Sunday 24 February 2008 vs. Whiston Wildcats (away)

Up on Guilthwaite Hill on a cold and windy afternoon for our last game in February.

I had decided on a bit of squad rotation in order to give a start to one or two who had been coming on from the bench lately.

Having had a weekend off due to the bad weather, we were slow to start and struggled to find any rhythm or tempo. It was all very scrappy with no one being able to take command and move the ball to where it should be in order for us to make progress.

It was Sam Whittaker who broke the deadlock with a well-taken goal fifteen minutes in. We couldn’t seem to build on this, however, and the game reverted back to an untidy to-and-fro affair.

In accommodating the players I had wanted to start, I’d finally come to the conclusion that a 4-3-3 was the best formation; three up front, but with Ross sitting a little deeper than Sam and Danny. Joe and Chris were working the flanks, with Will holding midfield. To be honest, this was leaving us a little bit exposed through the middle, and Whiston began to exploit this more and more as the half wore on. I was just about to strengthen midfield when Ross got a second for us with 30 minutes gone.

At half time Neil and I spoke about the need to compete more and be stronger when going into tackles.

I put Ants on in midfield with Will, and we hadn’t been going again for very long when Sam netted his second and our third. This was better, and we were a lot more cohesive now with the two commanding central midfield. I started making the other substitutions that I’d mapped out - Alex Hewitt for Joe, Mat for Chris, Connor for Will. All of this freshened us up, but it must be said that all of those who came off had worked hard and played their part well. I was particularly disappointed for Joe who had the ball in the net only to be ruled offside.

And then we went to sleep at the back and let in a ‘soft’ goal when nobody was paying attention. To be honest, I didn’t even see it as I was talking to one of the players who had just come off. Still Danny and Sam - supported by Ross, Alex and Mat - were creating some good openings, and I was really pleased when Sam rounded off his hat trick. From then on it was pretty much one way traffic, and perhaps only tiredness creeping in on a cold day prevented us from adding to our haul.

Anyway, another three points in the bag. Excellent performances from Tom, Ben and Ollie (who nearly curled a free-kick in late on), and Lew and Alex were as unshakeable as ever. Connor and Ants snapped and snarled and bossed midfield, and Ross and Danny toiled tirelessly.

Although it hadn’t been a ‘beautiful’ game, no matter - 26 points now and just 3 behind Wadsley Bridge (in fourth place), and us with a game in hand!

Sunday 10 February 2008 vs. Woodhouse Juniors (home)

"You were lucky today," said one of the opposition parents as I walked over to complete the matchcard after the game. Such lack of grace took me by surprise and it was only later that I thought of what my reply should have been; "Yes, I was lucky! Lucky to have the best team on the pitch. Lucky to have a squad of players willing to work their socks off without whingeing all the time…"

Yes, I got the distinct impression that Woodhouse didn’t like the fact that we beat them. Beat them fair and square. A three-goals-to-one scoreline doesn’t lie, and they didn’t like it. A couple of incidents illustrated this, but - hey, they’re gone – and we’ve got the three points in the bag.

Credit to all of the team again, they dug in a found that extra 'something' when it was needed. Chris Sykes got 'Man of the Match' and this was his best performance of the season so far.

A brief run through of performance would look something like this:

Goalkeeper – excellent, always in the right place at the right time.
Defence – solid and unmovable
Midfield – determined and relentless
Attack – tireless in the pursuit of the next goal

We went behind early from another debateable 'offside goal', and had to fight our way back from there.

A first half goal from Connor had us level by half time, and again the team talk was about giving 'more of the same'. And they did, only better. Another goal with 20 minutes gone from Oliie gave us daylight and I steadied myself for one of those white-knuckle finishes that doesn’t do the heart-rate any good! But no need – a third goal from Danny with 5 minutes to go and that was that. Goodnight, Woodhouse!

It had been a warm and sunny afternoon, and, as we packed away the nets and corner flags from our last home game of the season, the sun was still shining brightly over the yellow and blue half of Beighton.

Sunday 3 February 2008 vs. Thurcroft Tornados (away)

Thurcroft! Not so far out into rural Rotherham, but it felt like we’d gone miles by the time we arrived there on yet another overcast, cold and windy afternoon. A quick look at the pitch revealed a typical February field that wasn’t very encouraging in terms of playing an accurate passing game.

The game had some exciting phases and some dour spells as we fought our way through a frustrating 2-2 draw. Despite conceding early on, we were on top for much of the game, particularly in the second half with the wind at our backs. We just couldn’t put away our chances! And a - doubtful, in my view - penalty against us was the icing on the cake on an afternoon that won’t linger in the memory.

Ollie got 'Man of the Match' from Neil, but, to be fair, everybody played their part without anyone really excelling.

I was impressed by the referee – Bob - who was strict, but fair and approachable (still disagree about the penalty though, Bob).

Two points dropped?