Aveley came from behind to secure a point in a game which
was dominated by the frustration of knowing that we could and should have
played so much better. Still, that
response in itself is encouraging, as it highlights why we now haven’t lost in
9 games; we believe there isn’t a team in this league who we can’t beat on our
day and won’t admit defeat until the final whistle. The thing is, it can’t be your day every
week, and this result just goes to prove that any team in this league can catch
you out if you’re not at your best. I
could over-analyse why we couldn’t string more than a few passes together, and
generally didn’t seem up for the races, but I’ll leave that for the general
discussion in the pub. It doesn’t
surprise me though that the last two below par performances have coincided with
Sharpy having to pull his boots on to fill the bench. That’s not a dig a Sharpy – who we have to
thank for sparing our blushes – but just reiterates that we are only as strong
as the squad and any missing players makes us weaker.
With so many central midfield players missing, Sharpy felt
it best to revert to a more attacking 4-4-2, with Mo partnering Nick in the
middle and the two Kenyons leading the line.
Subs: Craig, Sharpy
Despite a lacklustre warm-up, we started quite brightly with
James finding space down the right and Ryan and Dale looking a threat when they
had the ball. It was one James’s
marauding runs which led to our first goal, when Mo slipped the ball through to
the right winger who, despites the screams from Dale in the middle, curled the
ball nonchalantly into the far corner.
Well that’s one story anyway. The
other one starts the same, but ends with James attempting to cross the ball to
Dale, but slicing it into the net.
Either way, who cares: 0-1
Rather than push on, we were caught napping at the back and
let Stifford’s skipper and main threat upfront collect a through ball and
finish neatly past Foggy: 1-1.
We continued to look a little shaky to half time, but
perhaps should have gone into the lead if (for the second week running – I forgot
to mention last week’s incident) we had been awarded a penalty for a blatant
trip on Dale. However, the ref somehow
saw something different from the rest of us and awarded a goal kick.
Although we seemed to be more in control in the second half,
the frustration grew due to a combination of valiant defending in numbers by
our opposition and a lack of quality.
This was especially true of our final ball which all too often was
played harmlessly to Stifford’s goalkeeper rather than one of our
strikers. To make matters worse we
gifted Stifford the lead when a sliced clearance by Foggy resulted in us being
outnumbered, and despite our skipper saving the initial shot, there was a
Stifford player closest to tap in the rebound.
Some argued that this player was offside when the shot came in, but to
be honest it doesn’t matter. We should
never have got ourselves into a position where we were outnumbered in our own
box in the first place, and others would have argued we got what we deserved:
2-1.
Time was running out, and it seemed that whatever we threw
at Stifford they somehow repelled. Both
Mo and Ryan hit the post, and countless efforts were either blocked, saved or
went wide of the mark. Fortunately,
despite being small (in terms of numbers), our bench had plenty of quality, and
it was our two super subs who combined to get us back on level terms. With Craig’s initial cross cleared back out to
the right, we still had lots of players in the box and, at the back post,
Sharpy demanded the ball. Craig duly
delivered and, running in to meet the ball on the angle, Sharpy stroked a
sublime left foot volley low across the goal and into the net: 2-2.
We tried to clinch all three points at the end, but it wasn’t
to be. Still our run goes on, and
sometimes a wake-up call like this is needed to remind us that we are not
immortal and can’t afford to give any less than 100% in any game. There has been talk of a pattern where
Eye-Ball always gets MoTM when we lose.
Looking at the results would say that this is not quite accurate, but I
think that there is definitely an argument that the awards coincide with the
Accies not playing well. I think this is
because when we play well Eye-Ball is a pretty peripheral figure, but when we
don’t play well collectively, there are a lot more occasions for last ditch
covering tackles from the industrious left-back. Whilst I’m honoured again to receive this
accolade, I’d much rather we play well and not be noticed.
Next week is going to be tough as we face premiership opposition
in the cup. Still it’s a good
opportunity for us to rediscover some of the grit and determination that we are
going to need to get back to our best.
Eye-Ball
Next match: Sunday 7 February Away v Staines @ Pegasus Club
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