Clements bounced back from last week’s disappointing defeat
with a hard fought victory against a Deportivo team who would have been out for
blood given our last minute winner last time we met.
It is worth mentioning the dedication and commitment being
shown by those in the Clements squad to be available for games. Exemplars of this spirit include Dale, who
organised going into work two hours late so he could play, and Jake, who we
learned in the pub on Friday is using his holiday leave to book off Sunday
shifts so he can be at as many games as possible. It just goes to show how much people are
enjoying being a part of this squad. As
a result Sharpy had pretty much a full squad to choose from, with just Rob and
H missing. Congratulations to H, who was
in Prague celebrating his 21st birthday. We can only assume he survived, but obviously
have no idea if he’ll recover in time for next week’s game.
Subs: Lil’ Ryan,
Alex, Chris
All the talk of getting off to a good start, and not going
behind in the first 10 minutes only partly translated onto the pitch. Eye-Ball led by example by making a
penetrating run from inside his own half, which unfortunately ended in him
running out of pitch before being able to get a cross in. However, despite this early promise we were
no better than average in the first half.
First touches were sloppy, and we allowed Deportivo to panic us into
misplaced passes and ineffective long balls. We inevitably went behind when the ball broke
nicely for the striker on the edge of the box, and he nonchalantly placed the
ball in the bottom corner: 0-1.
Despite our collective under performance, Clements have
individual quality that can lead to chances being created from amongst the
murky sea of whale crap. Providing the
moment of brilliance on this occasion was Ryan, who had been none too happy
with the lack of supply down the left, and so took matters into his own
hands. Faced with two defenders near the
dead ball line Ryan dropped a shoulder, showed a turn of pace and made space to
cross left footed into the middle.
Waiting there was his big brother Dale, who remarkably found himself
with enough time in the six yard box to control the ball, discuss the state of
the economy with the goal keeper and complete a Sudoku puzzle before slotting
the ball into one of the two gaping holes either side of the goal keeper: 1-1.
Such is the standard we set ourselves that we felt fortunate
to be level at the break. Still we
should have been encouraged by the fact that we were level whilst being well
below our best. The second half was a
completely different ball game, as Foggy and Jake started to own the midfield
and our front four of Ryan, Liam, Dale and Luke (later replaced by Chris)
learnt that they could exploit Deportivo’s weakness in the full back
areas. In the meantime Robin and Brian
bullied and harassed the ineffective strikers whilst Eye-Ball and Johnny mopped
up anything that Webby didn’t collect himself.
Our pressure paid off when Webby collected the ball and
thumped it up-field. He didn’t quite
manage to score the goal he has been claiming he will do at some point, but his
deep ball was unwisely left by the centre back, who obviously hadn’t learnt
from our last meeting that Liam is a poacher who is always on the lookout for a
cheap goal. He subsequently ran on to
the ball and knocked it round the out-rushing keeper before thrashing it into
the empty net: 2-1.
It was important that we pushed on to put the win beyond
doubt, and we did have the opposition on the ropes. Unfortunately their goalkeeper was having a
blinder and denied the Clements players on numerous occasions. However, his luck ran out when a moment of
brilliance, from the older Kenyon this time, saw Dale flick the ball round the
defender with his back to goal before having his shot blocked by the
keeper. However, Dale’s persistence saw
him manage to hook the ball over the keeper and into the six yard box where
Foggy timed his run brilliantly to meet the ball 3 yards out. I know what you’re thinking, but no, he didn’t
miss! In fact to make sure, he followed the ball into the net and took the
defender with him: 3-1.
Anything other than a Clements win now would have been a travesty,
but a dishevelled and argumentative Deportivo side were given a glimpse of hope
when, with half an hour left to go, the defender who had been at fault for Liam’s
goal converted a firm header from a corner: 3-2.
With just under half an hour to go this was a real test of
our resolve and determination. I am
pleased to say that every player – including those who came off the subs bench –
were more than up to the challenge.
Sharpy once again showed his managerial astuteness as he replace a
tiring Jake with Alex, whose defensive instinct was exactly what we needed to break
up the opposition play and allow Foggy to venture further forward.
With the goal scoring chart being dominated by a few
individuals it was good to already have two new contributors in this game, with
Foggy getting his first goal and Webby his first assist. The game was to be put to bed thanks to
another unlikely assists contributor, with Rob floating a free kick to the far
left side of the penalty area. Ryan was
left unmarked and brought down the ball superbly without missing a stride, and
then passed the ball past the keeper into the far corner: 4-2.
This goal capped off a man of the match performance in which
Ryan showed the passion and determination both in attack and defence that has
made him such a key member of the squad since he joined just over three years
ago. Unfortunately there was no
nomination for DoTD, which meant no free drink for Ryan. A warning to the next DoTD: you might have to
buy two beers!
Another week to be proud to be a Clements player. Maybe last week’s defeat isn’t such a bad
thing, as we know what humiliation feels like now, and should be extra
determined to avoid feeling that again.
More of the same next week please.
Eye-Ball
Next game: Essex cup third round @ Home v Iceni Wanderers
Goal scoring chart
No comments:
Post a Comment