Match Report by Hulk:
Boots succumbed to their second successive defeat this Sunday against a Nottingham United team after a disappointing performance. Boots reverted back to the 4-5-1 formation, after 1 wk of flirting with 3 at the back Spence went back to the solid back four. Simon in goal was supported by Rob, Chris, Fletch and Rich in an unusual right back role. Initially Boots started on top, the midfield 5 of Sam, Pete and Kieran in the middle and Bally and Griff on the wings, started well and combined with Ian in the lone striker role to have the vast majority of the play. The defence of Nottingham United didn’t look that assured and it looked like there were possibilities, although no clear chances were created.
However, the turning point of the first half came after a great through ball, it came from the left and was beautifully weighted to leave Chris and Rich helpless, and the winger was able to finish past Simon after 15mins. This unfortunately took the wind out of Boots sails and it was an error-stricken first half, where Boots failed to maintain the ball and struggled positionally. There seemed too much space between the back four, midfield and the forwards giving the opposition too much time on the balls. Nottingham made it 2-0 after another through ball saw the striker one-and-one and managed to just get enough on the shot to see it roll over the line (25 mins). During the first half Pete had to retire through injury and Daz came on for him to go right back and push Rich forward, Bally then went up top and Ian came centre mid, for what must be the most complicated substitution every attempted by Boots (and amazingly everyone managed to quite quickly work it out!!!) Frumpy was still kept busy and got a nasty stamp to the knuckles during another one-on-one stop. Boots ended the first half better, but still created little notable chances
After HT Boots put an improved performance and started to push for some goals but conceded a third to make the comeback even harder as again their striker managed to get one-and-one with Simon and just rolled it past him and just enough to ensure the ball beat Crozier chasing back (50 mins). Boots got one back after Ian laid the ball wide to Rich, who crossed for Kieran to control and coolly finish in the bottom corner (70 mins). This led to a period of pressure from Boots following the goal and it was a period of the best play for us, but unfortunately akin to Man Utd later in the day the defence were also ambitious and left space which Nottingham used to make it 4 with around 15 to go, again Simon was given little protection and the striker was able to round him and sidefoot into the empty net. Kieran swapped with Marcus with 10 to go, but after the forth the game was over, and although there were chances either end, it would have only been to make the score more respectable/ convincing for either team, not to change the outcome of where the 3 points were heading.
In the end, Boots didn’t do enough to take the points, the period after our goal showed how we can play, but it was too rare. Without stating the obvious the goals and the timings were the killers blows, the first put us off our stride, and the third just after half time gave us a mountain to climb. The final nail in the coffin was the fourth when we were starting to play with confidence.
Man of the Match (chosen by Spence) was Hawrylak, as he defended well under pressure for long periods and won a lot of headers (honourable mention to Frumpy for good communication and a great save in the first half).
Kit = Bally.
