Oceans FC 2 v 1 TS UNITS
The UNITS took on old foes Ocean buoyed by last weeks last gasp win over Wolverley Disappointing though we could barely scrape a team this week as we already had Ryan, Trig & PT unavailable and on the morning we lost Azza, Ashton, Winnie and Jamo leaving Cuzer with 12 plus Assistant Manager Si kitting up Oceans were in a similar boat and pulled out Webby on an emergency signing but their 11 was still strong as we lined up Mozza, Clarkey, Chinner, Gilo, Tonka, Baker, Leon, Coco, Jim, Rob & Lewis Subs were Luke & Si
Trying to muster players and somehow forgetting to bring the training balls our pre game prep was a shambles and we frankly took this into the opening exchanges as we were a yard if not two slower than Oceans all over the pitch as the home side dominated It took Oceans only 8 minutes to open the scoring yet for the 3rd week running we were on the end of a howler from the referee. This time Brian Hollyman was the ref and he had a right moment allowing their goal. The Oceans midfielder tried to poke the ball to Holty in our box who was already standing a yard offside, Leon managed to get a toe to the attempted pass which wrong footed Gilo leaving Holty in space who finished well but even though the ball came off Leon, Holty was already offside when the ball was poked forward, criminal error from the official who over ruled the linesman and we found ourselves 1-0 down 2 minutes later it was 2-0 and it was Holty again who scored, this time Clarkey gave the ball away cheaply from full back and was skinned by the lively Baldwin who pulled the ball back for Holt to slam home from 8 yards
It's fair to say the UNITS makeshift side or not were all over the place, too many yards off the pace and not competing enough, Oceans were dictating things at a canter and we were standing off them all over the pitch, the only conciliation for us was Oceans tended to shoot from distance or the final ball was poor meaning Mozza was only forced to make routine saves
We couldn't muster much at the other end, our ability to keep the ball was very poor, coupled with Oceans working hard, Lewis had a shot saved at the 2nd attempt and Rob air kicked when well placed but this were isolated rare moments as we continued to find ourselves pegged back
Mozza again made a couple of decent stops however again mainly from distance before Coco put in a great free kick which Tonka was inches away from converting in our best attempt of the half all be it from a free kick
We managed to soak up the final 10 minutes of pressure as we started to compete better and we were lucky to come in only 2-0 down following a shocking opening to the half not helped by a howler from the ref
HT Ocean 2 v 0 TS UNITS
The boys were reminded by all the minimum expectation of them at this level is to work hard and keep their discipline too many in the first half were miles off the pace and not putting the work in, Devoid of options Cuzer kept the same 11 but shuffled the shape to a 4-2-3-1 as we tried to play higher up the pitch
We were competing better now but were still pegged back, Oceans kept on the front foot but again credit to the UNITS and especially Tonka and Gilo who were getting closer to Burge and their pacey wide pair getting less change out of the full backs as most efforts were high wide or comfortably held by Mozza
Jim was struggling with this groin and was replaced on 55 minutes by Luke with Clarkey playing higher up the pitch
We were now seeing more of the ball and creating some opportunities around the Oceans box, one good move saw Lewis find space but the final ball was disappointing with UNITS having bodies over in the box
Oceans then thought they had their 3rd goal when direct from a corner Mozza clawed the ball away with Oceans appealing the ball was over the line but the referee played on
75 in and by digging in and remaining in the game we clawed one back, we won a free kick 30 yards out and Coco flighted a high ball on the home keeper who flapped at the ball under pressure with Tonka getting the slightest touch to get the UNITS back in the game 2-1
Si then replaced Leon in a like for like swap straight after the goal
From being in cruise control Oceans now found themselves in a game and with only 7 minutes remaining a great UNITS move really should have leveled the game up. Tonka did well to intercept an Oceans pass and carried the ball out of defence, he released Baker who played the ball wide to Clarkey, it was now 5 on 3 for the UNITS as Clarkey played a fine ball to Lewis who in turn played in Baker, with Baker clean through and the defender closing him down he reversed a ball to Coco in acres of space only 7 yards out yet he side footed across the keeper who stuck out a leg and the ball bounced down and over the bar, great save but a real missed opportunity for the UNITS to level things up. From the corner we had a shot blocked in the 6 yard box but the chance had come and gone
We now left Tonka up top as we chased the game and Oceans had a penalty appeal waved away before at the death the impressive Baldwin shot wide when clean through as Oceans weathered a mini UNITS fight back in the second half to win the game 2-1
No doubt over the 90 the better team won but the slow start killed us coupled with so many disappointing late drop outs however the attitude 2nd half was much better which we must take into next weeks game against Wall Heath Albion who had a fine 5-3 win against Haden today in the cup QF
Man of the match was Tonka who showed commitment and desire so many UNITS lacked in the first half which thankfully rubbed off on others in the 2nd half as we made a fist of it
Mozza 8 Clarkey 7 Tonka 8* Gilo 7 Chinner 7 Baker 7 Leon 6 Jim 6 Coco 7 Rob 6 Lewis 7
Subs Luke 7 Si 7
