| Match Report |
We were at home for the second weekend running and welcomed Attenborough Colts to Bispham Drive for this local derby match.
A tactical change saw Nathan start as striker. He was tasked with chasing lost causes, along with his physical presence & ability to shoot from distance. Jack took his place in the centre of midfield, flanked by Eddie on the left & Oliver on the right. Coby was alongside a slightly injured Alex, but was asked to give us 15 minutes, and Makai was in goal. Ben & Mikey were on the bench.
We started on the front foot, which is becoming a pleasing aspect of our matches recently, and after having the lions share of possession for the opening stages, Nathan finally scored our first goal of the season, midway through the first half. A fine run down the right & accurate cross into the box from Jack, fell nicely at Nathans feet, and although his first shot was blocked by a defender, he made sure with the follow up, putting it through the keepers legs.
Moments later Jack doubled our tally for the season, again with fine work down the right, beating three Attenborough players, curling the ball with power & accuracy into the top corner from the edge of the area.
Eddie made a fantastic solo run up the left, cutting in to the box and beating a couple of opponents, but he just couldn't set himself, and shot straight at the keeper. We were in the ascendancy & although we made a couple of change, Mikey coming on for Alex in defence & Ben coming on for Eddie on the right, we carried on without too much disruption.
Coby was commanding his defence & giving orders to the midfield, & flashed a shot just wide after pushing up field for a corner, after great wing play from Ben. Another chance came Jacks way. With him collecting a short goal kick from Makai, he ran the whole length of the pitch, evading several tackles but unfortunately shot agonisingly wide of the goal.
A deserved break for half time came & went and Attenborough came out fighting. The second half was far more even than the first & we conceded two late goals. Although we still had two chances to finish off the game.
Oliver running down the left wing & delivering a cross into the box. Unfortunately non of his teammates gambled to make a run into the box to finish of a great run & Jack made another gut bursting run from midfield but shot straight at the keeper.
This was our best display of the season by a country mile & if we can learn to play the way we did for 50 minutes rather than 45, then we could have won & we managed to score goals that our performance deserved. But overall, similar to our 0-0 draw against West Bridgford, this was a game that was contested by two evenly matched teams and I think everyone went home happy.
For his energetic performance on the right wing, both getting forward to deliver crosses, and tracking back in the second half when we were under the cosh, the parents chose Ben as the Man of the Match.
Well done.
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