On the back of two deserved wins we had again put ourselves in a position that might of propelled us to the heights of the table , but, like before, we had to continue our good form against stronger opposition. This was second meeting with Alsager, remember? we played them first game of the season and were caught out by their speed and fitness at that time being stronger than ours. How were we going to do today? well, read on, but dont let me give you a clue by saying 'groundhog' day!
Bang!, crash, wallop! there we go again, within the first two minutes a hurricane had hit the Tigers , not even Michael Fish predicted that one, and we found ourselves 2 goals down straight away before we had managed to get over the half way line. Both goals being passed through a static Tigers team at speed and at will, with Kai no chance on either of them. By the time the first attack Betley made, Kai had possibly saved ourselves from going 4 or 5 behind. However, it was not all gloom and doom, the players committed well, Bryan forced a corner, Sam tried to hold the ball to allow support, Ben Hin' battled and Alex and Mark were on overtime at the back trying to stem the speed of Alsagers fast play. Arron was having to track back to assist and did a sterling job.
But, the pressure from Alsager told and in the 10th minute, Alex was out last man against 2 players, and the shot under Kai made it 3 - 0 to the Fireblades. Bryan managed to get a rocket of a shot in which was well saved, and the rebound equally hit hard by Arron was well saved as well, so the team were not just going to lay down and surrender, oh no, they are made of sterner stuff now.
Second period, and 4 changes to utilise the full squad, Matthew came on for Bryan, Lol for Mark, Ben for Ben Hin' and Max up front for Sam.
The tigers decided to make a fist of it, and the game settled down to a lot of midfield tussles, Lol tidied up as usual, never missing a tackle, Max and Arron combined well with neat passing, Betley were from a footballing sense back in it, but not from the scoreline.
Alex was being tough but fair and Matthew abley assisted the defense by tracking back. We needed a goal at this point, but we were still kept at bay by an organised Alsager team. The second period ended with Kai, again making two double saves, but still 0 - 3 down.
Third period, and Bryan came on for Arron, Sam for Max, Mark for Alex, who had worked his socks off. Matthew switched to the left, and what dividends it paid! with a brilliant run and cross into the box, where Bryan, for the second time this season planted a glorious header underneath the goalkeeper, 1 - 3! still time for the comebacks of comebacks to happen!
Sam had a good run through the middle, Bryan crossed in, cleared for a corner, time running out, but it was not to be, a break up our end of the pitch saw Alsager finish the game off following a goalmouth scramble, 1 - 4. To their credit, Betley still managed to get forward, but the end came quickly and the game was done.
4 - 1, could of been worse? but myself and Andrew shoulder some of blame for switching the starting line up around after a few consistent weeks, something for ourselves to think about going forward. But, no heads dropped, and plenty to take from the second half of this match after a torrid start. Top of the agenda though for training is fitness levels and timed tackling, as i think we can all agree, we got over run at times, however, we showed again as a squad that no team has totally walked over us this season, and that itself is a sign of how far we have come since the start of last season.
So, onwards and upwards, plenty to look forward to, and the cup draw soon! lets hope for a Premiership team away! so out loyal supporters behind the goal can have a day out! lol. Thanks to everyone.
Regards, Lyndon
