The opposition were a man light, but The Revs were on average a good few years older than this young, quick team and so I like to think it evened itself out.
The Revs at times were a bit sluggish and some passing went awry and some glorious opportunities were wasted, but The Revs were making the chances and were scoring. So everyone should have come off the pitch joyous having won. This was not the case last night and it was a weird atmosphere afterwards.
No one should be worried when chances are been created and 3 points are been taken.
Steane, deputising in goal once more, didn’t have much to do in the first half but when called upon he shone with some vital saves. Saves that were made because of Revs errors, sloppy passes and lazy play at times. But going forward the opposition had no answers to The Revs attacking play.
Yes the defending wasn’t always of the highest calibre, but going forward was a joy to watch at times. The interlinking play between the outfield players really opened up the opposition at will. Hartrick especially was loving the space afforded to him last night.
It was that man who opened the scoring after 5 minutes when the keeper scrambled for the ball and in doing so picked it up outside the area. Hartrick’s eyes lit up as he lashed the resultant free kick into the corner.
More chances followed and a string of corners were had to really mount the pressure on the opposition. A second goal soon came when Tyman ran with the ball up the middle and swept it out to Hartrick out wide who cut inside and unleashed a fantastic shot that arrowed into the top corner.
The opposition did have moments, trying to hit The Revs on the counter but generally Allen marshalled the back expertly and with L. Evans using his strength to beat speed they had to result to long range efforts. Even when they did break free the tracking from Beardall was exemplary and L. Evans also saved his own blushes when he lost the ball only to put in a thumping block on the follow up shot.
Eventually the opposition did break ranks though and in a rare moment they overloaded the area and a few guys turned off to allow them a shot on goal and to be honest it was a good finish. 2-1 but The Revs were still in control.
The beginning of the second half the opposition came out the blocks the quickest and had a few more efforts but scrambling defence and last ditch tackles prevented the score line from taking a beating.
The Revs served up a lesson in counter attack football though and great link up play between Beardall, Tyman and Hartrick meant Beardall put a third in from a through ball by Hartrick.
Further link up play with L. Evans out muscling the opposition to begin the attack, playing in Tyman who put Hartrick in for his third showed the superiority of The Revs finally.
The final goal once more involved Tyman and Hartrick with Tyman having his shot saved only for the ball to be kindly presented to Hartrick for his 4th and The Revs 5th of the game.
The opposition by this time were beat and so it ended 5-1.
A great display and 10 goals in two games is not to be sniffed at. If there was one minor criticism then it would be for such a dominant display there should have been more goals with plenty of chances going begging due to poor decision making and wayward shooting. However, the chances are been created and the wins are coming back. The Revs have more points on the board already this season then they did all last season.
So be proud boys, it’s a team game and we are competing!
