Please find below the match report for yesterday's 50s National Cup game against Concord Rangers.
Concord Rangers are a team from Canvey Island in Essex and were not a team that we had played previously or knew much about. We had been given a little bit of knowledge about a couple of players but our 50s team agreed that we would try and play our game and just play the team in front of us.
The game started brightly and we saw a lot of early possession. We moved the ball around well and, without really penetrating, we were confident on the ball and had the opposition chasing us around. We were pushing higher up the pitch and were the first team to get off a couple of decent shots which their goalkeeper was equal to. They grew into the game and started to pass the ball swiftly amongst themselves. They were playing with a single striker but with a supporting player just behind him. We tried to match them for formation but it soon became apparent that we were struggling to get to grips with the 6 a side format having played the majority of our games last season with a team of 7.
We continued to try and get our game going but they were always keen to get the ball into their striker who had swift feet and was turning our defenders at will. It was he who scored first with a swift turn and low strike passed Jon. One soon became two in a very similar manner.
Concord had obviously played together for some time and by now they were enjoying the freedom of the pitch with us chasing shadows. They seem to be able to pass blindly but no that there would be a supporting player there. Their third goal came from a free kick after the ball was deflected high. This was good clean strike that flew passed everyone and in.
By half time it was four with their striker completing his hattrick in a similar manner to his first two.
We were glad to hear the half time whistle and get in and regroup. It was noted that we had had some success going man to man and trying to press high. This is how we started the second half and we looked and played much better. We were pinning them back and stopping the balls through to the front players. We were again having success going forward and started to get beyond and behind them. A substitution by us saw Brett being withdrawn, with him having just returned from injury, and Mike being introduced into the midfield with Gareth taking up the striker role.
We continued to have periods of good possession and were now moving the ball around faster, playing our type of football. We broke through the midfield and ball out to the right from Jason gave Gareth the opportunity to cut in onto his left and hit a fierce shot passed their keeper and high into the net.
We were now confident in our own play and we interchanged well giving their defence and midfielders concerns as we pushed different players forward. Phil was replaced by Linden and to freshen the defensive legs but we still continued to press high and keep them pinned into their own half. They were now struggling to get out but were confident in their abilities to pass it around at the back. When they did get it forward we holding them at range and limiting them to long range efforts that were either wide of dealt with by Jon.
They did manage to break through towards the very end and find the net but the goal was disallowed as the striker had strayed into the goalkeeping area.
That was the last real action and the game finished 1 - 4 to Concord Rangers.
This was a disappointing result for the team and all of the players were disgruntled at the final outcome, but there were some positives to take away:
After our change in formation at half time we were better and, in fact, won the second half.
We are setup for a 7 per side team and not 6 so there is a training area to be worked on. It did, however, show how resilient and adaptable we are in the second half performance. It just took too long for us to see how we were going to unlock the problem.
We have strength in depth in the squads we have and it is good to see Brett back and playing so quickly with others also declaring themselves fit and recovered from injuries too.
Finally, we played against a 6 man team that fielded 3 full England internationals, one of whom is also an England Assistant coach and to hold our ground and to be able to come out of the contest with our heads held high is a testament to how far this squad has come in less than a year of playing competitively together.
My thanks to Ian M for being the unused substitute yesterday and to Jan, John R and Andy for their tactical contributions from the side lines throughout the game.
Lastly, my thanks, as ever, to the club members and families that turned up to support us and keep us going despite the poor result. Your vocal encouragement was as loud and vociferous as always and kept us all going throughout.
The player of the match will be announced on TeamStats by Jan in due course.
Paul
