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East Grinstead 3's v Wimbledon 3's, loss 2-1
EG away - always a delightful place to go. If you like teams who whinge to the league and screw up your promotion chances. Bitter, me?, never. Most of the team didn't recognise the place in a non-alcoholic haze, and instead regaled tales of various bushes / rivers / dubious conquests and "when I was a lad" stories which would have Ash's mother blushing on the sidelines. Bibs tried to swing the sophistication pendulum the other way and got his car valeted instead... oh dear me...
The team manager and team captain decided to join us in time for push back, so Fluddy thought he would use this time to also swing the sophistication pendulum by having a coffee before the game - I mean what are we turning into..??
Enough of that already - to the game.
Umpires. (They were appointed and qualified - AND wore matching jumpers...)
Well we all know my love affair with these guys. I could write a whole thesis on their shortcomings, and get a first with distinction, but I'll summarise in a way which I hope will let the arbitration committee allow. "Fair and consistently dreadful". They made the 2's umpires of a couple of weeks ago look top of the class. We saw them send 2 players off in the final five minutes of the game before us, plus a spectator, make some quite bizarre decisions, so it was no surprise they were trigger happy and keen to "blow what they see" - or "make up what we like because we're in charge" - take your pick.
This was a 6 point game - EG are now level with us and it would have severely helped our chances had we put them under and taken the win. Needles to say, our "usual" team were up for it on Monday through Wednesday as they knew the score - but due to the positive influx at the top of the club, we were forced to make tricky decisions and replace passion for skill.
It's always difficult to take a step down and believe in the team and players round you. So we had a simple game plan and structure to incorporate our strong individual additions, and it was up to the "old guard" to make the team tick as quickly possible. For 60 out of the 70 minutes we played some great hockey, with great build up play round the back which was nigh on faultless. The back duo of Morgs and Fluddy once again bossed the defence and must take credit for the play. Dan took a little time to find his feet, playing with a new right half and new right wing in front of him, but once he knew where Ash and Ray were going to be the right hand side clicked much better. This can only be improved at training ........
Twin R replaced Twin A who decided to hurt himself in the warm up and allegedly used that excuse when things didn't always click with Phil on the left, but as the game progressed the left hand side got stronger and more confident. Again, the fine tuning and overlapping can only be improved at training.....
We went into half time 0-0, having spent the first 35 minutes in control, Cookie solid in the middle, the defence playing the ball round well, and the midfield and forwards trying to work out who was playing where as we probed up the flanks. The 45 degree ball needed to be cut out, and our first touch, especially those who had been away for a few weeks, was letting us down on the water base - otherwise more of the same, stick to the structure, and it'll happen.
5 minutes in to second half: build up play across the back, right to left, left to right, up to the right half, into the centre half, drive forward to the left wing, one touch across on to the spot, shot from the striker, save, rebound to the left wing, goal! Sublime - a real flowing team goal, and it looked and felt great. 1-0 up.
Most players on both teams had by this stage told the umpires what a top job they had been doing. Ash's "both arms up in the air monkey dance" was possibly the most animated, but it was Dan's 50:50 humping of his opposite man that saw the first yellow. Harsh for an innocuous coming together, but kept the dubious lottery of decisions consistently fair.
But off we charged, and ended up with another short corner. Cookie injected it from the base line, Morgs struck the ball, it hit a defenders stick and flew off high and at an angle to leave Cookie holding his knackers writhing on the floor. Another short corner - roll the dice, of course not - and off EG went. Their centre half showed great control to stop and dribble the ball with his feet - that's allowed too - and ran at Morgs who put a simple clean tackle 5 yards outside the 25 - that'll be a short corner against us then. Keep rolling the dice, because it was no surprise they scored. 1-1.
Not too long after, EG's forward tried to once again go through Fluddy who once again tackled him. But this time the EG forward decided to have a particularly lazy stick, bundle Fluddy over and let wood leave an imprint on Fluddy's person. The whistle went, guaranteed yellow, excellent, some time to finish them off. But oh no, red mist descended (2 weeks running...) and Luke, I mean Fluddy, stood up and decided to twat the bloke. Brilliant. So their bloke stayed on, and Fluddy had a rest.
20 minutes into the 2nd half and Cookie's fresh legs were looking not so fresh, and a lazy 45 degree pass on our 25 (yes, the ones we had suggested we should cut out), was picked up by one of their players. With the defence in minor disarray for the first time all game with Fluddy off the pitch, a run into the D saw Dobbo forced into action, and so they passed it round him and pushed gently into the goal. 2-1. Very frustrating.
Bushy played most of the positions on the park in the second half to help fill the gaps left by those taking a rest. It was unfair to ask him to change position every 5 minutes, but it must be pointed out that reverting to his favourite position - "top of the diamond" - doesn't exist in our structure! But with 11 back on the pitch, we were 2-1 down and chasing the game for the final 15 minutes. He was not alone as players coming together in a new team returned to "what they know", trying to do more than they were being asked, hunting for the ball, trying to do too much and not being where the game plan asked them to be. This will only improve as we play more together, support each other and believe in each other.
So where did it all go wrong..? We had outplayed the oppo for 60 minutes, had numerous D entries, and had great build up play. 8 short corners and not one converted tells one story, but our composure in the final third needs some attention. And no more Alun Wyn Jones moments. See you all on Wednesday night to sort it out.
MOM - Cookie
DOD - Fluddy
Goal - Bibs
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