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Narborough Foxes Blues - Sundays Juniors

Narborough Foxes Blues - Sundays Juniors

Ben Wormleighton21 Sep 2015 - 12:27

2nd Game in, could we make it two wins from two?

"Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward"
- Victor Kiam

After what was arguably the best training session we had ever had on the day before, we had good reason to be optimistic going into our 2nd game of the season against Narborough Foxes Blues, not only had we beaten their 1st team 8-0 in pre-season, we were in fine form with our heads held high and there was a fantastic buoyant atmosphere around the players.

We were without our usual captain this week in Henry, so it was our pleasure to award Matthew Harridance with the captain’s duty. Also absent this week was Jack Hall unfortunately due to illness and Connor who was unavailable for the game.

We knew this was going to be a tough game, it’s never easy playing away at the best of times and we knew we were going to be up for a fight. We had picked a team that we though was perfect to stop them coming straight down the middle and force them to play out to the wings:

Joe
Matty Harry George G Max
Adam Jak Lucas Cam
Luke George H

At 12:30, we kicked off. Fortunately we were playing on the same pitch that we had played previously so we were on familiar territory. Right from the word go, we were down their throats – playing sensational passing football to the point that they could get nowhere near the ball. Some early flashes of brilliance on the left side from Max and Cam working together – Cam cutting inside and floating some terrific balls into the box and Max almost scoring two in the first 5 minutes! If Max’s second had gone in, a screamer from around 25 yards, it would have been in contention for goal of the season!

For a good 30 minutes, we were relentless in our attack, we were organized, efficient and everyone wanted a piece of the action. We had had some brilliant opportunities to go ahead but the final ball let us down, that was until Jak from no-where picks the ball up in midfield and hammers a shot high into the goal which slips through the keeper’s hands.

Narborough Foxes Blues 0 Stoke Golding FC 1

Soon after the restart, we had stolen the ball back from them and immediately we continued in the vain that we had seen in the lead up to our first goal. A lovely ball whipped across field to Cam on the left side of the 18 yard box, which he was subsequently fouled for and we had got a penalty! Jak stepped up and placed it perfectly into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Narborough Foxes Blues 0 Stoke Golding FC 2

Our defense was solid, our midfield was working hard and the strikers were being real nuisances, it was all coming together. George and Harry are starting to form a brilliant partnership as our two centre backs and Adam was playing excellently in an unfamiliar role. We kept at them constantly throughout the first half, even to the point where Joe did not touch the ball at all! Half time came around far too quickly, but our momentum had started to fade so we were glad to re-group and re-organise.

We only made one positional change at half time, We swapped Cam and George H so that George played in a more familiar role on the left side and with the attacking mind of Cam up top, we envisioned a more centre forward display from him. The midfield was working brilliantly on our pivot that we had practiced in training – Lucas and Jak were just running the show in midfield .

Well our second half could not have been more different from the first half, we had unfortunately sank back into familiar territory where we had our lull at the start of the game. No communication, no options for the players to pass to and not a lot of movement anywhere on the pitch. We had seen this many times before and it was inevitable that they would pull one back which the soon did. A ball whipped in from a corner from the right hand side, none of our players reacted, caught ball-watching and they had put the ball in the back of the net after a scramble in the box. Surely after such a great first half display, we couldn’t throw this game away now could we?

Narborough Foxes Blues 1 Stoke Golding FC 2

It took a while for us to gather up and real attacking threat after the goal, we were still dominating in midfield but that final ball in the last 3rd of the pitch was lacking. A frustrating problem to have as this is something we work on so heavily in training. But eventually we had a breakthrough, the lads realised that if they were just outside the box, it is always worth a go rather than trying to walk it into the goal. Identical to an effort that Cam has fired over the bar a few minutes earlier, George H picked the ball up on the left side of midfield, cut inside the right back and curled a shot over the keeper into the top right corner from outside the box! It was just the lift we needed.

Narborough Foxes Blues 1 Stoke Golding FC 3

We kept knocking for the remainder of the game but unfortunately nothing came from our efforts. A mention must go to Joe in the 2nd half who made an incredibly brave save diving at the striker’s legs which certainly would have been a goal. When called upon, did everything right in the game. Also a mention must go to Matthew Harridance who, once he found his voice, showed real potential as a future captain of the squad being authoritative and covering the defense excellently.

After the game, I may have been a little harsh on the lads, upon reflection we played excellently. The passing was the best I had ever seen it, the defense was flawless and we would have had a clean sheet if not for a scrap in the box and the two strikers worked relentlessly to create channels and block off opposition passes. The only reason we were frustrated was because we knew how brilliantly they can play, we saw it in the first half, but they just seemed to switch off like the game was already won and that is a huge no-no in any sport at any time.

Next Week : Oadby Owls Hawks 12:30 KO @ Home
Come and watch, it should be a hoot!