Ise Lodge Falcons: 1 – 6 Thrapston Wolves 23rd February 2013
An early kick off on a bitterly cold day with a fair flurry of snow but at least the pitch was dry! Without Ollie and William we had no subs today against one of the new teams to the league this season.
The Wolves kicked off downhill and in the early exchanges the Falcons were proving to be competitive in midfield and had a couple of breaks which Sam and Nathan did well to stop.
The passing from defence today involving Sam, Nathan and Tom was first class, forcing the Falcons deeper and deeper into their own half and the Wolves started to dominate possession after a scrappy first few minutes. Dylan had a long range effort just over the bar and then Jacob had a shot saved following a super passing move involving Dylan and Nathan.
Dylan, who played superbly today, picked out Charlie with a great through ball however the shot was scooped over the bar with just the keeper to beat.
The Falcons were defending for their lives, their goalie was having a fantastic game and it took almost ten minutes before the deadlock was broken. Jacob worked his way into the area and was cynically brought down just as he was about to shoot. The ref had no choice but to award the penalty which Dylan blasted into the back of the net: 0-1.
The Wolves had a couple of chances to extend the lead and there was some more lovely passing involving Dylan, Jacob, Tom and Charlie but the Falcon’s goalie made a number of great saves and was first to any loose balls. Jacob deservedly got on the score sheet after firing home from a Dylan corner and then just on half time Dylan got his second with an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
Half time 0-3
Dylan got his hat trick almost straight from the re-start with another great, perfectly timed shot following a neat pass from Jacob: 0-4.
The Falcons found going downhill a little easier and started pressing forward but Cole dealt with everything that came his way and quickly got the ball back up field. Tom almost scored from a great Cole clearance and another very good passing move from Jacob and Dylan. The Falcons kept trying to get forward and won a corner after five minutes of the half. The ball fell to a Wolves player in a crowded penalty area but instead of clearing quickly he tried to dribble out of defence and lost the ball. The Falcons were first to the loose ball and somehow squeezed it in off the far post: 1-4.
The Wolves responded straight away and after a great one-two with Jacob, Dylan got his 4th with a cheeky shot through the goalie’s legs: 1-5.
More chances came to the Wolves but the Falcon’s goalie stopped everything until eventually Dylan got his 5th in the dying seconds of the game.
Final score: 1-6.
Some of the passing and decision making today was fantastic by all the boys. Sam was immense in a defensive midfield role with Tom; their control and passing was calm and assured. Nathan also had a great game in the main defensive role and he passed extremely well every time he had the ball. Sometimes the positioning was a little haphazard but when Dylan played just in front of Jacob, and Charlie dropped deeper into midfield we looked a much more threatening side.
Again today we conceded a goal from a poor clearance which is totally unfair on Cole who deserved a clean sheet today. We need to work on this in training as this was about the fifth soft goal we’ve given away in similar situations. Dylan aside, our finishing also needs to improve, especially from crosses.
