A Surbiton Town side recently plagued injuries stepped up to the plate in the second round of the Surrey County Cup despite notable absentees and injury doubts.

Eager to maintain their four-pronged hunt for silverware this season, the Surb were relentless in their pressing from kick off against a youthful side in London City FC. C. Banks and R. Geer led from the front and forced an early error out of the London City full-back who gifted the Surb an early throw-in and a chance to mount a host of relentless attacking moves.

A. Sweeney returned to the side at the heart of the back-three and was flanked once more by A. Banks and D. Shortt who made no mistake in launching attacks from the back via a combination of long-balls, intricate passes and surging runs into the midfield. Sweeney made an early foray forward and spread the ball wide in a dangerous position, only to see the subsequent cross from S. Bennett forced out for a throw.

The result was a throw-in parallel to the London City 6-yard box and the first real set-piece opportunity presented itself only a few minutes into the game. D. Shortt came up from the back to launch a flat throw-in deep into the London City penalty area and the weight of the ball meant that J. Crawley’s deft touch was enough to send it fizzing past the London City goalkeeper and the challenging defender at the near post.

The game continued with London City entering the game more, but they were unfortunate to be caught on the counter by the Surb, with K. Sweeney and A. Charles linking up excellently down the left flank to cause some real problems for the retreating London City midfield.

The ball was well-worked, and J. Crawley managed to get it out of his feet and find himself in space on the edge of the box to test the goalkeeper once more. A sweet left-footed strike through the laces of his boots saw it take a wicked swerve en route towards the goalkeeper who had already committed himself, and it ultimately nestled in the back of the London City net with about 25 minutes played.

The Surb looked on course to deliver another thrashing, not unlike the previous round in which they ran out 8-1 winners, but London City continued to play some good football, most notably through their diminutive number 2 in the middle of the park.

Undeterred by the footballing prowess of the opposition, C. Brown was able to launch Surbiton attacks by finding the gaps in between the opposing defensive line and midfield and was able to play C. Banks in for a goal of his own.

Banks received the ball following a deflection just inside the 18-yard box and caught it on the half-volley just as he would have hoped – the assembled crowd and players watched on to see the ball’s sharp trajectory into the roof of the net establish a 3 goal cushion prior to the half-time break.

Despite this, Surbiton Town were not home and dry just yet as the visitors snatched one back – the aforementioned number 2 was left with too much time on the edge of the box and was able to dink a shot into the top corner of the net to tie the game at 3-1.

As the second half kicked off, the Surb were caught out by a long ball that sailed over the high-line of the back-three and forced S. Baxter to rush off of his line to sweep up as he so often does, but unfortunately he was clattered in the process. What looked like an innocuous coming together with both players going for the ball somehow resulted in a London City penalty, despite the challenge being outside of the box, and the Surb made enforced substitution in goal.

M. Francis made only his second ever Surbiton appearance, his first of the season, and was unlucky not to have seen himself become an instant hero as he saved the resulting spot-kick but saw the sheer pace of the strike force it into trickling over the line and into the net. 3-2.

The comeback did not last long, however, as a hectic second half saw the Surbiton lead re-established through C. Brown who dispatched a close-range effort to make it 4-2, before J. Crawley completed the unlikeliest of hat-tricks with a stab into the net following an excellent set-piece delivery from M. Gurkkal to set the score at 5-2.

There was a chance for some late drama as London City snatched a third, but it came as little more than a consolation for a spirited performance against a Surbiton side that had essentially won the game within the first 45, despite some hairy moments.

The third round awaits.

UTS x

Matchday Squad: S. Baxter, A. Banks, A. Sweeney, D. Shortt, A. Charles, J. Crawley, C. Brown, K. Sweeney, S. Bennett, R. Geer, C. Banks, J. Russell, M. Gurkkal, M. Francis.