Chaps,
In a proper game of two halves in atrocious conditions, there was plenty to take out of this game.
It's hard not to comment on the three goals that were shipped in the first half. Lets remember we have these guys in a couple of weeks in another cup, so lessons simply have to be learned. All three of these goals were preventable. The first simply came out of a midfield burst. WE MUST TRACK THESE. Greg put in a sterling performance and deservedly carried another MOM. I can personally attest to the amount of defending and organization he did, as I have the deaf right ear to prove it! 90 minutes of solid concentration and talking. So when we concede through the midfield its hard to take, Paul didn't receive a call to tackle or that cover was on and a needless shot was in. The second from a simple corner, and Gary let his man go. It happens we know, but against the good teams we can't let it. The third was a good goal, but all the same he ran a very long way without a tackle being made.
Second Half: So glad to see the exasperated talk from Macca was headed by all players. Standing around in the rain waiting to deliver at half time is a thankless task. I felt to a man that we stepped up. Runners were tracked, and you know what(?) some chances fell our way because of it. Dale narrowly missing a header from a corner, Bones just unable to get above a Ben cross. Rahul, PC and Simmo entered and Simmo & PC especially really battled, between them bagging goals and assists. Especially well done to them for putting in such desire from the bench (playing for places don't forget). The goals themselves were all heart, a slide through from Simmo bravely latched onto by PC who did what he was told and put himself about. The second came from good defending and a left sided counter with Simmo released into the area, upended and a handball - penalty in both events. As has become the custom I asked a confident Simmo if he wanted the spot kick, he gleefully accepted and dispatched a cool as a cucumber pen on a treacherous surface. Good man Simmo.
What have we learned then?
* Pitstone are a good team
* They don't like it up em
* Track the runners
* Desire will get a result against this side.
Just a small footnote: We won the second half 2-1.............
Keep it Rotten.
