This game was undoubtedly one of two halves. For the first thirty minutes, and despite a competitive performance, the Tigers conceded 5 goals which put he game out of reach. It is a credit to the players that despite the obvious shock and disappointment of conceding so easily, they gathered themselves to put in a last period performance to be proud of.
The game started evenly with the Tigers offensive line looking dangerous. Aaron Lennon looked bright on his debut, Ben Gerrarrd was picking up loose balls, and Matt Babbel made a couple of powerful runs. Sam Samba mad a few wriggly runs up front. However following the early exchanges, it was AB who caught the Tigers on the back foot and took the lead. The Tigers then lost some of their organisation and went on to concede another goal fairly quickly.
The second period was similar to the first with AB taking their chances while the Tigers failed to take their chances. Mark Rayna was introduce on the left but other positional changes had made it difficult for us to get hold of the ball and put AB under any pressure. We struggled to defend as a unit and despite hard work from Lol Viddic and Alexei Delaney we were undone by the pace and numbers involved in AB’s attacks. Bry Shades threw himself around manfully, but could not get to the strong shots put in by the Juniors.
A training ground priority will need to be our approach to dead ball situations which put us under unnecessary pressure at times.
Despite the disappointment of the first two periods the Tigers regrouped and approached the final period with far more conviction and confidence. A strong run and shot from matt not only gave us a goal but lifted spirits and the Tigers began playing with the authority they are capable of. The pressure told again with a scrambled goal from Aaron who got his reward for a MOM performance on the wing.
If we play the whole game as we did in the final period we will be a match for anyone. A game however s 45 minutes and our effort needs to be at maximum for the whole game. Well done for the final period!
