Orpington Rescue Late Point

Orpington Athletic twice came from behind to rescue a point against a spirited South London Doves team this weekend. A goal in each half for in-form striker, Mike Adamou, was enough to secure a point for the visitors and keep the team's hopes of a top 4 finish alive.

Orpington had their options limited this weekend, with stalwart 'keeper Matt Utton away on international duty, Joe Haden and Zubair Akhtar both serving suspensions and 4 other first team players unavailable. Making the most of a difficult situation, Orpington started with the ever present Lee Cordner in goal and built the team from there.

Orpington started meaningfully, but stray passes and a lack of concentration led to Doves' first goal. A penetrating pass through the back line was latched onto and lobbed over the on-rushing Cordner in side 10 minutes.

With most of the game remaining, Orpington were undeterred, but a lot of the play continued to be broken up by Doves and a host of unforced errors, misplaced passes and poor control let Orpington down across the pitch. Eventually, a route one pass from skipper, Rob Utton, picked out the central Adamou, who walloped a speculative shot from distance, which lobbed the Doves 'keeper on his goal line. The half played out in similar fashion, with Orpington unable to create the final chance and failing to test Doves.

At half time, the team shifted around, with Cordner coming out of goal and Laurence Downs taking his place between the sticks. The introduction of Austin Facer at CDM also rotated some positions.

Orpington were rarely tested in the second half, although the two clear cut chances Doves had were superbly defended with two perfectly timed tackles in the area from Rob Utton and Tom Butler. However, Doves were presented with a free kick from 25 yards just after the hour and the set piece was expertly dispatched into the far corner, with nothing the defence or Downs could do about it.

Orpington pushed on and were left frustrated and the lack of end product. With less than 10 minutes remaining, Cordner picked up the ball from a Doves' mistake and drove hard towards goal. A thunderous effort across the box was parried by the 'keeper, only for the instinctive Adamou to follow in and tap away the equaliser.

Orpington could have won it at the death as well, when Adamou's cross-come-shot sailed wide of the far post and with almost the final kick of the game, Tom Foster's flick went over the bar.

At the end of the match, a draw was probably a fair result, with Orpington unable to enact any change from the bench. Orpington's next match will see them host title contenders, Bayer Neverlusen, where they will hope to restore pride following the 8-1 drubbing earlier in the season.