Whitstable A – A HBVR

After the highs of the previous games against Harriers and Minster, a match which I hope will mark the low point of the season for a number of different reasons.

Firstly, on team selection, the 14 man squad that took some getting together during the week evaporated to just 10 at the start of the match forcing the injured player/manager Kidd into action in an area where it was considered he could do the least damage. It was a risk to play and could have set his recovery back months but I didn’t want to watch 10 men in this tough fixture. And it is tough: it’s an opponent desperate to beat us after enduring more or less 10 years of defeats. Some will remember the Thanet Cup quarter final of last season when a confident Slayer side (as it was then) was expected to win, only to be undone by a combination of lacklustre performance and an opponent with fire in its belly.

Today proved similar and the abandonment has actually given us a second chance to ensure that when the fixture is played we turn up to the game – both in body and mind.

The opening exchanges were characterised by the long balls pumped towards the six yard box that we expected, all of which the immense John Odlum handled with characteristic strength and dynamism in his area. A point to learn is that the crosses need to be stopped before they are delivered to provide the keeper with protection. This was happening in my area, I am probably the most guilty of not closing down the deeper crossers (most often delivered by the vocal centre-back character). If we learn anything we must learn the crosses need to be stopped.

Second, as well as crowding the keeper on crosses, they crowded the midfield and Delo and Powell, although the two most talented midfielders on the park, were being over run. Next time we need to play three in there.

I was considering switching to a three when on 25 mins a deep cross came in from the right that Odlum once again went out to meet around the penalty spot to clear with his fists. He went through a crowd of players, was obviously knocked just as he landed, and his right knee cap flipped 90 degrees to the side of the leg. He screamed in agony immediately and was clearly in a great deal of discomfort and stress. He was made as comfortable as possible and an ambulance was called. A waiting time of “up to two hours” was given and the ref made a call to abandon the game.

The ambulance came eventually, and John who by this time has passed out (a combination of shock and cold that was now biting into him), was given two shots of morphine until the pain subsided enough to get him on the stretcher and into the ambulance. He was followed to Ashford by his cousin Rickly Hadlum who was signed late on Friday in order to complete a line up.

The response and support from the team towards John has been tremendous and I hope that he’ll start physio and strengthening the knee soon and be back with us in not too a long a time. It cannot be understated how well he was playing up to that point, and I think anyone in the team today would back me up.

So a bad day for the club today on a couple of fronts, but mainly a serious injury like this is a terrible blow to both the player and the club and I just wish for a full and speedy recovery.

For everyone else, we need to view this fixture as one of our trickier ones and ensure we have a good turn out and a good squad.

Just a final thanks for Kieran Renihan jumping through hoops to be there for the second half and Richard Parker who was in the process of driving over to take the gloves had the game not been abandoned. This is the kind of attitude that I think captures the spirit of the club and makes us who we are.

For now our thoughts are firmly with John.

Here is how we lined up at the start:

J Odlum

L Foad R Hadlum C Wynne K Edwards

D Close J Delo T Powell M Kidd

C Gilpin B Bowman

Starting from the bench: K Renihan [2nd half only]
Result: Match abandoned
Man-of-the-match: Player's vote:
Man-of-the-match: Opposition vote: -
Referee: M Eaglestone[--]