Another late withdrawal by Revill left us with a last minute reshuffle. With none of the 3 usual stand-in 'keepers prepared to man-up it was Glen - the best outfield player on current form - who pulled on the green jersey, well done Glen. That turn of events pretty much reflected what's happened to the team this season with "senior" players prepared to compromise the team and the result in favour of a personal run out - which is just about all that was managed in the first half.
There was no real team ethic in the first 45 - probably a hangover from the realisation that the individuals and the team should have reached a better decision regarding the green jersey. Billy and Bowles turned in very good first half performances but too often they were forced to play facing the wrong way by very poor play in front of them. For some bizarre reason Kyle lost his radar and all too often he was ahead of the fullbacks instead of behind allowing far too much room in behind - well done Glen for coming out quick and often.
Out of possession we lacked any real work ethic and although they didnt see too much of the ball when they did have it they repeatedly went back to front on the floor far too quickly, particularly on the left. In the 26th only a quality fingertip over from Glen denied them a goal from one such move. In the 27th another underhit pass from Jack conceded cheap possession (with us on the break) and they immediately won a corner. Daz let his man go and we're 1-0 down and lucky not to go 2-0 down a minute later in near identical circumstances. At the other end Olli failed to convert or test the 'keeper from a series of decent chances and/or was too slow to pull the trigger being closed down before he could get a shot away.
Our deadball efforts were woeful and were either underhit or overhit by just about everybody.
5 minutes into the second period Ben came on for Mark allowing Sam to sit next to Josh and Jack to come out wide with Daz filling the hole - we looked much better with Bens off the ball running and Sam back at the heart of things again. Our tempo was crisper, our ball retention was better and we camped in their half for almost the entire second period. Our failure to grab more than an equaliser was down to our poor decision making rather than their good play. Too often individuals were failing to play in team mates or were taking hopeful swipes from hopeless positions - all effort but no real quality. Our equaliser came from a scramble which summed up our efforts in front of goal.
The league title is now out of reach so on that front we'll be playing for pride and reputation to finish as high as possible. We've still got the 3 knockout cups to play for. We have to also work players through the necessary 6 appearances so they qualify for the later stages of the cups although even that's looking optimistic given our very erratic form. Its the oldest cliche in the book but its true. There's no "I" in team and unless we knuckle down not just as a team but as a squad we'll finish this campaign empty handed which doesnt bear thinking about.
MOM Sam.
