Men's 2nd XI Vs Middleton & Bognor Men's 1st XI

Details	Players
Season: Season 2009-2010 Date: 24.10.2009 Time: 14:00 Team: Mens 2nd XI Competition: League Location: Away Opponent: Middleton & Bognor Men's 1st XI Our Score: 4 Opponent Score: 1 Result: Won	Jack Symons - 0 Goal(s) Adam Stephens - 0 Goal(s) Jamie Luke - 0 Goal(s) Arran Barker - 0 Goal(s) Bryan Lock - 2 Goal(s) Chris Wheeldon - 0 Goal(s) Tim Barter - 0 Goal(s) Mark Minchell - 1 Goal(s) Stuart Barter - 0 Goal(s) James Cook - 0 Goal(s) Ahmed Ramiz - 1 Goal(s) David Edmondson - 0 Goal(s)

Match Report(s)

 

Middleton & Bognor 1's  1 v 4 Worthing 2's

Scorers: Minchell, Lock 2, Ramiz

 

A vital away win for the Mens 2's, maintained their 100% record this season. This was a tough game on a pitch which we struggled to adapt to. We didn't play particularly well, and M&B were very much in the game until midway through the 2nd half. However this is exactly the sort of game where some resilience was needed and we did well in the end to grind out the 3 points.

Opting for a 1st XI style 2-3-2-3, we started brightly enough, with centre forward Lock feeding a ball through to inside right Minchell, who slotted home calmly inside the first few minutes. However, we then were immediately on the back foot. M&B were finding there front men too easily, the marking and positioning in midfield wasn't quite right. When we did regain possession at the back, either in open play or from 16's, we struggled to get the ball out. A lack of options and some miscued passes, as the ball frequently got stuck in the surface. It wasn't long before the M&B pressure resulted in an equaliser, a man over at the far post finding a small gap between the keepers pads.

Despite not clicking as a team, it has to be said we still had chances. Ramiz and Lock frequently found themselves away 1 on 1, but couldn't quite capitalise. They key factor was that we dug in defensively, with Mungo and Barts jnr looking impassable at the back. We'd only managed 1 short corner in the first half, a strike from Barts jnr which rebounded out off the keepers pads, but nobody there to capitalise! Eventually one of our attacks did pay dividends when Ramiz found Lock who applied the finish for a 2-1 half time lead.

The 2nd half we started quite slowly, perhaps apprehensive about the next goal being so crucial. We relied on Chris in goal to make one excellent save, coolly deflecting away a missile into his pads. There was also a series of short corners to be defended. Finally with 20 mins to go, we gained control of the game. Arran Barker had started to become more and more of a factor from right half and as M&B tired his energy levels seemed to increase. The sight of him tearing away down the right seemed to lift the side. Out on the right wing, James Cook was also more involved in the game. Whether linking with Arran or picking up balls further infield and utilising the trademark moulinex, he was punching holes in the M&B rearguard. We started to look more comfortable defensively as M&B were starting to go even more direct from deeper positions, which we were able to cut out with relative ease. If they tried to play through the middle of the park, then Stuart Barter was hounding them down and turning over a lot of ball for us.

Our ascendancy was translated into goals, with 1 more for Lock and 1 for Ramiz. At 4-1 the pressure eased and we looked much more like a top of the table side. A good win in the end, lots of positives once again, but also a few areas to iron out perhaps a result of tweaking the formation.

We roll on to the big one at home next week against Penguins, confident of a good performance on our home pitch.

 

Team: Chris Wheeldon, Jamie Luke, Tim Barter, Arran Barker, Adam Stephens, Jack Symons, Mark Minchell, Stuart Barter, James Cook, Bryan Lock, Ahmed Ramiz. Sub: David Edmondson