A chance for us to right the wrongs from last week and pin 3 points on the board for our first win of the season.
After a decent training session on Tuesday and a solid warm up we put ourselves in the best position to win this game....
When we kicked off we could see that they would bring a physical game and a forward line full of running.... They also had an element of composure that they didn't have in previous games. All that said, we handled the opening phase of the game really well and clearly looked the better side IN POSSESSION.
We lacked the movement and aggressive running in the forward positions but we still carved out some opportunities that led to getting shots away.... This was great to see.
Harvey decided to eliminate the process of passing goal kicks to CB's and kept trying to chip the ball out to the RM / LM. This led to giving the ball away in critical areas and put us under unnecessary pressure. We need to apply game management to each aspect of our game-plan for it to be successful.
Tommy got on the score sheet with a sweet right footed strike that Rio set up and we once again breathed a sigh of relief.
We had a chance to push on from here and go 2 /3 /4 nil up but another mistake has cost us to concede another goal.
Rio, showing real captains leadership, gave Harvey the arm around the shoulder and gave some words of encouragement.
Half time was quickly back to the changing rooms, jaffa cakes / wine gums / glucose tablets being consumed and loads of water taken on board. The lads listened and we were ready to go again.
A tight game ensued and we saw Connor and Rio starting to run the show, Max / Tommy / Haris / Jack and Oliver B working really hard and making runs, Oscar / Tyler / Aiden / G / Oli H all working hard and getting stuck in to their tackles. We had the better of them and the game really was ours to take but we didn't make the most of the numerous shooting opportunities we carved out for ourselves.
What we did see was Connor finding more and more space as Southwick push forward and our lads getting back so when he drove i o the opposition half and got brought down to the ground, free kick was the decision and a shot on goal could be had.
Tommy lined it up and thumped past the keeper that had made some decent saves in the game. Keepers top right and there was no way he was stopping it. And with less than 2 mins to go, this was reliant purely on game management and no mistakes football.
From the kick off, they played through us and we saw a foul on their attacker from a nice crossing position. Surely the last move of the game... If we see it out, we win. Cross comes in, bit of a goalmouth scramble and Harvey and the defenders failed to clear it and their striker scuffed it over the line to equalize.
The full range of emotions on show in the final moments and what felt like 2 points dropped now, will feel like a point gained at the end of the season.
Individual mistakes will always lead to goals conceded / chances given away. We owe it to ourselves to experience a win and with County Cup next week and a big league game v the unbeaten Withdean Youth White, we have a significant challenge especially with the key players out of the squad due to injury.
The first win is just around the corner and I will make sure we are there to achieve it AND celebrate in style when we do....
