It’s safe to say that the lads were not particularly looking forward to this game. They turned up a mere 10 minutes before kick-off and had the following to say;
Manager Sam Mayes: “I tried to find someone to replace me…anyone really, but no one was available”.
Captain Chris Mitchell: “I’am really not looking forward to this, I think I would rather be anywhere in the world right now but here”.
However watching the earlier sides play some ‘inspiring’ football got the boys in the mood for a better display.
The side setup in a 2-2-1 formation, with Chris and Dom at the back, Sam and Adam in midfield and Jimi sitting up top. The instructions were ‘Keep it narrow’ the boys essentially setup in a line from the goalkeeper Bushell to Jimi at the front.
The opening ten minutes were as expected, The Allstars knocked the ball about, did a few flicks and skills but The Allsorts kept solid at the back with the team defending well. They knew they would have to be patient, ride out the pressure and take any chances that may arise. Fortunately as has been a recurring theme for the opposition in the past few games, The Allstars shooting was a little wayward.
It was clear who the dangermen were, but there was a renewed attitude within the team. The lads seemed to be communicating better, passing and moving with a couple of neat moves up the field and generally working as a team. There was a complete lack of swearing, moaning and shouting at each other which had dogged their game last week.
Half time came and The Allsorts looked a little nervous but were managing to hold on, it was decided that rollouts were causing issues at the back with Dom putting a couple of wayward passes under pressure into their strikers. Inspiration came from the Diamonds last week in the ‘hoofy hoofy’ approach – roll it out to a defender who lumps it up to Jimi who can hold it up. It’s not pretty but its effective and no team likes playing against it.
Unfortunately in the 20th minute or so The Allstars broke free, Dom was looking uncomfortable sitting so deep and his turning circle (akin to the Titanic’s) was exploited leaving The Allstars free to slot home from close range. Heads dropped momentarily, but the new attitude shone through and The Allsorts tightened up and mounted an attack, a few neat passes into the left hand corner between Sam and Jimi left a 2v1 situation in their half and Sam slotted through to Jimi who had a virtually open goal to fire into it was 1-1.
The dynamic continued with The Allstars pressing and the Allsorts going on the counter, a couple of standout moments were Adams run from midfield to get in a 1v1 forcing a good save from their keeper and Sam’s run down the left ending in ahalf volley which was denied by another great save from their keeper. That was the chance to go 2v1 and look strong in the final 5minutes.
On the 25th minute, disaster struck. Jimi tracked back with great speed to deny a goalscoring opportunity by blocking a shot, unfortunately this turned his knee (injured playing cricket the day before – we will return to this) and he was unable to play on. At 5v6 the Allstars could apply the pressure they were looking for throughout the game. They snuck through to get a 2cnd after a tackle from Adam led to a perfect rebound for The Allsorts player to put into an open net. After this a 3rd was inevitable as the heads had dropped and the boys looked tired. Jimi could only watch in horror as his team collapsed in the final five minutes.
It was a much better performance and if the boys work together as they did today, results will come. It has been noticed that in post game conferences all teams we have played (bar the Diamonds) say ‘we did not play well’ – blaming our long ball and physical approach, but hey Stoke are still in the EPL whilst ‘great’ footballing sides like Wigan and Blackpool get relegated. If you can’t beat em, hit it long and tackle hard.
James was later fined 2 weeks wages for playing for another team.
James was fined a further 2 weeks wages for playing another sport – especially cricket (+ 1 week)
Dom was fined a further 2 week wages for neglecting his duties as Social Media Director.
The Allsorts have now gone from best defensive record in the league to worst and are in a clear relegation battle with The Diamonds – the most likely outcome, both teams get relegated.
