Crusaders march on in FA Trophy

Two late goals made sure of a place in the 1st. Round of the F.A.Trophy with a win over Thamesmead Town who were down to 10 men when Matt Toms was sent off for two yellows midway through the first half. However the visitors put up a terrific fight especially in the second half, helped by a strong wind at their backs, when we found it difficult to get the ball forward and constantly gave it away , indeed if the visitors had scored when they hit the bar with a powerful free-kick things might have turned out differently, although Alan O’Brien’s spectacular solo goal in injury time which made absolutely sure of victory was worthy of winning any game, and we await Monday’s draw with keen interest
It was a chilly morning with a keen south westerly wind, but at least the forecast rain did not arrive until just on half-time, and then did not last too long. However. the wind was in our faces during the second half and we found conditions extremely difficult as Thamesmead battled gamely on until the final whistle and certainly looked capable of earning a replay.
With the wind behind us from the kick-off we soon had the ball in the Thamesmead net when Nat Jarvis was too quick for the Mead defenders, but the goal was ruled out for offside in a dubious decision. It did not matter when Stefan Brown slid the ball past Andrew Walker from a narrow angle after only 12 minutes, but our defence was disrupted when Jon Boardman limped off to be replaced by Ian Herring, although the visitors fared worse when Matt Toms committed two foolish fouls in quick succession, receiving a yellow card each time, followed by the inevitable red.
We had not taken full advantage of the wind in the first half and the visitors soon showed what a factor it was after the interval and looked the side more likely to score as we found conditions extremely difficult. We had to defend well to prevent the equaliser and had a let-off when Thamesmead hit the bar with a terrific free-kick when a equaliser looked likely.
We held on to that narrow lead and were given breathing space when Mark Draycott came on and made it 2-0 from Alan O’Brien’s pass after 79 minutes and the scoreline was given an unrealistic look in injury time when O’Brien got possession in the centre circle and raced through the visitors spread-eagled defence to score one of the best goals seen at Bulpit Lane for many a year, a fitting way to make victory absolutely certain.
Team; Strudley, Horgan,Tyler, Boardman(Herring),Day, Rees, Clark, Rusby, Jarvis, Brown(Draycott), Preen(O’Brien). Subs;Goodger, John.