We knew that this game would be a little tasty as past encounters had been eventful.
The end result was very pleasing, however it was not as straight forward as we should have made it.
We got our 1st game in 3 weeks underway in sloppy fashion, conceding 2 early goals which could have been avoided.
A defensive mixup due to a lack of communication allowed the first, and a reluctance of our midfield to track back and anticipate the second ball for the opening 20 minutes finally saw Ricardo get a chance on goal which they took with aplomb.
Steveo deputised for Longy in goal and he made 2 terrific reflex saves to keep us in the game, which in turn lifted our spirits. We began to pass the ball much better and you could see the belief grow, as Alex, Danny and Ant began to pull the strings, supplying Marlon and Danny Keeley with a lot of ball in the wide areas, which we used well on a tight pitch. Giles was busy, making good runs to keep their back four occupied and thinking about his threat in behind - Ant complemented this by giving them another problem by dropping off to pick up the ball from deep. The back four tightened up and Matt and Pad began to get he ball out to Chinders and Rich quicker. Rich became a prominent figure down the right, linking up well with Marlon.
Our sustained pressure was rewarded midway through the half, as we capatalised from 2 cracking set piece deliveries from Marlon on the right corner flag. Our first gave us hope - Richie Bell swept home a loose ball as Ricardo failed to clear. Shortly after, Alex kept calm amongst a melee of bodies, uting a terrific dragback turning sharply to drive the ball home with his left. Great, we were back on level terms with time left to look towards a lead before half time.
With our tails up we dominated the remainder of the half, getting more bodies in the box as the ball went wide - we now looked hungry for goals. Our quality of delivery wasn't the best at times on a slippery surface, however the manner of our approach was cool and calcualted - we passed the ball with confidence and assertiveness.
As the half neared its end the pressure was rewarded with a superbly engineered goal. Giles made a great run down the right channel to latch on to a terrific through ball from Rich at right back. As the keeper came out, Giles cooly lobbed the ball over his head into the empty net. This was just what we needed as we took the ascendency, however and unsavoury incident occured just before half time.
I am not 100% sure what started the fracus, but Chinders would agree that it was uneccessary and uncalled for.
Chinders was approached aggressively by one of their players, proceeded to get nutted, nearly copped a right hook Tyson would have been proud of, and somehow managed to get sent off after a big throw of handbags by their gobby team and a few of our boys as we tried to calm things down. The referee was as weak as a cup of tea with a happy shopper tea bag in and sent the mighty Ed to the touchlines along with their sid. What a liberty.
HALF TIME
We sorted ourselves out and aired our differences at half and went out positvely charged for the second half.
With both sides down to 10 men I was interested to see how they shaped up. There was more space down our left side, so Ant dropped in to make a 4 in midfield, rather than the 5 we had before the red card, so not too much changed.
Both teams had spells of possession, however as we tired a little Ricrado pushed hard for an equaliser. We defended well in numbers and broke really well, playing a lot of ounter attacking transition football. Our final ball or shot on goal lacked the desired quality. We should have put the game to bed well before the final 10 minutes, which proved very eventful!
As the end of the game neared, their number 6 ran at our defense and was brought down in the box. He took a ridiculous dive, but did we need to make that challenge? - we knew he was looking for it.
They stuck the ball in the back of the net, however their was a fantastic steel and determination about us today and we knew that this game could still be one - we weren't to be beaten. A fantastic defense to attack transition culminated in us taking all the points. We gained the loose ball in midfield and Alex got on the ball. He saw Ant on the left and fed him the ball with a slick right to left diagonal pass, 30 yards out. Ant drew their last defender on the edge of the box and slid the ball into the path of Quanty, who had supported well from the left flank.
Nick proceeded by letting fly an absolute screamer which flew into the far top left hand corner of the goal. A terrific finish. Mad celebrations erupted on the touchline. This was a fantastic way to win the game. Just desserts for the Stats! Karma in my book - Ricardo were distraught at the end, and so they should be as they had fought their way back into a game that we should have had tied up well before - but its great winning a game that way isn't it lads!?
SUMMARY
We are clearly one of the most talented and able teams in the league, however we are shooting ouselves in the foot and making things difficult for ourselves on a game by game basis - much more than neccessary.
This is by no means a drama by any stretch of the imagination - it is actually something which can end quite easily.
Let us look to apply the following things.
1. Better communication in our defensive third.
2. Taking personal responsibility. This means not giving away needless free kicks around the area, or indeed in the box.
3. Anticipating where the second ball may drop from crosses and long searching balls forward - at both ends of the pitch.
We seem reluctant to do that extra bit of proactive work and are paying the price for it. Do the hard work first and early, such as while the play develops or when the ball is out of play, not being reactive as you see that you could make a tackle as the ball spills out to your man. BE THEIR ALREADY! All clever players do this! Be clever by getting yourself into what I call a 'good' area of the pitch, allowing you to get 'good possession' when the ball breaks free.
I do not feel at liberty to name and shame here, but I quite easily could. This leads to my final point....
4. Be mentally tough. Hold your hands up when you have made a mistake. I don't think you should let it stew and affect your performance negatively. Nor should you recieve a barrage of abuse from your team mates.
However, please DO NOT let your head go down and go missing for the next 30 seconds, minute, 5 or 10 minutes, or even worse the rest of the half or the whole game.This is the worst thing you can do, and for that time you decide to act in this negative fashion you are effectively out of the game and are doing nothing for the team. Your team needs you! I am by no means exempt from this and can be as guilty as the next man of this at times, however I like to think of myself as a positive player and am dissapointed in myself when I act or re-act in this fashion. We are in this together and we all want to do our best and win I am sure. If you don't then please come and tell me.
Unfortunately I picked up a slight injury saturday. This gave me a opportunity to watch training and what I saw was very revealing. A few players gave everything whilst the majority let the game pass them by and be very lazy, which in ended in an embarrassing defaet by and average team. I know it was embarassing because I saw your faces.
It seems to me that some of us think that if one person has a bad game or doesn't get them the ball, due to a bad pass for example that we then give up and don't have to try. What way is that to react or behave?
An acceptance that we are all at one stage or another going to lose the ball or make an error and a commitment to reacting positvely or making a telling positve contribution will see an end to this and a much more positive team performance and team spirit grow week by week.
Please take this as positive feedback and constructive cristicism and an opportunity to change what may well just be a thing which you have become used to doing, rather than a verbal attack. I assure you I am just saying what I see (I bet you thought Roy Walker then!) and from my experience as a football coach an opportunity for us all to better ourselves and improve personal and team performance. If I didn't care I wouldn't take the time to write it down to help.
Lets remember that in the last 2 games we have shown great determination to get back into the game as we have been losing by a 2 goal margin and ended the game scoring 4 goals.
If we can cut down on these mistakes and not concede so easily and actually be offended and angry when we do concede I am convinced we will improve further more game by game and we will see many more positive results.
Last but not least Danny Long and myself ask you all for a commitment to be at games and training every week, unless you have a very good excuse. This way we can get consistency and people will know that they need to perform to stay in or get in the team.
Thank you for your time gentlemen. I look forward to seeing you at Sussex University on Saturday when we play Montpelier Villa Reserves in a very winnable game. If you dont already please take a look at the league table by clickin on this link: http://bhdfl.co.uk/pages/tables.html
We are well placed to finish 3rd if we continue our 3 game winning streak. We do not play the top 2 again. The remaining games are all against the teams in and around us, or below us. I am sure you will all agree they are all winnable.
