16 Jan 2011 - Liden Community (A)

So with no matches, and only a couple of training sessions in the past 8 weeks, what we didn't need was a match away against the league leaders. It was only going to end one way wasn't it?.....

Before the match we had a talk to the team and went through some tactics. We also said that they'd need to put in 100% effort for the whole match just to stand a chance. We also said that no matter what the score was, they need to play as if it's 0-0. At the end they need to look back and feel proud of how they have played whatever the result.

So we kicked off, and it was real end to end stuff. I thought we shaded the opening period, and were fortunate to take the lead after a deflected centre from George went in. Liden came back strongly then, and we were undone when Matt Cat stopped a centre in, but the ball rolled free to their player who gave MJ no chance.

Still we battled though. Then we were forced in to a change when Cade got injured throwing himself in to one of the many tackles he made today. Luke was on and filled in well. We then found ourselves behind for the first time, when we were second to a bouncing ball in the box. 2-1 to Liden.

Joe was on, and it was good to see him putting himself about on the wing. Both teams had further chances, but it remained 2-1 at half time.

We made a couple of positional changes at half time, and Cade came back on having recovered. We asked the attackers to try some shots when they had the chance, as we don't always need to walk it in.

The communication between Matt Cat and Cade today was spot on. Lots of talking. After more end to end play, we got the breakthrough. The ball came back to Matt Cat who launched a cross field ball. Harry ran on to it, looked up and fired a shot at goal. From my position I thought it was over, and even said “Unlucky Harry!”. I then saw it drop over their ‘keeper and nestle in the bottom corner. It was one of our goals of the season so far.

The match carried on – it seemed to go on forever with both sides getting more chances as the play spread out. We looked dangerous going forwards, but seemed to find ourselves with 3 or 4 on to 2 at the back. Then Liden struck again. But heads didn't drop. We kept playing. There was some good play between midfield and defenders. Often the midfielder would lay the ball back and the defender could launch it forwards. That's how we got our third. I think it was George who had the ball. He was being marked so rolled it back to Matt Cat who fired it up to Harrison. Harry controlled it well, and then finished well.

Ryan came back on then, and held position well for the remainder of the match. George made a great run towards the end and his shot wend just wide. I thought that was the last action, but Liden stormed forwards again. Then a moment of controversy. The ball was bouncing about in our box, and it eventually got cleared. It fell to a Liden player who struck it well and it ended up in the back of the net. Thankfully the Ref had blown as it was kicked, and after a bit of confusion, it became clear that it was ruled out. To be fair to their manager Lee, he said afterwards that that was the right decision.

It was a great performance against a great team. Liden are big and strong, but they are more than that. They play good football, and it shows why they are top of the league.

Some great performances from our team today. I don't like to single players out, but I thought Harrisons first goal was superb. I thought that the two assists for Matt Cat were good. Joe came on and played very well against some big strong players. Cade was getting stuck in the whole match with some great tackles – probably his best game this season.

But that's not to detract from the others. It was a strong team performance, and they were all worthy of the applause that you gave them at the end.

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