In an exact duplicate of the conditions when we faced Corby Warriors at their own ground, we lost our home record, and our recent fantastic winning run came to an end. After winning 8-0 last week, you could have been forgiven for thinking today would be a formality. However, a mixture of the weather, quite a few of the lads still suffering from this awful virus, and some complacency on our side, ensured we lost a game we should have won.

    It started so brightly, with Corby pinning us back for a few minutes, before we shot forward and started to pepper their goal with shots at distance. We continued to dominate and our midfield of Harry R, Tom, Marcus and Lucaas drove the ball very neatly to Alex and Thomas, and we really should have converted these opportunities. Corby began to push their counter-attacks well, but our defence of Josh, Harry C, James and Luke kept a very tight line, saving us more than once. Then, as the rain once again descended on the already soaking pitch, tempers began to flare and decisions were contested, as James kept a very fair control of the game. In one of these challenges, Lucaas was brought down and Liam came on in his place. We then started to sit too much in midfield and were caught out a few times, as Sam's valiant efforts kept us in the game. Alex and Marcus worked well to try and unlock their defence and with Tom and  Thomas' clever through balls, it so nearly paid off as the half-time whistle went.

    The second half saw Jack on for Luke for his keen forward kicks. The rain, which had stopped for half-time, began to trickle down once more and some of the tackles became a little late. Gold stood their ground and refused to be bullied off the ball, but more free kicks began to be awarded for late challenges. A few key susbstitutions for Corby saw fresh legs on, and they changed tactics and moved five up front. Normally, we could take advantage of this, but today saw tired and weary legs struggle to keep up the pace. We were now against the wind, and driving rain and a lack of communication and concentration saw their star player weave past our winger, midfielder and defender, and slot past a helpless Sam. A totally undeserved goal, as we had again began to totally dominate the game, and were literally running circles around Corby. This did not dampen the resolute Gold spirit and we threw everything back at them. Luke came on for Jack, Lucaas came on for a tired Harry R for the last couple of minutes. Marcus commanded the midfield, took the ball up to their end, and tried to make sure it stayed there. We ended up with a penalty, which he stepped up to take. However, it was not to be our day as their goalkeeper somehow got to it. The seconds ticked away as we tried to regain parity, but we had nothing left in the tank to get through the 11 players they had now behind the ball.  

    We got caught out today by a silly mistake-we should have won this game, and normally we would have. We just coudn't convert the very many chances we had in front of goal. Their manager told his players after the game that we were definitely the better team, and that they were lucky to get the points. Sadly, most of his players took that as the cue to jeer our players as they left the ground. Not what we would hope for, but I'm glad to say our players reacted with dignity.

 

Man of the Match: Josh-still playing in a new role, but managed to be at the heart of virtually every defensive move, whilst still supporting the midfield. 

 

We will get back to winning ways-we have our Cup game next week. We'll be fit and recovered by then.

 

My heartfelt thanks to all the parents for turning out today and helping (especially everyone who worked with me for 45 minutes to put up the gazebo in unrelenting conditions), the venue and our sponsors.