Sunday 11 November 2007 vs. Thurcroft Tornados (home)

At Monday’s training session we’d discussed the fact that there were 5 games to go before the Christmas/New Year break, and that these were 5 games we could (and should) win. Fifteen points there for the taking! The big question to them was "How much do you want them?"

And this was the message that me and Neil gave them again before kick off. We asked for something extra and I was specific in so far as 'lose, draw or win' I wouldn’t be happy with them if they hadn’t put the effort in. This was not the time for a stroll in the park!

To their credit – they took this on board and set off like a team determined. Thurcroft were the only team (up to that point) to have taken anything from the league leaders, Cresswell. When talking to their manager before the game, "fitness and fight" was what he said had got them a point.

Off we went and ten minutes or so into the game it became one way traffic. We were pressing hard, with chances on goal from open play and from set plays too. The goods news was that we were getting stuck in AND playing good football. The only concern was one of the oldest 'sods law'/football curses - the team that has all the play is then punished by a breakaway goal totally against the run of things.

But we kept going and on 30 minutes we got our reward through the ever-dangerous Danny Tinsley. Danny and Ross Revill were unstoppable through the middle. With Alex H and Mat working magic down the wings, and Ants turning on the style in the middle, everything was going our way, and we got a second through Will five minutes before half time. Although this was the crowning moment of Will's effectiveness going forward, his real contribution was the grit and determination he showed in bossing the midfield. A Captain leading by example.

Half time came and so far, so good.

After the restart, we picked up where we had left off, until one of the Thurcroft lads took a bad knock in a 50/50 challenge. It was the five or so minutes stoppage that seemed to affect us and spoil our concentration, and we were pushed back for a good while, just as they had been in the first half. They pulled a goal back and it became a real test of character for our lot.

So far I’ve not mentioned the defence. Tom was handling it all brilliantly and making some fine saves. Ben Simmo and Ollie were solid at full back and the sheer presence of Lew (another massive performance) and Alex B (strength plus skill) got us through this tricky patch.

We started playing good football again and I put on Chris and Sam for Alex and Mat on the wings. The quality didn’t dip and Chris, Ross and Danny were involved in a move that saw us put the ball in the net again only to be ruled offside. Connor went on to sit in front of the back for and did a good job there as we 'dug deep' to see ourselves home to a well-deserved win.

Credit due to everyone, there was a real difference in how they approached this game. Put simply – for all of the previous games, they had turned up, listened to what we had to say and then gone out and played football (some of it good, some of it not so good). Today they went out and applied themselves to winning a game of football. Doing that, was, of course, still about playing the game, but they all went onto that pitch with a determination to compete and battle for every ball and every opportunity and not to let them get the better of us. They were all excellent and 'came of age' as a football team (as opposed to being just a collection of good players).