Last Night

By John Rogers4/5/2018 08:41Fri May 4 08:41:00 2018

Views: 3545

Good grief!

Who saw that coming? I was a little sceptical about just how important Jamie O'Hara's goal and home advantage would prove to be honest but I think in the shake up it must have given us a real shot in the arm and taken the wind out of Folkestone's sails somewhat.

The game was almost the opposite of the thumping of BIllericay. On that occasion it was a fine defensive performance to soak up their best efforts in the first half and then come out of the blocks all guns blazing in the second to make them look ordinary. This time around it was a first half as emphatic as anything I can recall - even more so than beating Harrow at home in August.

The front four again were just unplayable. The speed of thought, the understanding, the pace and the skill - very few sides at this level will have an answer to that if it clicks like that. Josh, Zak and Ashley have come such a long way in a short space of time to be not far off Niko's level at all. I can recall a couple of brilliant attacking partnerships over the past 20 or so years, I've never seen a quartet like this.

The crowd was way in excess of most people's expectations. Many were thinking 400-500 max, 722 is incredible. Of course, there will have been a number of neutrals in that number and a strong contingent from Kent - but beginning of the second half I was walking around from the goal Tom was defending and behind the goal we were attacking the McCann stand and the areas either side were absolutely thronging with people. A brilliant sight - I wish I'd gotten a photo.

I thought Folkestone did well not to let their head drops in the second half and still press forward searching for a way back into the game. Their number 10 was a really tricky customer but I thought Rian generally handled him pretty well. The two midfielders for us, Jake and Casey were superb and even in the second half, it was the Folkestone goalkeeper that was much the busier.

I think the game at Dulwich is going to be very different to the league match at Champion Hill - it'll be more akin to the open game we had at SJP in November. It should be a cracker, particularly if the front four are all fit and firing as they were last night.

Whatever happens Monday, last night was yet another memorable evening in a season absolutely jam packed with memories.