This report excludes Chris n Sam who gave us the possibilty to use 3 roll on/off - both put in full committed performances and their manager picked Chris out as our biggest forward threat.
We started fairly well but in one or two areas:- we were lightweight in the tackle and on the ball (most unlike us!); we were unusually slow to move the ball (when we needed to match their tempo) and too often we were caught at both ends of the pitch reacting to play rather than anticipating it (leaving us off the pace).
We worked hard for the first 45 minutes but the 1-0 halftime scoreline owed more to some good defensive play backed up by some fine stops by Gary at one end and our failure to be ruthless in developing our chances and half chances at the other end - a by product of too many soft sunday games! Nevertheless we were well in the game as we came out for the second half. Unfortunately we switched off completely, maybe due to the unfamiliarity of a 15 minute interval, maybe due to fatigue but whatever the reason we conceded two very soft goals which set us up for a torrid 45 minutes as we chased a 3-0 deficit
Communication from the dugout was difficult but the manager takes some of the blame with the team becoming stretched chasing goals when we needed to sit back, be more compact, invite them to try to play through us (think St Albans when Steve C. played for them) and hit them on the counter through Chris/Glen/Ryan - instead we were the ones leaving space behind - Chippy n Co. heve never covered so much ground.
There were some negatives mainly concerning team ethic and working through our frustrations but we can deal with these. Games like this are all about looking at the positives and there were quite a few:-
The back 4 Chippy/Kyle/Bill/Ryan produced outstanding individual and team performances - their effort and commitment across the full 90 did them great credit - even in the last 5 minutes Ryan, pushed higher up the pitch, was sprinting across the width of the pitch looking for a consolation goal whilst Chippy continued to match their breaking forwards to deny them further opportunities - fantastic
Only in these sorts of games can Gary push on his 'keeping skills. Its not nice conceding goals but more than 1/2 had the same characteristic (counters catching us too high leaving him one on one) and amidst the mayhem he made some cracking saves (including with his feet) but more importantly used his full box to close angles, came out to smother the ball and generally deny opportunites - great stuff.
Kim was singled out by the referee for his drive, effort and commitment, I agree. Sometimes its too easy to focus on the holes left when he breaks and presses forward when really the focus should be on the team/players who should be working to fill the holes to properly support those runs.
Despite being well beaten we found the energy and pride to work through the last quarter of the game playing football in the way we know how.We did enough and behaved well enough to earn an agreed return game next season.
