By Dave Matthews....
On a very mild Saturday afternoon a confident Mexoc FC arrived at the Simpson Ground. The changing room was, for once, a pleasant place to don the home shirt as room was a plenty due to the scarcity of players. No fighting for a peg this week!
After the emergency call for players the previous day the gaffers delight was clear when, to his surprise a 12th man appeared in the changing room despite being injured. Gary and Dave C answered the ‘Mexoc Needs You’ call, as did the injured Mike.
So with a surprisingly large squad of 12 and spirits high the mighty Mexoc prepared for the challenge of facing the league leaders – Manweb. The XXL shirts were quickly snapped up by the guest players and Mr Smith was left with a skin tight XL shirt.
As kick off approached the starting 11 was announced and Fiorentini had decided to try a 3-5-2 formation to win the midfield battle and with the pace of Reynolds and Boden on the flanks it appeared to be an ingenious decision. However after 10 minutes of play the fitness of the Mexoc players was all too clear. Smith and Walsh regularly swapped with Cunningham and Boden in an attempt to save energy.
Manweb, who had turned out a strong squad, began brightly and kept the ball well. The Mexoc midfield and attack worked tirelessly to pressure the ball and the three man defence worked well reducing Manweb to long range efforts which were comfortably dealt with by Steff in the Mexoc goal. Despite the small squad and unfamiliarity between players and formation, Mexoc held strong for the first 25 minutes and grew in confidence creating chances of their own. Reynolds constantly found himself in space on the left wing but was rarely given the opportunity to dance around the Manweb right back a la Stewart Downing v Martin Skrtel.
The deadlock was finally broken just before the half hour mark when a Manweb corner was diverted into his own net by Reynolds. Shortly after the restart Mexoc put pressure on the Manweb goal. Smith had the best sight of goal from the edge of the box but his shot was turned away for a corner. The attacking adventure was short lived as Manweb went 2-0 ahead. The initial shot could only be parried by Steff and the rebound was followed in for a simple tap-in. Manweb increased their lead to 3-0 shortly before the half time interval with a shot from just inside the 18 yard box.
Despite the score line Mexoc went into the break relatively happy with the effort that was being displayed by all 11.
The second half began with the same enthusiasm as the first. Mexoc largely reduced Manweb to long range efforts. The pressure on the Mexoc defence was starting to show and it wasn’t long before Manweb’s first opportunity of the second half presented itself – the striker was only denied by a goal line clearance from Matthews. However, Manweb didn’t have to wait long for their 4th goal. A cross from the right wing was met by a stunning volley from the edge of the box which left Steff helplessly admiring the bulging net.
Not disheartened, Mexoc continued to fight, with Regan and McNeill battling hard in the centre of the pitch and Gogol replacing Boden on the right wing. Fatigue, however, was starting to set in and Manweb were able to exploit the gaps and increase the score to 5-0.
A succession of attacking free kicks and corners presented the best chances for a Mexoc comeback. Reynolds looked to add to his goal tally of 1 in 100 with a shot that was blocked on the 6 yard line.
The nail in Mexocs coffin finally hit home in the last 5 minutes with a 6th goal for Manweb. The final whistle came soon after and despite a 6-0 defeat the Mexoc players were pleased with the effort displayed by all 12 players – something which has been missing in the last few games. Top marks for effort and commitment.
Later that afternoon, inside a packed Kellys, the defeat of Liverpool by Middlesbrough unfolded and brought a smile to one or two of the Mexoc players.
