Match Report

Times are tough for us at the moment, we just can''t get a win under our belts. We were severely depleted for this match with three away on holiday and two players taking the field feeling worse for wear due to cold/flu viruses. Having said that I still think the opposition were beatable and it was an important game as they were just above us in the table. Unfortunately we didn’t rise to the occasion and found ourselves 2nd in many 50/50’s and lacked concentration and just sheer bravery and determination to win. The surface was frozen in most areas and cut up quite badly later on turning it into a mud bath in the middle.

We went behind to a goal conceded at a corner. We didn’t need to give the corner away in the first place and once again our defending/marking from the corner was kamikaze. This happened after about 8 minutes, we had been playing some decent football and we continued to do so when allowed. It’s not sour grapes but their linesman was pathetic raising the flag at every opportunity and the referee never had control of the game. We tried our best but our efforts never came to anything.

The 2nd half started and we seemed like we meant business. We found an equaliser from Tony Townsend after good work on the right from Wray and Bridges. But we couldn’t hold on and Wandle were back in front just a few minutes later – suicide. Wandle added to their lead and made it 3-1 before Carter went on an amazing run. From his centre half position he went on an unstoppable run down the left wing and just carried on going until he got to the byline and pulled it back for Keyworth to sweep home. The dynamic Fryer had a good shot well saved and Keyworth looked like scoring only to lose his footing in the mud. Their linesman confirmed his lack of knowledge when he flagged Wray offside after he was dribbling the ball through on goal which systematically led to the ref blowing up for ‘offside’. That was it, a morale sapping 3-2 defeat.

Certainly a greater choice of players would have helped the manager but we can''t keep coming up with excuses, there are no excuses left. The fact is, at the moment we are just not playing and concentrating for long enough periods. We can''t finish consistently and we look likely to concede goals too easily, not a good combination. However, in despair and frustration we must find something to counter those feelings. We have another game next week and must apply ourselves with discipline to get something from it. Self belief is a wonderful thing and we need it now. Results breed confidence or does confidence breed results? Either will do at the moment for us.

Keep your heads up boys and keep believing in yourselves, we will get a few results soon, you’ll see, just never, ever give up.