Goal: Kelly
Work commitments have taken their toll on the quality and quantity of first team match reports. Given the outrageous quality of our newsletter design, I need to take a long hard look at myself.
Alas, If it were possible, I would have one of the lads step up to create the content. I am however unsure as to whether wax crayon pictures are acceptable in PDF format.
We were up at Preston Manor again and it was bloody freezing. I miss the racecourse and its raucous crowds.
In summary, we probably underestimated Lyonians. In the amateur game, if playing a team near the bottom of the league, you have to warn against complacency repeatedly and explicitly in the warm up. As much as anything, this is to then protect yourself of eventual accusations of being complacent when you don’t get the result you want.
That said, I am levelling those accusations squarely at myself. You can say ‘this lot are no mugs’ and believe it, but you can never really remove the idea that this should be a 2-0, 3-0. Having played Lyonians on the opening day and earning a relatively comfortable win, I thought it would head in that direction.
As it was, I think we can consider ourselves lucky to have picked up a point. Lyonians were hugely improved and created significantly the better chances in the second half. Had it not been for a combination of inspired goalkeeping by Stu, last ditch defending and awful finishing, we would have been beaten.
The first half was relatively even. A tidy swivel and hit gave Lyonians the lead, but Matt Kelly cooly rounded the keeper to level. I thought we were beginning to work our way into it as we went in 1-1 at the break.
The second half was end to end, but it was Lyonians that carved out by far the better chances. Our penchant of giving the ball away 30 yards from our own goal certainly helping them in this. All credit though, they played some good stuff and switched the play really well.
To be honest, when an oppo free header from 6 yards outside gets glanced wide, you take your point and are happy with it.
A very flat performance, coming off the back of some good ones. It can happen. We need to be more intelligent in our decision making across the pitch. It’s one thing to make a mistake, but we can be brainless in our pass selection and defensive shape at times.
Free week to recharge and onto the next one.
MoM: Pennycook
