Well then! how about that! did i not say last week that one big defeat does not make us a bad team? not that any of you ever thought that, the boys excelled themselves today, dispite not having Lol , Ben H, and alex H with us today.
A sunny sunday morning on a very good looking pitch for a change , grass cut, on the Barony, Bryan was back after climbing Snowdon last week, so should be fit! and started in goal, Alex looked like the great defender he has been all season, full of concentration for this match. Arron started in a unfamilar role in front of Alex as cover, in the middle were Ben, matthew and Max, and up front leading the line, Sam the fox, Mark was on the bench but was soon on as all players needed to work hard against a Nantwich side, second in the league, and had beaten us on three other occassions.
Match started, and there was plenty of hard work and battle put in the midfield for the first 5 minutes, as Ben and Matthew got stuck in, Max used his head and realeased some smart passes to take the pressure off. Alex was no nonsense with all his tackling and ball clearing, whilst Arron was a revelation in that position, always hassling and chasing players.
In the 5th minute, Arron got the ball on the edge of his own area, promptly pulled out to the wing, charged past 3 players and reached the oppositions goal mouth. Max and Sam had got up for support, and as Arron went round a fourth Nantwich player and was close in on goal, played a short one - two with Max, and pushed the ball into the net! outstanding goal! 1 - 0 Betley.
Heads were definately up, Mark came on for Sam to add strength to the front line and to cover in midfield and did an excellent job. Matthew and Ben were fighting it out and their work rate was phenominal. At the back, Arron and Alex were ensuring Bryan was safe in goal, but Bryan never let his concentration slip and tipped a great shot over the bar, and Betley defended stoutly.
Half time and we went in 1 - 0 up, another 20 minutes of this was required, could the boys continue? they were all set to try.
Second half, Sam back on to rest Max, and what ground he covered to help, tremendous work rate, Mark sat in the middle and him, Ben and Matthew carried on where they left off in the first half. Alex and Arron yet again standing strong, Arron again found time to burst up the wings and still get back (is he on drugs?) .
Ben played some lovely passes through but chances became few as Nantwich threw the kitchen sink at us to try to get back in the game, Bryan saved brilliantly at the feet of an on rushing Nantwich player, his coolness in holding the ball and goal kicking was top drawer.
close to the end and the tiredness was telling, who could blame them, Alex gave a freekick away on the edge of the penalty area for handball, all players back, and the resulting kick was parried out, a mass scramble, and Arron cleared it away.
Tigers desperate to hear full time whistle, so was I, so were the supporters (except Nantwich's)! What seemed like an hour, but was only a minute, the whistle went, you'd of thought we had won a cup final, but let the lads enjoy this, and lets not underestimate the meaning of this win, against a bogey side who are second in the league, we have now put a serious dent in their ambitions to win this league.
So many man of the matches today, in fact all 8 of them! 10 out of 10, but Arron edged it with his goal, and his ability to play where he did today, but plenty of players had their best ever performances in a Betley shirt today.
Proud parents, and proud managers, a good day for all, lets kick on and do this every week!
thanks for your support, Lyndon
