What a contrast to seven days ago, last week, a warm sunny morning and an abject performance, this week, cold, miserable , wet but an outstanding effort from the boys! just goes to show football is definately played well in the winter!
Started today with Lol and Matthew absent, and the manager also not available, so it was left to myself and Matt to see if i could break my hoodoo of winless matches when in charge!
Bryan started in goal, Ben H in front of him and Alex D, midfield of Ben, Arron and Max with Alex H up front. Sam and Mark on the side, but very soon to come on to keep the players rotated and warm, in biting conditions. Bryan was captain and won the toss, so we had already decided to play 'up the hill' first half, and with the rain in our faces.
A bright start, good passing (that was missing last week) through the middle by Arron, Ben and Max, Ben H and Alex rock solid at the back, Alex never missed anything or anyone never got passed him. First chance went to Arron who went on a mazie run of his own, but shot wide. Next, Arron put a wonderful cross in but we failed to connect.
At the other end, Bryan was holding well on a couple of shots, in the mud, slippery surface and cold fingers! Crewe tigers forced a couple of corners, but all players covered well to clear the danger.
Sam came on for Alex and within a minute played a vital part in the first goal, a glorios team move, Ben in the middle to Arron, another great run past his opponent on the right, a great cross of which Sam unselfishly played in Max to tap into an open net! 1 - 0 ! what a good team goal.
Mark, then replaced Max on the Left and straight away, he was settled on the ball and choose his passes inteligently, in the 15th minute, it was 2 - 0, again a ccross by Arron caused all sorts of panic in the Crewe defence, and noth Mark and Ben went for it, with Ben getting the final touch! 2 - 0.
Crewe attacked and in the 18th minute, a speculative shot was allowed by Bryan to slip through his hands, and it trickled into the net! 2 -1 just at the break!
Half time, and some swapping, Arron had a rest, Bryan and Max swapped places, with Max graciously offering to go in goal for a stint. Mark went over on the Right, Bryan on the left, Alex swapped for Alex! The idea was to keep them all moving in the cold as much as possible.
Second half underway, kicking down hill, we imeadiately put lots of pressure on Crewe, and Bryan and Mark were dangerous on the flanks, cutting in and linking up with Sam very well. Max was fully concentrated and handled exceptionally when challenged.
in the 28th minute, Bryan cut in and unleashed a rocket, which thundered back off the bar, that would have killed the game but not so, so the lads kept fully concentrated, a credit to them all.
In the 30th minute, Bryan made amends after clever work by Arron, saw a long shot bounce in front of the keeper and in! 3 - 1.
Mark also came close, burying a shot just wide, as Betley dominated the last part of the game, plenty of stamina, plenty of happy faces, plenty of mud! and plenty of washing for the hardy parents watching and supporting!
Game over, a really really well fought win, putting behind us all the disapointments of last week, and now we can go on a nother long run hopefully, allbeit, a big challenge next week! the league leaders come to town.
see you all then, many thanks to Matt and Nicola today for helping out, much appreciated
cheers, Lyndon
