You can only beat the team that's in front of you, or so the saying goes, thats what you get when you play in the county cup. As soon as the whistle blew I don't believe a single Potten End player thought that they were going to loose this game. Not that they were a terrible team, just that we simply weren't going to loose. The discipline and commitment was in place from the get go. Unusually we lined up 4-5-1, in order to accommodate the amount of midfielders that we had available to us. Jonny was instructed to be the link-man to the Machine up top, so the go to 4-4-1-1 was almost in place! With a 15 man squad available and roll on roll off subs at my disposal this was an experiment that went quite well. That said we fell behind in the first 20 minutes from a poorly defended corner. All great plans and all that! …….. what I didn't account for was that I'd get a horrible deflection in the penalty area, and and a swan lake-esq striker fall would look like costing us a two nil lead via the penalty spot - damn you outstretched leg! Take a bow Mark Mannell, with a smart stop to keep us in touch and save the Gaffers blushes! A spell of rugby followed as 3 passes on the bounce fell off my right foot into touch up the line. I opted for a spell on the sidelines to recompose! Back to 4-4-2 and a welcome return from Diego, saw us establish a good platform of possession and attack. The equaliser just before half time saw normal service resumed: A Wand ®©™ delivered corner found the Machine waiting with an arrowed header unstoppably top corner bound. 1-1. Christian then had a great chance to put us in front having done all the hard work only to discover that he only has one leg! What a time to find this out? The second half saw little threat to our goal until a surprise and very much against the run of play break, produced an attempt that smashed back off the crossbar into a defendable area, cue a collective sigh of relief! It goes to show that it really does only take a second to score a goal, and that if your not careful the best team will not always win. Food for thought, and Christian this goes back to the comment made at half time in the Colney game - soak it up and score on the break is sometimes not a bad tactic. So a re-home debut (if there is such a thing?) for Christian. A powerhouse performance with Ben in the middle capped by an excellent goal. The movement from Dale and Chris made the ball in un-defendable - all that needed to be applied was the finish, and Chris supplied just that, simply wanting the ball, his slide timed to beat the keeper on desire alone - take a bow son! Finally, a synopsis of sorts: the last few games have produced some gritty performances. People are starting to adopt the discipline, shape and personal responsibility. Greg last week and Nolan this really leading by example. Nolan especially adapting recently to go with his man higher up the pitch, trusting his fullbacks, midfielders and centre half partner to make this happen. Who says you can't teach an old dog………? I'll make a bet the not a single one you will be able to do what the great man has done when your 50 years old. A worthy Man of the Match Paul. So ………… (in Ronnie Corbet: and finally style), we move on to the main event this weekend - The Machine's Stag do! A full "match report" for the event will be appearing soon! Be afraid………. Next Game Home 19th Oct - Oxhey Res' NEW KIT DEBUT!!!!!!!! Keep it Rotten.
