Scorers: Kendall, Kanga(2), Player, Gallaway
On the back of a smashing win against the 8s, we found ourselves at the nostalgic location of Albert Road. With the 10s V Firestorm game at the same location it was bound to be a logistical nightmare, and so it proved.
With the meet times in the newsletter completely ignored by the 3 AP teams, most people drip fed into the sentimental Albert Road. In a AP Firestorm team sheet of 20 plus, many failed to turn up. So with a desire to have a squad of 14 for the 9s, I was willing to make the 10s game a 10 a side affair. Fortunately they ended up with plenty.
The pitch was muddy, but the mood was good. We started well again, a complete opposite to the previous system where slow starts cost many goals. We were on top from the get go, the formation doing justice and keeping our players on top of the opposition whenever in possession.
The Gallaway played a through ball which fed Kendall to slot home for a deserved goal. It was a crucial finish and meant we had an early goal on the board. We continued well with Stephen Korek getting stuck right in and trying to create some good moves in the midfield. The pitch offering the most opposition to our performance. The defence and GK held solid throughout with little impact from the opposition. We managed to get a second on the board, Mahmut put one home with a banged finish in to the goal. It was a great first half to play. We had dominated it throughout and the energy on a difficult pitch was good.
The second half was a more even affair, the opposition had a few chances, but the Pollards intercepting and tackling on many occasions. An unbelievable goaline clearance from Emlyn saved the opposition on getting back in to the game. D Holder in goal, despite playing with a leg injury, dominated the goal area and cleaned up many a ball. There were some good saves amongst that helping us keep the lead. We attacked again against the opposition who were playing a high line. Mahmut got the goal on the break, the opposition incorrectly thought our player was offside but that player was not interfering with play.
We attacked again, Mike Player was felled in the box, the game was getting needlessly edgy, and madness ensued. A couple of our players were at fault alongside the opposition for getting drawn in to needless tittle-tattle. Its an area that needs to be looked at from them all. When you have the quality you have to accept you will be felled sometimes, you have to stand up, rub yourself down and get on with it. Stanley Matthews did it and did it well.
We continued to attack late in play where the opposition were still looking for a late goal. A well worked team goal ensured a cross from the side was slotted home by Player.
With barely much time on the clock a penalty was won by some smart play by Kavanagh. The ball was quickly removed from his possession and Gallaway struck home a solid penalty to give the score a nice look to it.
So 5-0 it was, another good game, great performances all round. Mahmut and Kendall took their respective goals well at crucial times. Selfe and Korek offered great play in the midfield. Korek especially getting stuck in on his debut. The defence shone once again, including Dalziel the GK who produced a very smart and comfortable GK display. It was a difficult toss up for man of the match between any of the defensive line. But for some key interceptions and tackles and top work, Steve Pollard gets the nod this week.
MoM: Pollard
