Match two of pre season took place in familiar territory as Bexley Athletic made the short journey to the Co-op ground to face also familiar opponents in Woodside Celtic. Bexley had sprung a surprise 2-0 victory at the peak of their form last season in the Fred Jolly Cup. As per normal in pre-season friends, the result was not too important. Pete and Kev were looking for improved fitness and teamwork from the last game.
From the luxury of pitch one at The Meridian to the hard uneven and slightly small Co-op ground , Adam as per normal lost the toss and Woodside rather annoyingly decided to change ends. Adam, Kenan, James Brown would all make their first appearances of pre-season and Dan would make his debut. Woodside kicked off in the searing heat as both teams looked to pace themselves for long match. The first attempt of the match fell to Elton who struck from 20 yards over the bar. Woodside were quickly at the other end having an attempt on goal of their own with a switched ball hit on the volley well wide.
The bobbly pitch made the passing game difficult for both sides. Bexley seemed to prefer the short passing through the middle route whereas Woodside were spreading the ball wide and using pace on the wings as a means of attack. This was effective as Woodside came within millimetres of taking the lead. A ball from left to right left a player free to take the ball down and fire at goal. Quick feet made up for sloppy handling as Dan acrobatically tipped the ball onto the bar. Steve was promptly on scene to clear any further danger. Almost immediately, Woodside hit the woodwork again as a lobbed ball had done beaten but hit the right post and bounced wide. Defensively, Bexley could not deal with low balls across the box. Another centred ball, going through Lee and Sean for Tom to mop at the far post and clear for a corner. Later in the half, another centred ball from the same area was again well cleared by Tom who was outnumbered at the far post with Mark sleeping out on the left wing.
The midfield of James Hall, Adam, Matt, Mark, and Kenan played well. In particular Kenan looked more at home in the midfield alongside Adam. Despite this, they could only fashion half chances for Dan and Elton to pounce on. A combination of brilliance and slight surprise led to Bexley taking the lead. A very neat back healed flick by James Hall to Mark who took a touch and with the goalkeeper out of position took full advantage to find the bottom corner with pin point accuracy.
Bexley pushed for a second. Matt had two opportunities, one which unfortunately fell to his weaker left foot which he dragged wide 10 yards out, another which he brushed the top of the bar with a decent long range effort. Also worth a mention in the first half are Dan’s very well choreographed tumble to the floor when taking a free kick, and Matt attempting to play volley ball with a bizarre hand ball.
Half time and a well earned breather. The problems; attacking set pieces were all being wasted either at the first man, or being played two long. Defending corners had been dealt well, open play balls into the box Bexley looked exposed. Kev looked to address this with enthusiasm. Elton was bought on for Kenan at half time and James brown bought on for Kenan.
Woodside started the second half the better as Bexley rarely ventured out of their own half with the ball in the opening 10 minutes. Many of their opportunities came from corners which Bexley scrambled away.
Mistakes from last season were creeping in. Communication between the goalkeeper and back four were leading to mix ups. At times Dan’s calling was plainly not load enough and others the defence made poor decision both causing issues. Sean did concede a needless corner after heading the ball out when it was going harmlessly into Dan’s hands. His reason for this was “not trusting his goalkeeper.” This was vindicated when Dan flapped and missed the corner and was later beaten to a high ball. However, with a successful punch in the first half a second high ball was caught cleanly by the goalkeeper; only for the player to ludicrously take out the entire net in the goal. Lee joined in at causing mayhem as the entire of Eltham heard Dan call for the ball but he decided to spoon the ball into the air giving Dan the task of volleying the ball out. James Brown joined in the defensive circus show when under pressure having received a goal kick, instead of passing it back to his keeper seemingly had an attempt at assisting the opponents to score at the far post.
With the expected mistakes there were many positives. Tom played with confidence and quality at left back, Lee and Sean again showed a promising partnership both with many crucial interventions throughout the game and for the most part showed a massive improvement in positioning and heading compared to last season or be it with a few errors. Steve showed his trademark knowhow and confidence on the ball from right back. Having not played for month’s James Brown got stuck in and played at a more than adequate standard.
Up the other end, there was precious few sniffs for Elton and Dan to capitalise on but again Elton’s pace look threaten and something Bexley can use effectively this season. Matt fired a third attempt on goal over the bar but Bexley’s steady midfield play did produceda third goal. Tom had pushed forward and played a superb pass into Dan who’s first attempt rebounded off the keeper for him to tap home in a one-two style. A debut goal for the new striker. James hall looked to get in on the goal scoring action with a long range shot in the final minutes which just clipped the bar. Adam was also looking to get himself on the score sheet but could not find the net today.
Bexley were determined for a second straight clean sheet and were battling to hold onto this. Dan made a sharp save when am attacker breached between Lee and Sean spreading himself well to narrow the angle and block a certain goal from point blank range. Bexley got away with two free headers at the far post, one of which squirmed narrowly wide and then Lee getting out muscled by the striker chipping the ball over and wide of the onrushing Dan, and the post before they eventually found the net. A ball through the middle, the defensive line was not so solid. With Sean convinced the player was offside and Lee caught on his heals both were not in a position to get back quick enough. Dan’s decision to leave his goal line was wrong as the striker lobbed the ball into the goal with impressive accuracy.
Nonetheless, the final score of 2-1 capped a decent team display with each individual showing some good stuff. A noticeable fitness improvement with Kenan, Adam, Dan, and James Brown, in very hot weather, showing a similar level to those who had already played the previous week. Well done to Dan for his first goal and to Tom with a well deserved man of the match performance at the second attempt (and for only being subbed once this week). Again, Bexley showed some excellent stuff and it is re-empahised that creases can be ironed out in training. There is potential for a very successful season but it is crucial that numbers turn up to training for Mark to work his BSc Sports Science Hons magic. (I even heard hime say we need to concentrate on more football).
This week both Pete and Kev did some the ratings and the overall score was averaged out. (0.1, 0.2, 0.3 ,0.4 0.5, rounded down. 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 rounded up). Both agreed on the Man of the Match.
Pete Kev
Dan- 8 Dan- 7
Steve- 8 Steve- 8
Lee- 7 Lee- 7
Sean- 7 Sean- 7
Tom- 8 Tom- 8
Mark- 7 Mark- 8
Adam- 7 Adam- 8
Matt- 6 Matt- 7
James H- 7 James H- 7
Elton- 7 Elton- 7
Dan- 7 Dan- 8
Kenan- 7 Kenan- 7
James B- 8 James B- 7
Well done to Kev. He must have broke some sort of record for managing to make 14 substitutions in 90 minutes of football!
