If we needed reminding that you should take nothing for granted in football then Sunday will hopefully be a lesson well learnt. There are very few games in the top division where you can turn up under prepared and this was one. We weren’t helped by a few people being unavailable and some others carrying knocks, however we were still able to put out a good side and certainly one that should have won the game. In essence we didn’t play too badly but you can’t leave it to the final quarter before you look to put some urgency in to your play as this leads to panic at a time when you need to be composed.
The first half was fairly tight. We started slowly and allowed them to believe that they could match us and their confidence grew as a result. The bumpy surface didn’t help but we were not controlled enough in possession and didn’t make the most of our opportunities on the occasions that we got behind them from wide positions. Nevertheless we were not too unhappy to turn round level as we had had the worst of the wind and had created the better of the few chances in the half. Defensively, we had coped well with all that their fairly strong forward line could offer.
The game was such that the first goal was always going too be important - for us it should have been the spring board to close the game out and for them it would have been the impetus for them to raise their game even more. Fortunately it arrived for us on sixty three minutes, when following a short period of dominance when only some last ditch defending stopped us from scoring, Genty won the ball and played in Alun Evans who whipped in a good cross for Peter Buckovec to stoop to head home. Defensively we had been sound and, although there was still a lot of time left, it seemed that the goal might be enough. Unfortunately, we proceeded to gift them the opportunity to level on seventy one minutes when we passed the ball to them in our own third and they quickly played in Danny Brazenall to round the Chimp and score. This gave them a major lift and renewed energy and us some impetus to go at them. However, our play became more desperate as the minutes ticked away and meant that the final ball lacked the quality needed. You could tell what the game meant to Swan by their reaction at the final whistle and we need to realise that all the sides we are going to play from now on in will show that level of desire to stop us.
At the end of the day all that we have lost from the draw is the cushion that we held over Simla. There will undoubtedly be more twists and turns as the weeks unfold, however we need to make sure that in future we are in the best possible shape to avoid them happening to us again. I appreciate as much as anyone else that we all have lives outside of football, however we should remember that we let each other down when we are not ready, prepared or focused. A good point was made in the dressing room after the game in that do we all want to just turn up for a bit of fun or do we actually want to go on and continue to win things. We will continue to organise a side in the best possible way - it is down to you to prove the desire to play in the remaining games - rest assured we shall only be selecting those who demonstrate the commitment to win.
Team:
L.Baker
A.Lindsey
S.Hunter
N.Coxon
I.Ward
L.Gent
G.Manser
P.Bukovec
O.Allman
A.Evans
M.Millins
Subs:
S.Harper (for Millins)
J.Gale (for Lindsey)