Saturday 19th October
vs Hudson Hibs 0-9
Team: Ciarán; Louis, Sam, Tom; Adam, Elliot R, Caleb,
Ollie, Elliot H; Joe, Cormac.
The boys were on the end of another heavy defeat but the
performance at times was not worthy of the score line.
Absences meant that they were down to a bare minimum of
11 players and they started the game with three centre backs and Adam and
Elliot H playing wide, though as the game wore on the two wing backs found
themselves playing deeper and deeper.
After a steady start, two minutes of madness left them
three behind with only seven minutes on the clock. Indecision amongst the centre
backs left Ciarán exposed for the first, and then Tom was turned easily to
leave them two behind. Ciarán would want to do better with the third but could
also ask why the forward was left free to shoot.
They steadied the ship and began to battle. Sam was
committed, stepping out to intercept the ball but they were struggling to clear
the lines and Ciarán had to get behind a long range effort. Elliot H was
positioned on the back post to head clear from a Hudson corner and was not
giving an inch to the left winger.
Ollie was throwing himself into everything and picked up
the ball from Elliot H in the 17th minute to try and set Joe free as
they had a rare break into the Hibs’ half but it ran away from the striker.
With Adam and Elliot H getting pushed back, the Hibs had
plenty of space wide in midfield to attack and Ciarán pulled off a save in the
26th minute as they took advantage down the right. The Crosby keeper
then pulled off an excellent stop with a full length dive to push the ball
round the post for a corner they cleared comfortably.
Caleb and Ollie were doing what they could to halt the
Hibs in midfield but another burst down the boys left flank left Ciarán with no
chance, the ball buried into the corner of the net three minutes before the
break.
Cormac had been
chasing shadows upfront but a superb touch to control and slip it on to Joe
just after the break gave a glimmer of hope. Instead the second half began to
follow the pattern of the first: when the boys committed to the tackle, they
often came out with the ball – Caleb, Ollie, Elliot H and Louis showed how it
could be done – but when they didn’t and looked almost mesmerised by the Hibs, they
left themselves exposed.
Ciarán had a busy second half – the Hibs powered through
the middle in the 45th minute only to be thwarted by the keeper and
he held on to a shot two minutes later to atone for a flat goal kick. His confident
handling continues to be an asset but he could do little about the lob from an
acute angle in the 52nd minute for the Hibs’ fifth goal.
The Hibs had time to work the ball from left to right in
the penalty area in the 57th minute for another goal and a low
volley after 59 minutes extended the lead further. Elliot R lead the charge
down the left as they relieved the pressure after the hour but Ciarán was soon
pulling off saves in quick succession to keep them at bay. He was helpless two
minutes later, though, as the defence seemed to stand off until the big Hibs
forward had created the space he wanted to fire home the eighth goal. Finally,
a save at the near post gave the Hibs a corner in the last minute from which
they found the time and space to turn in the ninth.
The boys are in the middle of a tough run of fixtures but
they would do well to reflect on both the good and bad things from this match.
When they competed and committed themselves, as they did for more than half of
the game, they were a match for a strong Hibs side. When they stand off or
start moaning and arguing amongst themselves, they hand the game to their
opponents. At those times it looked as if the Hibs had more players on the
pitch, such was the ease with which they could move the ball around.
One of two of the teams have good players who look better
because they are growing sooner than others – the boys cannot be scared or
intimidated by them: they have the ability to compete, they need to be
confident. Elliot H and Ollie showed this belief more than the rest of their
team mates in this game and Ollie’s display just nicked the Man of the Match
award.
