Mens 3 Vs Spalding 4

Spalding came to Longsands on the back of a 4-1 victory over Kettering and our teamtalk focused on being prepared for another tough match, but with an emphasis on keeping it tight and trying to overcome our perennially slow starters tag.

By and large this worked. Spalding edged territory for the 1st 10 without causing too many alarm bells and we were strong in the tackle and simply felt robust and organised. Our switch to a 5 man midfield began paying dividends and we started to get a strong foothold in the game. A couple of chances came and went and with pressure on Spalding increasing, on 12 mins Nathan picked up the ball in their half and carried on going...and going and managed to squeeze in a shot from a seemingly tight angle to make it 1-0.

This began perhaps the best spell of play, not only of this game, but of our season so far and our movement on and in particular off the ball felt really good. Further chances came and went, the Spalding defence and keeper were being overworked and the pressure told with a further goal on 23 mins by Danny.

The last 10 mins of the 1st half were solid rather than spectacular and we went in at half time with the easiest of team talks for some time.

Onto the restart and despite the calls of same again at half time, we were off the boil for the 1st 15 of the 2nd half. We were getting caught in possession or not clearing our lines or making our passes count, leading to Spalding having a succession of short corners.

Eventually we arose from our slumber to start playing better again, Nathan hammering home from a short although soon afterwards, Spalding reduced the arrears with a short of their own. For the last 15  however, we gained a semblance of control and began to exert some sustained pressure on Spaldings back line again without being able to add to the score.

In between all that, I almost forgot to mention the penalty flick awarded to Spalding which Simon kept out, almost noncholantly, but this was in the middle of a real blur of competitive end to end hockey, 2 goals and numerous other shorts and chances at both ends. 

An overall good team display today, with Gary getting MoM for his robust work at the back,Simon running him close and with Mark getting DoD for electing to pass rather than shoot towards the end.