Match Report - 6th January 2008

Before the report here’s a short rant. If you’ve ever wondered why home grown footballers may not be as technically gifted as those from abroad, there was a clue here today. Why do we expect our young footballers to play when the pitches are so terrible? Today’s pitch was so boggy it wasn’t possible to play football on it. All the players could do was try to cope, with boots and a ball caked in mud and a pitch where the central area was a muddy marsh. Yet we expect our players from age 5 and up to ‘play’ on this. Surely the leagues and councils who run the pitches could get together so we stop playing in January and February and play instead in March to May when the pitches are fine. Our B team have now only six league games left which means we could well finish our season in February. Where is the sense in that?

This was one of those games that makes predicting football scores so difficult. The Bs were second in the table and Bessingby were seventh. Bessingby had only ten players, and for part of the game only nine on the pitch. Bessingby had just one shot in the entire match, the Bs had more than fifteen. Yet the game finished all square and at the end the visitors deserved the share of the points. They coped with the conditions better, played with more determination, were quicker to the loose balls and defended very well. Their keeper also pulled off several great point blank saves and denied our strikers in many one on ones.

The Bs had a great start with a goal from Luis after just three minutes. The goal was set up by Kyle who had a very good game in midfield. He picked up the ball just inside their half, took a step inside to beat his opponent and then sent a fine ball past the defenders. Sid, Fed and Luis chased it and Luis was fastest collecting the ball and tucking it beneath the advancing keeper. With such a good start the hope was that the team would build on this and stick in a few more. But Bessingby responded well and moved the ball around neatly with accurate short passes. They posed no threat up front but made it hard for the Bs to use the ball. Too often the Bs gave the ball away cheaply with slack or soft passes and the visitors' tackles were much stronger.

Chances fell to Sid, Kyle, Fed and Thomas. Often, with the pitch so heavy, they couldn’t get the power on the ball to test the keeper from the distance they were shooting from. Sid and Luis were the only players to get behind the defence and so came the closest.

In the second half the Bs brought on Jay for Francis and Conor for Fed. The Bs played better this half and had more chances but were caught out by conceding a very soft goal two minutes after the break. Bessingby were awarded a free kick about 40 yards out. The ball was sent in low and bounced right through the centre of the defence. Suddenly one of Bessingby’s strikers was through behind the defence and, as Stephen came off his line to close him down, the striker beat him with a low shot.

There was still lots of time for the Bs to turn it around by converting one of their chances. And there were more than enough of them. Luis, Sid, Conor, Jordan, Russell, Thomas and Francis all went close. But the keeper was agile and quick to come out and close down and won all the one on ones.

At the back the Bs backline worked very hard and were rarely breached. They didn’t concede a single goal kick. Daniel, Russ, Joe and Ciaran did a good job in covering and tackling. Jay added a bit more strength to the midfield and Kyle worked well on the left cutting in to beat his opponent and using the ball well. But too much was sent down the middle where the pitch was worst and at no time did they attack behind the full backs where they might have created more problems for the visitors. Jordan replaced Daniel, who strained his calf, Luis switched to right back. Jordan had an excellent chance that the keeper superbly saved. The ball fell to him inside the area and his firm shot was heading for the top corner when the keeper plucked it out the air. Sid had to come off with cramp. Francis went back on, Thomas switched to centre back and Russ went up front. As the clock ran down the Bs had a series of corners and long throws that caused problems for Bessingby but they just couldn’t convert them. Francis came closest with a shot from six yards that curved inches wide.

In the end, for the effort they put in, it would have been harsh for Bessingby to lose it late on. But the Bs can take credit for their work rate and the chances they created. Kyle was man of the match for a very productive and lively display in midfield.