So, asfter freezing our butts off the previous evening, it took just under 24 hours for all the blood to fully return to limbs and extremeties.. Next up and the final game for our weekend was a new opponent in the shape of Fuquay Varina..
As mentioned right from the word go, this weekend was not about winning or losing, but about the performances on the field. Rarely is there an opportunity to try new things and get back into the groove with nothing at stake and so this weekend had been a great pre season opener to not only get the boys back to match fitness, but also to discover new things and try players in new positions. All objectives thus far had been achieved with a firm tick in the well done box.
So, the final game.. Team Porto vs No.7, No.18 & Spider-Man in goal
Now, every game I have ever seen, it would be fair to say that each team has that one player that is clearly their best player. But against FVAA, we literally played against 3 players out of the 13 boy squad. As the game kicked off, it was clear that the oppositions game plan was to get the ball to No.7 or No.18 as often as possible. For the better part this made our game plan easy as all we had to do was keep them quiet, which for 48 minutes we did a very good job of. It was just those two minutes though that were the unfortunate undoing to our game as on two occassions No.7 linked up with No.18 to and vice Versa to score the opponents only goals.
As for Porto, well, to say we were the better TEAM was just an understatement as we dominated possession, dominated shots, dominated defensively and just outright dominated the game. The only thing stopping us other than No.7 and No.18 was their keeper who got to shots like Spider-Man jumping from buildings. Time after time and shot after shot (and we're not talking shot that went straight to him) the keeper somehow managed to get to it.. We did however break through with a well taken goal by Andy after a quality cross/pass from Ryan which leveled the score, but one goal at the beginning of each half was just enough to see FVAA home.FT 1-2
Coaches Corner
I said it to the boys on the day and I will say it again today, this game was by far the best team performance I have ever seen our lads play. The passing and moving, the defending as a team, the efforts on goal just added to the whole package of a game on another day would have given us a win. As I have mentioned, this weekend was about trying new things and getting us back into shape for our season when points and medals were on the line and not only did we do that, but we surpassed our standard of last season. I doubt that the coaches this weekend that we faced learned anything new about his side, unlike myself who now has so many positives and future selection headaches that I am very very excited! I put players in new positions and several of them shone! Shone to an extent that I'm a little miffed with myself I didn't try them there sooner!
This weekend for me has been a huge success and every player should feel very pleased with their performance and efforts!
