Nottsborough 1s vs Winchmore Hill 1s
SAL Div 1
21 September
Weather: Still Hot
A day to forget for The Hill as we were beaten 6-0 by a ruthless Nottsborough side on another hot and dry afternoon.
The journey down was a faff – it’s a trek anyway, but when there’s rail replacement half way through the last leg it becomes more painful.
So after a 1035 train from Winchmore, the underground to Waterloo, another over-ground to Raynes Park and a couple Ubers and one Bolt (we’ve never heard of them either) we arrived at Kingston Sports Ground.
On arrival we were thankful for our sprinklers back at HQ as their main pitch had row after row of sand up and down it where the summer weather had been unkind to the underlying drainage.
The mood at 1pm could not have been much further from the mood at 4pm later that day. In the dressing room we talked about confidence, performance levels and everyone wanting to get the first win of this season.
The line up was somewhat piecemeal. A late NHS mandated cry off from Tom Corfe meant Sam Jennings came in alongside Branners at Centre Half, Lewis resumed his preferred role at left back and Chappers started on the right.
In the middle was the familiar pairing of Sam Russel and Kieran with Alex Bexon given a freer role at number 10. Tom King and Jamie Doyle started in the wide positions and Barney spearheaded the attack up top. Leroy and Lodgey on the bench.
The Nottsborough wide men played high. Without Sam J at full back we lost a lot of what he has given us in the last few games and were unable to get them chasing back in the same way they could have had he been advancing from full back.
The pressure was on us from the start and inside 15 minutes we were 1-0 down. A quick throw in went over the heads of the Winchmore left side, the ball was flicked across the box and headed in from 5 yards out. The unfamiliarity in the back line unfortunately costing us the shape that should have dealt with it.
The second came 10 minutes after from a set piece. A corner ball whipped to the front post was headed against the upright. The deflection went straight across the goal line to the feet of the Nottsborough player who tapped in to make it 2-0.
Winchmore Hill needed now to show the resolve they’ve needed in previous games but found it difficult to get the ball into threatening positions. We kept possession well, played good football in spells but without any real cutting edge.
10 minutes to go before half time and Branners challenged in front of the Nottsborough forward to cut out a high long ball. On landing, he fell awkwardly and was unable to continue. Another reshuffle and Alex Lodge was on next to Sam at centre half. Winchmore were unable to prevent further damage before half time and Notts bagged 2 more within 5 minutes; their centre forward getting behind our back line twice and using his pace to get away and leave himself some simple finishing to increase their lead.
4-0 down at half time.
A shell shocked Winchmore team sat in the changing rooms. It wasn’t that we hadn’t tried playing football. It wasn’t that we’d let ourselves get steam rolled. We’d just been outplayed in key areas of the pitch. Unable to really hold the ball further forwards and instead allowing the opposition the freedom and space to pick out 40, 50, 60 yard balls with ease pinning us back.
We changed the back 4 again.
Sam Russell came in next to Alex Lodge. Sam Jennings went to left back. Lewis went back in midfield. A better second half. Lodge and Russell found a better balance. Sam J provided an assisted attacking threat which helped pin back the Notts wide man. Lew’s more familiar role provided additional balance.
It was a much better second half. We looked like we were playing further forwards. We closed down their back line and midfield and stopped them endlessly feeding their striker. Half chances came and went and we just didn’t seem to get the rub of the green at any point.
Nottsborough, encouraged by their safety net, kept pushing the game. Despite all of their football they had played, their 5th and 6th goals were still hard to take because of their simplicity. The 5th coming after a corner was first floated to the far touch line, collected by a Notts player, sent back in and after a little miskicking, ended up far post unmarked and slotted home. Suggestions of a foul in the box were not given by the ref.
The final goal of the afternoon saw the winger push the ball between two defenders into the box, met it the other side, took one more touch before finding the bottom corner past the unsighted Will Deamer.
6-0. A Battering.
You’ll read book after book on positive thinking, coming back from failure etc and they’ll all tell you to focus on the positives. Keep going despite adversity, don’t dwell on the mistakes.
For the most part, this is true. But unless we address games like this, this won’t fix itself.
We continued to try and play football but just couldn’t get it going. Reacting to results like this will be crucial to future success and bouncing back next game.
End of the day, it’s one to learn from and forget. To be on the end of that score line like that is painful. Seeing nothing going our way but still see people wanted to fight for the scraps, still wanting to play football and sticking together says a lot about our character but character won’t win games, actions will. We never got onto the front foot and it cost us.
TK and Lewis have been selected for the Rep side next Saturday so we have an extra week to lick our wounds. Our next game is against Alleyns on our Centenary Year opener on 5th October. Must do better.
Onwards and Upwards
MOM – Will Deamer. It says a lot when your goalkeeper picks the ball out 6 times but gets MOM for stopping it being a cricket score.
DOD – Will Deamer. Despite his brilliance he still found time to try and Cruyff turn the Centre Forward on the edge of the box and completely forgot to take the ball with him.