‘The Edge’ - Home League vs Langton Green April 1, 2008
Posted by editor in : Matches , trackbackSome say, he trains the GB cycling team and can fix Terminal 5’s baggage system, all we know is that he provides anonymous match reports and calls himself ‘The Edge’…
It seems that this is a season of weather extremes, the boys have played in freezing conditions, torrential rain and today in a driving wind, which was so bad that even Andy Coleman had a bad hair day….
Whilst I like to remain positive, as I sit down to write this I feel a bit like Leonard Cohen (or Morrisy for the younger readers) and find it difficult to be upbeat. The first half performance was like the weather, awful. Maybe its expecting a bit too much, but we know how well we can play and this wasn’t anywhere close to the usual standard. I stood and thought that it was the usual slow start and things would pick up, but how wrong I was, at least for the first half. The only thing to pick up was the wind, which got so strong that it put me in mind of the Wizard of Oz and at any moment we could have been off to see the wizard.
In fact there might have been a good reason for heading off down the yellow brick road, as the three things that seemed to be missing from the first half performance were, brains courage, and heart.
Brains - In passing and movement of the ball. Too many times the lads were standing looking for the ball to be played to feet instead of into spaces, not thinking about movement and anticipation and generally lacking in the communication that had been so good in the last match at Tonbridge. (Scarecrow played by Andy Crisp)
Courage - In the tackle, too many times we were second to the ball, jumped into tackles with our backs turned, didn’t close down or get our tackles in. We pulled out of heading the ball too, with only Harry Coleman and Jarvis showing the grit and determination to put their head on it. All credit to Harry Coleman though, he put his head in to win balls that the opposition were going for with their feet……a real chip off the old block is Harry. We’re not asking for suicidal tendencies but a demonstration of a desire to win the ball and win matches. (Lion played by Nigel Lampard)
Heart - To win the league is not a divine right, it has to be earned. It means crossing the white line and giving 100%, 100% of the time. The conditions were not good but they were the same for both teams, too many lads come off with energy left in the engine. That’s not what is expected, if you come off not feeling knackered you’ve not given your all and that means letting your team mates, the coaches and those who have come to support you down. If you want to win the league, and you’ve got the talent to do it, then you have to take a long hard look at yourselves, and ask if you have given the 100% that is required. (Tin Man played by Richard Townsley)
As I’ve said they were the qualities that were lacking in the first half and had a few of us clicking our ruby slippers saying, “I wan’t to go home!”
Langton had much of the possession and chances in the first half, which was played mostly in our half, and they took a deserved lead in the 9th minute of the game. Their lead shortly cancelled out by the best double act since Cannon and Ball, indeed that is what Jarvis and Fergus have become. Jarvis fires the Cannon from the corner and the Ball is inevitably met by Fergus to slot home, 13 minutes 1-1.
Following a Grasshoppers break with Freddie chasing down three defenders! Langton scored an unfortunate own goal with one of their defenders just putting the ball inside the post, rather than out for the intended cosrner. So 16th minutes and 2-1, despite being under the cosh for the first half we saved our blushes as the whistle went and the lads headed in, for a further blast of wind from Richards hairdryer, at least they avoided the sleet!
With Fergus and Josh having already run in the District Cross country meeting that morning (both doing very well and finishing well up the field, well done boys!) a tactical change saw Jarvis fall back into midfield to support Fergus win some more balls in the middle of the park. Regan dropped into right back and Ollie came on up front to partner Josh.
The changes had the desired effect and Grasshoppers got much more into the game. Brandon had an outstanding game in the middle of defence and Regan put in some crunching tackles from right back where he’d replaced Matt. Things were looking up and it wasn’t long before Ollie had broke through the centre to put us 3-1 up after 40 minutes, it was a sublime finish ably slotted past their keeper. The game was still far from over and Langton struck again after 44 minutes to make it 3-2 and were still right in it. But 5 minutes later Patrick McManus put in a great cross to find Toby unmarked at the back of the box who then produced a fine strike from to make it 4-2. Ollie sealed the win in the 58th minute with another fine strike and the Grasshoppers to come out victorious.
The majority of the lads out there and the team as a whole can play a lot better than the performance we saw today. I guess it was more “Avram Grant” Chelsea (ie win ugly) than the “Arsene Wenger” Arsenal we were starting to get used to.
What was good was that despite having an off day with things not going well, we still came away with three points Just think what you can achieve if you put all those things right. The coaches can only guide you and try and improve your technique, don’t just practise the basics until you get them right, practise them until you don’t get them wrong. Today, for large parts of the game, the basics were missing - passing, moving and tackling
So having said that, there were some positives and good moments of play, Brandon had one of his best performances to date, Patrick came on and immediately got involved and contributed, and Henry continues to improve with his reading of the game and coming off his line and kept us in it in the first half. Ollie continues to improve with match experience and with two good goals we’ve some good competition for the places up front.
A win is a win and 5-2 was a good result, all of us on the touchline know you have the ability to win the league. Do you have the commitment and desire? Only you can answer that question by your attitude, approach to training and application and effort on match days.
So we’ve now done matches in freezing, wet and windy conditions, roll on the sunshine….
Comments»
ToEdge,
The lads are sorry for their performance this week and have promised to make it up this Saturday. Hey, even Man U have an off day, but this is not an excuse.
Cheers
Tin Man