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9 Mar 2008: Grasshoppers 2:3 Crawley Devils March 10, 2008

Posted by editor in : Uncategorized , trackback

By beating us, Crawley Devils went top of the league, so on paper perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised at the result.  But considering we totally outplayed them for two thirds of the game, you could well understand the disappointment of everyone after the match.

 

 

 

We took a great confidence and attitude into the game and playing against the wind in the first half, we got the ball under control and ran the game from the start.  Once again, our three central midfield players created everything and broke up play whenever the opposition had the ball.  We created three or four good chances, before Ben opened the scoring after 20 minutes with a good finish at the far post.

 

 

 

Nip doubled our lead 10 minutes later with a perfectly executed free kick from 25 yards, which gave their otherwise excellent keeper no chance at all.  It was no more than we deserved and once again we looked to be on course for a handsome win.  From back to front we outplayed them.  Josh made two great saves in the first half and the defence was solid, with Sammy and Matt especially flying into challenges and winning headers against much bigger players.  Harry and Nip were effective down the flanks and Ben again looked a real handful up front.

 

 

 

Sadly, the wind changed direction at half time, and our fortunes changed with it.  We carried on for the first 10 minutes of the second half, running the game and creating chances, but nothing quite came off- 2 efforts hit the side of the net rather than the back and then we had a throwback to earlier in the season.  A speculative shot was going well wide, until Callum, trying to clear, deflected it over Josh and into the net.  It was undeserved, but

Crawley latched onto the lifeline and, driven forward by their excellent captain, they started to put us under more pressure.

 

 

 

Their second goal was more disappointing from our point of view, in that we went to sleep at the back and let them come into the area unchallenged from a quick throw in.  It was a really poor goal to concede and we knew it.  Things could have gone from bad to worse immediately afterwards, when we didn’t defend a corner and the ball was headed in, only to be chalked off by the linesman who had seen it go out of play before swinging over.

 

 

 

Changes were made to try and freshen things up.  It was good to see Sam T back and he looked sharp down the right.  Scott came on and bustled around the midfield and Matt gave Ben a breather up front for the last 10 minutes.  But it just wasn’t our day and with 2 minutes to go Sammy failed to respond to a call for the defence to go forward and played their most dangerous player onside, with predictable results.

 

 

 

There were lots of positives to take out of the game.  The

Crawley spectators and manager all said we were the best team they had played so far.  Some of the performances were excellent- to an extent we take certain players for granted, but some of the others have really improved enormously over recent weeks.  Josh is now an accomplished goalkeeper, only really needing to work on his place kicking.  His shot stopping and positional sense have really developed, to the extent that he has improved the whole defence by making the back four more confident in front of him.  Tom Primrose, despite the name, is anything but a delicate flower on the pitch.  His tackling and positional play have really improved and his control and distribution is getting better by the game.  Sammy Dickson has grown in stature playing at full back and also never shirks a challenge.  Ben has taken on the responsibility of the lone striker and also rediscovered his scoring touch.  And the most positive thing of all is that for two thirds of this match, we were by far the better team- against the team which may well win the league.

 

 

 

We won’t dwell on the negatives, but some still let themselves down with their attitude and inability to keep their mouth shut when things go against us.  And on football matters, the back four still needs to concentrate all the time and nor switch off periodically as we did for the second and third goals.

 

 

 

Goals this week for Ben and Nip.  MoM was Craig, who worked harder than anyone on the pitch and the CRAP award goes to Callum for a stroke of bad luck, by a short head from Jake who picked up another yellow card.

 

 

 

So one missed opportunity, but we have four left!

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