7 October 2007: Grasshoppers 4-1 Crawley Phoenix October 8, 2007
Posted by editor in : Uncategorized , trackbackThe guys continued to improve this week with an efficient 4-1 demolition of
We had a bit of a slow start, but were always on top. Early on Ryan suffered a gash to the nose after trying the traditional Inuit greeting on the
Having made such a brilliant early contribution, Ben was immediately substituted back off, wondering what he has to do to stay on!
Nip added a second, having failed with three previous attempts to chip the keeper, so by half time we were comfortable. In truth we would have been further ahead but for some interesting offside decisions.
After half time we looked much better, as Craig and especially JP stopped drifting too deep and really started to assert themselves in midfield. They looked a very strong pairing and caused Phoenix all kinds of problems with a range of running, passing and shooting which the opposition just had no answer to. One 50/50 tackle in particular left JP’s direct opponent in a crumpled heap from which he didn’t recover.
The defence was as solid as we have seen it for some time, other than one momentary aberration when Skelly slipped and gave them an easy tap in for 2-1. That led to some interesting comments from their supporters on the touchline, who thought they were back in the game. Their manager especially, who had done as much to demoralize his team as our players, decided that they were now going to go on and win the game. Everyone likes an optimist, but anyone watching this game could see that there could only be one winner. All four defenders looked composed and comfortable throughout- which is a hard trick to master!
For the rest of the second half, the front two and two wide midfielders were rotated between Jake, Ben, Nip, Scott, Harry and Sam T. Through astute and inspired tactical wisdom, Nip and Scott both scored very quickly after coming on. Poor Nip was also (again) the victim of some creative linesmanship, having what looked like another good goal ruled out.
Between the linesman and their goalkeeper, both of whom had excellent defensive games, the score was kept respectable. The keeper was in great form and at one stage made two great saves in quick succession, when a goal seemed certain. He also stretched to the limit to get a fingertip to a Jake special late on.
So all in all this was a very satisfying performance, with everyone acquitting themselves very well and the team now well and truly back to the level of performances we were regularly achieving last year. A word too for the opposition, whose team and supporters behaved in a way which gave us a game played in the right spirit. Goals for Ben (sub!), Nip (2) and Scott and an honourable mention for the central midfield pairing of Craig and JP- nice to have you back to your best chaps. On the back of 2 CRAP awards, this weeks MoM goes to JP, shading it over Craig and Nip. A good headed goal isn’t enough to save Scott from the CRAP award, for being caught offside 29 times in the three minutes he was on the pitch.
Roll on next week!
Comments»
no comments yet - be the first?