Today was the day long-awaited in the school playground-the return leg of our local derby with the Blues. We set out our stall early and Lucaas pushed the ball forward immediately with Thomas and Jordan, trying to link up to threaten early, as memories of the Blues 20 second goal earlier in the season lingered in our minds. This surprised the Blues somewhat and the tone of the first half was set. Things were very tight and very much controlled for the first 15 minutes. Then Lucaas took his chance and a beautiful shot went just inches wide. Within seconds the Blues had responded and Sam had to be at his very best to save an equally lovely shot from the Blues. James then battled for every ball as the pressure came thick and fast. Another corner sailed in and Harry had to head off the line yet again. Matt thrust the ball up through the middle of the park to find Lucaas who went up the field and wide, passing the ball just in front of Thomas running in, and Jordan, following up, was deceived by the bounce of the ball to record yet another tantalising miss. This took things to a creditable half-time score of 0-0.

    The second half saw the same team on and playing uphill. This meant we were due more tired legs and it showed. However, as the Blues came at us at a blistering pace from the whistle, we returned the favour with equally fast attacks through Thomas, whose lovely single-handed run was only let down by a shot lacking enough drive to force it through the Blues' keeper. The counter-attack from the Blues saw a mix-up with Harry, now slowed down by an knock he picked up in a clash moments before, being wrong-footed by the three man Blues attack, and Sam was stranded on his line to let the first goal in. Jack came on for a tired Jordan, with a remit to reinforce the midfield, which he immediately did, setting up three attacks in his first three minutes on the pitch. Unfortunately, Lucaas was struggling to keep up with the pace at the front, and so everyone else moved forward, almost instrinctively. Whilst lovely to see, it made the Blues' job of coming back at us that much easier and James was stranded against the three man attack when he slipped and let in the Blues' fastest player to score a very easy goal. Lucaas came off to rest and Jordan came back on for him as Matt moved up the field. Somehow, in the next minute, an identical counter-attack left Sam and James on their own and a simple one-two by the three-man attack let slip an almost casual goal by the Blues. Harry was then replaced by Lucaas in defence and things were tightened up for the last few minutes, but it meant our tiring forwards were left alone and having to come back and cover midfield. The final score of 3-0 seemed quite harsh, given the amound of possession we had, and the excellent defending today-we just seem to have lost our bite a little. We need to score! 

Another valiant performance and the best defensive first-half play I've seen all season.

 

Man of the Match: James-an excellent, intelligent defensive display by a new player who has made right-back his own position in a very short time.

 

Thanks yet again for the excellent support we enjoy.