25 March 2007 Grasshoppers 2 Withdean 1 April 25, 2007
Posted by editor in : Uncategorized , trackbackAnother well fought win. Although the goal Withdean scored to go 0-1 up in the first half was either pure genius or absolute fluke, that was probably the worst half of football we have played since the first game of the season and we deserved to be behind. I reckon it must have been the clocks going forward the night before, which meant the team was still having its Weetabix when we kicked off. Fortunately in the second half, the carbs kicked in and normal service was resumed. We totally outplayed them in the second half, and deservedly scored two good goals to take the points. We once again played without a sub, due to Josh’s injury. Apparently he tried to kiss a moving sledgehammer, which resulted in him looking like a cross between a panda and Leslie Ash. In Josh’s absence, Craig volunteered to go in goal, which did leave us a bit light in midfield at times.
Having experienced the first red card of our history in the last game with Hassocks, we saw another one on Sunday. As we got back into the game and took control, a few of the Withdean lads lost their composure, resulting in one player going disgracefully through the back of James AFTER the ball had gone out for a throw in. He then immediately sealed his own fate by swinging a punch at J-P. The referee had no choice but to dismiss him. Withdean were extremely lucky not to have a second player red carded, when their captain first fouled and then punched Sam T, who is about half his size. The referee said afterwards that he issued a yellow card because the punch was below shoulder height, which begs the question whose shoulder?
It was an unfortunate end to what was otherwise a decent game. Withdean are a good side, with some quick and skilful players and they gave us a good test. Having mentioned in my last report that the players must learn not to talk out of turn, we picked up another yellow card for exactly that. This time it was Jake, though I understand he may have been a little unlucky. That means that of the five yellow cards we have had this season, four have been for mouthing off. The Withdean manager also took exception to Harry’s behaviour, though he later apologised for his reaction, which was unacceptable.
Turning back to the football, we went back to the three musketeers at the back, which has worked well for a while now. In the whole game, Withdean created very few chances, the best being a turn and shot which clipped the post. Their goal came from an attempted cross which drifted in at the far post, but other than that Sammy, Callum and Matt coped with everything with their usual efficiency. It was also good to see that we have learned the lessons of defending set pieces, with Ben and James going back to help defend free kicks and corners. Jake and Sam did their normal jobs down the wings and Nip and Ben always looked threatening up front. Goals this week from Sam T with a good finish after being put through by Harry, and Ben with an unstoppable header from a great corner by J-P.
Man of the Match was Matt, who has been consistently excellent for a number of weeks now. CRAP award (maybe harshly) to Jake for the booking.
My serious point for the week, is that given what has happened in recent games with Hassocks,
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