The 4s quest for a second successive final fell at the final hurdle on Saturday when they were beaten 3-2 by an energetic and youthful Old Parmiterians side down at Riverside Lands. It was a result that was deserved and that is the most frustrating thing about the day, Im not sure we can say we gave it everything on the day, Old Parms seemed to want it more than us.
The game could not have got off to a worse start when their striker was allowed to run free at the backpost after a good delivery from a free kick. He was completely unmarked 5 yards out and he duly put away the header to make it 1-0 after a couple of minutes. Meads had not even started the game yet but were behind. Meads rallied well though and began to get a foothold in the game, passing the ball better and putting the Parmiterians defence under pressure. The equaliser did not take long to arrive; Meads had possession on the edge of the box and after some good play the ball was played into the box from the edge, their centre back misjudged the ball and it was allowed to roll into Matt's path, who passed the ball into the corner, 1-1.
The goal shook Parmiterians and Meads had a good spell following the goal. However, Parmiterians were still dangerous with their centre midfielder putting Kev and Damo under constant pressure and thier strikers running the channels well. Despite their energy Parmiterians were vulnerable in defence, something perhaps that wasn't exploited enough over the 90 minutes. Roni was proving a threat and was winning headers and possession for Meads. A counter attack with Roni at its heart was to get Meads the lead when a breakaway led to the 2nd goal. Roni drove at their defence and then played a nice ball through to Lister on the left. Lister cut inside and squared up his defender before pushing the ball back on to his left and unleashing a great strike from the left corner of the box. His strike smashed in off the post and Meads found themsleves in front after about 20 minutes, a great turnaround.
There is no doubt that little moments change games and a 5 minute spell soon after the goal was to ultimately dump Meads out of the cup. Parmiterians equaliser was to come in the most unfortunate circumstances for Jake; he made a superb save off a header as he pushed the ball onto the bar. The ball then ricocheted onto the post, then onto Jake's back before rolling back into the net. To concede the equaliser so soon after taking the lead was a hammer blow, especially in those circumstances, their next goal was to be similarly frustrating. The ball was played on the edge of the Meads box and Lister was wrongfooted and could only prod the ball into the path of their striker on the penalty spot, who duly took the invitation and put Parmierians in front. Both goals were fortunate to say the least for the visitors and ultimately decided the game. However, Meads had more than enough time to rectify the situation but this double blow was hard to take.
Meads were to have a half chance to equalise before half time when their keeper was found wandering on the right hand side of the bpx, unfortunately Lister could not quite find one of the players in the box and the half chance was missed. The half fizzled out with neither team having anything particuarly clear cut before halftime
The 2nd half was largely uneventful. Damo made a great saving header from a good freekick when the ball would have definitly gone in and in terms of chances for either team that is about it, or at least that is all I can remember. Their keeper had to make 1 save in the 2nd half from a speculative left footed hook from Matt that he comfortably tipped over the bar and apart from that it pains me to say that Meads offered no more threat. One reason, in my opinion, is that we lacked that direct threat from the wings. Matt and Lister, although both goalscorers on the day, are not the type of players to be direct and run at pace at defenders. Perhaps Meads were missing that type of player to get in behind with the ball, and with Roni dropping deeper and deeper to get the ball it ultimately left George alone up top.
Changes were made but ultimately made no difference as Meads struggled to take control of the game. Changing to 3-5-2 with 20 minutes left gave Meads more attacking bodies and some corners and scraps offered a lifeline. One corner resulted in the ball dropping to Damo in the box but his hurried effort was dragged wide. One last half chance came in the very last miunte when Jeff looped the ball over to Neil but he couldnt quite get into a shooting position when in the box and he was disposessed. The ball was then fired up the pitch and the final whistle blown.
In the end I dont think anyone could argue with the result, did the 2 goals change the game? Of course they did, goals decide matches, but we had enough time to take the game by the scruff of the neck but we failed to do so. Many players commented on feeling like they couldnt get into the game, and we maybe have to give credit to Parmiterians for that as they harried and hounded all day and their desire to reach the final got them through.
MOM went to Roni who continued to battle all game to try and manifest something for the home team. The season is not over despite our league position suggesting otherwise. We have 2 home games against top teams, hopefully we can show our true ability in the closing weeks.
