Beaten by old foes once again

Saturday 6th December

vs TMS U14s 1-5

After a bright start against a big TMS side and despite having the majority of the early play, the boys fell behind from corner and then went two down after a surging run from the TMS fullback.

Heads didn’t drop and the boys continued to play good football. They pulled a goal back before half time after Mark had a header cleared off the line but Caleb coolly side footed the clearance home off the post. The second half saw the boys tire and they were outfought as TMS ran in three more goals.

With Joe C and Joe D both shining, it was Ollie, playing out of position, who was named Man of the Match for an excellent performance throughout the game.

Little reward for passing display

Saturday 29^th November

vs Town Green Rangers 1-6

Team: Ciaran; Mark, Sam, Joe C, Josh; Cameron, Caleb, Joe D, Adam; Joe H, Jacob. Subs: Cormac, Louis, Ollie, Tom.

The Rangers’ manager was gracious enough to come over after the game and acknowledge that the score line flattered his team – the boys played some good football during this game and the difference ultimately came down to the effectiveness of the two defences and the strength in depth of the two squads.

After an even start, when they found most space wide to the left as Cameron linked up well with Caleb and Joe D to free Joe H, they went one down after 8 minutes to a freakish goal. Joe D put in a brave block in the box but the ball appeared to rebound off the forward’s thigh and loop over Ciarán into the net.

Joe D had earlier created a chance for Cameron that went just wide and he started another move in the 12^th minute, feeding Joe H on the right. He found Jacob in the box and, as his shot on the turn was blocked, Joe H continued his run only to see another defender get in the way of his effort.

The attacking threat wasn’t only on the right: Adam was winning the ball and linking up well with Jacob as he pulled wide but they fell further behind after 16 minutes. As Rangers broke away on the left, the ball across the pitch was beyond Joe C – who looked composed on the ball on his debut – and the forward nipped in to rifle past Ciarán.

Rangers were holding firm at the back and breaking quickly – Ciaran dived to take the ball at the forward’s feet from a free kick punted into the box and at the other end Jacob saw a 24^th minute shot taken by the Rangers’ keeper above his head, after Joe D had again worked hard to nick the ball on the edge of the box.

The boys were keeping the ball alive in their approach play but chances were few and far between and they didn’t deserve to be three down just before the half hour mark, although there was no debating Joe D’s late tackle in the box: Ciarán went the wrong way for the penalty. Undaunted, Joe D then popped up in the other penalty area but still the opening wouldn’t come.

Caleb started another excellent move just before the break on the right, feeding Jacob who then set up Joe H but his shot was blocked for a corner, from which Caleb sent a low header across the face of the goal but nobody could get a touch to turn it in.

Louis and Tom came on in the full back positions for the second half, replacing Cameron and Josh. Mark kept up the work rate on the right and they finally got some reward in the 38^th minute. Pressure on the Rangers’ defence finally told and Joe H was brought down in the box. The keeper got a hand to Jacob’s spot kick but couldn’t keep it out.

Ciarán just beat the Rangers’ forward to another long punt after 41 minutes, taking a raking to his thigh in the process but was powerless to stop a dipping volley two minutes later from an acute angle as Rangers again exploited space behind the full backs.

Pressure on the boys’ defence increased as the game wore on and they tired on a sticky surface. Ciarán pushed a shot round the post but, after Jacob had had one ruled out for offside, they were all at sea at the back to concede a fifth goal from a 50^th minute corner.

Cormac replaced Joe H up front for the last quarter and, with Ollie also now on the left, they continued to push forward to try and get something from the game. Ollie started a good move that should have brought a goal, as he got behind the full back and passed on to Jacob. Jacob cut it back to Cormac who gave it back to him when shooting was the better option and Jacob’s scuffed shot dribbled wide.

Five minutes from the end, the Rangers’ defender handled to prevent Cormac’s first time ball from setting Jacob free behind the defence and, though Caleb’s slip on the free kick highlighted the state of the pitch, Ollie stopped them from clearing the ball to square to Louis, whose shot was taken by the keeper.

Ciarán had gone full length to push a long range effort away but, hampered by thigh and finger injuries, he let a weak shot slip from his grasp moments before the end and the Rangers’ forward tapped in a sixth goal.

As their manager said, the lucky first goal gave them a platform and it may well have been a different game if the boys had scored first. The way they kept it on the floor and worked together to create chances was a real positive but they still need to get better at keeping hold of the ball under pressure and competing even more to win it back. They could do no better than follow Joe D’s example: he covered every blade of grass and was a menace all over the pitch to more than merit the Man of the Match award, despite giving away the penalty.

Four equalisers for another point against the Rovers

Saturday 22^nd November

vs Town Green Rovers 4-4

Team: Ciarán; Mark, Dylan, Sam, Josh; Cameron, Caleb (capt.), Joe D, Ollie; Joe H, Jacob. Subs: Cormac, Tom.

This was a Jekyll and Hyde performance which resulted in another draw against the Rovers when greater concentration should have seen the boys run out winners.

They were a goal down in the first minute – poor clearances from Josh and Sam gave the Rovers a shot from the edge of the box which looked close enough to Ciarán for him to deal with.

After Dylan had stopped the Rovers from making too much of a break in the 11^th minute, Ciarán made amends a minute later, pushing a low shot round the base of the post after the Rovers had surged down their left.

On heavy ground, the boys were slowly beginning to get a passing game together as Joe D and Joe H combined to create a chance for Jacob.  Joe H attacked off the right wing to force another save in the 18^th minute and they finally got back on level terms after 22 minutes. From Ciarán’s kick out, Jacob passed it into Caleb and his ball beat the Rovers defence, Joe H keeping cool to slot it into the corner of the net.

Ciarán was being kept busy, scrambling to take the ball from the Rovers’ forward’s feet and then getting everything behind a free kick, harshly awarded for handball against Mark. Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep hold of a shot in the 34^th minute, after the Rovers forward had lots of time to turn and shoot, and they followed it in to take a lead into the break… a lead that lasted for all of 20 seconds of the second half as Joe H’s long range shot, after Mark had laid the ball back to him, was far too strong for the keeper.

Mark was pushed further forward in the second half, as Tom replaced Cameron who had had a solid first half on debut and he revelled in the extra space and time. Ollie headed Joes H’s free kick over the bar as they looked to take the lead but, instead, they went behind for a third time in the 43^rd minute as the Rovers played the ball across the box, with the forward turning easily past Josh to score.

Going forward, they continued to play some attractive football. Joe H managed to work the ball back to Caleb to centre but Ollie could only lift his shot high. Joe D gave Jacob a glorious chance to equalise after 51 minutes, but the forward failed to get his shot away with his first touch and the Rovers defence regrouped to close him out.

A minute later, he had his reward at the end of a great one touch passing move that he started. From his ball laid back to Caleb, the captain found Joe H in lots of space on the right and his low cross to Jacob was steered into the net at the second attempt: one of the best passages of play the boys have put together this season.

Joe H had a great free kick headed off the line two minutes later but the Rovers will still a threat, and Dylan was alert on more than one occasion to keep them from getting anything on the break. Caleb, not at 100%, was replaced by Cormac with a quarter of an hour left, and it was in midfield with 10 minutes to go that they lost the ball to expose Dylan who couldn’t prevent a fourth Rovers goal.

Cameron came back on, replacing Ollie, as they went looking for another equaliser in the final five minutes, and it turned out to be an inspired change by Ian. He was soon involved, his shot closed down for a corner the Rovers hacked clear. The boys had them under the cosh now, Cameron closed out on the goal line for another corner. At the fourth attempt, they got their fourth goal as Jacob’s shot was cleared off the line and Cameron found the time and space to get the ball into the corner of the net.

They had a chance of a winner in injury time from a free kick after Cameron was chopped down but Joe H’s free kick ended up in the keeper’s hands and the Rovers hung on to their point.

As good as the play was going forward, the boys kept letting sloppy goals in such that they needed four equalisers to stay in the game. With the ball on the floor, they look like they can score against anyone but they will need to show more concentration and determination when they haven't got the ball to turn the goals into victories. Despite this, Dylan deservedly took the Man of the Match award for a measured display at the centre of a defence too often all at sea.

Warriors defeated for a second time.

15^th November

vs Town Green Warriors 4-0

Team: Ciarán; Louis, Sam, Dylan, Adam; Ollie, Caleb, Joe D, Mark; Joe H, Jacob. Subs: Cormac, Josh, Tom.

The boys gained another comfortable victory against the Warriors as the second half of the season began in a positive manner.

The vulnerability of the Warriors’ defence was clear after only 20 seconds, as Joe D’s ball almost reached Joe H, so it was not a surprise that they took the lead with only 2 minutes on the clock. Jacob found Joe H with plenty of time and space in the box – time enough to set himself up and blast it through the keeper.

They survived a scare after 7 minutes as a goal for the Warriors was ruled offside after they had failed to properly clear a corner, with the Warriors having a host of shots from the edge of the box. However, they were playing the ball around well on midfield, despite the cloying ground, and a move where Mark, Caleb, Joe D and Jacob linked up saw Louis shoot wildly in the 12^th minute.

The Warriors’ keeper pulled off a fine save from Jacob after Ollie had cut across the box 3 minutes later but the second goal wasn’t long in coming. Caleb shielded the ball well to win a throw to keep the pressure on then, when it came back to him, he touched it up and volleyed it into Mark’s path who turned past the defender to shoot into the corner of the net after 18 minutes.

Joe D was closed out on the edge of the box but the Warriors were still liable to cause an occasional scare, hitting the post from another poorly defended corner. Nerves were calmed by the third goal, in the 26^th minute, as Caleb rifled home with his left foot from the edge of the box after Sam had touched it back to him.

Josh and Tom replaced Adam and Sam in defence at the break, but they struggled to maintain the passing game of the first half. A goal must be coming soon for Joe D, for the number of balls played just beyond him in this game. Another terrier-like performance in midfield saw the Warriors resorting to upending him but the free kick came to nothing.  Instead, immediately after Cormac and Sam had replaced Mark and Ollie, they scored a fourth in the 47^th minute as Joe H got his head to a poor goal kick and Jacob finished the job off.

How Jacob didn’t get a second goal minutes later, even he couldn’t answer as, from a Cormac ball across the box, he saw his shots blocked by increasingly desperate defenders who finally scrambled it away.

Joe D shot narrowly wide as the front men linked well but a fifth goal to match the winning margin of the first game wasn’t to come. Adam shot into the keeper and even when they had it in the net, after Cormac flicked home Louis cross, it was chalked off for offside even though Louis appeared to be in front of the substitute forward as he played the ball in.

The boys once again dominated the Warriors but the disciplined performance of the first half was not maintained in the second, as various substitutions disrupted the pattern, especially when some of the players decided that all-out attack was the best tactic. Joe D put in another tireless midfield performance – and continues to expect more of some of those around him – and Dylan stuck at his job at the heart of the defence when some of those around him went AWOL. Joe H was named Man of the Match, scoring one, setting up another and keeping the Warriors defence under pressure for 70 minutes.