Sunday 28th February 2010 - Shaw (H)

We managed to play our first home game at Rylands Way since October and were hoping to return to winning ways after last weeks first league defeat of the season.

Both Lewis and Zach were available so we went into the game with the full squad of 10 players. This meant a new way of dividing the match into thirds which made sure that all 9 outfield players had an equal amount of pitch time.

The first half saw us kicking up the hill and Tyler went very close in the 9th minute with an acrobatic volley that was pushed onto the top of the net and out for a corner by the Shaw goalie.

It was from that corner that we took the lead as the ball was cleared to Beckham who fired a long range shot goalwards and Tyler reacted quickly to divert the ball into the net for his 9th goal since his return to the Club.

Our opponents were always a threat on the counter attack, so firstly Jordan T and Beckham and then when they were replaced by Lewis and Alanah had to be aware at all times.

It was from a quick break following a throw in their own half that Shaw equalised, when the ball bounced around the area before falling at the feet of the forward, who slotted it into the net.

Good wing play from Callum, Jordan W-T and Zach created a couple of half chances before half-time, but the Shaw goalie was up to the task.

The referee blew the half-time whistle with still 3 minutes of the half to be played.

Half-time 1-1

The second half was very much better as we tried to pass the ball better and Tyler went close from the kick-off as his shot was deflected for a corner.

The short corner between Callum and Tyler saw Tyler's shot hit the post and rebound to a Shaw defender who cleared before a Bassett player could capitalise.

We then started showing our frustration and gave away needless free-kicks all over the pitch as we tried to stop players with our arms and not tackling properly.

Shaw came very close to scoring as a free-kick went just wide of Conor's post following another needless foul.

Both Tyler and Lewis tried their luck from distance but found a very good goalie that was not going to get beaten by shots from long range today.

Then with the game entering the final 5 minutes the qualified referee blew the final whistle much to everyone's amazement.

I go to a lot of meetings where you are encouraged to give young referees a chance but when you get a qualified young referee only playing 42 minutes instead of the allotted 50 minutes, whilst not using a proper stop-watch you have to question why they are actually doing it. This is not meant as an excuse but is something that should never happen at any level of football.

This is taking nothing away from our opponents Shaw who are a much improved team who were well organised with a very good goalie and deserved their point.

Match Analysis- A disappointing day when lady luck was certainly not on our side. We only had 1 shot inside the penalty area all match and we scored from that. We have to realise that all these teams are improving and we have to earn every point we attain and approach each match with that approach. The need for patience is important also as we let our frustration get to us with too many fouls conceded.

Player of the match: Jordan Wright-Thompson who used the ball very well all afternoon whether he was playing in the centre of the midfield or out wide.

Match Squad; Conor, Jordan T, Beckham, Jordan W-T, Zach, Callum, Tyler, Euan (Capt.), Lewis and Alanah.

Last modified on Monday 22nd June 2015 at 23:39