1st Half
Game started very poorly with the Engine doing the usual rabbit in headlights trick giving the ball away and struggling to maintain the shape we started with. Before long we were 2 nil down both caused by defensive frailty and the sheer pace of the opposition from the kick off. Our defence looking disorganised from the start and the DV arms took no prisoners in punishing us. not good.....I blame the manager for not communicating the tactics well enough ;-) (or the team for not listening!)
Once 2 - 0 down we started to get on the ball and revert to our passing game which showed real promise, steve and si started to see more ball and ren was trying to thread the ball through to jimmy up front. Idi ran tirelessly in both attacking to support Jimmy and defending to cover Si V who was more often than not being overrun by two players.
It was obvious from the side lines that the tactics of 4-2-3-1 were not working against an organised and well polished opposition so a change was made half was through the first half to revert to a flat 4-4-2 and andy c was introduced. This definitely strengthen the team and we looked more solid. We know now that we start defensive and suss the opposition out before moving to a more attacking formation.
We were playing our way back into the game and forged several good chances before a killer blow from a corner put us 3-0 down. We will work on corners as a team as its a major weakness we currently have.
One thing the Engine are not suffering from is a mentality where by we collapse , the pre seasons have shown we can dig deep and I was impressed by the lack of moaning and internal disputes (apart from jimmy but hey ho he scores so I cant moan to much!) . The team pulled their socks up and worked extra hard to get jimmy p in a position where one of his rockets found the net, absolutely cracking goaaaallllllllllll. ! and engine where back in it !!!!
From this point on I could see us getting back into the game, Yan and kyle were starting to see more ball down the right and a couple more chances fell to us but were not converted.
2nd Half
Biff decided to jump up and down on his calf for some reason and was replaced by Ross at the back with Steve S joining him as Burbs went off to have a manicure. Ren was brought back into the middle of the park and play resumed. From the off we looked stronger and were starting to pass the ball around nicely, before long we had two open goal chances but neither were tucked away and it stayed at 3-1. Just as we were starting to really get on top of them a break from their pacer strikers and a poorly played off side trap allowed them to sneak in and lift the ball over jonny..... Nick C and myself came on for Si C and Si V for the last 20 mins, during this time they only had a couple of chances (again from corners) but a brilliant reaction save and one that was tipped over the bar from jonny helped us out. The game finished 4-1 and that really flattered them....
The last 20 minutes certainly belonged to us and we were unlucky not to at least get one more back. There goalie made some great saves and a couple of sitters would have normally been converted for sure. Final score 4-1 Devonshire Arms.
So, that was the last pre season.
Positives -
- Attitude (getting on at each other will not help anyone at anytime)
- Ball retention second half (good pass and movement)
- Work rate (everyone tracking back, remember if he goes past you chase the f*cker!)
- Passing ( we didnt give the ball away much second half)
Things to work on
- Corners (get a man, stick with him , listen to keeper, always cover posts)
- Winning goal kicks in the air (very weak at this!)
- First ten mins (be on it from the start)
MOM
- Idi, relentless workrate and involvement.
And remember this lot are div 1 runner ups in the cov prem division, we were not disgraced by any means and should take the positives from this game.
Looking forward to sunday ! PUE !
