Saturday 4th September 2010 (6 - 6 DRAW vs Foxhole United)

Players ratings as follows:

Rob 6
Graham 6, Shaun 6, Rides 6, Ryan 6
Keiran 6, Darren 6, Sumat 7
Hedley 7, James 8, Luke 9

Subs: Colin 6, Lee 7, Dan 7

MOM: Luke

Champagne moment: Rob Stone excellently picking out the Foxhole player from his kick that led to their sixth goal.

Match Report: I'm very rarely lost for words but I have to admit this was one of the few times I was left "gobsmacked" after the final whistle. To be honest I couldn't believe what I had just seen and I have never, in my time as manager, had a team of mine score 6 goals and not come away with the 3 points!!!

Looking back on the day the "alarm bells should have rung" early on with the way we warmed up. We didn't seem switched on, the ballwork was sloppy, players drifted in and out of the warm up with either sorting out boots/shirts/shinpads, going to the loo etc leaving the warm up disjointed. I know in the past this has resulted in the team struggling in the match and unfortunately this happened again. We must learn that in those 10/15 minutes we focus on what we are doing and what is said because it does make a difference in the way we start the match.

Anyway on to the game. Basically for the first half hour we were chasing shadows with Foxhole winning the majority of the challenges and second balls. We were also guilty of giving them far too much time on the ball. However on the odd occasion we did play some football we opened them up at the back but unfortunately this was few and far between.

Foxhole got their just reward for their efforts by scoring an excellent 30 yarder in the top corner. This seemed to wake the team up and we finally started to get the ball down, play some simple football, imposing ourselves on the game. We equalised with some cool finishing from Luke after a nice through ball from Hedley. Luke continued his good form with a nice piece of individual skill where he created space for himself, unleashing a shot that the keeper could not hold. James was alert and had a simple "tap in" to go 2 1 up. We were unlucky not to get a third when Darren's free kick on the edge of the box was headed off the line.

It was clear to me at this time if we continued playing the football and concentrating at the back we would come away with the 3 points. Unfortunately this was not to be and the frailties at the back, that had been evident throughout the first half, continued with poor talking resulting in a sloppy backpass leaving the Foxhole player to round the keeper and score into an empty net.

Half time came and it was obvious we were in a game and we needed to improve throughout the team if we were going to win. The players were left in no doubt what was expected!

Well I have to say the second half was "amazing" but not perhaps in the way you think.....
Defensively as a unit and as a team I have not seen us play so poor for a long time. This was such a shock given how well we have played defensively in the past two games. We were regularly caught square and didn't go with our runners leaving the opposition player goal side. In fact their 4 goals in the second half were all "one on one's".
Yes Foxhole were lively up front but still.......

As a result we were in "catch up" mode throughout the second half. However, to the teams credit, we never gave up and continued to look threatening every time we went forward playing some decent football. The front three worked well and caused Foxhole all sorts of problems.

James, who got better as the game went on, scored his second with a flick header. Hedley hit a quality strike for his goal. Darren again showed how reliable he is from the penalty spot and Luke got the equaliser in the last 5 minutes with a firm shot from the edge of the box.

In conclusion it was certainly an enjoyable and eventful game for the neutral but for the sake of my health, no repetition please, I would much rather have a boring 1 0 victory thank you.......

The positives that can be taken from the game are that we never gave up as a team, even when things weren't going right, and of course we remain unbeaten for the season. You could also see the work at training had certainly paid off as our fitness definitely told in the end.

However a draw was a fair result as any team who scores 6 goals does not deserve to lose!!

Finally a special word must go to Luke Bowser who was excellent throughout. He was constantly a "thorn" in Foxhole's side, he never stopped running and battling for the ball and got his just rewards with two quality finishes. If this form continues I have no doubt he will reach his target of 25 goals this season.

I would also like to comment on the attitude of the players who have been on the bench at the start of the season, especially Craig and Colin. Of course they are not happy not starting but accept the decision and get on with it. As everyone knows I always try to keep all involved and their time will come. 

Anyway we do have a game next week, away at Marlborough, so chance to get back to our winning ways!!

RESERVES (3 - 0 LOSS vs Bishopsteignton United)

After last weeks terrible performance we needed something far better to get anything out of this game, as Bishops are a strong favourite for promotion. Bishops went 1-0 up after about 10 mins, we failed to clear a corner, the ball fell to a Bishops player who luckily swung a leg and it ended up in the far corner. For the rest of the 1st half we were pretty solid and looked a threat going forward, Will and Jim linked up well a couple of times on the right side, Adam had a free-kick hit the bar and Zak and Sav had shots that went wide. The closest Bishops got to a second was from their keeper, who launched a kick about 400 yards which almost caught out Cocker as he tipped it onto the bar, but he “had it covered”.
2nd half was again quite even, defences were mostly on top. Bishops got a second goal through another lucky bounce from a corner, the ball landed at the feet of the striker from about 4 yards and he stuck it in. Bishops scored a good 3rd with about 20 mins to go on the counter attack, the scorer picked up the ball and was 1-on-1 with Cocker and had the composure to take it round Steve before finishing. After that it was game over although we did still create chances, Will missed a 1-on-1 of his own, Seg won us a penalty which Ali put just wide. A disappointing result but a better performance against a strong Bishops team.

MOM: Jim Wyatt

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