CROYGAS 0-2 BATTERSEA IRONSIDES

Ironsides came out on top in a competitive Surrey Cup fixture against an always tough opposition in Croygas. After an appeal to FIFA, Neil Harman saw his lifetime ban from the Croygas sports ground overturned, and was able to oversee the game from the touchline. After an even start, Julian Green put the Ironsides ahead on 25 minutes, after shrugging off the centre half from Croygas and coolly lobbing the goalkeeper. This settled the game down, and allowed the Ironsides to play a little more football. Ironsides tested the keeper several times, with the Croygas bench applauding their keeper for fine saves, but the Ironsides bench critical of missed chances that should really have been converted. In the second half, Ironsides started where they left off, with several more good chances missed. Ernie Kendall arguably missed the easiest of the chances from a few yards out, directing his shot at the keeper rather than the open goal in front of him. However, he immediately made amends by heading in at the far post from the resulting Steve Stacey corner, giving the Ironsides a cushioned lead. The final half hour saw Tony Eden and Julian Green miss good chances to put the game to bed, and were almost made to pay when Croygas had several chances of their own saved in the final ten minutes by the outstanding Ian Peddle in goal, giving Ironsides their second clean sheet in a row, and a ticket to the next round of the cup.

OXTED 0-1 BATTERSEA IRONSIDES

Ironsides won again on a Saturday in a hard fought game. They started well, taking the game to Oxted, and could have been two or three up in the first 20 minutes. In the 21st minute they eventually scored when Theo Parker placed the ball in the corner of the net to give Ironside a deserved lead. Ironsides had to withstand some over the top tackling from theopposition, which went unpunished by the referee. In the second half Ironsides continued to play well, without adding to their lead. Despite losing Ernie Kendall in the final 10 minutes for a second yellow card, the Ironsides saw out the remainder of the game, to confirm their recent improvement in form and give them another 3 points.