After the car crash that was last week’s performance, the
Accies played a lot better whilst still showing signs that the wounds had not
quite fully healed. From a new vantage
point running the line, I saw a side that was in full control against a team
whose football was as far from their name as Benidorm Darren is from his
homeland. Possession was retained with
confidence from the back to the front, and tackles that needed to be made
were. However, whilst we kept the ball
its movement was slow and the intensity both in and out of possession that
destroyed Deportivo just two weeks earlier was lacking. Still, there is always going to be a tendency
to let sides drag you down to their level, and as long as we can lift ourselves
when we need to we should never be too unhappy with a comfortable win that
takes us into the fourth round of the Essex Cup for the first time since 2014
(and on that occasion we got a bye and a walkover).
The squad is looking really strong at the moment, and was
strengthened further by the arrival of Benidorm Darren, who had flown in during
the previous week. Rumours are rife that
this Mediterranean import is none other than the Accies most prolific goal
scorer (since records began), Dale Kenyon.
However, serious doubts were raised when Ben-Dal missed a chance to
score on his debut in the second half, as he scuffed a volley from Tony’s cross
whilst just six yards out. I’m pretty
sure Dale would never have done that…
So despite the awful weather – the storms and
rain thankfully had not affected the pitch which was very playable – Sharpy was
given a selection headache thanks to the 15 players who made the 50 mile trip
to Colchester. Like a pendulum, the
balance has tipped in favour of attacking options with Ben-Dal and Terry
tipping the scales as Blakey’s busted toe meant he joins centre half partner
Brian on the treatment table. We still
have a wealth of options in the middle, which meant Foggy could drop back into
defence without leaving too big a hole.
At least we had determined the correct rules regarding roll-on, roll-off
subs, which meant Sharpy could give all fours substitutes a decent run out as
well.
Subs: Scott, Ben-Dal, Bobby, Eye-Ball
We may as well get Prettygate’s contribution to the first
half out of the way first. The only real
tactic they had was to get the ball up to their big target man (and they don’t
come much bigger), and hope a flick-on or speculative drive may lead to Lewis
being troubled. Apart from that their
only other game plan was to throw themselves recklessly and clumsily into
challenges in the hope they could scare us off.
Neither of these tactics worked, as although Robin didn’t quite have the
striker in his pocket (no-one has pockets that big) he did do enough to make
life uncomfortable his opponent. We also
kept our heads reasonably well despite more than enough provocation and lack of
protection from the referee. The one
time it did flair up was when James received an early shower (his first of the
season) from Prettygate’s substitute, who had recently taken himself off having
obviously exhausted himself throwing his considerable weight around for the
first half hour of the game. James was
steaming down the line, which he crossed in an attempt to keep the ball in only
to get tangled with the sub, who obviously thought James was leaving a foot
in. The truth is that this moron
shouldn’t have anywhere near the sideline and shouldn’t have taken his
ineptitude out on someone half his size – who he had unfairly targeted during
the game.
Anyway, that’s enough column inches for our opponents –
let’s talk about the Accies. The story
of the first half was Lee controlling the game from the middle of the field,
Foggy superbly marshalling the defence and thus allowing Lewis to assume his
favoured ‘sweeper-keeper’ role, Liam making the right back wish he’d stayed in
bed, and Terry and Tony trying to figure out who was playing through the
middle. In fact for the first 20 minutes
Luke C. provided the main attacking threat down the right, and even put in some
cracking crosses which were unfortunate not to be turned into the net.
Both Tony and Terry had chances in the first half, with Tony
latching on to Robin’s free-kick but blazing just wide of the left upright, and
Terry coming agonisingly close to getting his head on Lee’s cross from under
the bar. Terry looked a lot happier when
Tony officially took on the right forward role, and despite the trademark
overhead kick not coming off, he set up Liam for the opening goal with a nice
through-ball inside the right fullback.
Liam raced into the box and finished smartly at the near post: 0-1.
The thing I love about football is that it is accessible to
people of all shapes and sizes, so I don’t like to point the finger of fun at
individuals who might appear to have a physical disadvantage. However, if Prettygate’s goal keeper hadn’t
had quite such a struggle to overcome the Earth’s gravitational pull he might
have been able to jump high enough to prevent Liam’s second attempt at crossing
the ball, following a corner, from dipping (albeit wind assisted) under the bar
for his second of the game. Still, at
least Bobby had someone who would appreciate swapping the XXL shirt at the end
of the game: 0-2.
[Photos courtesy of Steve Catley - see the full gallery here: http://stecat.x10host.com/piwigo/index.php?/category/30]
The Accies deploy some questionable tactics by setting up a wind breaker on the goal line. Oh wait, that's Bobby!
The second half should have seen us push on and create a
rugby score, however with Sharpy rightfully making a number of changes both at
half time and throughout the half to give everyone a fair crack, it was always
going to be a rather disjointed performance.
The score remained at 2-0 for at least 20 minutes, with Terry coming
closest to scoring from a more favoured central role. Ben-Dal played the ball through, but with the
hard work done to beat the defenders, the ball got stuck under Terry’s feet and
the chance went begging before a shot could be unleashed.
All the subs (including the returning ones) made an impact,
with Scott making a crunching (and very fair challenge) which left the defender
eating mud, Bobby looking lively and relishing the time he was permitted on the
ball despite appearing to have shrunk in the rain, and Ben-Dal showing some
promising link up play with Tony, as they interchanged between wing and centre
and provided good balls for each other.
Liam also returned after a spell on the side line, and should have
secured his hat-trick but headed just wide from Ben-Dal’s cross and scuffed a
chance at the back post after Tony put it on a plate for him.
Despite some attempts to rig the
DoTD votes to hand the prize to James for his water fight, Lewis was declared
the victor for a momentary lapse in concentration that could have made the last
10 minutes interesting. Lewis had
pointed out how slippery the match ball was before the game had started, and
whilst he’d obviously realised it might be difficult to hold, it don’t think
he’d thought about what might happen if you underestimate how much a harmful
over-hit through ball could skid off the surface. Before Lewis could have this epiphany the
ball was over his head and in the back of the net: 1-2.
One man in particular seemed
particularly determined to ensure our safe passage to the fourth round, and
Tony applied the necessary finishes to ensure his dream of adding the Junior Cup
to his Senior Essex Cup winner’s medal stays alive. For his first, Liam played the ball through
and Tony rode the challenges of two defenders before appearing to show too much
of it to the keeper. However, it turns
out inertia, as well as gravity, is a hindrance for Prettygate’s number 1, and
Tony got there just in time to poke the ball around him (no mean feat) for an
excellent finish: 1-3.
Tony then put the icing on the
cake as he collected the ball from Bobby, and turned inside before unleashing a
powerful left foot drive from 20 yards which the keeper got across to, but
couldn’t get enough on it to keep the ball out: 1-4.
I'm sure Tony subconsciously considered playing in Liam for his hat-trick before firing in his second.
here were no further scares and
the final whistle soon blew to signal our progress to the next round. Captain Foggy collected his fourth MoTM award
of the season thanks to a commanding display at the back, and in doing so
surely became the first player (definitely since records began) to be awarded
MoTM whilst playing in three different positions. Also, if the effort on the pitch was
pleasing, the shower commitment was nothing short of outstanding – it’s got to
be the first time there has been a queue!
James was a noticeable absence, but then I suppose he could argue he
showered during the game.
Well done boys for making this a
thoroughly enjoyable trip. I wouldn’t
say we’ve quite got our swagger back, but if we continue to play for the team
and want it enough, it will come.
Eye-Ball
Next game: Sunday 27th
November @ The Billet v Stanford Wanderers – Ted Fairchild Cup
Goal scoring chart
