Our opposition had cancelled this game three times previously, and we got sent to the wrong address today. On our eventual arrival, they then said they only had 10 players and offered to cancel the game again. I refused, and they did indeed have 11 players at kick-off. There could only be one winner today...
The game started at a lightning pace, with Boro Alliance tearing into us straight from the kick-off. They pinned us back in our own half for the first seven minutes. Our defence of Josh, Matt, James and Harry C held their line brilliantly, and then Marcus took the ball and drove a clever move with our midfield/forward team of Tom, Liam, Alex and Thomas, which saw Harry Reid drift out and score an absolute screamer. This stunned Boro and we suddenly played a passing game which was the best football played all season. Within 3 minutes, an identical move saw Harry get his second. This gelled the lads into a cohesive playing force, and within 60 seconds, Thomas J stole in after some great possession work, and added a third. We now looked like scoring in every attack, and indeed, nearly another 60 seconds later, Alex showed total concentration to work his way through their defence and deliver a perfect shot across their goalkeeper. Marcus then showed why he is working so well in midfield with Tom and delivered a hard-fought shot which soared into the back of the net. 5-0 up after 15 minutes.
Liam was filling in for injured Lucaas on right wing, and he started to send probing balls from the right, one of which sailed over eventually to Harry, who completed his hat-trick on 18 minutes. Tom, Captain for the day, marshalled the troops well, as Boro suddenly started to show the same spirit as they had at the start of the game. They played long balls on the wing, and we were suddenly being passed in our own half, and they surely would have scored had Sam not been in absolute fine form today-making a string of excellent saves and defensive decisions. He sent the ball sailing into their half but our midfield started to flag and we lost possession too easily. Then, with the ball taking some forceful headers and speculative shots, including a near miss by Liam, Alex stepped in to poach his second-inspirational team play. As the referee looked to blow for half-time, Marcus then created another excellent passing move, selflessly playing Harry R in, who made no mistake and got his fourth of the day. 8-0 half-time.
A game at this incredible pace could not continue, and it really started to show. Luke came on for Harry C as the half started. Boro came straight at us from the start again and forced a number of corners. By this time, too many of our players had "goal fever" and pushed too far forward without coming back to defend. At one point I saw only Tom and Marcus in defence. Boro saw this and flooded our penalty area for one of their corners-seven players against two defenders and Sam. When it bounced around the goalmouth, it was obvious it was going to be a goal. It was our turn to be stunned, as Boro took encouragement from their goal and started wave after wave of hard attacks. We were at risk of being over-run, so a change of tactics was needed. Jack came on for James to deliver long balls up the wings. We then had a couple of near-misses but they were flooding our midfield and nullifying the threats we caused from there. Liam was exhausted in his make-shift position and Lucaas came on to run the ball only from Jack's passes. This he did, and even came close a couple of times, but the game seemed to running to a standstill. An injury to Matt meant Harry C came back, and James back on for Jack, who was limping. As their tackles became even more physical, we stopped running the ball and tried reverting to long balls, which we had no-one to run on to. We did seem to be about to score again when the final whistle went.
The first half was creative, flowing football-a joy to watch. This is how we want to play every week! The second half was an efficient display-if we can omit the "goal fever", we will win games this way. Every single player was doing his job. Boro may not have won much recently, but they have scored against the top teams, and their last game against Ise Lodge was only lost 2-1 in the last seconds of the game. They only lost 2-1 to South Rushden when we lost 4-1 to them. They played a very structured, formula-based strategy and we could learn a few lessons from them. Saying that, I doubt many teams could have kept up with us in the first half-this was repeated by the Boro Manager, the referee and their own parents. Well done, all of you-we're through to the next round. Today was a team effort-enjoy it now and remember it for the next match!
Man of The Match: There were quite a few that could have grabbed this today, but Harry Reid's 4 goals have clinched it for him.
My thanks, as usual, for the great support (and patience) of the parents, friends, our sponsors, and the players today-especially those observing the one minute silence. Thanks also to James for taking training and helping me whilst I was incapacitated and for Arden running the line today.
Dave
