Again we were tight for numbers today due to holidays, only the bare 11 players available for the match & credit to Alex who turned up even though he'd been ill all week - thanks Alex. The positives from only having 11 was that everyone would get a full match & for everyone spectating today, they must admit it was a pleasure to watch.
Our last match two weeks ago saw us cruelly go out of the cup to Prem side Waldridge, a game which I felt we didn't deserve to lose & I was really hoping that the lads played today with the same passion & team ethic.........well they certainly didn't disappoint us. The first 20 mins were fairly tight, we were the better side, kept things rock solid at the back and passed tha ball around really well, creating 2 or 3 chances. We got the breakthrough we deserved on 25 mins Croz fed a ball through towards James & the defender really should have done better but James was quick to react nd rounded the eeper 1-0. We were already playing with a lot of confidence but the goal understandably give the lads a further boost & it had the adverse effect on Soccarena whose heads seemed to drop. We increased the lead on 32 mins when James turned provider and Mete tapped home from 2 yds 2-0. Owen Croz had an effort well saved and Aaron saw hit free-kick go over the bar in a very entertaining first half.
Half Time 2-0. The lads were buzzing and rightly so, a great first half display, however, football is a game of two halves & withour track record of becoming complacent & losing shape then leaking goals, I had a reality check for the lads and gave them a target of keeping a clean sheet for the 2nd half - something they haven't done for.....well, it's been that long I can't even remember !
Second half under way &.......goal !!! Mete fed the ball to James down the left side and he sped past the defender and fired a cool finish into the bottom corner 3-0 and the game was effectively over. The lads continued to play some lovely football throughout the rest of the match, great to watch. I had to keep them in check a few times at the back as on a few occasions they were losing focus and started to drift away but this is where you need your captain & he came up trumps today just at the right times throughout the game. It's always very easy to purely focus on the goalscorers etc etc but I always take a good look at all areas of the pitch for performance as everyone plays their part, its a team game and sometimes there's some great work done by individuals that can get overlooked and go unrewarded. There were multiple times today that we needed a cool calm head to play things simple & "take the sting out of the tail" & Aaron done just that. On 52 mins we got the 4th goal and it was a good team goal, James with his hat-trick & Mete with his 2nd assist of te game. James grabbed his 4th goal of the game & our 5th on 60 mins with a great determined finish. Inbetween these goals, Aaron Mac came close with a header, we Croz had a couple of effrts saved, as did Aaron Cappellar too. Sam Ashton looked like a player on a mission today, showing great skill and tenacity, just what we wanted. The lads at the back done a stirling job today & they can be really pleased with themselves, keeping a clean sheet.
Man of the Match - Aaron Cappellar - kept cool & calm, played the simple easy ball, played us out of trouble time after time. Well done.
In Summary - a great performance, well done to every player. We looked like a unit today, solid & united. Let's keep this up for the rest of the season & we'll be looking to add 2 or 3 players to the squad for next season to push us further on.
