Sunday 9 March 2008 vs. Wadsley Bridge (away)

Across the city to Hillsborough on a sunny afternoon for our penultimate game, and this with a 4th place finish in the league at stake!

There are only 2 pitches at the Niagara ground and both are in demand. There are always teams on there all through the weekend, and, as we arrived, a game was just finishing on the pitch we were due to play on. The surface we found was a heavy and churned up in places, particularly through the middle.

The game kicked off and it was immediately apparent that Wadsley were well fired up. On the other hand, whilst we did nothing particularly wrong, we seemed to be lacking urgency and determination.

With 15 minutes gone, they won a free kick some way outside our area, and to the right of the goal. This brought a thunderous shot - that was pretty much unstoppable - to the far top comer of our net. They had the lead.

That’s not to say we didn’t have our own scoring chances. When we got the ball down and played, we created three or four clear opportunities that sadly went begging. To make matters worse a well-hit shot from open play took them two-nil in front after 20 minutes.

Alex Hewitt got caught going into a tackle and had to come off with a badly bruised ankle. Sadly, he played no further part. Will went on and had an immediate impact, with a strong performance in midfield.

We reached half time with hope. Daft as it may seem, we could actually have been winning if (big 'if') - having worked hard to create chances – we could actually get the ball in the net! The halftime message was to get more competitive. On several occasions we had seen Wadsley players get their bodies in front of the ball (shots etc.) whilst, under similar circumstances, we were ducking and turning away. Tom was struggling at half time and Nick replaced him in the net.

The second half was better and Sam, with 15 minutes of the half gone, broke free and put us back in the game.

Then disaster! Totally out of character, Ben Simmo reacted badly to a challenge by going straight back into another with his foot high and his studs showing. Red card! Naturally, we had to re-organise and Ross pushed back to provide cover in the back line.

With tiredness creeping in to both sides, there were still chances to be had, and hope 'sprung eternal' (as the old saying goes) until we conceded a 'soft' third goal from a corner. Throwing caution to the wind we went at them with 3 attackers but, frustratingly, got no more reward for our efforts.

On reflection, Lew, Alex Birkett and Ollie were solid as usual at the back. In midfield Ants, Conor and Joe ran themselves into the ground for the cause. Danny toiled relentless upfront and Sam added pace in the second half. Ross was consistent throughout the game whether upfront, in midfield or at the back. Alex Hewitt and Matt brought flashes of creativity. Ben had battled well until the 'red mist' descended!

A lesson learned. On the verge of leaving the Junior League and stepping up to Under 18s, hopefully games like these will help shape and develop them for the future.