The 4s upset title chasing Old Salvatorians on Saturday with a hard fought 1-0 victory down at Riverside Lands. Meads started the game with 7 defenders and with no out and out striker to call on. With the season unfortunately winding down for the 4s there was not much to play for in terms of promotion or relegation with the team sitting comfortably in midtable. This perhaps played into our hands as it allowed us to go out with a lot less pessure compared to Old Salvos, who had one game left to give them a chance of taking the title.
The game started as expected with Old Salvos quick out of the blocks without ever really troubling the defence. As the game settled down Meads began to take control with the passes finding their targets and the build up play effective and assured. Meads balance was to be thrown further into disarray when T got hit in the eye by the ball and it immediately swelled up. With only one sub to call on who was another defender he was given 5 minutes to see if it got any better. Unfortunately for him and us it didnt and Fran came on to the right wing with Rory going up front alongside Lister. Despite the evident problems Meads continued to dominate the 1st half with Salvos getting frustrated at their inability to keep the ball for long periods. Meads allowed Salvos space at the back and this worked well as Salvos were guilty of thinking a bit too highly of themsleves and often over played and gave Meads possession deep in their half. When they did play the ball they often went long and this was easily dealt with by the superb back line, who were magnificent all day.
Meads got the breakthrough halfway through the half when Lister cut inside from the right hand side and crossed it. The ball was allowed to travel to the backpost where their midfielder misjudged the ball and it bounced off the back of his leg and sat down nicely for Matt who swivelled and hit the ball past the keeper into the corner from about 8 yards out. Meads had taken a deserved lead but there was still plenty of time to go. The half was played out with little more incident; Andy made a vital touch when the ball bounced worringly in the box after a corner and the centre backs Sam and Jon marshalled their dangerous front men expertly.
The first half finished with little worry for stand in keeper Simon but his communication and command of his area had been a huge help to the defence when they were under pressure. The 2nd half was undoubtedly a struggle for Meads as Salvos searched for that elusive equaliser. The ball was not sticking up front, which piled more and more pressure on the defence but they were not to pass on a day when Sam, Eric, Andy and Jon were in no mood to let the clean sheet slip. With full backs playing as wingers in Fran and Foz it gave Meads a defensive cushion but it also stifled the attacking threat that may have been posed by a more natural winger. This is no slight on those two, who played very well and did a great job in ensuring we came away with 3 points. However, the pressure was showing as the half went on with shouts becoming more and more apparent for them to be give some relief by the forwards. Rory and Lister had been toiling away all day in what was a hot day but in the 2nd half they recieved little change from the Salvos centre backs.
Meads continued to work hard and defend well as a team and as the minutes went by there was a feeling that it was going to be their day. Salvos began to get more frustrated both at the ref and players but the game never descended into anything sour apart from when Matt hurled himself into a challenge in the Meads half. The challenge was perhaps a bit reckless but was no worse than many others seen up and down the country and protestations that it could have broken a leg were over the top. The stand in ref had done a great job at controlling the game but had one big decision to make with 10 minutes to go when a shot hit his backside and went through to thier striker who put the ball into the back of the net. Surely offside?? the whistle didnt blow for a few seconds but then it did and Meads were relieved that such an unlucky ricochet had not cost them the 3 points.
Meads saw out the game and the 1-0 victory was one of the most satisfactory of the season as the team showed a huge amount of effort and spirit to see us over the line despite the apparent 'dead rubber' nature of the game. MOM went to Sam, who was exceptional all day, winning tackles and surprisingly (although less so these days) winning headers. A great team performance and a good win, 2 games left, lets have 2 more performances like this one.
