With a lot of rain yesterday and overnight, the pitch was never going to be wonderful, but the quagmire that awaited us in the wilds of Oxspring was something else! Real mud-puddles and boggy holes in both goalmouths, and a strip of churned mud right through the middle, all down the length. The only decent part was the wing (on our right as we kicked towards the 'road end' in the first half).
The game? A scrappy, mucky, sticky, dirty affair - not football as we know it. Anxious too, as the ball continually stopped dead in the mire and players lashed wildly trying to clear their lines.
We took the lead through a Danny Tinsley shot that beat the keeper and, on another day, would be down in the books as Danny's goal. However, the mud conspired to take the sting out of the shot, and, even though it had by this time beat the keeper, it slowed to a trickle, and it was Conor (right place, right time) who put it in the net.
Conor had a storming game throughout, but early in the second half the referee (don't get me started just yet!) gave an absolutely ludicrous penalty for a goalmouth scramble that ended with one of their players losing his feet and then sent Conor off for bringing him down! No way, no chance, not in your wildest dreams, ref! But 1 - 1 it was then.
Then Sam put us back in front with about 30 minutes of the half gone. And what did we do? Having defended so well, for so long, we let them straight back in! Two apiece!
And so the two teams battled it out on this corner of Oxspring that will forever be mud (or so it seems)and maybe a draw was a fair result in the end. Maybe?!
The referee was a young man in his mid-teens (I would guess) who gave us nowt all day. Throw ins? Forget it. Free kicks - no way! Offsides - well yes he gave a lot of those against us (some valid, some absolutely not). To be fair Chris the Oxspring manager, told me afterwards that he too thought there had been some very poor calls against us. But but hey-ho - that's life, that's football, and we wound our way home over the hills and moors - older, wiser and much, much muddier that before!
Sunday, 16 March 2008
Sunday, 9 March 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Sunday 2 March 2008 vs. Brinsworth Juniors (away)
And so back to Outokumpu! This is where our season should have started on a warm Sunday back in early September. However, we had arrived then to find that the goalposts had not been put up and that they appeared generally unprepared for a game of football. Game postponed!
Their early 'poor' start to the season was reflected in their league position (foot of the table), but their position also belied the progress they had made recently - 4 draws and one defeat since Christmas, suggesting they had perhaps 'turned the corner'.
We tarted with a 4-3-3 formation, with Sam once again joining Ross & Danny upfront. Connor, Ants and Mat were in midfield and in front of the usual back four (Ben, Lew, Alex B and Ollie). Nick in goal.
It immediately became apparent that they were indeed not just there to make up the numbers and they matched us throughout a hard-fought first half. The only noteworthy point in the half relates to the attitude of the referee, but I'll say no more about that here!
The second half was much of the same with the Brinsworth goalkeeper in particular catching the eye through some excellent saves and an absolute dedication to making sure we didn't score. Then... breakthrough. Ross put us in front with 15 minutes gone. And from then, focus of the battle shifted slightly to 'holding what we had'. When changes were made, Chris, Joe, and Tom (in attack!)all did their bit too.
And 'hold' it we did to come away with another hard-earned 3 points. Hats of to all of them again for their effort and determination. I have seen teams wilt under the sort of pressure they faced and dealt with this afternoon.
Another game that will stay in the memory due to our attitude rather than 'pretty football'.
Their early 'poor' start to the season was reflected in their league position (foot of the table), but their position also belied the progress they had made recently - 4 draws and one defeat since Christmas, suggesting they had perhaps 'turned the corner'.
We tarted with a 4-3-3 formation, with Sam once again joining Ross & Danny upfront. Connor, Ants and Mat were in midfield and in front of the usual back four (Ben, Lew, Alex B and Ollie). Nick in goal.
It immediately became apparent that they were indeed not just there to make up the numbers and they matched us throughout a hard-fought first half. The only noteworthy point in the half relates to the attitude of the referee, but I'll say no more about that here!
The second half was much of the same with the Brinsworth goalkeeper in particular catching the eye through some excellent saves and an absolute dedication to making sure we didn't score. Then... breakthrough. Ross put us in front with 15 minutes gone. And from then, focus of the battle shifted slightly to 'holding what we had'. When changes were made, Chris, Joe, and Tom (in attack!)all did their bit too.
And 'hold' it we did to come away with another hard-earned 3 points. Hats of to all of them again for their effort and determination. I have seen teams wilt under the sort of pressure they faced and dealt with this afternoon.
Another game that will stay in the memory due to our attitude rather than 'pretty football'.
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