Match Report

This is a very difficult report to construct and will be relatively brief.

This was supposedly meant to be one of our biggest games and challenges of the season. It is a shame that some players decided that this was not the case at all and left their team mates asking all sorts of questions as nine of them waited in the car park before the game, wondering what they had done to deserve such inappropriate support from the rest of the team. I’d like to say it was due to too much festive indulgences, but I’ve got a bad feeling it wasn’t just that, even so, that considered, to let down a team mate is inexcusable – whatever the reason, with no apparent forewarning. And done with such a lack of care and responsibility I do not have words to describe.

It is now extremely clear that we don’t appear to have any respect or feeling from some of the players in the squad, which really does hurt me as a human being not just a football manager. Darren, I know full well, feels the same probably even worse as he is the one who sacrifices a lot of time and energy into all the pre-planning and relevant arrangements.

We started the game with 10 men, with our manager Darren Burkett upfront on his own. Vista also started with 10 men which gave us an incentive. We tried desperately before the game to rally some belief amongst our team and we started very well, after 15 minutes we had competed for everything and a sense of belief was flowing through us at this point. Gradually Vista’s experience and quality of football began to surface. It has to be said we did gift at least 3 or 4 of the goals today but that happened in the latter stages when the heads had gone down. But for the first half hour you really couldn’t tell which team had won the Senior division title last year. Vista had taken the lead after 25 minutes, but prior to that, our saviour between the posts, Georgie Burkett, had already made two excellent saves, ending the year of 2008 as he had begun it, in extremely good and improving form. Only a few minutes after the opening Vista goal we equalised after Wray was tripped in the box. He got up to take it and finished calmly into the corner to make it 1-1, we were looking fine at this stage. It didn’t last for long, Vista finished twice before the break to make it 3-1 and give the half an unjust scoreline.

Paul Tanton arrived at half time and gamely got kitted out to give us an 11. They were also now up to 11 players. The 2nd half got harder for us and after the fifth goal, we looked well and truly out of it. We still battled gamely and fought hard but to no avail and couldn’t hold back the Vista tide as they managed to make us pay dearly for some tired defending.

I would like to say a huge well done to every player, but special thanks to Darren Burkett for getting out there and to Paul Tanton for showing real commitment to the cause. Also to the six sixteen year olds in our ranks who found this a real baptism of fire but can hold their heads high knowing that they gave a truly brave committed performance.

We are determined to consign this situation to the rubbish heap, where it belongs and we look forward to the new year to turn over a new leaf with a fully committed squad.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everybody !