On the evidence of Sunday’s performance retaining the title is going to be a far harder prospect than winning it unless we become far more clinical in closing out games when we are on top. Sunday was a prime example of the first half of last season when we were so often the better team but failed to capitalise on our opportunities. Southborough were a spirited side who battled hard but are clearly a team who the top sides will beat throughout the season and as a consequence this was a gift of two points to our rivals.
We started the game comfortably and passed the ball well although we were guilty of playing too long at times. There was no real urgency in our approach though and we played as if we didn’t have to put ourselves out too much as a win was guaranteed. That changed midway through the half when we gave the ball away, found ourselves out of position defensively and Southborough broke through into our box to score. This seemed to bring us to life and we upped the tempo considerably nearly equalising on a couple of occasions. We did manage to get level five minutes before the break when we stifled a Southborough attack and Gary Manser broke away down our right. His pass into the box found Chris Mearing who stepped inside a challenge before finishing firmly in the bottom left hand corner.
At half time we stressed the need for a high tempo as Southborough were already looking weary and that we tidied up our passing and delivery. Despite this we started the half slowly and as the game wore on Southborough became more determined as we became more anxious. Good opportunities were spurned and it became clear that it wasn’t going to be our day when Mearing cut in from the right, dribbled through their defence and placed a firm shot that was goal bound. Unfortunately, it hit Liam Gent on the back to deflect against the post. Other good opportunities were spurned as we pressed forward, however in doing so we often left ourselves exposed and Southborough too missed several good chances to win the game.
So a disappointing start to the new season. The one positive we can take is that we know we can and will play much better - nevertheless we won’t get back the two points dropped and in a season when we know the league will be tight we have already made things harder for ourselves. Defensively we were poor, probably due to the fact that we pushed on in desperation too much and going forward we did not make the most of periods of domination. Luckily it’s only the beginning of the season and we have plenty of time to make amends.
Team:
L.Baker
M.Millins
S.Hunter
N.Coxon
A.Lindsey
M.Wood
G.Manser
B.Leete
L.Gent
D.McGahan
C.Mearing
Subs:
M.Lawrence (for M.Millins)
N.Forward (d.n.p)