League action against Balsall Hornets and Wanderers were looking to end a run of three straight defeats. A beautiful morning but a very heavy pitch meant that passing was going to be key. Father Christmas made a brief appearance at the beginning to get everyone in the festive mood.
Wanderers thought it was Christmas in the first 5 minutes, encamped in the Hornets half with good early crosses from Daniel to Joe and Jason to give them half chances. One cross led to a corner which was put out by a defender, Roger re took the corner and this time it fell to Joe who managed to poke it over the line. 1-0
Straight from the kick off James had one of his customary solo efforts from the half way line which he finished well – 2-0 and only 4 minutes gone. Coach immediately took off Roger and James so that some of the squad players could have a good spell on the pitch.
Wanderers continued to attack with only the odd Hornets attack being well cut out by Dan and Tom Hill (making his debut for Wanderers).
Daniel continued to rule the right wing and on a couple of occasions showed his dribbling skills which should have ended in shots – he must be more selfish! Jason was on the left wing for a change and combined well with Joe who was in attack, taking a rest from being in goal. On 10 minutes though Ben and Tom in defence were caught watching the same man and the striker strolled through and put it into the net 2-1 and a wake up call.
Wanderers were trying to pass the ball but the heavy conditions were proving difficult, some of them appeared to have been at the Xmas pud already and were missing their normal sparkle (harsh I know!). Confidence returned when Roger had a good shot from outside the area which flew into the goal 3-1. Within another 5 minutes a good ball from Tom in defence to his best mate Daniel who skipped past 2 players before passing to Joe who had found an excellent position to the right. He turned and drove the ball to the top corner, taking a very slight deflection from the defender at the last second but it was going in anyway with the power (£5 please dad!)
Joe and Jason and Joe and Daniel continued to blend well, always looking for each other. Meanwhile Dan took over the mantle of central midfield and bossed the area well having a long range shot go just over. Wanderers continued to have good attacks but the final touch couldn’t be found despite a couple of excellent corners from Jason. Then just before halftime a mix up in defence by Wanders saw Hornets striker clear again, George in goal elected to stay on his line and the ball was put away well. 4-2 and halftime.
The second half continued in the same way with Wanderers pressure and the odd break by Hornets. Dan was now in goal and some players were put in unusual positions as a trial. James and Jason had a number of shots but the goalie had upped his game and was saving well – he narrowed the angle well on James’s shots from the left wing. Then another break through the defence and it was 4-3 – here we go again, throwing away a game we should win.
Concentration was needed and extra effort was put in but another goal wouldn’t come in – too many shots when passes to teammates would have been better. Then a stroke of luck. A back pass to the goalie of Hornets led to a free kick 2 yards out. James crossed for Roger and Jason to lunge at the ball with Roger getting the final touch over the line 5-3 and a bit of breathing space.
Hornets goalie was then on a one man crusade to keep the score down with a succession of shots from James, Jason and Roger all well saved. For the final 10 minutes Joe was brought back on into defence and George onto t he right wing. Tom pushed up to the front to try and get his first goal for Wanderers . Unfortunately the tired legs were showing and the game fizzled out. Final score 5-3.
Good to be back to winning ways and great to see some of the fringe players given a good run out knowing that there was the back up of James and Roger if things got out of hand. Very hard surface to play on today and not all players seemed to be totally up for it today, not the best performance but it did the job.
Coach’s men of the match were Daniel for his first half performance on the right wing, banging in the crosses and Tom for his second half performance on his debut, a solid performance which he can really learn from.
Home again next week and a chance for some other fringe players to have a good run out.
Keep off the Xmas pud lads and get stuck in!!!

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