Pembury 1 v 3 Woodlands
On a sweltering day we arrived at Woodside for the first round of the TWCC against a Woodlands team who we had beaten 4-0 only two weeks previously. We didn’t want to be complacent and knew we had to make a better start than we did against them last time and produce an all round better performance than we did the week before against Penshurst.
That said we started the game in decent fashion, we looked good going forward and when we got moves going we looked really dangerous. There were a few half chances for them but we were creating the serious openings with Liam failing to put the finishing touch on moves that would have given us a half time lead. We got in the shade at half time and took a well deserved breather. We knew an opening would come and they only looked like scoring when we made a mistake, overplayed or didn’t close them down quick enough and let them play from the back. If we kept pressing the goal would come.
Unfortunately it was more of the same and unfortunately Liam nor Ollie could put us in front despite having good chances and we were punished when we were undone from a corner and they took the lead. This rattled us a bit when it didn’t need to as we had shown both two weeks ago and today that we would get chances. They unfortunately went 2 then 3 up in very quick succession, obviously this was very disappointing but what made it worse was a finger pointing culture that appeared and instead of being positive, supporting eachother and offering ways in which to improve it was deemed that telling people how rubbish they were was the order of the day and the favoured approach. This frustration then ran through the team with losing, the heat and being told how awful we all were not helping. We rallied slightly and some good pressure allowed Ollie to make it 3 in 3 as he nodded home. The game finished and we lost 3-1.
We played some decent football at times and looked dangerous but without the final product we had against them last time. We all play football for enjoyment. Enjoyment comes through winning which comes from working for each other and helping each other out. Going forward we are going to be a positive team that winning, drawing or losing we work and encourage one another. Another cup game this week where will look to put last week behind us. A special thanks to Harry for coming along, not getting a game and accepting the decision with maturity, he will get his opportunity this week.
Team:
D.Hymers
N.Edwards
C.Fletcher
C.Duncan
S.Palermo
C.Veli
M.Wyles
L.Turner
M.Wood
L.Gent
O.Funnell
Subs:
T.Gent
H.Webb
