After last week's indisciplined second half performance, this game, against the free scoring league leaders, was an opportunity to refocus and to lay down a marker for the season ahead and we stepped up to the mark as a team. We asked for a clean sheet and thats what we got with good defensive displays from front to back. There's no doubt that we can improve all over the pitch and solid team performances like this give us the strength and confidence to work out how and where we can make those improvements - "decision making" and "percentages". Lets enjoy the win but it's only one game in what we hope will be a long season on 5 trophy trails - we will have a better chance of staying in the mix if we all have the courage and intelligence to step up a level with our decision making and percentage plays whilst continung to play for each other as a unit.
It took just 2 minutes for Bowles to concede an unnecessary soft free kick (hands on in an ariel challenge) giving them an early opportunity to test us with a set piece. This was recurring theme number 1 (RT1) and i'll mention some of the other instances later but at the root seems to be a lack of awareness of the how the game is developing or how it is likely to develop. Bowles had Kyle behind as sweeper/cover (and Chippy behind him) and the Manuden player was isolated with no support so the foul had no upside for us! In the 6th minute Kim received the ball in space but he had no tempo to his game so he was slow in possession and was closed down quickly resulting in him playing a blind inside pass to nobody. This was another recurring theme (RT2) and i'll mention other instances later but at the root is accepting the difference between "composure" and "casual" - you can play composed football at tempo but you cant play casual football at tempo - that casual approach was evident with players failing to open their body to receive the ball but instead looking for an easy lay-off. In the 7th minute Mark, Olli, Josh and Sam combined to open up a wonderful chance which Dazza blazed over this is recurring theme number 3 (RT3) and i'll mention some of the other instances later but with players of our quality we should be past the stage of excusing ourselves ie "at least we got in the position" and we should be putting a much higher percentage of these chances to bed.
The next 10 minutes were pretty evenly balanced except for Josh ending 2 surging runs with 2 long drives which proved to be range finders for his later goal. Olli flickered into life and a mazy dribble saw him upended as he closed on the box and he was unlucky to drive the resulting free kick just over the bar. Ollis running was unnerving them and a wonderful cross to the far post just eluded Dazza as he was a fraction too slow to gamble. In the 21st Kyle played a blind inside ball (RT2) leaving Chippy as his get out of jail card. In the 35th Kyle went through the back of a Manuden player who was facing away from our goal conceding a cheap free kick in a dangerous central area (RT1). A minute later Bowles did another RT2 which led to initial indecision from Revil saved only by his last gasp tackle outside the box which cost him a yellow. A wonderful full stretch save from Revil from the free kick was followed by a tremendous reflex save of a free-header from the corner which followed his initial save. Those 2 saves destroyed Manuden.
In the minutes that followed Josh found himself drifting unchallenged with the ball at his feet - he didnt need a written invitation and from 30 yards he drove across a decent 'keeper and the net bulged for 1-0, a fantastic strike. A minute later we were almost undone when a poor clearance from Bowles came straight back and his handball which followed gave them another soft free kick and set piece. Minutes later, for the second time in the half Olli undid his own good work when having recovered the ball in a central area he turned inside and conceded possession. In the closing minutes of the half Bowles took a trademark long throw in line with their 6 yard box and Dazza rose to the occassion with a deft header which doubled our lead.
We hit the ground running at the restart and an 8 pass move ended with a good shot from Mark which was saved at full stretch by the 'keeper. It took 10 minutes for first half errors to creep back into our play with Kyle opting to run with ball at feet despite the pre-match debrief and with Kim being repeatedly caught in possession. By the 65th we found some rhythm to our play when Olli and Sam carved them open with slick passing and it was unfortunate that Dazza had arced his run wide and just couldnt make up the ground to get on the end of Olli's pass. In this period Olli and Sam finally closed the space between them to rinse the 2 centre halves and another slick passing exchange left Josh 1 on 1 but he chose a dink which drifted wide when his laces were screaming "hit me big boy" (RT3). Olli and Sam were in a purple patch which left Sam clear in the 70th but he fluffed his finish (RT3). A penalty earned by Olli was taken by Olli (?) but he couldnt beat the 'keeper from the spot so another RT3 saw us stay at 2-0. With 15 to go Mark - who'd put in another tidy shift - made way for Billy as we looked to close the game out. With 10 to go another RT1 from Kyle as he went through the back of a player, again facing the wrong way, gave them a flicker of hope but they couldnt do anything with the set piece . With 5 to go Bowles struck a long range free kick into their box, it hung in the wind before coming down on to the bar and Kim tapped home for 3-0.
The game was pockmarked with periods of indecision at the back with players playing one pass too many, with too many pointless fouls conceded in bad areas, with too much running on the ball into areas with no possible outballs or upsides, with too many players playing with poor tempo and low energy and with too many missed chances. The player mentioned are not singled out - every player made similar errors.
BUT the game was also pockmarked with periods of high quality individual performances and moments of great skill from everyone all wrapped up in an Association Shirt and its that team performance that we've been looking for. We will all make mistakes throughout the season but the key is to put the mistakes right and to improve whilst winning as a team. We have good physical and mental strength and when we play as a team we can produce some stunning match winning football. The referee was assessed today by one of the FA's top referee coaches who told us that he was impressed by the quality of our football and by our conduct on the field. The referee made similar comments and saw that we played with good strength, skill and attitude but with no malice - he admired the quality of our football. Me and Gary still want more from you all - you're capable of more.
Happy Days.
