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.