Early September and the Surb were back at the fortress for their inaugural competitive match of the season coming off of the back of a stellar pre-season that saw 14 goals scored in a prolific start in front of goal.

Facing up against a young Claygate Casuals side, the Surb were dominant from the offset and the sheer physicality of the boys in green took the Casuals by surprise. Despite a comfortable score line after 90 minutes, the game was relatively open in the opening 20 minutes despite the physical superiority exercised by the Town, who were without talismanic midfielder J. Crawley and instead led by C. Brown in central midfield.

With a long ball over the top courtesy of their centre back appearing to be Claygate’s preferred method, A. Sweeney began another game at the heart of the Surb defence and done excellently to win the aerial duals and bring the ball into midfield to spearhead attacks. Nearing the 25-minute mark, the Surb struck for the first time with R. Geer stealing in at the back post to nod home a devastating T. Keely corner kick.

Mere minutes eloped before Geer, who had missed a few headed opportunities in pre-season, capitalised on another set piece delivery and nodded over the fumbling Claygate goalkeeper, meaning that the Surb found themselves 2-0 to the good rather rapidly.

The final few minutes of the half saw the Surb play some calm possession-based football and demonstrated just how far the team has come collectively in the last few weeks, despite injury woes and pressure from the opposition.

With a secure 2-0 lead at half time the team talk left the Surb with one clear objective – score the next goal. As the old adage says, 2-0 is a very dangerous score line in football.

The 3^rd goal very nearly came just after the restart as C. Banks played in M. Brown who had just entered the fray for R. Geer. Brown raced through on goal, beating the offside trap and goalkeeper, only to find his goal-bound shot bounce off of the post and away to safety with his first involvement in the game.

Offering significant pace up front, Brown was involved minutes later as a ball over the top saw the Number 9 outpace and outmuscle the battling pair of Casuals centre backs before nodding the ball into the penalty area and rounding the goalkeeper before unselfishly squaring to C. Banks who slotted into an empty net from 5 yards out to secure the game for Surbiton.

As expected, the 3^rd goal proved vital as the opposition folded as the game went on, another set piece worked in the Surb’s favour as C. Brown flung himself at the ball to dispatch a diving header into the roof of the Casuals net.

Minutes later, and in an almost identical scenario to the 3rd goal, Brown rushed through before calmly clipping the ball over the head of the onrushing goalkeeper from an exquisite K. Sweeney through ball to make the score 5-0.

Surbiton were not done just yet, with Brown securing a brace by calmly slotting into the bottom left corner having beaten the defensive line and offside trap once more, making the score an emphatic 6-0.

With only a few minutes to go, K. Russell went down and was in some discomfort nursing an ankle injury meaning that D. Shortt re-entered the fray on the right side on the back 3 to see the game out – later scans revealed that Russell is expected to miss up to a month of first team action.

F. Khan was impressive in the closing stages in an unfamiliar role at right wing back, but his pace and determination kept the Casuals at bay.

S. Baxter produced a couple of neat saves to deny the visitors, before finally being rounded following an impressive double-save to see the ball trickle over his line with less than 20 seconds left on the clock. A well-earned goal for Claygate who put in a good display despite the unflattering score line came as nothing more than a late consolation – and a source of minor frustration for the Surbiton defence – letting the game conclude at 6-1 and leaving Surbiton top of the table on a +5-goal difference.

Next week the Surb take on Dynamo Kingston at Fairfield Rec on Sunday 16^th September in a 10:30 KO.

UTS x

Matchday Squad: D. Shortt, A. Sweeney, C. Banks, C. Brown, K. Russell, R. Geer, T. Keely, A. Banks, F. Khan, S. Baxter, S. Bennett, A. Charles, K. Sweeney, M. Brown.

Scorers

Ryan geer  

Ryan geer  

Charlie Banks  

Chris Brown  

Macauley Brown  

Macauley Brown