A flattering scoreline did not tell the full story of this hard fought win against HH Rovers. A complacent start saw early pressure from Rovers but they lacked class up front. Two early goals from Ross and a smart finish from Simmo saw Potten go into an unlikely 2-0 lead. We continued to give the ball away and not close down the opposition, and this led to a well deserved brace from Rovers before half time, including a fantastic finish from their man of the match in central midfield. At the end of the half at 2-2 a cross came into the unmarked Rovers centre forward, but he fluffed the header. The whistle blew, and we had a chance to regroup and discuss what had been a fairly shambolic first half.
The second half saw an immediate and considerable improvement from us. Marking became much tighter and we kept the ball, with passing to feet rather than mindless pumps up-field. The increased effort and better football nullified Rovers completely, and two goals from Dale and Mikey saw Potten take a 4-2 lead and killed the game off with 15 minutes to go. Ben and Mac came on with Rovers having run out of steam, and with large gaps appearing across the field two goals from Dale to complete his hat-trick and Raul saw Potten finish 7-2.
Two lessons to learn from this game, firstly that we can make any team in this division look good if we don’t do the basics right (keeping the ball, tracking back, etc..). Secondly when we concentrate we have more than enough ability and skill to win games comfortably. Our success this season will be dependent on how much effort we all put in, let’s remember that.
Mac
