September 2012/13: Setting The Pace

Our next two games concerned me. After a great first month winning five games out of five, I didn't expect to have such a good month this time around.

Our  next two games looked difficult as we played Guernsey, who were predicted to finish top of the table, and three days after that, we had Sandhurst Town, who, of course, were just two points behind us in the table.

Our first game of September was against Guernsey, away at Footes Lane.

We made only one change from our last game, with D. Bembo-Leta replacing M. McCammon (Per)

Starting XI: M. Ranieri, P. Nzuzi, J. Anderson, Raphael Branco, T. Williams, A. Ahmed, C. Toner, 

M. Johnson, L. Head, R. Limb, D. Bembo-Leta

Subs: S. Locke, S. Galinski, N. Durrant, C. Wrigley, M. McCammon

We started well, and Tom Williams had a good chance to put us in-front in the 11th minute, with a 20 yard free-kick, however his shot was hit straight into the wall, and cleared by a Guernsey defender. Djeny Bembo-Leta scored the first goal of the game in the 13th minute, when he hit Limb's pull-back first time, right into the bottom corner. Bembo-Leta then strengthened our lead, when he was able to get on the end of Ciaran Toner's through-ball, and slot it past the Guernsey keeper just before half-time. Adnan Ahmed saw his soft header from Liam Head's cross bounce into the arms of the goalkeeper from  yards in the 50th minute in the first highlight of the second half.

A good result against a team that we were expected to lose to, but it would be interesting to see how we would do fitness wise, with our next game just three days away.

Final score: Guernsey 0-2 Wembley

Our 2-0 win over Guernsey was our 6th consecutive win, and meant that we had officially broken the records for the club and league for Most Games Won In A Row, and we had broken the club record for Most Games Unbeaten.

Our next game was against 2nd placed Sandhurst Town

I wasn't expecting a big result, and was even thinking that we might lose going into this game.

We made five changes from the last game, with B. Gayle, C. Wrigley, D. Lee, N. Durrant and 

M. McCammon replacing J. Anderson (Fit), A. Ahmed (Fit), C. Toner (Fit), M. Johnson (Fit) and R. Limb (Fit).

Starting XI: M. Ranieri, P. Nzuzi, B. Gayle, Raphael Branco, T. Williams, C. Wrigley, D. Lee, N. Durrant, M. McCammon, L. Head, D. Bembo-Leta

Subs: S. Locke, J. Anderson, M. Johnson, C. Toner, R. Limb

Sandhurst started brightly and Sandhurst's Jerome Passley forced a brilliant diving save from Ranieri, with a good diving header in the 3rd minute. Sandhurst then took the lead in the 11th minute after Passley was allowed to get on the end of Anthony's cross, and volley it into the back of the net. It took 5 minutes for us to find a reply, with Djeny Bembo-Leta getting on the end of Durrant's lofted through-ball, and slotting it past the keeper. A couple of minutes later, and we took the lead, with Dwane Lee heading home his first ever Wembley goal from Tom William's cross. Nigel Durrant then extended our lead 10 minutes later, when he blasted McCammon's pass past the keeper and into the back of the net. Kelvin Norman then pulled one back for Sandhurst in the 81st minute, when he was able to poke the ball into the back of the net after a goalmouth scramble. Rod Anthony then put the ball into the goal for Sandhurst from Chandler's cross, however the goal was ruled out for offside. We were able to hold on for the last 5 minutes, and get the result.

I was very impressed with our first half performance, but wasn't happy with how we played in the second half. Overall though, it was a great result against second place, with us resting some key players.

Final score: Sandhurst 2-3 Wembley

We had even more good fortune after the 3-2 win against Sandurst, when Dino Fazlic resumed full training following a twisted knee.

our next game was against 7th placed Ash United, and we need to win to stay 5 points clear of Sandhurst.

We made 4 changes from the squad that faced Sandhurst, with J. Anderson, C. Toner, 

M. Johnson and R. Limb all returning to the side. A. Ahmed also returned to the bench, but D. Fazlic was still not fit enough  to make the subs list.

Starting XI: M. Ranieri, P. Nzuzi, J. Anderson, Raphael Branco, T. Williams, N. Durrant, C. Toner, 

M. Johnson, R. Limb, L. Head, D. Bembo-Leta

Subs: S. Locke, S. Galinski, A. Ahmed, C. Wrigley, M. McCammon

We had a problem straight from the off, when Ciaran Toner had to come off because of an injury. Adnan Ahmed replaced him, and we tried to continue as usual. Nigel Durrant forced a good save out of the Ash goalkeeper, with a shot from 18 yards. Sean Pryce then denied Durrant again, after he was able to get down quickly at his near post to push Durrant's 25 yard shot wide. Matt Johnson broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute, when he was allowed to carry the ball  into the penalty box, and finish from a tight angle. Durrant forced another save out of the Ash United keeper with a shot from 20 yards in the 55th minute. Pryce denied Durrant again in the 58th minute from the midfielder's 25 yard effort. It just looked as though it wouldn't be his day. 

It wouldn't be Durrant's day, and he had no further chances. It was a poor result, but at least it was another win, keeping our 100% record going.

Final score: Wembley 1-0 Ash United

Defender Jordan Anderson would be out for 6-7 weeks after twisting his ankle in the game vs. Ash United. Ciaran Toner damaged his kneecap, and would be out for 5-6 weeks.

A couple of days before our next match, we were also hit with the news that Nigel Durrant would be out of action for 6-8 weeks after twisting his ankle in training

Our 9th game of the season was against Raynes Park Vale who were sitting 11 points behind in 5th place

We had to make 3 changes to the starting XI, with S. Galinski and A. Ahmed replacing J. Anderson (Inj) and C. Toner (Inj), and D. Fazlic made his first start since coming back from injury, replacing N. Durrant (Inj)

Starting XI: M. Ranieri, P. Nzuzi, S. Galinski, Raphael Branco, T. Williams, D. Fazlic, A. Ahmed,
M. Johnson, R. Limb, L. Head, D. Bembo-Leta

Subs: S. Locke, B. Gayle, D. Lee, C. Wrigley, M. McCammon

Djeny Bembo-Leta scored the first goal of the game in the 7th minute, with a great 25 yard effort, curling away from the keeper, and into the bottom corner. Matt Johnson then had a good chance to double our lead, when he found a gap in the Raynes Park defence, but hit his shot straight at the goalkeeper. Raynes Park's striker Mark Reeves then had a chance to level the game, when Raphael Branco missed a header, letting Reeves to head the ball towards the goal, however it was straight at Ranieri. Matt Johnson then did double our lead, with a 20 yard strike from Bembo-Leta's knock-back, straight past the keeper, and into the back of the net. We had to take full-back Patrick Nzuzi off in the 35th minute, because of injury, replacing him with Patrick Nzuzi. Bembo-Leta then missed a good chance in the 85th minute, when he broke through on goal, curled the ball around the keeper, but could only hit the post. Papworth then scored a consolation goal for Raynes Park in the 91st minute, when he was able to volley Hatcher's cross into the back of the net.

A good win, considering that we had quite a lot of key players missing through injury.

Final score: Raynes Park Vale 1-2 Wembley

Tom Betteridge would be getting a chance over the next few games, as Patrick Nzuzi would be out of action for 2-3 weeks after straining his neck against Raynes Park.

Our 10th game of the season, and final game of September was at home against Molesey FC.

We made 3 changes to the squad that played Raynes Park, with T. Betteridge, D. Lee and C. Wrigley replacing P. Nzuzi (Inj), D. Fazlic (Fit) and M. Johnson (Fit).

Starting XI: M. Ranieri, T. Betteridge, S. Galinski, Raphael Branco, T. Williams, D. Lee, A. Ahmed,
C. Wrigley, L. Head, R. Limb, D. Bembo-Leta

Subs: S. Locke, B. Gayle, D. Fazlic, M. Johnson, M. McCammon

Tom Betteridge scored his first Wembley goal in the 5th minute, when his original shot was pushed straight back out to him by the Moseley keeper, and he was able to curl the rebound around the keeper. Moseley's Mark Baxter then broke through our defense and got one-on-one with Ranieri in the 15th minute, but he couldn't get his shot past the Italian who spread himself well and blocked the shot. Ryan Limb then doubled our lead in the 17th minute, when he was able to hit Liam Head's cross first-time, and into the back of the net. I saw that Farnham Town had taken the lead against 2nd placed Sandhurst, which meant we were 8 points clear at the top of the table as it stood.

This was a great result, extending our run of wins to 10!

Final score: Wembley 2-0 Molesey

Another good month, where we continued our 100% record with another 5 wins from 5 games. 

Our 5 wins this month moved us 8 points clear, after 10 games.