Pembury Reserves 8 v 3 Roselands
This weekend saw us entertain Roselands in the league.
A few changes in personnel meant a slight reshuffle, and consequently we started in a more traditional formation.
Before kick-off we stressed the importance of starting the game in the same manner as we ended the previous week i.e. a high tempo.
Straight from the kick-off we pressed the ball resulting in our opponents full back making a mistake. Matt seized on the resultant ball and crossed it into the penalty area where their centre back was adjudged to handle the ball - penalty to Pembury Res.
As agreed before the kick-off, Tom stepped up and struck the spot kick firmly to the keepers’ right and into the net. Great start; 1-0 Pembury Res.
Approx. 5 minutes later, after some neat interplay in the midfield, we got the ball wide and crossed the ball into the box. Their centre back, in his haste to clear the cross, could only manage to deflect the ball pass the Roselands goalkeeper. 2-0 Pembury Res.
15 minutes in we found ourselves 3-0 up courtesy of Nick Forwards great strike from just outside the box.
Approx. 25 minutes in and unbelievably we were 4-0 up, Matt Conroy finishing yet another good passage of play.
To be fair to our opponents they could have given up, putting it down to just ‘one of those games’ but unfortunately for us they didn’t and slowly they started to impose themselves on the game, and we had to dig deep across the midfield and defence.
To our credit, we managed to keep our opponents at arm’s length for the majority of the last 20 minutes or so, but we did eventually concede a goal from a corner and half time came at the right time for us.
Half time: Pembury Res 4, Roselands 1.
At half time we stressed the importance of being patient, and not to over commit chasing further goals, as we believed that we could score on the counter attack.
The first 20 minutes or so of the second half saw our opponents dominate possession as they throw numbers forward chasing the game. On the whole, we defended very well as a team, limiting our opponents to the odd chance but approaching the final quarter we still had our 3 goal lead intact.
However following some loose possession from us, their right midfielder got into the box where he was tackled, unfairly, and the referee pointed to the spot. Penalty to Roselands.
The penalty wasn’t the best and was saved, unfortunately only for the penalty taker to score from the rebound. Pembury Res 4, Roselands 2.
We decided to freshen things up, and Steve made way for Toby. At this point we knew we had to dig deep as our opponents pressed for further goals.
Luckily for us, following some good play, we scored a fifth goal, via Matt, to re-establish a 3 goal lead. This visibly relaxed us a little, and put the momentum back in our favour.
As our opponents continued to chase the game, committing numbers forward, we picked them off on the counter attack. Tom grabbed a further 3 goals, two of them following some great skill and runs from both Yacine and Matt, so with 5 minutes left we found ourselves 8-2 up.
Roselands had the last say, and a through ball allowed their forward to score a third.
Final score : 8-3 to Pembury.
To summarise: we got off to the perfect start by pressing from the kick-off. Over the ninety minutes, we defended well as a team, and were able to play some good quick passing football we resulted in us scoring 8 goals. Hopefully this will give us a massive boost for Novembers games, which include 2 cup ties, and shows us that we do have the quality necessary to climb the league table, if we are prepared to put the effort in. Well done to everyone......
Team:
Garry Knight
Tim Dunmall
Tom Lowe
Dave Fitzgerald
Matt Conroy
Nick Forward
Steve Lindsey
Oli White
Lewis Drury
Tom Cobb
Yacine Marouani
Subs:
Toby Forward (for Steve L)
Matt Humphrey (for Yacine)
Brynn Salter (for Nick Forward)
