What a difference a week makes!, after the heroics of last Saturday's Intermediate Cup victory over Liobians FC, we have fell at the first hurdle in The Archbishop Shield losing against fellow Prem league side Western Speke. Having beaten them already at home in only our second league game of the season we were fully aware of their robust style of play and knew we would face a tough test. Manager Gavin Heard made two changes bringing back in both Wesley Davies and Brian Kerwin who's form had stuttered off late having began the season as two of the most consistent performers. The early signs were positive when after just 4 minutes James Gregory hit a superb ball up field which was struck on the half volley by Liam Geordeson but his effort failed to hit the target. In recent weeks we have leaked far too many goals and it is clear that there is work required in order to get back to how we began in the early stages of the season, we don't look as solid and both Gregory and James Davies are set up like a married couple who can't bare to be in the same room. It was straight through the middle that the home side scored both of their goals the first coming just a minute after Founds had made a good save in a 1v1 situation and the second after 12 minutes when we were caught out again and tried to play the offside trap which the referee was having none of and the ball was smashed into the far corner of the goal. It was a shocking start to the game but with plenty of time left to recover we needed to get a quick goal back and we certainly had several very good opportunity's to do so. Kieran Dolan picked the ball up on 15 minutes and played a superbly weighted ball over the top which Paul Langley raced on to but he must have left his right foot in The Warden cellar with his grey number 7 shirt as he failed to get his shot off. A minute later Dean Judge was strong enough to win a 50-50 challenge in the box and knock the ball in the direction of Anthony Moore but he screwed his shot wide. The response had been good going forward and improvements had been made defensively with John Marsh's experience proving pivotal in the organisation, and this enabled the central pairing to close up the gaps not allowing Speke to get in behind. A quick free kick by Moore on 26 minutes found Dolan who showed great vision in flicking the ball around the defender into the path of Geordeson who struck with power which required a good save. By this stage we were well on top and we managed to get a goal back when Moore & Dolan played an excellent one two and Moore crossed for Geordeson to side foot the ball past the keeper for his 7th of the season. Geordeson very nearly levelled matters on 41 minutes when John Marsh picked him out with a great ball from a free kick, the in form marksman controlled the ball on his thigh and smashed the ball goal wards but unfortunately it was straight at the keeper. The only other real chance for Speke came courtesy of a direct free kick which was flicked on but just looped over the bar, half time (2-1)
The second half performance required more urgency and the next goal would be crucial for either side, but again it looked as though an equaliser would come as we continued to push forward. Tackles were flying in thick and fast and both sides were conceding free kicks in dangerous positions, Paul Langley swung in a free kick on the left which was met on the head by Gregory but the ball flew wide of the near post and when Gregory blocked off a Speke forward just on the edge of the box the resulting kick missed the post by inches. John Davies replaced Judge with 20 minutes remaining as Heard looked at unsettling the Speke back four with fresh legs, Ian Jordan also took the place of a tiring Anthony Moore but neither substitute could make an impact as the home side had by now well and truly parked the bus and looked at catching us on the break. With just 10 minutes remaining James Gregory became a makeshift centre forward, and the tactical change from the manager very nearly came off when with just 5 minutes left he latched on to a long ball up field and struck a superbly hit shot which was flying into the bottom corner only for The Speke keeper who pulled off a brilliant finger tipped save round the post. James Davies also pushed forward in the final minutes and he struck a shot which appeared to rebound of the hand of a Speke defender in the box but the referee denied us and it was to be the last chance of the game and the taste of defeat had to be digested for only the 2nd time this season.
Man of the match: Wesley Davies, battled and worked hard in midfield and responded well to being left out last week.
Subs not used: Tony Cosgrove, Neil Hunter, Shaun Kent
Next up: 20/11/10 vs Mosslane (h) league
