Mens 3 Vs St Neots 4

We knew this would be a very difficult match before we started. Even more challenging as I'd picked up a bug the night before and in between me rushing for a call of nature numerous times before the match, I was trying to get the away kit sorted out, give a team talk in the warmth of the changing rooms and finalise the plans for the team dinner the same evening. 

The team talk was all about giving the 4ths plenty of respect as their defence especially looked really good on paper and we knew they would look to raise their game (with intra club bragging rights at stake), pack their defensive lines and frustrate us. As it turns out, this is almost exactly what happened and with the 4ths reliant on long balls forward from the back. We started off well, our passing was fairly good and we looked to use the width as much as possible, but as the game wore on, just as happened last week, we started trying to force the play too much and ended up misplacing passes or running into players as the urgency of the situation ramped up. Even though we had 6 or 7 short corners in the match, we only managed 1 clear shot on goal in those and generally the 4ths were out at us quickly to close down opportunities. 

It was starting to feel like a game with 0-0 written all over it and we had countless occasions where we were in good positions only to let ourselves down with the final pass. That was, until late in the 2nd half: a shot from Adam (assist from Chris B) crept under the body of Tim Poole in the 4ths goal and over the line. This settled nerves and the emphasis was then on being solid, keeping our shape and closing out the last 5 or 10 minutes.

So a match where we can take the 3 points and move on, but where the 4ths came with a game plan which very nearly worked.