Game 27: Erith & Belvedere 0.2 Lancing (FA Vase) 14.11.10

I had spotted two FA Vase ties that were being played on Sunday rather than Saturday and decided to take in the later kick off between Erith & Beldevere of the Kent League's Premier Division and Lancing from the Sussex League's Second Division with Paul.

The weather forecast didn't look promising and by the time the train reached Basingstoke it was pouring with rain. Erith have been ground sharing at Welling United's ground since 1999 so after a quick walk across to Waterloo East we found ourselves at Welling station. The ground was a 15 minute walk down Welling High Street and after seeing the Lancing coach outside the ground we decided to dry out and warm up in a pub.

After watching the Grand Prix procession for a while we headed back out into the rain and walked upto the ground. The first set of turnstiles we walked up to were for Welling United but the gates were firmly shut. We could see people in the far stand so we walked further down the road and discovered that Erith have their own turnstiles. The admission was £7 which was more than we were expecting for a Step 5 team (London prices!) with a decent programme for £1.50.

Given the weather conditions, we opted to watch the game from the back of the Erith stand rather than the two open terraces behind the goal. While we were sheltered from the rain, there was a cold wind blowing across and I was grateful for the woolly hat I had stuffed in my bag "just in case" earlier in the day.

After a minutes silence for Remembrance Sunday the game kicked off. According to the programme Lancing normally wear yellow with blue shorts but it appeared that the referee didn't like the clash of shorts so they were wearing a gaudy shade of red instead.

The first opportunity fell to Lancing in the first minute when the Erith keeper thought he had more time to clear the ball and almost gave the ball away to Lancing. The floodlights soon came on and we then saw the first shot to trouble a London doubledecker bus as Erith hit the ball out of the ground. The home team were passing the ball around well and we realised that one of their team had a higher pedigree - former Wolves and Reading man Simon Osborn was playing in midfield.

Neither team had a scoring opportunity of note until the 22nd minute when the Erith keeper made a good save from a long range shot that he did well to hold on to. Lancing's 9 was struggling with the poor service and earnt a yellow card after kicking the ball away in frustration. When he received the ball in space minutes later and chipped the ball over the keeper there was more frustration for him as he was correctly flagged as offside by the assistant. This time there wasn't a ball to kick away so he trudged back towards the halfway line.

Erith had a good spell of possession and chances around the half hour. They thought they should have been awarded a penalty in the 29th minute but the referee felt that the player had slipped on the wet pitch. After an on target shot was deflected high and out of the ground by one of their players in the 32nd minute they missed a sitter from two yards and perhaps would have been grateful to see the flag go up on the nearside for offside.

The first half hadn't been a great advert for football but the second started off with a better tempo as both teams contributed to a end-to-end attacking period. Lancing came close with a shot and then had a header deflected narrowly wide. Erith created chances too and Lancing's keeper did well to push a lowshot onto his post. They came even closer in the 54th minute when a shot from six yards out somehow crashed off the crossbar when it seemed easier to score. The same player saw his shot saved by the keeper from a narrow angle a couple of minutes later.

As Erith continued to press for the first goal Lancing made the bold move of taking off both of their front men in the 60th minute. The move paid off two minutes later when a long freekick was punted upfield. The Erith keeper decided to come off his line to the edge of the area to win the ball but missed it, which allowed Garnham to head it in for Lancing.

The goal had come against the run of play and there was a brief flare up between the two teams minutes later after a late tackle. Lancing were on the front foot and another of their subs went on a long dribbling run only to delay a shot, which allowed the Erith defence to take the ball off him.

It took some time for Erith to re-establish their earlier dominance but when they did they created two good opportunities to score. Their number 9 went through the middle and only had the keeper to beat in the 75th minute but hit his shot at the keeper who made a good save. Two minutes later and the lively number 10 read the situation well as a Lancing player tried to play a header backwards to his keeper. He ran onto the ball, took it into the area and cracked a shot past the keeper. The whole ground thought it was in only for the ball to hit the wall at the bottom of the terrace and bounce back onto the pitch. Somehow he had put it wide of the right post!

With five minutes to go Erith had a great shot tipped over the bar by the Lancing keeper for a corner. The set piece didn't amount to much and the ball was quickly cleared for a Lancing breakaway.

 Their number 7 Hudson took the ball from the halfway line and ran down the left side of the pitch before cutting in and hitting a low shot across the area. The pace of the ball took it past the keeper and into the goal to give the visitors a 2.0 lead.

Erith pushed forward again to try and pull a goal back but to no avail. Osborn hit a shot wide and a header went wide from a free-kick when if it had been left, a player behind would have been in a better postion to score. When the final whistle blew it was the underdogs's supporters who were celebrating.