Match Report

Deservedly Smashed By The Dere''s

There is one quote that perfectly sums up our afternoon at Belevedere Sports and Social club on Saturday - ‘Fail to Prepare; Prepare to Fail’. The quote was apparent as early as 11 seconds into the game when the excellent Mitchell powered past our defence and finished past St John in the Guild goal. To net after 11 seconds is amazing, but even more amazing when you realise it was our kick off. Within 10 minutes we were two down as once again we got raped down our right hand side and paid the ultimate price.

However, this is no more than we deserved. We were ill prepared for this fixture with players turning up to the clubhouse late, the ground late and lack of communication. We cannot expect to win or even compete in games with this type of approach. We did not warm up properly, we did not talk properly and we were rushed and pushed into everything because we were not prepared.

After the sharp start, the Dere’s appeared to take their foot off the gas and we started to put our game together. Ten minutes before the break we worked our way back into the fixture and scored a very good goal. Little balls to feet and pass & move play enabled Cooke J to cleverly manoeuvre in the box and he buried his effort ACROSS the keeper and into the corner. We finished the half the better side but the Dere’s well deserevd their lead.

At the half we did not dwell on the bad start we had but looked to build on the good last twenty minutes of the half. We had grown into the game and we needed to up the pace and start getting in their faces a bit more.

The half time talk had no effect whatsover and within 20 seconds of the re-start, the Dere’s got the killer third goal when Mitchell clinically finished from close range, when he GOT ACROSS our defence, IN FRONT of his defender and HIT THE TARGET. After this we pretty much capitualted as a team and it was not long after when a fourth was added when the unchallenged Whiltey powered in a close range header

By this stage we might as well had got the white flags out and planted a tombstone on the pitch.

We once again switched our formation to try and reduce the deficit and when Cooke J tucked away his penalty it seemed to trigger the Dere''s back into action rather than ourselves. The Dere’s then added their fifth and sixth goals in quick succession to give them the rampant win they richly desevered. It just appeared that the Dere''s could randomly up the pace, embarrass our defenders and net without really pushing too hard.

In the end, the scoreline was fair and just. The Dere’s took all three points and the Guild left with their pride in tatters.

In terms of selection I have no real excuses. I appreciate that we have 3 or 4 players still to come back and to lose Davis so early was a real blow, but this was probably my strongest squad of the season so far. We have conceeded as many goals in the four league games that we have played this season than the whole of last season. What was the most disappointing thing to see was the way we simply gave up. I cannot rememeber the last time I managed a team that gave up and it''s both embarrassing and brutally dissapointing. I take that very personally.

After the game in the bar, all the Belvedere players had stayed for a drink and had stayed to discuss and analyse the game. This is something that creates a good team spirit which was so vividly reflected during the game. This is yet another point we must learn from and start acting more like a team off the pitch as well as on it. Every effort should be made to take time out for your team and team mates and it goes leaps and bounds towards getting success on the pitch. Your presence in the bar is expected after both training and games, another learning point.

I am a keen advocate of learning from our mistakes and working on our errors at training on Tuesday. To me, the error from Saturday was lack of preparation and commitment. I also do not believe that we are as fit as we claim; we fell apart in the second half. These problems will be rectified at training. Please bring with you your lungs on Tuesday and oh yeah, make sure you do not forget your heart, eh boys?

Remember, no train; no play.