Today’s season opener saw the Reds welcome Wake Green to Hampton, hoping to start the season on positive footing, despite not yet having an established keeper and missing Kielan through injury.
The lads were fairly quiet in the warmup, not in their usual buoyant mood.
I’m not going to walk through Wake Greens goals, and will just summarise the game this week. The game started evenly but with Wake Green looking very assured at the back, Hampton were struggling to break the lines and had to deal with a flurry of corners, which Wake Green capitalised on. Not really any individual errors here, just gave corners a bit too easily and then struggled to clear the ball with any conviction. At 0-2 the heads dropped and it felt like it was going to be a long afternoon, the body language across the team wasn’t positive and energy levels lacking, party due to the lack of games we played in the summer. Hampton were trying to play, just finding the physicality difficult and lacking that spark and didn’t muster a single shot on target.
Half time 0-3.
We had words at half time, because the lads needed to have some pride. Work a bit harder, tackle much harder, get some shots off, that was the message.
It seemed well-received but unfortunately we’d concede a 4th and that was insurmountable, despite the best efforts of some of the lads. There was an improvement and we did carve out a few chances, but being 4-0 down and not having that match fitness yet meant the lads were running on empty.
Rushy went on a dazzling run and fired a decent shot that was parried by the keeper. Zach and Rayyan were playing some nice football in the middle of the park, but that resilient defence of Wake Green weren’t wavering. Hampton did force a couple of corners and had some goal-mouth scrambles, but unfortunately the ball wouldn’t go in. Very valid penalty claims when JP found himself 12 yards out and about to rifle home his first Hampton goal, when he was clipped from behind but the ref gave nothing, pretty much summing up our day. Wake Green would add a 5th and that was that for the opening day.
Disappointing, sure, but some positives from the day. Harry, stepping in for GK duties, really grew into the game, pulling off some good saves, one cracker that was flying into the right hand corner. A real team player that deserves plaudits because he’s doing the job nobody wants to, sacrificing his own game time for the team. Thanks again, Harry. A debut for Zach Ferrara, who put in a good shift in the middle of the park, linking up well with the other lads, hopefully those skills will be showcased more and more in the coming weeks and months. A second debut for Ollie who slotted in at the back, which I’m sure is not his preferred position but no complaints from him and a steady afternoon with some good headers and sliding tackles. Josh P, who I thought did very well up front, several times getting attacks going for the wingers with some quick flicks and through-balls… I’d like to see more of that Josh!
However, man of the match today, having brushed off what looked like a dislocated elbow at one point, was the warrior Rayyan. I never see Rayyan get out-worked. He simply does not stop and will not settle for anything, always answering that question after the game “did I do enough today? YES!”. Well done Rayyan, not the result we wanted, but a true role model for the squad when it comes to effort and desire. We go again next week, let’s see if these boys can have a positive reaction!
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