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25 February 2007 Hassocks 4 Grasshoppers 3 April 25, 2007

Posted by editor in : Uncategorized , trackback

A bit of a setback, but it’s impossible to do anything but admire the effort which the team put in.  The quality of some of the football we played, on the worst pitch I think I have ever seen, was excellent.  We did really well up hill into the wind to only be 2-1 down at half time, and when we quickly went 3-2 up in the second half, I really thought we were going to win comfortably.  We were again playing with no sub and the way that the whole team kept going for the whole game was a great demonstration of spirit and determination.  

 

Unfortunately we got a very poor decision from the ref at the wrong time, which Hassocks scored from and which took the wind out of our sails and really gave the other side a lift which they didn’t deserve.  

 

But as Gordon said afterwards, as bad as the ref’s decision was, our defending at set pieces was poor.  Three of their four goals came from free kicks or corners, including 2 free headers.  I guess we missed Sammy’s ability in the air.  Hassocks were also comfortably the biggest team we have faced, so for the next time, we will be better prepared.  

 

Man of the Match was Ben, who has clearly moved away from the

Man

City school of striking, scoring all three of our goals.  He still managed to miss a few, but in those conditions it was a wonder anyone could even lift their boots out of the mud.  Ben worked really hard all afternoon and I lost count of how often he won key headers or went round/through defenders.  He took all three goals really well, and I reckon he has definitely fixed his radar!  

 

Everyone played really well, but particular honourable mentions to Jake, who went to right back in the second half and saved our bacon several times when were chasing the game, and Matt, who had his normal storming game in defence.  Good to see James back too- on another day he would have had a few goals.  Lastly, I have to mention both Nip and J-P, who both really struggled with illness all week and somehow managed to keep going until the end.  

 

Gordon and I tried hard, but we honestly couldn’t find anything poor enough in anyone’s performance to deserve the CRAP award.  Someone suggested the ref, which was about right!  

 

After the game, everyone was a bit down, as we needed to beat Hassocks twice in order to give ourselves a chance of winning the league.  This is where the good news comes in!  

 

Apparently the league has decided that each team will play the others 3 times and not 2.  That gives us two more cracks at Hassocks.  If we win both of those, then we can still win the league.  Even better news is that both of the other games against them are at home- in the next two weeks!   

According to the fixtures released by the league, we are due to play Hassocks at home on both Sun 4th and Sun 11th March.  Bring it on!

 

 

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