This week we faced our sternest test of the season so far. Our opponents in this top of the table clash were Lydiard Youth, a team who were arguably the best side around last season, but we were going into this game full of confidence after some good recent displays.

Bassett it was who kicked the game off and straight away the pace was very fast with both teams showing total commitment. It was Lydiard who threatened first but before long Bassett started to get on top of the game and had a couple of good chances firstly from Max who hit his shot just wide and then from Scott who was unlucky not to connect properly with the ball just a few yards out from the goal. This proved to be the turning point of the match as the Lydiard keeper kicked a long clearance which the Bassett midfield failed to head clear and it ran straight to the feet of their attacker who slotted the ball away. At this point the lads lost their shape and their self belief and by half time we found ourselves 3-0 down with a mountain to climb.

Unfortunately the second half didn′t get any better and the match ended up 6-0 to Lydiard.

Today′s match was very disappointing, not just because of the score line but more because of the way we played. For the first ten minutes we matched them and even managed to get on top of the game but then silly errors started to creep in. We gave the ball away to easily up front, in midfield we were all over the place and didn′t want to head the ball and at the back we over committed ourselves in the tackles and didn′t cover each other well. On top of this our throw-ins (which we have worked on for 2 years now) were appalling and even though we spoke at the beginning about stopping Lydiard playing the short - feet and back throw-ins - we never managed to stop them once in the game. If we want to compete with teams like Lydiard we must get over the physiological barrier of thinking they are better than us as this is where the game was lost today and on our day I honestly don′t believe there is any team we can′t match.

Now the challenge for us is to pick ourselves back up and try to ensure we get our season back on track with a good display next week and hopefully use this defeat as a good lesson learned. There weren′t many contenders for today′s MOTM award as too many players had an off day but I thought Jack did well in goal despite conceding six and was very brave on a couple of occasions throwing himself at the feet of the opposition. But the award this week goes to Reuben, who tackled well, never gave up and tried to use the ball every time he got it.

Credit: Unknown
Last modified on Saturday 26th December 2020 at 14:27