Match Report

The most satisfying aspect of this result came well after the final whistle, with the look of disbelief on the face of the Old Roan player when I told him we were 3rd from bottom of the league! And no, he did'nt think we were bottom. I could have returned the compliment by saying none of us believed they could be as high as second, but I thought better of it!

We had narrowly lost to them in the away match in October, after leading with 7 minutes to go, so we knew a win was within our capabilities, and so it proved, the 1-0 scoreline flattering them somewhat. 

We kicked off before our lowest "crowd" of the season, ONE!!! That man deserves a mention so thanks to George Allen. Not even Keith had made the long trek up from the clubhouse by then! Anyway, it wasn't long before the pubs had turned out the rest of our supporters.

Kicking with the strong wind, we started well but there were few clear cut chances. The ball was spending too much in the air, but we always tried to play football, the only "Route1" we used was the occasional kick from Jez, using the wind. Roan's tiresome offside trap (we must be the only team in the league that doesn't use it) was catching us out time and again. The way to beat it is to (a) carry the ball through on your own, or (b) play the forward pass early, or (c) for the forwards to run back making sure they are onside, and allowing midfield players running from deep to take the forward roles, a well timed run and pass leaving them one on one with the goalkeeper. Mind you, that's no guarantee of a goal, as I discovered!!! Yes, I managed to miss one or two, ahem, half chances either side of half-time.

I would like to thank Des for not giving me a good kicking after I'd shot instead of passing to him for a certain goal. He'll probably leave that until training - I must remember to get on the same side this Saturday, remembering what happened to Grouch And Clarkyl

So we changed round with a blank scoreline, kicking into the wind. I don't know whether the defence would agree, but the front three and midfield found it easier to play into the wind, when the ball would hold up much more. Certainly, Roan seemed to think they'd done the hard work in the first half. I was just  to think we would pay for our (my) missed chances when Neil got fed up with putting me through and put Carlos through instead and he rounded the keeper to score - a bit like Kanchelskis did on Saturday (bad luck Charltonl). With our defence holding firm, despite the unavailability of Jeff Jenner
(and not BECAUSE of it, Rob Davis!) we held on comfortably for another 2 points. l know it's a cliche, but we really ARE going to thrash someone soon. 

Competition is there for places in all positions: up front, with Prince and Duncan to come back; midfield, with Storks, Paul Couch and "L—shaped toe" Clarkson missing this week, and defence, with Ian Coles doing a great job standing in for Jeff. Not forgetting the goalkeeper situation at the club (in the first 3 teams anyway).