Match Report

No shame in this result whatsoever as far as I’m concerned. We played really well against very good opposition and were unfortunate not to come away with a draw. Our team was:

Mark Edwards – Goalkeeper
Terry Connor – Left Back (Matt Pragnell – 60 minutes)
Paul Parsons – Centre Back
Richard Davies – Centre Back
Richard Tapsfield – Right Back
Jay Blay – Right Midfield
Sam Evans – Centre Midfield
Daragh Nott – Centre Midfield (captain)
Peter Morton – Left Midfield (Bobby Moulson 55 minutes)
Dan Head – Centre Forward
Paul Tanton – Centre Forward

I’m not going to mention everyone’s individual performances as I thought each one of us played very well so there is no need to single anyone out. Two incidents which have stuck in my memory were:

Mark Edwards made a terrific save when he pushed a fiercely-struck shot onto the crossbar.

Richard Davies made a perfectly timed sliding tackle which would definitely have been a penalty had he mistimed it.

The only other thing to say is how well we played in general. Lewisham showed why they are pushing for the title; most of their players are comfortable on the ball and they have great movement. That was how they scored their goal. They passed the ball quickly in midfield and their striker pulled into space before the ball was played through to him and he finished well. Despite their ability, we worked really hard and limited the amount of clear cut chances they created. The exception to this was the last 10 minutes when we were pushing forward but that was the right thing to do and you inevitably leave yourself exposed at the back. We also followed our instructions from Danny well – Jay pushed onto their left back who had caused us real problems in the first half but disappeared in the second half.

In terms of our attacking play, we had 3 really good chances: Tant, Bobby and Pragnell, plus shots from Daragh and myself from outside the area. We deserved a point but can hold our heads high as we gave them a real fright. Let’s take this forward into next week. Before the game we all need to focus on how good it felt to be part of a battling performance where we played really well, and seek to recreate that.

Man of the Match : Richard Tapsfield