Premiership title hopefuls Manuden were made to pay for turning up late and keeping us waiting for kick off. Within 2 minutes all our frustrations were unleashed as Darryl, Kim, Sam and Neil completed a sweeping move with Neil prodding home to give us an early lead. Within a minute Darryl was unlucky not to make it 2-0 when the 'keeper saved his fierce drive at full stretch.
The next 20 minutes saw a midfield battle which we comfortably won but we were unable to fully open them up - they resorted to a long ball game which was bread and butter to Kyle, Chippy and Ryan all three continued in commanding form for the full 90 minutes.
In the 25th minute Gary's quick kick out was well headed on by Kim releasing Sam who finished clinically and quickly to make it 2-0. Five minutes later Josh was cynically brought down as he was going clear - this brought a yellow but deserved a red. Chippy's free kick found Kim but his attempt was well saved. Josh shaved the post in the 40th minute and the half looked to be drawing to a close when another another piece of quick thinking by Gary found Ryan in acres of space, that was the signal for the start of a trademark Association counter down the left where the ball moved quickly and accurately through Ryan, Neil and Darryl who slid the ball through to Sam, Sam was fouled but the ref allowed the move to develop and Sam recovered his footing to whip it past the 'keeper so we went into the break 3-0 up.
We didn't quite manage to ute the half time instructions but nevertheless Neil and Darryl combined to play it slightly longer with the lob that reached Kim being driven home with a vengeance. 20 minutes in Bill came on for Lee who'd done his job, and Kyle was pressed higher up field. In the 25th minute Neil forgot he was attacking and decided to loop Chippy's goal bound flick off their line! A few minutes later a quick throw out by Gary released Kyle on the right he took the yards before slotting a pass to Darryl who played an exchange with Kim that Kim finished well from close range.
Neil made way for Nathan for the last 15 minutes and Ryan was pushed higher up the pitch as we pressed home our advantage. With 5 minutes to go Sam ran the ball into the right hand corner, his reverse drag back nutmegged a defender and took three out of the game, Kyle latched onto the ball and his driven cross caught the 'keeper by surprise and he turned it into the net at the near post.
Their manager and the referee remarked on what a powerful team display we put in and how quickly we started the game and never let up the tempo so they couldnt settle.
This was our most complete performance of the season. The clean sheet was the platform and Gary showed he can contribute to our offensive play picking the right moments to play it out quickly and accurately. In front of him the back three were, strong, committed and disciplined conceding very little on the floor, in the air and in the tackle. Dan showed he had shaken off the ring rust with his most composed, error free performance to-date, in this position simplicity is the key. In the central area Darryl and Josh were an outstanding pairing-pressing, recovering, carrying and distributing with commitment and intelligence, Darryls MOM was earned by a performance where his decision making (when to give/when to carry) was his best to date. In the wide areas Neil and Lee did exactly what was asked of them playing with intelligence going forward and working hard off and behind the ball. Up top Sam and Kim were unplayable and both were very unlucky not to complete their hat tricks. Their work of the ball was a key component to the teams overall performance. Finally Billy and then Nathan came on in key defensive areas, helping to keep the clean sheet and to kill the game off.
The big Q now is can we find another team performance like this next week?
