The Accies extended their unbeaten run to five games with a
confident and controlled display against the last team to beat us. We were determined to make amends for defeat
in the season opener at Palmers, when we were short of players (especially
sober ones) and well below par. The fog
may have been covering the pitch, but the outlook was much brighter, with 14
players available with strong options in all positions. Also, it was only Lee suffering the effects
of the beer monster on this occasion, and somehow he avoided a DoTD vote
despite declaring himself available but highly intoxicated at 5.30 in the
morning (after the clocks had been put back). The team were behind Lee, with
plenty of offers of a lift, but in hindsight bed was probably the best place
for him.
Brian watch: Bri made
it through training on Wednesday, and if the moves he is busting in this video
are anything to go by, he should be back in a week or two. However, it seems like he might have some
dental hygiene issues – try some Listerine mate…
On second thoughts, if his breath could do that to strikers
that would be one hell of a weapon (although we might have to check the rule
book).
I thought it was only women who were meant to
suffer from wearing uncomfortable shoes, but the state of Harry’s feet suggests
this is becoming a real problem for the modern metro-sexual man. Despite this, H was determined to test out
the knee and with Tony also playing with his tight hamstring and Lewis with his
strapped, recently dislocated finger, we were all just praying everyone would
hold together for long enough to get us into a good position in the game.
Subs: Martin, Luke C., Scott
The opening fifteen minutes was a pretty tepid affair with
both sides sizing each other up, and nobody getting the upper hand. However, the fact Mossops weren’t able to get
control was mainly due to Foggy and H breaking up the play so frequently in the
middle. We also managed to cut out the
balls to their dangerous striker more frequently than last time, with Rob being
especially determined to be first to everything that was played forward. I think he may have felt he had a point to
prove after their striker basically inferred Rob must only be playing because
we were short!
Foggy will claim that haranguing the ref, following his
failure to award a free kick after the skipper was trip whilst breaking away,
was a ploy to get us fired up, but really the balance finally shifted in our
favour when Tony won the ball in the air, and played it into the path of Liam
(the kind of link up play that Sharpy would have especially loved to see). Under pressure from Liam, the defender could
only put the ball out for a corner. Liam
put in a great ball to the front of the six yard box, which the defender only
half cleared. Mike was quickest to
react, and showed the great touch we’ve come to expect to volley the ball back
towards goal, where it took a big deflection to enter the net at the near
post. I was unsighted, but the consensus
was that the goal should go down as an O.G., with Mike getting the assist: 1-0.
We were definitely on top now, and could have scored 3 or 4
before the half was out. Mossops would
have been expected to cause us problems from set pieces, but we actually
defended everything they threw at us superbly, and even looked a real threat on
the counter-attack. Foggy raced away
with the ball from one corner, but when H collected the ball from his skipper
inside the opposition box his shot-come-cross went straight to the keeper. Foggy was involved again when Tony played the
ball from the right, and forced the keeper to head clear from outside his
area. Foggy tried to lift it back over
the goalie, but applied the wrong percentage of shin. When Tony and Mike also had good efforts that
went wide of the goal, you could have started to think we were going to make
this more difficult than it needed to be.
Thankfully the second goal we craved arrived before half
time: a clearance from a free kick landed at the feet of H on the edge of the
box, and what was meant to be a shot turned into an almighty slice to the
right. However, if you slice the ball
into the full back position with the penalty box packed, the one place you
definitely want it to end up is with Craig.
His first attempt at a cross was blocked, but he wasn’t going to miss
out on a second opportunity to whipped the ball in, and Tony rose unmarked to
node home from six yards, for his first (and thoroughly deserve) goal of the
season: 2-0.
There really isn’t too much to report from the other end in
the first half. Lewis was well
positioned to catch and keep hold of one acrobatic effort, but for the most
part the back five were in complete control. Also, despite taking a huge risk by turning up
in fluorescent red boots, James had a solid game and was only the victim of one
or two of the type of challenge such footwear usually attracts.
One change was made at half time, with H being replaced by
Luke C., who started the second half on the left with Liam moving across to the
centre. This would have been a tough
decision given H’s influence on the game, but his knee had been risked enough
for one day.
The majority of the second half was spent in search of the
elusive third goal which would kill off the game. The opposition had already shown signs of
letting their heads drop, and haranguing was rife. The last thing we wanted was for them to get
a goal back to lift their spirits, and the only clear cut chance they had of
doing so was well saved with his legs by Lewis after Mossop’s number nine had
slipped between Rob and Blakey for the first and only time in the match.
The Lion’s share of the chances were being created at the
other end, but the Accies just couldn’t find a way past the imposing figure of
Mossop’s keeper. Liam and Tony both
found him an impassable object when through one on one, and when Eye-Ball won
the ball on the half way line and played it forward to Luke C., Mossop’s number
1 was off the line quickly to make a tackle which split opinion as to whether
or not he got the ball. However, we
played on and Eye-Ball picked up the loose ball and squared it across the box
where it fell to Mike. Again the keeper
was equal to the effort and kept his side in the game yet again.
Tony’s hamstring continued to hold up, and it would have
been tested as he kept pace with Liam, who had collected the ball on the edge
of our box and raced the full length of the pitch down the right, before
playing it inside to our lone striker.
On this occasion his shot went wide of the near post, as did a header that
he did well to redirect towards goal.
If Tony’s eye for goal is still not quite there, it doesn’t
really matter when he can play a pass like the one that led to the Holy Grail
that was the third goal. He picked the ball
up on the right from Luke’s throw-in, and ran with it across the box. When he seemed to have run out of options, he
pulled off a killer ball inside the left fullback for Scott (on for James and
playing on the left) who ran in on goal.
Having seen the issues his team mates had experienced with beating the
keeper, he did the only sensible thing and squared for Liam to have a go. With the goal at his mercy, Liam wouldn’t
have wanted to give the keeper a chance of saving his effort, but his hand wasn’t
enough to stop the ball crossing the line and hitting the back of the net: 3-0.
The defence deserved for the game to finish with a nil in
the against column, but Scott was to have as big an impact at our end as he had
at the opposition’s, where he had a ricochet that nearly went in off his nose,
and a drive from all of 35 yards that he reckoned would have troubled the
keeper if Craig hadn’t been in the way, to add to his assist. In our penalty box, he was harshly adjudged
(by Eye-Ball) to have handled the ball when it was smashed goal wards from close range. It turns out it was actually Mike who was penalised - I don't know, some people are such sticklers for detail. The resultant penalty was calmly dispatched: 3-1.
By this point Martin had replaced Tony, and just like last week
he was finding himself in good positions to score. On one occasion he drew a good save from the
keeper, and on another Liam perhaps should have crossed to him for a tap in
rather than going for goal himself. He
also earned his first DoTD award for an audacious attempt at Pelé at the far
post which would only have been even more comical if the ball had actually made
it anywhere near him.
So although the score line should have looked a
lot more like a rugby score, we have to be very pleased with our performance
and the way we approached this game.
There was a clear winner for MoTM, with Craig continuing his good run in
the team with one of his best performances for the Accies. We all know that Craig has arguably the best
feet in the team, which he demonstrates as the ball is attracted to them by
some invisible force whenever it comes near him. However, in this game he showed he can also
get stuck in with the physical side, as he challenged for headers and eased
people off the ball to regain possession.
He looked in complete control of the ball every time he had it, and
stubbornly held off players, refusing to move or release the ball until he was
ready to. Then in the second half the
tricks and turns started coming out, and I’m sure some of the opposition were
scared to go anywhere near him through fear of being made to look stupid. It really was a joy to watch at times, and I’m
just glad I don’t have to try and dispossess him.
Well done boys for another great team performance, and a
thoroughly deserved 3 points which moves us up to fifth in the table. Every week is going to be a new, and equally
tough challenge, so let’s make sure we’re up for it again.
Eye-Ball
Goal scoring chart
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