28/08/11: Willow Pond FC (3) v (0) New Derby
Scorers: None
Starting Team: Stothard (GK), Ashman, Horn (c), Scott, Taylor, Boiston (Cruddace), Binks, Hutchinson, Dodsworth, Thompson, Jake McGill
Subs (Unused): Fullard, Linton
Yellows: Stothard
Reds: None
Willow Pond managed to shut out an under strength and careless New Derby, which condemned the Derby to their third defeat of the season.
Scott Linton was short of options going into the game with, Gourlay, Josh Mcgill, Gardener, Bunyan, Calvert, Robson and Young all missing for various reasons. This meant Linton had to shuffle the pack from the team who dispatched the Victory with Ashman, Boiston and Jake McGill all handed first starts of the season. Such was the struggle for numbers that the manager himself was even forced to don a strip to provide back up on the bench.
Horn winning the toss, to everyone's surprise decided to tackle the up hill pitch in the first half which brought an early push form the Pond running down hill and their dominance was clear from an early stage.
Pond pushed through the middle of the park with their two big midfielders controlling the game. The Derby were getting frustrated and silly free kicks started to follow but the Derby were well organised through Stothard, Horn and Binks being vocal.
Ponds game plan early on was to bombard the Derby back line with long balls and big throw ins. But again the Derby stayed strong and limited the Willow Pond chances.
The Derby however offered very little going forward, struggling to get two of their more influential players, Thompson and Dodsworth, into the game.
Ponds pressure told after they finally took the lead their pressure deserved, but as I can't remember the goal I will leave it that, sorry.
The teams came in at half time and with the hill now in the Derby's favour they were confident of going on to win the game.
However the second half was a very different affair, it turned into a midfield scrap which the Derby could not win. Again they offered very little and both teams were stuck in the middle of the park. But with a bit of luck and bad refereeing Pond doubled their lead with a goal I can remember. Following a scrap in the middle of the park and a bad tackle from the Pond mid-fielder saw the Pond clear their lines only to find their striker 5 yards offside but with the referee in discussing with the Pond management he did not see how clear this was, what followed was the Pond the striker to round Stothard was then sexually assaulted him to gain the first yellow card and a penalty to the Willow Pond. The Pond striker then assuredly struck the penalty down the middle to heap more pressure on to Linton.
With Linton seeing the game slipping away he decided to change to a 4-3-3, with Dodsworth now operating in a more forward position, but again no reaction by the Derby team and passes now were going wasted and frustration hitting high. To add to this Pond added a third to make the day even more embarrassing for Linton’s men. Following a defensive mix up between Scott and Horn, the Pond striker ran clean through from a goal kick and he coolly slotted the ball into the far corner past Stothard.
The New Derby now find themselves firmly planted in the bottom half of the table knowing they have a lot of work to do to get back to where everyone in the squad wants to be. The Derby play City FC in the next game on the 4th September and will be looking to bounce back strongly hopefully boosted by a number of players who missed this week’s game.
