We turned out on a bright Sunday morning, full of confidence after last week. However, we didn't expect a sodden and uneven pitch. Nor were we ready for their Rushden's immediate and unrelenting attack. They had 3 shots in 3 minutes and had Sam not been at the top of his game, they would have scored every one. Our luck didn't hold and somehow a sliced shot off a greasy ball slipped in. The lads, under Matthew as captain again, soon tightened up and Josh made some hard interceptions before delivering the ball to Lucaas and Tom to start the counter-attacks, Alex was fiercely industrious, working the ball cleverly to Harry R and Liam, but the latter fell foul to a very tight offside trap-time and again. Jack made some very inportant tackles as the half moved on, but his long range balls were picked up too easily by a fast Rushden midfield. A good range of defensive tackles by Matthew and Luke made sure the ball was walked up field until Harry R and Alex won a corner. Harry's clever corner worked it's way through the entire waiting throng and simply crossed the line to everyone's surprise. This seemed to drive Gold back into the game and the rest of the half was incredibly tight, with both teams having ample opportunity to increase the scoreline. Harry R found himself in front of an empty goal just before half-time, only to somehow slice it wide.

    The second half saw Marcus make his debut for the exhausted Josh. We went at their goal straight from the whistle but they started to use the width better than we could defend it and they started to pepper our goal. Within a few minutes they had sliced a wild ball past a wilting defence and it spun past Sam, who was left exposed. As it was just against the run of play, it came as a shock that players were still debating when they again started to control play. A few changes were needed and James came on for Sam, Bailey for Harry. This allowed us to play longer balls up to the attackers, who were being totally stifled by the Rushden off-side trap. We were then exposed by a fast run at a defence too far forward and out of position, and a rebounded ball was sliced into the waiting goal. The play was getting physical now and injuries to certain players meant positions being swapped. Josh was back on for Tom, who suffered a high boot to his ribs, and Marcus moved forward to fight for the midfield balls. We still could not get the balls through, despite Lucaas and Harry combining well with Alex to try a few decent shots. As Tom had recovered, we sacrificed a defender (Ben who had been keeping the right back covered very welll) to leave only three at the back and add an attacker up front. This so nearly worked in the dying moments of the game as we started to play some really tight moves and squeeze in some shots to test their goalkeeper. However, as was the risk, they took us on the counter and chipped a neat final goal.

    This was a lesson in getting ahead of ourselves-on any other day we would have beaten South Rushden, but certain things were lacking today-communication, short balls and awareness of the off-side trap. We'll bounce back for sure.

    Man of the Match: Marcus- a great debut, full of energy and a handful for the opposition. The makings of a very good player. Well done!

 

Thanks, as usual, for the great support from the parents, our sponsors, and the hospitality of South Rushden.