Breachwood Lions VS Lifestyles FC (01/09/13)
Breachwood Lions began the 2013/14 season with an away trip to Lifestyles who had relocated to a brand new 35,000 state of the art stadium in Baldock.
After a turbulent and inconsistent season last year Breachwood somehow found themselves in the Premier Division, but after much change in pre-season the club were looking optimistically to a more settled season and hope of mounting a solid mid table finish.
New manger Andrew Fildes can certainly relate to the current pressure heaped on David Moyes and has a lot to live up to after a an eventful 10 years littered with silverware under the management of Mickey French. The summer also saw the end of an era with no less than 4 Breachwood legends retiring from the game; John Griffin, Graham French, David Farr and George Harrison all of whom will be hugely missed....... well at least 3 of them.
With old guard gone the new guard Iaian Turkentine, Dan Dye, Danny Jefferies and much to the displeasure of the Breachwood Ultras Adam Jefferies have to step up and lead the players and club ensuring all the new signings understand how special this club is and how they like to play attractive attacking football. Fildes has been busy in the summer adding no more than 6 new players to the club along with bringing back some old faces and after much speculation of a big summer move Fildes managed to hold on to one of the bright sparks of last season (players player and captains player) the Kazak captain James Mason who, if he can build on last season, has the potential to be a great (in his eyes)!
Breachwood’s pre season hasn’t been pleasant viewing for the fans with a lot of disjointed performances most notably Mason’s stunning 2nd half performance against MBDA where he single handily tore Breachwoods defence to pieces with through balls and flicks on for the MBDA strikers to feed on! Happier times for the fans in pre season have seen a wonder 50 yard strike from club captain Turk, a technically perfect finish from Danny Jefferies from 30 yards out and a beautiful crafted team goal finished by Ollie Mason. Breachwood finished pre season finished on a high with two very pleasing performances, all be it against weaker opposition.
Breachwood’s preparation for the first game of the season was hugely disrupted when centre back Richard Wharton was savagely attacked on Saturday night..... what he was doing out so late on the eve of a game is unknown, however he will have to answer to Fildes who has implemented a curfew on all players, one of his many new strict club rules!
The game was a sell-out and the pitch was mown and groomed to perfection, as you would expect at any new stadium. Breachwood started the game with a traditional 4-4-2, Fildes giving debuts to no less than 5 players. Blobby started in goal with a back four of Whytock, Hill, James Mason and Pagey. The four in midfield saw the return of DJ after missing last season with an ankle injury, he partnered Turk in centre mid. Robbie P and Charlie were deployed to the wings with roger and Ollie starting up front.
Breachwood had a very strong bench with AJ, Dan Dye and Harry ‘The Hitman’ Lovell keeping it occupied.
The matched started at a slow pace with no real chances of any note within the first 10 – 15 minutes. Breachwood had the better share of the ball and looked comfortable; the home fans sensed this and started getting behind their team before breachwood got a real hold on the game. Somehow the home fans got to the Breachwood players and in a crazy 15minute spell Breachwood somehow found themselves 3 goals down! They seemed to be getting over run with the gap between the defence and midfield far too big. In that time Breachwood also lost centre back Ricky Hill who was replaced by AJ who went to right back, with Whytcock slotting in at centre back alongside James Mason. This seemed to settle the team, with Whytocks experience and authority appearing to be what the team were lacking in the opening stages. Breachwood reunited and managed to end the half on top, but seemed to be lacking that killer final ball and sadly it looked like the lads had left their shooting boots at home!
Breachwood were out early for the second half and my word whatever Fildes said to them at half time seemed to work wonders. They were fired up and playing with real conviction - first to every ball and getting the ball down and playing the slick, two-touch football they have become famous for. The Midfield duo of Turk and DJ finally started to get a hold of the game the whole team seemed to believe in themselves again. Breachwood finally pulled a goal back when AJ won a free kick after a mazy run down the right flank. DJ whipped the resulting free kick into the box and Roger rose unmarked inside the 18yard box to loop a header over the oncoming keeper. The fans loved him already after a goal on his full debut! Lifestyles were panicking knowing that if they didn’t change things quickly this game could be Breachwoods for the taking. The odd counter attack they were having was easily being dealt with by the solid looking Breachwood defence.
The game threatened to boil over in the last 20minutes when DJ threw his toys out of his pram and overreacted to a late tackle! Breachwood piled on the pressure and missed a number of guilt-edged chances, most notably Turk who somehow managed to find the keepers leg and not the back of the net from 3yards out! With 15 minutes left Fildes tried to switch things up and add more pressure to Lifestyles in the middle of the park, bringing Double D on for Robbie P and moving Ollie Mason out to the left wing. DD slotted into the Makalele role, allowing Turk and DJ to push on in support of Roger.
With minutes left Lifestyles won a series of corners ultimately resulting in their 4th goal. Somehow their substitute striker managed to nutmeg Mason and round him with ease before smashing the ball into the roof of the net from a near impossible angle! There was still time for Breachwood to create one more chance with Mason crossing only for DJ to rise above the towering centre back only to tamely head wide.
Breachwood can take many positives from the game and if it wasn’t for a crazy ten minute period in the first half Breachwood may well have taken something from the match. The second half performance was encouraging for their fans and Fildes believes that they may well be able to hold their own in this division!
On another positive note Breachwood managed to hold on to all of their players, having to fight off a number of late transfer enquiries on transfer deadline day. Most notably want away striker Richard Taaffe who spent the whole afternoon parked outside QPR's training ground, unfortunately QPR refused to match Breachwood’s £10 valuation of the player. Whether or not he’ll be accepted back into the Breachwood team when he returns from “injury” is yet to be seen.
Robbi Whytock was the Managers Man of the Match after an inspiring display in the heart of the defence.
