Last time out The Revs had a shock in store when the Massive Boosters entered the field, now affectionately known as Pathetic Athletic. Anything but eh! And as a result lost a very one sided game 9-1.
That was the old Revs though, the first half of this season Revs. Recently the attitude, determination and spirit has shone through, even in defeat, but it has yielded 2 victories on the bounce also.
But Massive Boosters Pathetic Athletic are a different kettle of fish, another step up in opposition to previous weeks. So this would be a good gauge to see how far The Revs have come.
And the gauge is certainly looking up!
For large parts of the game it was very much attack and defend with The Revs doing the majority of defending. However, the game plan of recent weeks seems to be soak up the pressure and then hit them when they least suspect. This game plan relies heavily on fitness and the will to keep your legs going, but with Pinkstone at the back you get that boundless energy and fitness levels really are showing improvement. Evans and Beardall worked tirelessly to turn defence into attack all game.
In the space of a few minutes Hartrick was put through on goal by two sublime slide balls through firstly from Evans, then from Beardall, but Hartrick hadn’t read the script at this time and a better first touch evaded him.
But the signs were positive and the team pushed on, Evans cutting in from the wing to bend the ball round the keeper and agonisingly hit the post from distance. The opposition realised they had a game on their hands and it wasn’t going to be the walk in the park they had earlier in the season.
The opposition, after the 10 minute mark, overloaded The Revs half and were finally rewarded when taking advantage from slack marking to slot the ball past a despairing Steane deputising in goal to go 1 up.
Once again heads did not drop and this new found spirit dug in. Tyman pushed us forward and Allen looked somewhat back to his best, chiming into both attack and defence. Evans provided width during a hard working display and Beardall was showing fitness levels not seen since he was 19, spraying the ball about looking to make things happen. And Pinkstone finally recreating some Ronaldo magic he claims to have and going on a mesmerising run past several defenders and dreaming of chipping the keeper a la Cantona… alas it did not happen but it was still a sight to behold!
The second half was of a similar vein, with Steane not really having to deal with much, but when needed covered really well and commanded his box. Everyone was defending well and The Revs looked more and more likely to get a goal as the game went on. The opposition were running out of ideas, had their space cut down and resorted to long range efforts.
The Revs created chances, usually through the industrious Beardall or the supporting Allen with Hartrick going close and then almost taking in the rebound too, Evans looping the ball over the defence but not getting a strong enough connection upon collection and Tyman having a few efforts saved from distance. The final touch or finish wasn’t always there but the effort and workload to get into those positions was.
And then as happened in the first half, slack marking, a moment of switching off, led to a second from the opposition five minutes from time.
There was still further chances to halve the deficit but alas it would not go in and in hindsight the keeper was probably not tested enough. The final moment of magic came for Ronaldo wannabe Pinkstone though, who got into a fine position out wide and elected to shoot first time, spooning the ball off his foot and out for a harmless kick in further from the goal than the original starting point much to the merriment of those watching.
Two nil is a defeat but a victorious defeat if there is such a thing. The improvement, a 7 goal shift in fact, showed how far the team has come on. Two more games to go and with the evidence of recent weeks surely more points to come.
Maybe The Revolutions can play 6aside after all?!?!
