Weather conditions: Cold & windy

Pitch conditions: Long grass and heavily sanded

I've been fortunate enough to have taken part in some remarkable matches during my time of playing for ASB. This match,  played on the same pitch almost 10 years to the day that I made my ASB debut,  ranks highly among them.

One thing that has been a constant throughout my ASB career is late dropouts. On this occasion a squad of 17 had been reduced to a mere 9 in a matter of hours,  leaving stand-in gaffer Tina with one of the easiest team selections he'll ever have to make:, Rob Weeman Woody Orville Frange Tina Tim Slouch Immy

Starting with such a huge disadvantage,  our tactics were simple - try to keep as many men behind the ball as possible and look to break quickly whenever we could using the pace of Immy,  Tina & Slouch. Initially,  both sides struggled to create anything of note. Wycombe's players looked to play to the feet of their tall striker and try to play one-twos on the edge of the area but excellent coverage from Woody and Orv with Tim anchoring either mopped up most of their attacks or pressurised them into shooting wide from distance.

ASB,  having taken a while to find the correct balance between defence and attack,  began to find their feet after the first 10 minutes or so with both Immy and Tina getting into promising positions but just being crowded out due to a lack of support. The game's first real chance fell to ASB after about 20 minutes - a clever Ronaldinho type backheeled pass from Immy sent Slouch through but his shot went disappointingly wide with just the keeper to beat. This close call seemed to shake Wycombe out of their apparent complacency and they started to make their numerical advantage tell for the first time during the game.

Their white booted midfielder was becoming increasingly influential and looked to spread the play to the flanks as ASB's three man midfield became more and more stretched. Wycombe's left winger shot wide when well placed,  and a superb reaction save from Rob prevented a shot blocked by Frange from looping into the net.

Wycombe again came close to scoring when a partially cleared corner fell at the feet of their striker inside the 6 yard box. His strike was brilliantly saved by Rob and Woody just managed to hook the loose ball away for a corner. As Wycombe poured forward,  they left themselves vulnerable to counter-attack.

Having been embarrassed by Immy on several occasions,  the Wycombe centre back now elected to stand off him - a fatal mistake. Immy received a ball from Tina midway inside the ASB half,  had time to turn and pick out Tim breaking forward from midfield. Tim took a touch and then rolled the ball past the stranded keeper into the net from just outside the area to give ASB the lead.

The remaining 6 or 7 minutes were played out without too much alarm and the half ended Wycombe 0 ASB 1.

Having taken the lead, no significant change to our tactics was required. ASB continued to defend deep with the midfield pressing and breaking forward wherever possible. Wycombe decided to try and continue to stretch ASB by using the flanks as they had done with reasonable success in the first half. This time,  however,  excellent defensive work from Weeman and Frange meant that more often than not Wycombe were forced to resort to hopeful crosses from 45 degrees and these were dealt with relative ease by the ASB backline.

ASB looked probably the more likely to add to their lead, breaking with real intent. Immy was causing numerous problems to the Wycombe defence with his pace and trickery often requiring two or three defenders to stop him. Tina too was pushing further forward and together these two created several opportunities with Tina firing narrowly over and Immy being denied by the keeper on two occasions. This combination led to the second ASB goal on about 65 minutes.

Tina closed down a defender, blocking his attempted clearance. The ball fell kindly for him and he slipped Immy through on goal to score with a low finish into the corner. Any hopes that this would break Wycombe's resolve were swiftly dispelled as ASB endured a torrid time immediately following the goal. Wycombe pushed their strong centre back forward into midfield and he began to combine well with their white booted midfielder. Rob was forced to make a low save to his left following a hopeful shot from distance, and then produced the save of the match when given rare time and space, a Wycombe player looked to curl the ball into Rob's top right corner and Rob responded with a tumbling save to tip the ball over the crossbar.

The onslaught continued when, following good work on the Wycombe left their tall forward shot narrowly wide when well placed inside the area. Every member of the ASB defence made telling interceptions and clearances during this spell as ASB desperately clung on. The ASB goal was finally breached after Rob had saved bravely at the feet of their tall striker and from the resultant corner the ball was headed on towards the far post and poked over the line to make it 1-2 with about 15 minutes remaining.

Just as it had done in the first half, Wycombe's commitment to attack provided counter-attacking opportunities for ASB. Following the Wycombe goal, ASB had probably their best attacking spell of the match. Tina had a strong claim for a penalty turned down, Slouch shot at the keeper when through on goal and then had a strike tipped onto the bar. Tim had a delicate chip go narrowly over and Wycombe were unable to keep possession long enough to maintain the pressure they had prior to scoring.

The ASB defence retained its previous composure and although their left winger blasted over when well placed, Wycombe were ultimately limited to a couple of speculative strikes before the final whistle was blown and the game finished with the score of Wycombe 1 ASB 2.

Overall, a fantastic performance from ASB - excellent keeping from Rob, the defence was superbly organised and composed, the midfield worked hard to protect the defence and support the lone forward Immy, whose work rate and skill was first class. What was really telling for me was the fact that as a team we believed from the start that we had a chance to win, despite being 2 men down. This was one of those games where it's impossible to decide on a man of th e match - every single ASB player was outstanding and gave their all.

By Slouch