In their second league game at home to Caythorpe, Boots Wednesday recovered from a poor start to dominate a second half filled with chances, but were cruelly denied a point (at least) by a defensive mishap in the dying minutes.
Boots lined up with the returning Gandy in goal, a defence of Toobs, SuBo, Patto and Ash, a midfield of Rich, Hirst, Sicky and Griffin, with Luke and Ian starting up front. After an initially frantic start, Caythorpe opened the scoring when their persistent right winger finally evaded the challenges of Patto and Brett to produce a cross to the back post, where the other winger was given too much space and produced a weak volley that rolled into the bottom right corner through a mass of players. Buoyed by the goal, Caythorpe slowly began to take over possession and use their pace to threaten in attack, and although the Boots defence continued to clear their lines, composed passing was minimal. Nevertheless, chances were created (with Luke holding up the ball and Rich and Griff supporting where possible) and Ian could have done better when a long ball fell to him just outside the area, while Griffin saw a low shot saved and Sicky had numerous attempts denied by last-ditch blocks. As with last week’s opener, the opposition eventually punished Boots for their hesitancy and they grabbed a second goal when a corner wasn’t cleared properly, with the ensuing scramble in the box ending with their (possibly offside) striker passing the ball over the line after several hacks at the ball (blocked initially by Phil, SuBo and Brett). With a minute to go before half time, Ian made his most telling contribution when a strong (but fair) tackle sprained their striker’s ankle, and the subless opponents were reduced to 10 men for the rest of the match!
Boots came straight out of the blocks in the second half and dominated for long periods, with their passing game finally evident and plenty of room to be found on the wings for Rich, Griff and Pat (who eventually replaced Griffin on the left). The movement of Ian and Luke began to cause problems behind the Caythorpe defence, and after Ian had hit the post from Griffin’s precise cross, Boots got their reward when a long diagonal ball from Brett on the left dropped over the shoulder of Luke, and after holding off his marker, he lobbed the keeper with a calm finish. Fletch replaced Si in the centre, and Boots continued to spray the ball around with simplicity and precision, while the defence held off the occasional launched counter-attack. A succession of passes across the edge of the Caythorpe area finally gave Boots a deserved equaliser when Man of the Match Luke (chosen by both the opposition and Spence to win a can of ‘M&S Cosmo’) linked up with Ian and Bally before laying the ball back to Sicky, who stroked a finish into the bottom left corner from 15 yards. Boots continued to push for the winner and Rich played in Luke down the right wing, but his first and second goal-bound attempts were saved by the impressive keeper, who then produced multiple saves during a goalmouth scramble to deny Ian, Luke and then his own defender!
Inevitably, Boots were made to regret their missed chances when a hopeful long ball on the counter-attack with 5 minutes to go presented Caythorpe with their third goal as Phil misjudged the ball at the edge of his area and accidentally deflected it into the path of their gambling winger, who had a simple finish into an empty net. This goal proved to be the winner, and despite the introduction of Bally (for Ian), a long range shot from Pat that sailed centimetres wide, and further Boots pressure from corners, time ran out and Boots will have to continue the search for their first points next week.
If we can build on our second half performance then we should start winning games soon, as the movement and passing was exactly what we have been working towards in pre-season. Unfortunately we couldn’t take our chances and were made to pay by an unfortunate incident at the end, but up until then everyone had remained positive and focussed.
