A bright sunny day and the lads were fairly relaxed for this game after 3 really tough matches; a few were even dreaming of a goal fest!!
Kingswood won the toss and opted to play uphill and the Wolves attacked straight from the kick off. In the first few minutes the wolves had several chances to take the lead, Dylan had a shot saved and two more go wide, Both Jacob and Sam had two shots saved and Ollie also had a chance saved. There was some very good passing involving all the boys but Kingswood defended desperately in numbers and there was very little space in front of goal.
As the Wolves kept pushing forward to get a goal there were massive gaps in midfield and defence allowing Kingswood to break quickly and Tom did well to keep them at bay a couple of times and Cole had to be at his best after the Wolves messed up a throw in.
With 5 minutes of the half left Dylan won the ball on half way and fired in an unstoppable shot to the top corner from just outside the area – great goal 0-1.
Straight from the restart Kingswood broke forward and Cole did superbly to block a fierce shot onto the crossbar and then quickly pounced on the loose ball before it crossed the line. Almost straight after Cole had to save again from another Kingswood attack and quickly got the ball forward and, after some good passing, Sam had a shot go wide.
The Wolves defense were now working really hard however a poor clearance across the face of goal found a Kingswood player unmarked who simply tapped home giving Cole no chance. 1-1
Dylan had one more effort saved just before half time.
Half-time 1-1
Within a minute of the kick off and Kingswood had taken the lead with a decent shot and the boys were in shock! However their heads didn’t go down: Sam had a chance after some good passing from Jacob and Dylan. Dylan had a shot really well saved after Jacob put him clear with a super defence splitting pass into space and then Cole had to make a great save after Kingswood made another quick break upfield.
Four minutes into the half and Dylan got the equaliser with a great shot into the corner. Nathan had taken the ball into the penalty area and found Dylan with a really good pass. 2-2
Unfortunately Kingswood were back in front within a minute after some poor ‘head down’ passing from the Wolves gave them good possession and, racing down hill, they beat Cole with a good shot 2-3.
The Wolves kept battling and again got on level terms two minutes later from a well taken Dylan corner which Jacob scrambled over the line despite the mass of Kingswood players around the ball. 3-3
Dylan had a shot saved after William won the ball and played it to Sam in midfield and then Kingswood had a shot go over the bar from a free kick.
The Wolves kept battling and there was a brilliant move which deserved a goal: Cole gave the ball to William from a goal kick and he passed it really well to Dylan on the wing. Dylan passed to Jacob who picked out Ollie on the edge of the box but unfortunately Kingswood blocked the shot.
Cole made a good save in the air from a Kingswood corner and then Jacob had a shot wide after some good work from Ollie. Nathan, Dylan and Jacob were battling really hard in midfield and won a couple of free kicks in good positions in the final few minutes of the game but they couldn’t find the back of the net.
With barely a minute left the wolves had a great chance to win the game. Dylan passed to Jacob who quickly played the ball to Ollie on the right of the area but as both Dylan and Jacob rushed into the box the cross was a bit too hard and the ball went out for a throw-in on the other side of the pitch. Dylan, who didn’t stop running and tackling all match, won the ball from the throw-in but, just as his powerful shot crossed the line, the referee blew the final whistle and the goal didn’t count!!!
Final score 3-3
I blame myself for this result as I underestimated the opposition and my misplaced confidence probably rubbed off on the team. It’s never easy playing against teams who defend in huge numbers and then punish us on the break when our midfield gets sucked into the attack. At times we had 5 players in the opposition penalty area leaving just the one defender and goal keeper. We need to learn to be patient and keep a disciplined formation regardless of how much possession we have. We had 24 chances during the game and some of the passing today, which involved all of the boys, was awesome at times. We’re just falling short with that final pass or cross when the pressure is on in front of goal.
The boys were fantastic today, lead brilliantly by Dylan, and never gave up despite going behind twice and, with a more sympathetic ref, they would have won the game with the last kick!!
These games happen, even Barcelona don’t always win and as Kingswood showed with their performance today, there are no easy games in our league!
We are still unbeaten and we (myself especially) should learn from this experience which hopefully will make us even stronger.
Well done today boys, you deserved to win and I was really proud of how you battled today and also how you dealt with the disappointment at the end of the game.
