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Saturday 26th October

Cutting edge has gone missing

After an unbeaten start to the season was halted with an Old Boys Cup exit last week, a second cup exit in a row followed in the LOB Cup in Woking. The reserves arrived in good time and were well prepared when the game kicked off, which showed in the opening exchanges as the visitors played out from the back well. An early chance was created after a neat exchange ended with Adem Bekir feeding Charlie Heath in on goal. Heath's shot beat the keeper but hit the post and fell kindly back to the keeper. The hosts looked to break quickly when they won the ball, and despite being generally repelled, they took the one chance that came their way. After finding space between the lines a Wokingians midfielder ran a long way across goal before letting fly into the far bottom corner. The goal rocked Old Parmiterians, who were lucky to escape a penalty call and were then thankful to Steve Kennedy-Clarke in goal to make a vital save on the line and push the ball to safety. While the visitors moved the ball well through the defensive and middle third to good effect, the play was rushed in the final third and a lack of movement there led to hopeful passes and frustration. The second half saw Old Parmiterians really turn the screw as they held Wokingians in their own half and probed for weaknesses. Heath created a chance for himself in trademark fashion, after being fed down the right by Chris Scherer, he raced past two defenders and headed towards the near post. With Mohamed Camara and Bekir waiting in the middle for the cut back, the ball bobbled just as Heath attempted to find the former, sending the ball harmlessly over the bar. Josep Mari was then introduced from the bench and for the second week running helped to provide a way through a team defending in a low block. With his back to goal, Mari turned his first marker, before sitting two more down on the floor, only to see his poked finish diverted just around the post. Heath then hit the post for a second time from outside the area, as the pressure began to build on the home team. Disaster then struck on 80 minutes, as the otherwise superb Yassine Yahia's back pass was intercepted by a Wokingians striker. His initial effort was saved by Kennedy-Clarke, but the striker put away the rebound in what was the home team's only shots on target in the second half. A long ball towards Adem Bekir fell into the path of Mari, who scored the goal his performance had warranted, but it was too little, too late. Wokingians admitted they had to work hard defensively to get the result, which they did in an organised manner, but Old Parmiterians will exit a second cup with frustrations having dominated a game for the second week in a row, only to lose. The already monumental fixture against local rivals Lea Valley in the league now taes on even more importance as the reserve XI look to keep their season on track, and stop a blip becoming a full blown crisis.