Scorer: Brade
A miserable day with a miserable result at the end of it. I will not bore you with too many details but suffice to say we were beaten by a more efficient, effective, stronger and dare I say fitter side.
We started well and played some half decent football until we reached the final third when we repeatedly gave the ball away far too cheaply. Sales were playing the counter attack game really well and we always looked stretched when they had the ball. Nevertheless we took the lead when Ash ran onto a lovely through ball and slid the ball past the advancing keeper. Alas we could not hold the lead long and conceded two cheap goals before the break.
Second half was more of the same, although we had a couple of good chances to equalise. The best was after some great work by Jermaine, unfortunately they went straight up the other end and made it 3-1. We pushed hard for a goal but Sales were really dictating the game and it was no surprise when we conceded again. It could have been worse but Steve in goal came to our rescue on a couple of occasions. A well deserved win for Sales who were excellent through out.
For us it was a hard lesson in playing on a large pitch and what can happen if you do not keep the ball. We were not terrible and at times played some nice football but we need to be more driven if we are to finish the season well. We need to gamble more up front to try and get defences on the back foot. Too often they are between us and the goal when we need to be trying to turn them to face their own goal. The passing on Sat was delayed and delayed until the space was lost and then we were crowded off the ball.
Sales played it quick and simple and when it went long they backed up quickly.
Hopefully this is a lesson learnt and we can push on with a win on Sat against another team in the top half. We really need to up the ante from now on so no excuses for Saturday.
