Match Report - 12th April 2008

Bit of a wake up call for the Bs who suffered their heaviest defeat of the season against Wealdstone who are currently third in Division 3. However, Wealdstone have been impressive at home this season winning six out of their seven matches so it was asking a lot of the Bs to take anything from the match. The first half was one way traffic as Wealdstone, with the wind in their favour, pinned the Bs back and created a host of chances. The Bs found it hard to get out of their half and have not been put under so much pressure this season. In fairness to the hosts, the Bs were lucky to come off at the break with a 0-2 deficit and it was a combination of weak finishing and some good saves by Stephen that kept the score down.

The Bs can look back at this game and see that four of the six goals they conceded came from errors and one other goal came from a free kick that was very harshly awarded against Stephen on the edge of the box. But Wealdstone, when given the chance particularly in the second half were clinical and finished their chances well.

With Wealdstone creating wave after wave of attacks and showing much more determination and hunger to win the ball, the Bs spent the first half on the back foot. They struggled to keep possession and get their passing working at all. This was despite the excellent condition of the pitch at Broadfields. All of the Bs players were guilty of waiting for the ball to come to them and as a result Wealdstone were first to it and used it well to create their chances.

Wealdstone missed the goal with many of these opportunities though when they did find the target Stephen responded with an impressive save. Just before the quarter hour mark Wealdstone took the lead with a very soft goal. After the ball was played around the edge of the area the Bs froze as the pass was played to an unmarked player who calmly placed the ball into the corner of the net.

The half continued in the same way but the Bs held on until the last minute of the half when the Bs were penalised very harshly. Stephen had collected the ball and was clearing it up field when the referee blew stating that he was outside the area with the ball in his hands as he was kicking it. He awarded a direct free kick right on the edge of the box which took a deflection and sailed into the corner of the net. What made the decision harsh was that in the second half the Wealdstone keeper did the same but his clearance was judged to be fair. He was then warned by the referee not to handle it outside the box. It might have been fairer had both keepers been given the same treatment.

At the start of the second half, Kyle came on for Jay and Jordan Coleman replaced Jordan Wright. Before either had had the chance to touch the ball it was 0-3 when a quick ball over the back four caused confusion and the Wealdstone striker was sharpest to it beating Stephen to the ball and tucking it home. But the Bs were much more impressive this half, they held and used the ball much better and created many chances. Kyle, Luis, Conor, Sid and Russell all went close. Luis hit the post with a fine shot and Kyle hit a brilliant 35 yard high shot that the keeper did really well to keep out.

Conor got a goal back for the Bs with a stunning volley in the 39th minute. It came after a great move involving George, Kyle, Jordan and Sid who played the ball over his shoulder to Conor. He raced onto the ball, caught it in mid air and volleyed it over the keeper into the far corner.

The Bs made a further change with George coming off and Luis switching to left midfield. Daniel came on to play at right back. On 45 minutes Wealdstone made it 1-4 with another mix up caused by a simple ball through the defence that saw Stephen race off his line but he was beaten to it and the striker slipped it past him. But the Bs had much more of the possession and Thomas and Kyle in midfield worked well to get tackles in and create opportunities. There was also good communication from the Bs encouraging and driving each other to improve. Later in the half Sid came off, Luis went up front and George came back on to play on the left wing.

On 51 minutes Wealdstone scored a very good goal built down the centre and finished excellently by their striker flicking it with the outside of his boot over his shoulder into the net. That was followed four minutes later with an unfortunate own goal when the ball was driven across from the right wing and the ball hit Daniel and flew high into the net. There was almost a second own goal late in the game when George inadvertently steered the ball goalwards but Stephen managed to pluck it off the line.

So the Bs bowed out of the Supplementary Cup with a 1-6 defeat against a team lying third in Division 3. The Bs need to learn from this and work to improve the areas that cost them. But they can be heartened by the improvement they showed in the second half and from the chances they created. Kyle made a big difference in the heart of the midfield. He showed a lot of determination and took the man of the match trophy.