Riding high on confidence and squad depth for a warm Sunday morning, the Surb continued their perfect start to the season, but faced one of their more challenging opponents thus far in Reigate Road Rangers.

The Surbiton side began the game relatively shakily compared to last week’s assured performance and perhaps the first ounce of complacency can be attributed to the unconvincing start.

Improvements did come however, as F. Khan, in an unusual wide position combined neatly with J. Crawley in central midfield to force attacks down the Reigate flank. This came as a catalyst for the Surb, as they were soon forcing a series of set pieces.

Despite being one of the most youthful sides in the Division, the Surb are well known for their physicality and willingness to work hard on and off of the ball. This willingness paid dividends against a young and far less physical team in Reigate, who were dominated aerially from the first whistle until the last, thanks in the most part to the assertive A. Sweeney at the heart of the Surbiton back 3.

Winning upwards of 15 headers throughout the afternoon assured Surbiton’s defensive stability, but Sweeney would not rest there. Approaching the half-hour mark and following significant pressure, A. Sweeney directed an outswinging corner goalwards and opened his Surbiton account with precision and power.

Despite dominating the ball and forcing the majority of chances, Reigate had spells of showing they could play football themselves. With a series of short passing triangles, Reigate tested Surbiton in the middle but were unable to penetrate the green defence as A. Banks calmly pocketed the encroaching winger with any given opportunity and L. Snowdon quick to launch Surb counter attacks.

Heading into the break the game remained 1-0, and for the 2nd period of the game, owing to the absence of an appointed referee, D. Shortt took an early bath and donned the whistle to oversee the 2nd 45.

Much of the same was the general approach for much of the next 20 minutes, although Reigate were able to test the Surb defence more frequently, forcing S. Baxter to rush off of his line to collect a series of long-ball attempts that attempted to expose the high line deployed by the back 3.

The Surb upkept their short-passing mantra and pressed high to test the Reigate defence, who were frequently unable to find halfway with goalkicks – often opting to play short and find themselves under real pressure.

Changes for the Surb saw N. Murphy get a run out up front in order to provide some fresh legs at the spear of the attack and he worked tirelessly to try and find the all important 2nd goal to re-insure the 3 points. Although still feeling the effects of the previous evening, A. Charles and N. Hill entered the fray to provide a fresh outlet, with Hill deployed as a wing-back and venturing so far forward that he came very close to contracting a nose-bleed following his late arrival, lack of a warm-up and unusually attacking position.

Approaching the final 15 minutes it looked like a tough Surbiton afternoon as the boys in green sat deeper and simply contained Reigate pressure, with Baxter doing well to hold onto some shots from distance.

With minutes to go, and increasing Reigate pressure, the Surb broke away on the counter-attack and C. Brown, who was enjoying a relatively quiet afternoon by his standards, reminded the Surb just what he could do, with K. Topson forcing the ball through to him before finding himself 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper. All that was left for Brown to do was to slot the ball past the keeper, but noticing the distance between the goalkeeper and his net, Brown emphatically slammed the ball into the top left corner to guarantee all 3 points.

Despite making hard work of it, all that was left for the Surb to do was to wait for the restart and the subsequent whistle to ensure that they came away with a valuable 3 points.

Whilst it may seem easy to rue the lack of chances created, this was a game in which the Surb secured the win despite not playing their best football, a hallmark of a capable side – and a hallmark that was somewhat absent during the previous league campaign.

Good times, for a change.

Next Sunday 14th October, the Surb begin their Surrey Cup journey at Wimbledon Common Extensions in a 10:30 KO against Kew Antigua, a well-established side from the Southern Sunday Football League.

UTS x

Matchday Squad: S. Baxter, D. Shortt, A. Sweeney (MOTM), F. Khan, A. Banks, L. Snowdon, J. Crawley, C. Brown, K. Sweeney, K. Topson, C. Banks, S. Bennett, N. Murphy, A. Charles, N. Hill.