Right boys, here is my parting gift, the final match report for a while....
Please feel free to add anything, I was so focused on the game I will probably miss loads.
Well what can I say, we were professional, solid, focused with bags of commitment. One of our fans said to be after the game that we looked like we could have played for 2 hours without conceding against them. Remember, they have scored 48 goals in 14 games this year, that's averaging just under 4 a game!
We prepared for this one very well, even better than we did in the semi final and it was clear that everyone was up for this. The buzz in the changing room was excellent and I actually felt we had the right levels of confidence which was possitive.
We started the game on the front foot and despite there obvious confidence on the ball, we created most of the early stuff in their half.
The first real chance came after about 10 minutes, with Al bursting through the middle and hitting a shot from about 25 yards that the keeper had to tip onto the bar. This seemed to unsettle their keeper who didn't really look confident after that.
It was a typical cup tie and was scrappy with us doing most of our good work off the ball that was until Bell decided he was Lional Messi. He picked up the ball deep and went on one of his trade mark runs beating one tackle (foul), another tackle (foul) and finally a third tackle in the box before hitting an un-savable shot into the far corner. Cue pandemonium in the stands!
This seemed to buoy us and we had our best period of the game offensively. Every time we got a set piece from deep we seemed to cause the problems and this was again the case with a deep free kick by Stevo (I think) who found Bell at the back post who scored again only for this to be chalked off by the linesman. It didn't look offside and I have been told by a few people in line that it wasn't, but anyway we carried on in the same vain.
Then came their first real chance, I can't recall what happened but the ball ended up pinging around in the box with Stevo taking evasive action only to power a header into what looked to be the roof of the net, only for Danny Long to produce a smart reaction save to keep us the lead. Not long after this we fell a sleep slightly from a free kick from the edge of the box which Danny again got his fingers to, it came back off the bar and they reacted quicker to it, only for their best player, number 10 missing the free header.
We got into half time at 1-0. The message was simple, keep the level of performance and commitment of the first half then they would not score and we would win the game.
They obviously came out the stronger side in the second half with them needing to put on the pressure but to be honest they seemed content to play the longer ball or hitting long shots which showed how well we were defending. We seemed to take the initiative to counter attack which was wise given our pace and substitutions in the second half.
It was strange, because even though we were only 1-0 up it never really felt like we would concede and that was the case until the final whistle.
CUP WINNERS!
This for me was our best all round performance since we started. We beat a very good side who thought they would destroy us. Mentally we were the stronger team and our experience seemed to take over.
I can't write everyone into this report because you all played so well. The defense was superb with the wingbacks doing the right amount of defending. In midfield we did very well, making their apparent best player look ordinary. The two boys up front also looked sharp and did very well together and the substitutes were also excellent and seemed to give us that bit extra which meant we kept them pushed back.
It's a great way for me to enjoy my break now, but make sure you all support Loft for the remainder for the season. At least 4th has to be the aim!
See you all soon!
G. Affa
