Match Report
For the second successive Saturday, Tooting found themselves facing a two-goal deficit before a late rally brought faint hopes of a point. But, unlike the previous weekend against Corinthian-Casuals, the Terrors’ shortcomings were more in evidence as it was hard to argue we deserved anything out of this game.
Cobham are a good side, who topped the table earlier on in the campaign, and could be in the shake-up for a play-off place come the end of the season. If we are to join them, we need to find togetherness and consistency to go alongside the individual talents we undoubtedly possess. Cobham were out of the blocks quickly, and fired an early warning across our bows with a shot fired into the side netting. Shortly after, the unlucky Jamal Jimoh – who has not really had a proper chance to show us what he can do – went down and, after receiving treatment, left the field to be replaced by Hussein Siklawi with less than ten minutes gone. Max Oldham managed to force a good save from home keeper Rourke Pickford, as did Ash Sheppard just before their first goal, but these were rare encroachments into Cobham’s penalty area as Tooting were regularly being forced backwards, and outpaced on the flanks. So it was no surprise when the Hammers went in front, just after the half-hour – though it was a goal that should have been avoided. Defensive discipline was missing as Tooting were outpaced on the left side again, and Toby McKimm will feel he should have done better as a shot from Reis Stanislaus looped over him. Tooting were forced to resort to long-balls which came to nothing as the home side continued to dictate the play for the rest of the half.
Cobham began the second period still on the front foot, and we were fortunate to avoid going two down right at the start – an offside flag stopping the Hammers’ forward in his tracks as he set himself to pull the trigger. But the Terrors were still leaving worrying gaps at the back which Cobham were eager to exploit. And the warnings were not heeded, as the hosts continued to look the more likely to add to the scoring – and finally did so just past the hour; defensively we were caught out again, and a low ball cut back from the byline was seized on by Derick Hayford who drilled home the second to double the home advantage. At this point, it looked like we might end up on the wrong side of a thumping, but suddenly the pattern of the game changed. Maybe Cobham were content to try and sit on the lead and not take un-necessary risks, but if so it was a risky strategy – the Terrors started to make inroads consistently in the opposition half of the field, and ten minutes after their second goal, we were back in it as Max Oldham finished off a sweeping move by toe-poking home from close range. Cobham were nervy now, and eager for the final whistle. As the game neared stoppage-time, a free-kick was won on the edge of the penalty area by the Terrors, and Conor Melody’s measured effort left Pickford clutching at thin air as it evaded him, but came back off the post to deny us an unlikely – and frankly undeserved – point.
