Today saw us devastated at the very last minute by injuries, illnesses and absences. We were up against a very strong team, still in contention for the title but could only start with 11 men and most of those had to fill unfamiliar roles. Despite all that, we came out firing on all cylinders and really took the game to them. Some masterful play from Alex and Marcus saw us undo their midfield and defence and pin them back for the first twenty minutes. Any attack was ably defended by Jack and Luke in defence and James and Owen in the full-back role. Their assistant manager remarked that they were no expecting such tactics and that they had a real game on their hands. Thomas drove the ball forward and Lucaas' crosses from the right sent many chances across their goal-all sadly wasted with no-one to tap them in. Then, almost against the run of play, South Rushden broke through with some one-touch play and saw out defence too far forward. James valiantly surged towards their attacking duo and put them off enough for Sam to partially stop the ball, which took a very lucky deflection from the post to trickle over the line. That caught us by surprise, but more was to come when, a few minutes later, their best player weaved some magic around all of our defenders and buried the ball for one of the best goals of the season against us. 2-0 down with a minute to go saw our heads drop a little, but Marcus battled to win a ball from Jack, and threaded it through to Alex, who unselfishly cut across to Harry who finally slotted hot an excellent goal. 2-1 at half-time.

    We started the second brightly, although very tired with no subs available, and within minutes a goal narrowly ruled off-side. We felt a little disjointed after that, and finally succumbed to some rare and unusual individual mistakes, which saw us concede (albeit against a low sun) some 3 goals in just over 6 minutes. In a very nice gesture, their manager sent over a cap for Sam's eyes-a true sporting team! A few positions were then swapped, which saw Jack move forward, Harry switch to the right, Lucaas to the left, Thomas back into midfield and Liam up front with Alex. This seemed to brighten play up a little, and although their no 7 tried to terrorise Owen, he stood his ground well, and Thomas helped clear those lines. We were obviously exhausted but Marcus rallied the troops and we started to play again with some conviction, with Thomas' marvellous solo run coming to an odd end when he stopped the ball in front of their goal. However, South Rushden payed their subs well and the procession of fresh legs ran us out of play each time. The whistle went as we launched an attack and we finished 5-1 down.

    The score did not reflect the effort and work-rate of Gold today. Their manager came up to me and said, frankly, we were by far the better team in the first half, and he was convinced that we were going to win. It was a ten-minute period where we lost concentration that cost us-again. Players drifting out of position with no subs-and we paid the price. However, the industriousness of the team was probably one of the best I've seen all season. Each player was playing for the team, and that was pleasing to see. As we faded, they ascended and capitalized on our errors, like any team wanting to win the title should do. The play was excellent and sporting on both sides. A really hard game next week-Wollaston Vics-but on the strength of this performance by Gold in largely unfamiliar roles, I firmly believe we can get something out of that game.

    

Man of The Match: Although, again, a few players came close today, Marcus wins it for his valiant spirit and box-to-box play-our Captain led by example.

 

My heartfelt thanks to the parents and friends who support us and help every single week, our very sporting opposition (especially Martin Atkinson, their manager), our sponsors Sexton's, Raunds for clearing the problems with the pitch, Sarabeth for helping with the admin, Arden for reffing and Ian for running the line.