Lingers lose ground on promotion rivals.

The game started at a very high tempo from both sides, with The Lingers knocking the ball around well on the bobbly, uneven pitch. As the half went on, Mile Oak were beginning to play themselves into the game putting in some dangerous crosses into the Lingfield box then suddenly Mile Oak whipped in a taunting ball right between the defenders and the keeper which got flicked on into the Lingfield goal putting Mile Oak 1-0 up and leaving Keeper Tony Jenner floored who took a blow to the Jaw from flailing arm.

After the goal The Lingers were the better side and their pressure mounted as a great through ball set Rory Woolston on goal and was fouled inside the box and the Lingers were awarded a penalty David Heaton stepped up and slotted the ball calmly into the bottom left hand corner to make the game 1-1.

Mile Oak weren’t happy with the decision and tempers started flaring as some hard crunching tackles went in from both sides. One of which Mile Oak were fuming as they accused Skipper Heats of stamping on a players head which wasn’t anything like that looking from the sidelines

HT 1-1

The second half started fairly similar to the first with the Lingers playing the ball with confidence there was a few half chances for The Lingers however none of which were taken. The Lingers would feel hard done by when the ref awarded a cheap free kick on the edge of the Lingers penalty box as the ball came in the Mile Oak centre half had a free run as some clever blocking stopped any chance of a Lingfield head getting near the ball and the Mile Oak centre half lost his marker and headed the ball into the back of the net.

Again as soon as the Lingers went behind for the second time, there was a change in formation with CB Sam Bell moved up to accompany Sammy Clements, who made his debut, and The Lingers started piling on the pressure and creating more than our far chances again which we failed to take.

Then in the last few moments of the game, sub Aaron Stead almost found the top corner with a wonderfully hit free kick which missed the top corner by inches to the delight of the Mile Oak Keeper.

The full time whistle blew with Mile Oak clinching on to victory with the result 2-1.

The Lingers were very disappointed having been the better side and to stop the amazing winning run they were on to end with a single goal. The Lingers will bounce back next week as they host Billinghurst down at the Lair and will turn this blip in form and put a good run of games together as they head into the festive period.

By Aaron Stead