Opening with an aggressive 3-4-3 shape the midfield options were sacrificed for bodies in the box and we needed the ball to be moved quickly back to front. The opening 10 minutes saw Ollie and Darryl both get caught in possession and both failing to slot balls through to runners. Olli's frustration could be heard by everyone and led to a warning from the ref whilst Darryl was closed down and the quick clearance caught Glen and Chippy in two minds leaving Abacus with a simple 1 on 1 to grab an early lead. Sam was given a last warning for dissent and it took us all of the first 20 minutes to settle. Darryl finally got on song and his quick driven ball was picked up by Neil who netted at the second attempt.
At 1-1 we started to look comfortable with Sam and Glen providing defensive discipline and pace either side of Chippy. Sam and Lee combined three times in 5 minutes to carve openings for Neil but he struggled to react quickly or clinically enough. Neil and Olli combined to release Ryan who took too long to get a shot away and then Dan Olli and Kim opened them up only for Neil to sky from 5 yards.The sloppiness in front of goal continued as Kim screwed an effort wide and Ryan ballooned one over from Neil's delivery. Neil was played in by Olli but saw his attempt blocked and as the half drew to a close Neil's frustration saw him foul under the refs nose as we pressed in their 18 yard box.
It was disappointing to come in 1-1 at half time. We'd had good possession but at times we were too slow moving the ball fom midfield when we had chance to open them up and we were too slow and casual to take the fistful of chances which fell in front of goal.
With the ref warning the entire team Neil's yellow resulted in his substitution and a re-shaping 15 minutes before we wanted to.
We reverted to 3-5-2. Ryan and Bill resuming familiar fullback roles, Dan in a screening role, Kim alongside Darryl and Sam and Olli up top. 10 minutes after the restart just as we were settling Dan took a wild swipe at the ball which like last week wrong footed the back three and left Gary with little chance. We upped our tempo. Glenn and Olli combined to release Sam but his shot fizzed wide and Kim and Olli both had shots blocked. A corner followed but Dans swipe at the clearance unhinged us again at the back and we were lucky not to concede again. We responded with Lee's lovely slotted pass opened them up like a tin of sardines but Olli scooped his effort wide. We were made to pay moments later when the resulting clearance caught us out of position and they raced clear to stretch their lead to 3-1.
Before a top end adjustment could be made Olli flashed an effort wide. With 20 minutes remaining we had one eye on the clock and our reshuffle paid instant dividends with Olli seeing more of the ball wide right and Glen and Sam playing right on the shoulders of the last man opening up room on the other side for Lee. It was on the left that a sweeping exchange between Ryan and Lee led to Sam being released with precision and his quality chip brought us back to 2-3 and we all knew what would happen next - we are The Association. Olli cut inside exchanged a 1-2 with Kim and played Sam in for the simplest of finishes, 3-3 here we go.
10 minutes left Ryan went on a surging run, toether with Kim he closed the ball in the left hand corner, Kim picked it up, jinked his man and cut back for Darryl who took a touch before burying it. Glen popped his shoulder as he fell in the box but this didn't stop him adding the utioners touch after Lee and Sam had played a double 1-2. Our best period of play saw us put 15 passes together and the end product was a with a low drive from Kim which went narrowly wide. In the dying minutes Kim and Darryl combined to tee up Glen to finish from close range, his second and 6-3 to us.
It was a strange game. In the first period and without any screening for a back three, we were solid in defence conceding only to a freakish mistake. At the other end we created a hatful of chances (like we did in the County Cup) but lacked a bit of compusure or guile at the final moment. In the second half we dominated possession in the midfield but looked uncertain at the back, possibly because the ball was taking longer to reach the other end. There were lots of good points today not least the reminder that we still know how to win battles whilst playing good football.
MOM Sam excellent at both ends, apart from an early word from the ref, great discipline whilst turning in a committed performance. Its now all about next week.
