterday from our point of view was always going to be about the result and less about the performance, as proved to be the case. 

TEAM TALK...

The day started early for us, meeting at our club at 8.50am to set off at 9am. From my perspective I wanted to get the lads together nice and early, getting up to Banbury in plenty of time, so we could properly set ourselves up for the game. We set off and traffic was not an issue which was great, considering it was a Bank Holiday weekend; we took the M4 route and stopped at Membury Services on the way to break the journey up. On the night before I had done some research and found a well recommended Cafe, Regs Cafe, on the outskirts of Banbury only 15 mins from the ground, so we stopped there and had a team lunch. I did ban the lads from having a full fry-up and pushed them down a more suitable option with the game ahead in mind. 

I had also researched a local park in Banbury, People’s Park, which I took the lads to after the Cafe, just to have a walk and stretch their legs and clear their minds before we went on to the ground. A few players had never done anything like that before, so there were a few jovial comments plus banter which was perfect and helped to again relax the group. 

READY FOR A WALK IN THE PARK...

We arrived at the ground just after 1pm, so as normal my coaching team and I sent the lads out onto the pitch while we set up the changing room with the kit, etc. Our Physio ‘Ken’ was also very busy at this stage as we had a number of players carrying knocks and following my pre-match team-talk out on the pitch and the start of the warm up we lost our winger, Jake Thomas through injury from the starting line up. Jake also had to pull out of the replay with Reading after picking up his injury in the warm-up but he was desperate to be back and playing for this game, so it was not the best start for us. 

NEIL, RIGHT, WITH INSTRUCTIONS IN HIS HAND...

I normally like to scout the teams we are playing against, especially when they are not in our league or local to us, which was the case with Easington, but unfortunately with the quick turn around from the last round this was not possible, so I only had information from various online outlets to go on. My team talk before sending the lads out therefore was very much about ourselves rather than Easington. We also began the game with three players that had not started a match for us this season, so it was important that they fully understood what was needed of them. 

THE OFFICIALS WERE NOT GOOD ON THE DAY...

With regards to the game itself, we started very poorly and let Easington get on the front foot; our passing and retention of the ball in the first-half was extremely poor which only served to encourage the Clan. Whilst we came into the game as favourites based on our league position, with so many players out and confidence taking a knock from the last league game, a 6-0 defeat to Brislington, I was in no doubt that this was going to be a very close and tough game. Easinkgton had started well in their league and based on the games played so far, they seemed to be at full strength squad-wise. 

As underdogs you look to get every edge and it was clear that Easington were going to appeal for every single thing and look to unsettle us at any available opportunity. 

THE WIPED OUT GOAL...

Clearly the major talking point from the first-half was the allowed then disallowed goal just before half-time. From our perspective it was a perfectly fine goal and the assistant had given it, as had the referee, to a point where our lads had celebrated and had started to walk back to the half-way line. However, all of a sudden the assistant was surrounded by Easington's players and with a strong home vocal crowd behind him, all of a sudden it was decided it was offside. As we left the field at half-time I questioned the referee, to be told that the assistant had realised, after a considerable length of time, that he had made a mistake. In my honest opinion, I felt the officials had a very ‘challenging’ afternoon and from an away team’s perspective, they seemed to be affected by the environment. I do understand that it’s not easy for officials at times and without them games would not go ahead, so I respect the job they have to do. However, there is also a lot of pressure on clubs with so much at stake and any believed injustice is very hard to accept. 

'KEEPER DANDO WARMS UP HIS KICKING LEG...

At half-time I said to the lads that the performance was not acceptable and despite the disallowed goal we did not deserve to be in front anyway. In my opinion we needed to take a leaf out of our opposition’s book and start playing a bit more directly and ask questions of their back 3 by getting them turning. We also discussed dealing with that the other way, as that seemed to be the Clan’s main threat and we also discussed our centre-halves getting involved in tussling matches with their striker too much, which had happened in the first-half. 

So the second-half got underway and within minutes, the exact thing we had discussed happened: a long ball over the top and their striker ran through and lobbed our ‘keeper, so it was massively disappointing having just spoken about that being the threat. Nevertheless, this season we have not gone in front in a match as of yet and in the majority of games, going behind has actually kicked us into action. 

1-0 DOWN...

We started to play a bit better and got some joy by playing some direct balls ourselves but time was ticking away, so on 70 minutes I decided to make a substitution and change the formation, for as even though we were better than the hosts we were not causing as many problems for them as I would have liked. So I bought on Liam Pullen, who would have started if he had been fully fit but he was carrying a groin injury, yet with 20 minutes to go and 1 - 0 down it was a risk worth taking as Liam has the ability to get on the ball and create things in the attacking third. 

I took off our left-back and went with three at the back and played Liam in behind the front two and that made an impact straight away, as we then started to dominate the midfield and naturally being 1 - 0 up, Easington started to be more defensive. We started to create more opportunities but time was ticking away, so I also sent our right-midfielder Joe White (who is actually a striker but due to lack of numbers, he did me a job at right midfield yesterday) up front with 5 minutes to go, making the formation a 3-3-1-3. 

LEVEL AT 1-1...

In the 90th minute it paid off with a great cross from Jamie Samuel for our centre-midfielder and skipper Steven Fitzpatrick (also our M.O.M.) to ghost in at the back post and nod home. After the goal I pulled Joe back to right midfield but kept everything else the same and with the amount of time that needed to be added on there were always going to be chances left for both teams to snatch it. 

From our perspective, thankfully we did. In the 93rd min Liam, who had clearly made a difference, slid a great ball through to Justin who escaped his marker and tucked it away in the bottom corner which obviously we were delighted with and whilst I always have total respect for our opposition, it’s very hard not to celebrate a last minute winner in the FA Cup especially having been on the brink of defeat only 4 minutes before. 

JOY FOR THE WINNER...

It was a shame that there were two red cards late on; Justin got kicked whilst he was on the floor which was probably because of the turnaround in the game and with emotions running high, but at the end of the game Justin should have been experienced enough to walk away, rather than continue to question the officials, so he got a second yellow after full-time. 

With all the above considered, Easington will feel hard done by with the two late goals and as we and pretty much every club will know, football can be a cruel game at times. 

JUSTIN IS DISMISSED...

From my perspective, we underperformed massively yesterday, even taking into consideration the players we had missing, but ultimately it’s all about the result, especially when there is so much financial reward on the game. Winning yesterday will make a massive difference to a club like ours. 

As you can imagine, following a stop at the local supermarket and a visit to the beers, wines and spirits isle, the minibus was very lively on the long journey back, with karaoke and a general sing-song helping to pass the time. 

THE DISCO BUS...

Hopefully we can get a good draw in the next round on Wednesday and enjoy that day, come what may but we need to ensure we get going in the league now when we host Bridgwater next Saturday and hopefully the feel good factor from today can help us do that…”

Neil Simons, Manager, Chipping Sodbury Town…