Match Report

Despite having a lot of possession we never looked like we were going to score today. We also conceded two soft goals and couldn’t get ourselves back into the game. Our team was:

Edwards (GK)
Tapsfield (RB)
Fullone (CB)
Simmons (CB)
Morton (LB)
Charlton (LM)
Evans (CM) (Captain)
Mckeown (CM)
Havers(RM)
Nethercot (CF)
Head(CF)

Subs:
Benningfield

Stuart Lenton pulled out just before kick off having tweaked his hamstring and although this left us with only one sub our starting eleven still looked strong. We started fairly well but went 1-0 down from a penalty after 15 minutes. Their striker burst into the right hand edge of the penalty area and went over under a challenge from Chris Charlton. Mark Edwards nearly saved the penalty but it just snuck under the crossbar.

At 1-0 we still had plenty of time to get back into the game but we didn’t manage to. Russell Nethercot and Dan Head upfront worked very hard but didn’t get the kind of service strikers need in order to score goals. In midfield we didn’t get the ball out the Spencer Havers on the right wing, and Chris Charlton on the left wing, enough. Both players play well when involved but again they didn’t really receive the ball in attacking positions. We seemed to pass it square in midfield alot which is great but you need an end product and we weren’t incisive enough.

Defensively we were very strong and although Bridon were a decent team we limited them to few opportunities. Mark Edwards made a couple of really good saves when called upon. Shortly after half time Adam Benningfield replaced Mike Mckeown in centre midfield and competed well for us. Our centre back partnership of Giorgio Fullone and Ricky Simmons worked really well again and Ricky deserved to win man of the match. Richard Tapsfield had a strong game at right back, winning lots of 50-50s and Peter Morton did equally well at left back. Their second goal came 15 minutes from the end. I gave the ball away badly in midfield and they slipped in their striker who beat Mark well.

So all in all a disappointing result although there are lots of positives we can take from the game. We did keep possession very well and defended excellently, particularly considering that it is a new partnership at centre back. What we didn’t do is convert this possession into chances and that is something we need to improve upon next week.

Man of the match: Ricky Simmons