This Sunday, Holtspur travelled to Chinnor, a fellow Division 2 side, in the 3rd round of the League Cup.
In the first half, playing against the slope and a strong cross wind, Holtspur came under some early pressure from a series of long goal kicks and defensive clearances. It took Sam & Keelan some time to adjust their line position to cope with these, but as they settled down, Sam and Jack both made a series of good headers to push the opposition back. On the rare occasions when Chinnor tried to move the ball wide, Sean and Thomas B tackled pretty well.
Although Holtspur were not showing any of their passing fluency going forward, Harrison did pick up some good possession and played a series of dangerous balls into space for Warren and Ramel to run on to. Unfortunately, despite using his feet a few times and looking a little shaky, the Chinnor goalkeeper collected their shots and defenders got back to block.
As the half wore on, it became clear that this was going to be a tight game. Chinnor were a little stronger in their tackles and particularly in getting the ball forward down the middle, whilst Holtspur looked like they had the skill to pass through the Chinnor defence if they could tighten up their passing accuracy and make their shooting chances count. Half time arrived with the game still goalless.
In the second half, Bradley came on down the right, with Ramel moving inside. The half started with a scare for Holtspur as a loose ball was lost in midfield and quickly played forward over the heads of Sam & Keelan, giving the Chinnor striker a clear shot on Laurence’s goal. Fortunately, he slightly scuffed his shot and Laurence saved well, diving to his left to push the ball away.
Holtspur then began to get on top, with several half chances falling to Bradley & Warren, plus a couple of shots from Jack, who was starting to get on top in midfield. Suddenly, slightly against the run of play, Chinnor went ahead. Laurence was pulled up by the ref for handling the ball outside his 18 yard area, as he ran out to launch his goalkicks. From the resultant free kick, Chinnor hit a great shot over his head into the roof of the net.
The game then moved up a gear. Within a couple of minutes, Holtspur forced the ball into the Chinnor goalmouth and for once the loose ball fell kindly for Warren who swivelled and hit a shot across the keeper to make it 1-1. Cameron and Edward came on into midfield as both sides looked for a winner to avoid extra time. It seemed that they would be forced to play on, when, with 2 minutes to go, a long ball came off the top of Sam’s head and fell behind the defence into the path of the Chinnor striker. This time he did not scuff his shot, and although Laurence got his hands to the ball he could not prevent it crossing the line for what became the winner.
There was not enough time for Holtspur to recover and they fell to the first defeat of the season and went out of the League Cup. Hopefully this test will prove a good point to improve upon and a basis to start another unbeaten run. Jack was made player of the day for his consistency and strong driving midfield play.