In a game that saw many chances fall to both sides, Grange just managed to edge it against a Cobras side that never really got going.
Injury woes are still at the forefront, with Grace and N.Brace still out fro this one. Slater catching some rays in Barbados, coupled with Wadhams no show left us scraping together a team before KO. With the bare 11 available, the starting line-up was altered. Russell stepped into center back with D.Brace with Edwards and Newberry taking right and left back respectivly. The midfield saw changes rung in, with Shambrook, Lewington and Rowett making up the midfield trio, with Ilidio on the left wing and Kemp on the right. Due to a foot injury, Siggins went up top for this one.
Despite being up against it, the attitude of all the players was top notch, and a real team spirit shone through.
We started the game in all to familar fashion, with the first 15 mins being sloppy and we never really got into a passing rhythm. On this occasion it was to be expected, with a team that didn't resemble any of our previous starting line-ups. We had Russell making his debut out on pitch and Lewington playing the full 90 for the first time in a year. This didn't hamper us as much as it could've, with everyone pulling together and covering each other all over the park. D.Brace mopping up any scraps in defence was the perfect example of this. We may have started shaky, but we still did create some chances, and generally our attacking nature was shining through. Ivo's kicking made our game more direct, which suited us most of the time as Siggins and Ilidio were full of running and had the feet to get the better of their markers on most occasions.
This week, our first 15 minutes ended up turning into more like 25 mins, with rushed clearances putting us under pressure when we didn't need to be. We need to start clearing the ball up the pitch and either to players or into the channels down the flanks. Obviously there are times when we will need to play 'if in doubt whack it out', but there too many occasions when there was little pressure and plently of options open. Everyone has the ability to pick a pass, and when we do play it from the back we can move quickly through their midfield and turn defence into attack.
Midway through the first half we were still deadlocked, with Ivo making a handfull of class saves, notably a fine double save that saw Ivo get a strong hand to a looping cross/shot before springing back to his feet to smother the stampeding foward to make the save for a corner. Even Ivo couldnt help us when their goal came. A cross came in and evaded everyone before somehow finding it's way into the back of our net. Heads did drop, but once everyone started G'ing each other up we got our self belief back, and we knew we could a goal back, against a Grange side whose 100% start to the season didn't seem to be a reflection of the way they were playing.
Towards the end of the half we created more chances and were unlucky when Siggins went on a Gazza style run, dinking the ball over defenders heads and generally juggling the ball into their area before unleashing a volley that their keeper got a hand to. This spurned us on and only another good save from their keeper, who unfortunately for us had a solid game, stopped Shambrook, who'd swapped with Kemp to take up a position on the right flank, getting the equalsier just before half time.
1-0 down at half-time but we knew we were in it, and that we were underperforming. At half time we switched Newberry and Edwards to combat the bulk of their attacks coming down our left. It had been a tough first half for Newberry, but he did well, so now it was Edwards turn as he didn't get tested as much in the first 45 minutes. The first 10 minutes of the 2nd half was like a game of ping-pong, and wasn't the most attractive football we have ever played. Our style wasn't helped by the way Grange approached the 2nd half, with a Wimbledon style kick and rush tactic. With the sun high in the sky and a keeper who could launch the ball, our defence was under siege from a bombardment of long balls. We were being kept on the back foot, and without a linesman, we couldnt even play the offside trap. This kept our back 4 deep and meant there was far too much space between our midfield and defence. It almost had to be this way though as we were chasing the game a bit to snatch a goal, but meant even when we were first to the ball, the clearances weren't reaching our players.
It was a long ball over the top that undid us for their 2nd goal. The ball came to our box from with snow on it, and the bounce decieved everyone, but between Russell and Newberry, the danger was cleared at the expense of a corner. With half our team committed up field, Grange played it quick and that caught everyone out, and Ivo spilled the cross and the ball was tapped in by their man in the box. A soft goal, but we were stretched and Ivo cannot take the blame for the spill as he was surrounded by green shirts and few Cobras in sight.
As with last week, this could've opened up the floodgates, but once again we actually stepped it up a gear. It's just a shame it takes us to be knocked down before we take it up a notch. With plenty of time on the clock we kept our organisation, and began to play the football that had eluded us up until this point. We were playing short passes and pressing their players all over the park, causing them to put the ball out of play and miss-place passes. Ilidio had pushed on to become almost a 2nd striker, with Siggins coming deeper to get the ball. Our midfield adjusted too with Newberry picking up a knock meaning he had pushed on to right mid, with Lewington and Kemp sitting deeper in the middle, giving Rowett a free role. With Shambrook pushed higher up and pulling defenders out to the wing, we were finding more space for ourselves and stretching them. A throw in from Lewington began the move that would see us get the goal we were pushing for. The ball was played through a few players before finding Siggins in the center circle. He shimmied past one man and picked out Ilidio steaming down the left. A great ball over the top that still left Ilidio with some work to do, but as he has proved in previous seasons, Ilidio knows where the goal is and a driven shot finally beat their keeper. Game on.
15 minutes to go and we were in the ascendancy. A hand full of half chances fell to both teams, with more good play from Ivo and the back four keeping us in with a shout. Ivo was commanding his box and despite injuring his right groin, was still able to ditribute well on his left. Russell and D.Brace had established a partnership and gone were the situations from the first half where both would challange the same ball, replaced by bags of communication and again D.Brace sweeping up on numerous occasions. Edwards was consistant in his defensive duties, and with Ilidio pushed right up did well being the only line of defence on the left. Lewington was solid in his first full game since breaking his foot a year ago, with bags of energy and some important clearences and challanges, he and Shambrook were leading by example, pressing players and generally grafting hard. Rowett too did well, and was as usual putting himself all over the pitch. Ilidio and Siggins were getting sniffs at goal. Kemp was helping out at the back and Newberry was clearly in pain but was the pinnicle of the whole teams never say die attitude when it would've been easy to give up.
The last 5 mins saw a chance from Kemp well saved at the near post and the resulting corner ending with Rowett's near post header clipping the bar. But it was a case of too little too late with our come back as the final whistle blew.
Some positives to take from the game were the attitude of everyone, the attitude that meant we didn't stop till the final whistle. When we had the ball on the floor we were sweeping through the midfield and people were not afraid to take on their man, but at the same time not getting carried away and trying to take on the whole team, or dribble their way out of danger. The big positive is that from the off we were up against it, with by no means a fully fit squad of 14 players, instead the bare 11, with big players missing, but we still went into the game with belief and did have spells where we tried to play our game. The negatives were that we were putting ourselves under pressure and making mistakes when we didn't need to, and that we couldn't adjust to the way Grange played the long ball, as although we dealt with it, we could've adapted and built up the play from the back rather than making it end to end.
Still, another big game next week away at Swifts, hopefully we should have players back but either way it's time for us to end our poor league run before a county cup game Vs Dewhurst Guild in two weeks time.
SCFC.
