Heavy defeat hides some improvements

Saturday 19^th 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 17^th 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 26^th 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 45^th 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 52^nd minute for the Hibs’ fifth goal.

The Hibs had time to work the ball from left to right in the penalty area in the 57^th 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.