Late arriving players including The Captain, aware in advance that we were down to a bare 11, indicated an unjustified level of complacency going into a game that could have seen us go top but instead saw our outside title chances take a nosedive.
Our dire lack of pre-match preparation and poor focus was evident in the first minute when instead of working the line and working us into the game Bowles made a backward foul throw - the protest to the ref was doubly embarressing. Within the next 2 minutes Bowles, Jack, Ollie, Dazza and Josh all played badly underhit passes/one-touch squandering all early possession. That lack of concentration spread to Revill and his failure to deal with a routine back pass gifted a soft opener to Cobras in the 3rd minute and they could smell that we weren't up for it. In the 5th minute Glen and Billy were both indecisive and we were lucky not to be punished again. In the 10th we had a penalty shout overruled and in the 18th we had a 1/2 chance with Josh just failing to get on the end of Bowles far post cross but that was the sum total of our first half efforts. In the 21st Jack was released in the final third but froze on the ball looking for runners instead of grabbing the initiative and he conceded possession from which they travelled 3/4 of the pitch unchallenged, earned a throw level with the 18 yard box which they converted for 2-0 with an unchallenged header - awful. Neil aside, we were physically over powered in every area of the pitch with Rob, Rooney and Siggins running the game, its the first time that i've seen us fail to compete to this extent. Our poor play was compounded by poor communication, in the 34th Billy ignored Dazza's clear call and his poor header led to further disarray. Minutes later Bowles attacked fresh air and they latched onto the free ball quickly switching sides ending with a long shot, normally bread and butter to Revill but a slow motion reaction saw the ball tamely beat his late dive meaning we hit the interval 3-0 down.
A lack of player resources restricted our options but with neither Jack or Kim offering anything up top Sam was pushed up front, Neil was put in the hole, Glen was drafted in as makeshift centreback, Jack pushed wide left and Ollie switched wide right. We at least set about our business with more purpose in the second half and five minutes in Jack and Kim worked an early opening for Sam which he thrashed at and skied under no pressure when a calmer mood would have seen him bury what was, for him, a straightforward opportunity. In the 55th Sam's long range free kick was headed home by Dazza to give us a lifeline at 1-3. A few minutes later Revill's confidence was still fragile and as they broke clear he remained rooted to his line leaving Glen to make a great last ditch tackle, aside from that the game had turned and we were dominating. Until the 61st minute, that's when Ollie forgot about teamwork and an elaborate one-touch attempt gifted them possession and we were punished as the play unwound conceding a fourth - it could have been worse, luckily the ref missed Ollie's frustrated response but the damage was done as all pressure had come to nothing and the effect rippled through the team.
Billy was yellow carded in the minutes that followed and Dazza actually stopped playing, only starting with a rollicking from Josh who himself had an indifferent game but at least kept going. In the 76th Jack and Kim combined with a double 1-2 only for Dazza to fire over and a minute later Dazza missed a header at the far post, at least we were now creating and getting into positions. In the 82nd we had good possession and a ball laid back to Sam on the far edge of the box saw him make (another) wild attempt at goal letting them off the hook - Josh again reminding him it wasnt good enough. A minute later Ollie and Kim combined and Kim's cross found Jack but an uncharacteristically weak header never troubled the 'keeper. Two minutes later Ollie played a delightful cross into Dazza but he bizzarely tried to strike with his wrong foot and the attempt was so wayward they got a throw! We kept up the pressure and with three minutes remaining a trademark Bowles long throw was headed home also in trademark fashion by Kim for 2-4. Immediately from the restart we earned a freekick and Sam again turned long distance provider as Ollie headed home for 3-4.
With a minute remaining the ball was with Revill and he responded to Josh's call inside our own half when possibly the long ball was needed as they were reeling - it didnt matter as he mishit the clearance into touch and they ran the game down from the resulting throw. Neil aquitted himself well, keeping his head and doing the simple things well (MOM), Glen wasn't far behind and he responded well (as usual) to being asked to play out of position but other than that there wasn't much to be taken from this game.
Not for the first time this season we've come up short when we've needed to win our battles before playing our football. (Its a pity because Cobras followed up their win over us with a 6-4 defeat of Manuden!!) It might be down to individual players losing the fire and enthusiasm needed to win week in week out, it might be general complacency with the small squad "guaranteeing" certain levels of appearances, it might be a lack of chemistry between players - or it might be that we're just not quite good enough!! I think we are good enough as a team and thats what we've got to get back to - each player putting aside his personal preferences and issues and contributing fully to the team. The Xmas break will give us chance to rediscover the fire that we'll need if we're to complete our Premiership League campaign the right way and to mount realistic challenges in the three cups which see us face different fellow Premiership teams in each first round draw.
The only important game is the one in front of us.
