Victory denied as Rovers hold out for draw

Saturday 13^th September
vs. Town Green Rovers 3-3

Team: Ciarán; Elliot, Caleb (capt.), Louis, Josh; Sam; Mark, Ollie, Jacob, Adam; Joe. Subs: Cormac, Dylan, Tom.

Despite only taking one point from a game they should have won, the quality of some of the boys’ football was more than enough for them to take pride in their performance.

They had settled well but were desperately unlucky to go a goal down after 6 minutes. Given too much time in midfield, the Rovers’ long range shot hit the post with Ciarán’s dive covering the goal, only for the ball to rebound off his back and roll over the line.

The passing remained crisp, especially between Mark, Ollie and Jacob, as they kept the ball alive, waiting for the opening. At times Rovers were chasing shadows, and they needed their pacy centre back to snuff out chances as the midfield released Joe.

Quick thinking from Mark, as his throw put Joe away from the defence, set up the equaliser as Joe forced it in from a tight angle in the 18^th minute. Adam, struggling with a knock, was replaced by Tom and they adapted to stiffen up in the centre, as the defence were lacking protection, with Josh having to recover well more than once.

They took a deserved lead after 26 minutes, with Joe keeping his cool to slot home after Ollie had determinedly won the ball back in midfield. They could have gone into the break further ahead only for Joe to be called offside after Mark and Jacob had combined to quickly turn defence into attack after a double save from Ciarán.

All the good work of the first half evaporated as they conceded two goals in 10 minutes after the break. A long ball split the centre backs in the 38^th minute to leave Ciarán exposed and he was beaten again after a throw-in into the box was poorly dealt with. The keeper was, however, grateful for his defence in between the goals, after he lost the ball at a corner which they finally hacked clear.

Dylan replaced Joe for the last 20 minutes and his pace was to cause the Rovers defence no end of problems. Another spot with a quick throw from Mark a minute after he came on saw Dylan poke the ball just wide of the post.

It was Dylan’s strength, rather than pace, that played a big part in the equaliser. Cormac replaced Mark after 56 minutes and the substitution was inspired as, on the hour mark, Dylan won the ball back in the Rovers half and passed out to Cormac, who turned round the full back and crossed for Jacob to slide it home as the keeper came out.

Jacob saw a shot saved from the edge of the box as the boys piled on the pressure, looking for the winner, and he combined with Ollie  after 63 minutes to send Dylan racing away, only for his shot to go agonisingly wide of the far post.

The momentum was with the boys but the winner wouldn’t come: Cormac freed Dylan only for the keeper to save with his feet and minutes from the end, Sam slipped the ball to Jacob who turned and shot only for the Rovers keeper to come to their rescue again, his save seeing the ball crawl the right side – for him – of the post for a corner they cleared.  

At times, they played some really good football which was a delight to watch. The midfield moved the ball well going forward – Ollie deserved his Man of the Match award for his first half display alone – but they need to tighten up defensively in the centre of the pitch so as not to leave the defence exposed. Elliot, Louis and Caleb put in their usual quality performances – in three different styles – at the back and Josh set a number of attacks going down the left but they paid a cruel price for starting the second half slowly as lady luck deserted them in the last 15 minutes with their opponents on the ropes.