Beckett were presented with a "Get Out of Jail Free Card" when Phil Caldwell headed in to our net from a dangerous Beckett cross. It was harsh on Phil, who, having taken up the precise position where he should have been to defend the cross, saw his attempt to head clear end up flying in to the top corner. All due respect to Phil for taking responsibility for dealing with the cross, unaware as he was to what was lurking behind him. However, all that was lurking behind him was birthday boy keeper Lee Clifford. The OG came from a lack of communication between the two, with the usually vocal Clifford not claiming the ball on this occasion. It's a simple mistake to make, and thankfully it's an even simpler mistake to eradicate moving forwards.
The unpredictable pitch was both a help and a hindrance in equal measure. The ball was sticking and spinning so much that trying to predict where it would land or bounce was almost impossible. We had to change tact at half-time across the back line, when I had to utter the words I'd never thought I'd hear myself say: "Get your foot through it and get it out!"
We went on to take a well deserved 3-1 lead. However, having netted the third, we switched off again and allowed Beckett to grab two quick goals. It was harsh on us but in retrospect we brought it on ourselves by not focusing our attention on doing the simple things right. We were again too slow to close the opposition down, too far off them to be able to stop them from turning, and this continued to be our undoing, as we eventually went 4-3 down.
It wasn't all doom and gloom though, and there were some notable performances. It was good to see Barry back in the back four, carrying the ball out as much as he could, and Neill Robertshaw put in an impressive turn as the holding midfielder in a 4-1-4-1, a formation that I think we have had a fair amount of joy with. All three strikers, Herbert, Marney and Mesner caused the opposition problems all night, but the MOTM award went to Phill Arnold for yet another assured display at left-back. Phill's willingness to receive the ball gave us an effective outlet, and his overlapping and crossing was tip-top last night, despite the mud bath we were playing in.
We had chances to nick a draw, and over the course of the 90 minutes we probably created enough chances to win two matches. This is the positive that we must take from this game and carry forward to next week. Our ability to carve out decent goal scoring chances for ourselves this year has been staggering, we all just need to start putting them away.
On the subject of goals, last night's scorers were Rainey, Herbert and Marney, with the latter two supplying assists for each other. The movement, running and passing up front was incisive as ever. If we can tighten up defensively, we'll win far more games than we lose this year.
Keep the faith!
Joe
1 comment:
We were also denied a probable winner by the width of a shoulder. Damn you shoulder with your superior range of movement and negative internal pressure!
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