The football rollercoaster came to town for us again today, or should I say came to a little country village somewhere up the Meon valley.
It was only a few weeks ago that we had a very close game with Waltham Wolves and here we were again up against our old friends. The boys, parents and I have had some chats about taking things seriously and being more competitive recently and over the past few weeks I think everyone has upped their game. I used every pre-match speech rolled into one and I even wore my lucky Pompey shirt. Whatever happened we were going to go out in a blaze of glory, all guns blazing.
The lads started brightly with a couple of quick breaks forward and eventually Josh kept on chasing, took his chance and scored the opening goal. After that we had to defend about a dozen corners, Bradley, Olly & James were all clearing the ball but we struggled to get it up to midfield and in the end the sustained pressure led to the Wolves equaliser. We were still passing well but sometimes we need to make the right decision (this will come in training) and Wolves broke forward but Jamie was off his line quickly enough to make the save. A foul by us on the edge of the box led to a free kick which just snuck in as Jamie collided with the goal post and had to be replaced Jake P (Jamie, not the goal).
The defence was awesome today, Jake M, Olly & James consistently making the tackles and Skid always on hand to cover. Dom made a great clearance that went over the halfway line and put us on the attack.
The midfield and forwards were making great counter attacking moves, Taine was leading the line as a striker, supported by Drew and Bryce and then we had Josh & Bradley bringing the ball forward on the break. Michael was unlucky to just miss the top corner with a placed effort but Josh scored a second to take us into HT at 2-2. We had scored 2 great team goals created by nice build up play.
At half time I tried some more cod psychology on the lads.
The game continued in the same style as before with attack and counter attack from each side. Jake P also came off his line to make a save, maybe they can see the benefit of rushing out to close off the attacker now. Wolves switched their dangerous player to our other flank and they score to creep in front. I swapped some players about to increase the offence and we were soon bursting through again, we had a number of long shots at the keeper but eventually Josh hit one hard enough that it hit the keeper and managed to dribble over the line. A goal is a goal, there's no points for style. Drew was making some great runs down the right, picking the ball up from Travis, breaking forward and then sending the pass on for Taine to run onto. We had some great attacking moves going on and a bit of practice together will see it get better. Tom was working tirelessly to help the defence and break up the Wolves attack whether it was left, right or centre.
Another break forward with Drew, Bradley, Bryce, Josh & Taine saw a shot from the right spill off the keeper and Drew was there following up and he hit it first time into the net to score the winner!
There was a nervy 10 minutes which included Skid being spoken to by the ref, obviously he was upset by the experience and giving away the foul but he showed great character to bounce back into the game. Travis and Skid both made tenacious last ditch tackles as Wolves pushed forward, Tom was buzzing around closing down and eventually the final whistle blew.
We have had some bad luck in the past but today had nothing to do with luck, it was about heart and effort and working for the reward. They were great, all of them.
It was hard to choose a MOM, it could have gone to Josh or Drew for their goals and attacks, maybe Taine, Bradley or Tom for their energy, Bryce upped his game today and even nutmegged the opposition, both keepers have made crucial saves, Michael made some good runs, the lads at the back, James, Travis, Jake, Olly and Dom all made important tackles and clearances. But it went to a player who represents what this team is all about, its about effort, character and heart, its about carrying on regardless of the score or how you feel. So it goes to Skid, well done fella.
So there we are, a win, thanks to my lucky Pompey shirt but mostly thanks to 15 friends.