Another well deserved win last night was pleasing to see.
I thought we worked hard, were neat and tidy at the back and had that little bit of flair at times that maybe we have lacked in recent weeks.
A solid performance in the first half got us in a great position for controlling the game and dictating the pace.
Pad dominated everything in the air and the 2 full backs were looking for the ball at every opportunity.
In midfield, we controlled the game. Alex breaking up the play in front of the back 4 and Joel, Abs and Chinders playing us out was quality at times. We brought Joel and Loft into play really well with a mixture of long and short passes.
Pity Chinders had to go off through injury but Elvis slotted into the left wing position perfectly and Finley was introduced to the game up front.
Up top, we held onto the ball really well and didn’t really waste a chance in front of goal.
Some great individual skill from Abs took him past a couple of helpless defenders before rounding the keeper and providing Loft with a gift of a tap in. 1-0 to the ‘Stats’! OOOOOOHHHHHHH, Teamstats are on fiiiiiiiiiiirrre echoed around Happy Valley! Get in!!!!!
We looked really professional for the rest of the half and led 1-0 at the break.
Second half, with a change of formation to 3-5-2, personnel were shifted about and that saw Loft drop into centre half and Stevo and Al bossing the middle of the park.
For 10 minutes it looked solid. Loft spraying a 30/35yard pass right on Jason’s toe, only to be poked over the bar from 8 yards!
Then we lost our discipline. Not 1 bad tackle in the whole 90 minutes but verbally we let ourselves down.
Stevo, after winding the opposition up to the point that they were ineffective, let himself down by going 1 step too far. This led to 5 minutes of aggro that we could have done without.
Al and Abs pitched in with a bit too. Al ended up being sent off!!!
To be honest lads, I am all for winding the opposition up but we can’t react and take our eye off the ball. If it affects our game, we don’t do it!!!! I won’t put up with it anymore, from anyone!
That said, we kept the ball well and never gave them a sniff.
And then came the shock of the game, Loft with a 30 yard screamer of a free kick that never looked like going anywhere other than the top corner!! Great finish!
The last 15 minutes we were just going through the motions and it will need to be worked on, but by then they had their heads down and didn’t look like doing much! Then their centre half ghosted past our non-existent strike force and midfield to mis-hit his shot that went in the top corner. FLUKE!
We held on and scored our 2nd consecutive win. Well played lads (for the most part of the game!).
I just want to say a couple of things:
1. Thanks to Nathan (Sid Crouch), Connor (Rory Delap) and Jason (Mick Quinn)
2. When I rate players I do it for their overall performance in the game. A 6 is the minimum that I would expect to score someone as it is average. A 7 is above average, an 8 is a very good performance, a 9 is a match winning performance of some quality and a 10 is me and Bell in the cup final. I don’t start with a 10 and then take marks off, I start with a 6 and work upwards. To be fair, did I make a mistake yesterday (other than bringing Crouchy on)? I think the answer is no! Did I score myself and 8/9/10?? No!
As always, thanks for reading (if you made it to the end!!) and let me know if you have got any issues.
Cheers lads
Longy
