Saturday what a beautiful day, I woke up the sky was blue and the birds were singing and then the dreaded phone call &ldsquo;ldsquo;both of our keepers can’t play&rdsquo;rdsquo; with an hour before our meet the usual bout of frantic phone calls occurred with once again no positive outcome, who wants to go al the way to Canterbury to play football. Then Alun and I hatched a plan and for maybe the first time ever in my life I was pleased to see Dave Hymers.
Last weeks rant about commitment from players seemed to do the trick as we only had 6 or 7 players missing this week and not the usual double figures. After finding out that again players were missing this week we decided to make a few changes and look to bring in a few younger players along with our very own bald team wolf (see OTB) for the trip away to Canterbury to play Saga Sports, the squad for this game was:
Suqad:
D.Hymers GK
L.Gunning RB
T.Bowyer CB
A.Lindsey CB
L.Smith LB
M.Wood RM ©
S.Lindsey CM
B.Leete CM
A.Donaldson LM
A.Evans ST
B.Brooker ST
Subs:
M.Rice-Tucker
J.Campbell
M.Brown (Last time ever to be seen in a Pembury Kit, thank God)
This was our fourth game of the season and we stated to the lads before the game the importance of trying to pick up points today as we felt we were good enough to beat this side as long as we could compete for the full 90 minutes. Communication was also a big factor as in the past couple of weeks when fitness started to fail us we stop talking and as a result we lost our shape and teams capitalised on that. Straight from KO there was a new sense of commitment around the team to work for one another, although the first time Lindo tried to head the ball he missed by 5 yards. We started the game well enough and from minute 1 to minute 90 the pace of Ben Brooker really caused the opposition defence a problem, during the game the link up play from Ben, Alun and the two wide men worked really well and with Barry Leete providing some exquisite through balls and touches and Lindo playing some beautifully weighted balls from back to front to get their defence turned we looked dangerous every time we got the ball. During the whole game their defence couldn’t cope with our forward’s pace and intelligent running and I’m not sure trying to play a high line was the right way to go about it, this resulted in us getting in behind their defence many times throughout the match.
After a decent cameo appearance last week Alex Donaldson made his first start of the season and almost scored with a great side foot strike that was brilliantly saved by the opposing goalkeeper who managed to tip the ball over the bar just as we all felt it was going to nestle in the top corner, this would have rounded off a good game for Alex. He is a promising youngster with a lot of talent but needs to sometimes do the dirty things that go with playing men’s football, but if he keeps learning he will be a great asset for the club.
The break through came shortly afterwards with us having some good opportunities during the half we finally got the goal our play deserved, with Alun Evans who had previously hit the post scoring. The score stayed 1-0 until half time, although we had a nervous couple of minutes where they hit the bar and we cleared one off the line we were worth our lead at half time. Although the opposition could have had a penalty after Dave made a clumsy challenge. Dave according to the opposition hand balled it during the first half even though he was our goalkeeper and was inside the box, you try and work that one out.
In the second half we scored 3 further goals firstly from Ben Brooker, and then Marc Wood and Alun finished off the scoring after a great cross from Matt Rice-Tucker who was making his first team debut. Through out the second half we had chances to increase out lead although we only scored the 4 goals we could quite have easily scored double that.
The whole team performed well today and have set the standards for the rest of the season, it will be disappointing if the commitment level and attitude drops from today’s level and there is no excuse for it to happen. Also for the first match we didn’t pick up any bookings or get involved with the opposition (except me and their manager - I’ve fined myself a pound). We know this is only one result and the previous performances were poor but we now have something to build on.
Everyone played their part today, the back four stood firm and dealt with everything the opposition had, Luke Smith making his debut was strong in the air and gave their attackers no time on the ball what so ever, Lee Gunning was solid and after a few shaky minutes in the first half gave a very good account of himself. Lindo marshalled the whole back 4 and in particular Crash bang really well. The midfield was dominated by Steve Lindsey’s commitment and Barry Leete’s passing and the wide men on both sides were a constant threat (I even heard Woody shouting - no one else did though). The two forwards linked well and scored goals. But as much as it pains me to say this special praise has to go to Dave Hymers who was outstanding, although not fit (physically and mentally) he stood in as our goalkeeper and put in a great performance, he was a big and strong when coming for crosses and got down well to shots, he may well have found his position until he gets himself match fit.
Overall a much needed performance that the team can finally be proud of but we must not rest on our laurels and we still have plenty of room for improvement. If we can get the same effort and commitment from the whole squad and still add a few players we could push up the league but it will not happen overnight. Well done today lads but it means nothing if we fall back into bad habits again next week.
Michael Brown