Todays game was played on a warm morning with the recent rain meaning the pitch had a bit more grass on it than it has had for a while.
Sax started the game well and took the game to a good Whitton team. Early in the half John made one of his trademark runs down the right side and put a lovely ball in across the box unfortunately no one else reacted to it and the chance went begging. Over the next couple of minutes it was all Sax going forward and Ryan had two attempts, one with a shot and a header. This pressure resulted in a corner, a brilliant ball in that the keeper couldn’t hold but again no one there to poke it in to the net.
Sax continued to put the pressure on and several more sax chances were dealt with by the strong looking Whitton defence and some below par finishing from Sax. It looked like it was going to be "one of those days". Whitton got into the game well and their number 8 was making things happen for them. He collected the ball in the Sax half and was bearing down on goal when Connor made a great last minute tackle and Jack came out and cleared up the ball, Connor and the Whitton striker.
On 32 minutes we had a free kick and Ryan's header hit the underside of the bar and looked in from where we were but not given so still 0-0. Whitton had a good attack down the left with a good ball in tapped into the net . The offside flag was up and Sax had got a warning of how dangerous Whitton are going forward.
Half time Sax 0 - 0 Whitton
Sax kept pressing on the re-start and Ben had a decent shot go wide. Then form a corner George screamed for the ball on the edge. He struck it really well and it scraped the outside of the post. Whitton had dropped their No.8 into midfield to try and take some of the ball off Fish who had ran the 1st half and he was proving a handful. Jack and the No.8 had a coming together in the area with Jack coming off 2nd best and taking a whack in the face but not with any intent, a squirt of water soon sorted it.
On 15 one of the Whitton defenders clearly handled the ball in the area which everyone saw apart frm the ref who was on the blind side. On 16 Whitton got the breakthrough and finished well to make it Sax 0-1 Whitton. 2 minutes later a shot came off a Whitton player, Ed put in in the back of the net but the flag was up for offside. Whitton were playing well and with Sax looking for a goal we were leaving gaps at the back. A ball came to a Whitton player and he put the ball past Jack, it hit the inside of the post, rolled along the line hit the other post and went in Sax 0-2 Whitton.
On 30 Kyle took a quick throw which Ed collected and finished well off the underside of the bar. Sax 1-2 Whitton, game on again. To sum up our day Jack went to clear a ball which would usually go into the other half but today it hit the Whitton player and rebounded into the net. Sax 1-3 Whitton. Sax carried on and our final chance came from a corner. Ed delivered a lovely ball and Connor jumped higher than anyone else to head towards goal. The keeper was well placed and it went straight to him.
We were beaten today by a very good team. The result was disappointing as all losses are, but the level of performance was very good and playing like that will see the boys do well in the league. We just need to sharpen up in front of goal to take the chances when we get them and we will win more than we lose.
Well done to Whitton for the result today and well done to the Sax boys for the performance and not being outplayed.
Wickham Market next week so the same level of performance will be needed if we want to get the points.
Finally thanks to all who helped with nets, barrier packs etc.
