Post by redman1 on May 25, 2009 11:02:46 GMT
Match Report:
23/05/09:
U14 Lge Div 1
MK Wanderers 2
NPTFC Lions 2
Squad:
Luke Parker, Tom King, Matty Cullis, Jack Croxford, Mitch Tofts, Liam Scott, Jack Westbrook, Alex Collard, Haig Stringer, James Sage, Jack Allen, Marcus Bayley, Daniel Booth.
Goal Scorers:
Liam Scott 1
Luke Parker 1
“ Lions live in hope, as title chances start to fade”
Well this was the last match, and the last chance the Lions had, where they could influence matters to try and pick up the Div 1 title, a chance that came and went without a big fight for it in all honesty.
It came down to the last 70 minutes of the season to try and achieve what they had been working towards for the last 9 months. It was an opportunity that dawned on some but not all. The Lions collectively just didn’t play to their potential during this game, and we keep saying that. It always comes down to how much desire do the Lions have, some of the team seem to have it in bucket loads, while others, I’m not so sure based on Saturdays performance.
It is often said that you find out a great deal from your team in these sort of situations, and I’m sure much learning will be taken from this defeat, as it may prove very costly. Yes it’s massively disappointing, and I’m sure that Thorpy and Boothy will be mulling it over, and look to see what can be improved upon as we move forward. We have a good bunch of players this year, the vast majority of which have great skills, good technique and can play this game really well when we want to. The trouble is this season, we have turned up at too many games, even the ones we have won, not mentally focused, at vital moments we lack that desire and drive, and ultimately in my opinion, it is this ingredient that has been the undoing of a good footballing side.
I hope the team as a whole can learn from this. It wasn’t the draw in this game that may have cost us the title, yes we have been low in numbers sometimes, yes we have been affected by injuries, but it’s in times of adversity that some of these lads need to find some character at their age, or hopes of playing Senior football at a good standard in 18 months time will fade for some.
The team has the off season to consider how to move forward, with the addition of more players to improve the squad will be helpful, particularly as we need competition for places, ideally the comfort zone, should be a very uncomfortable place to be.
The match on Saturday was all about winning, forget the performance, MKW played their part and took advantage of our hesitancy as we looked off the pace right from the off, vocally we went quiet as along the sidelines the sense of foreboding filled the air. We didn’t have to wait to long as an MKW player from somewhere deep in the midfield just lobbed a long range ball up that went over Marcus’s head and dropped in to take the home side into the lead, a set back yes, but not something we shouldn’t be able to overcome as it had happened in the first 5 minutes of the match.
We tried to get our game together, but too many times we looked second to the ball, if we got their at all, it was seen very early on that several players needed to up their game, it is at times like this that having a small squad can really work against you in terms of trying to effect some changes. Crox and Luke were as passionate as ever, both lads worked there socks off but they couldn’t be everywhere, others needed to take there lead, this was our season on the line, but it just didn’t dawn on some as we played as if it we were a pre-season kick about.
We tried a couple of chances with Liam just going wide and Matty hitting the bar from a free kick, but other than that the team that had scored 154 goals this season, hardly troubled the winger from MKW that stood in to play in goal, increasingly we looked to go direct to a 50% fit Liam who had been suffering with a bad back for ages, he needed more support. The half petered out with us 1-0 down and frankly we wondered where the gaol was going to come from, we had limited, very limited, for most of the game supply from our flanks, and so we were looking to feed off scraps and hoping that MKW would make a mistake, in short we were not in charge of events. MKW were ok, but with several players missing we couldn’t step up.
HT1-0 to MKW
With much needed liquids on board as the morning heated up, we got under way and looked a little brighter, Luke had switched to the right wing, and we looked to get the ball out there, Luke found himself in space and ran with the ball towards goal, struck the ball hard, under the keeper in it went and we had grabbed ourselves a much needed equaliser, at last some cause for optimism.
All we needed to do now was from the back to the front just get switched on, and drive yourself for the next 30 minutes or so, but for some reason we looked to not take that initiative, we dropped back into the “something will come along our way in a minute mode”. And then surprise, surprise, MKW started out from their back, just moved the ball around with this new fangled approach called passing, we in the meantime sat back and watched this, no tackles, no attempt to stop it, the final ball was passed and the lad just looped it up and over Marcus and in. 1 step forward 2 back.
Surely now it must have dawned on everyone that matters were slipping away, yes it did to some but not all unfortunately. We moved the ball out to an advancing Liam who found himself to the right of the goal and with a good strike across the keeper it went in to grab the equaliser again. Now we had to push on, a draw was no good, the clock continued to tick down, there were one or two injuries stoppages and so added time was going to be inevitable, and may prove extremely valuable to us, and so with a minute left on the clock in regular time Liam was up ended just inside the box, the ref blew his whistle and pointed to the spot, unbelievably we had a pen in the last minute of the last game to give us a great opportunity to win this match somehow.
Obviously this was a hugely pressurised situation, and fair play to Luke Parker who offered along with maybe one other to take the pen, ideally everyone should have been busting a gut to take that pen, given the situation.
The pen was set up, people on the sidelines could hardly watch as Luke stepped up, struck the ball to the keepers left, it beat the keeper and hit the post, came back to an MKW player tipped it out for a corner. A massive blow yes, but we had to get ready for the corner, minds surely were still racing and whirling around about the missed pen as the ball came in and went out for a goal kick.
We could hardly believe it but that’s how the game more or less ended. Luke obviously felt devastated, but no blame was laid of course, at the end of the day he had the bottle to go for it and penalties can go either way, everyone got around Luke and he will be the stronger character for it.
The final whistle went and it was a crushing blow for all, our moment had come and gone, perhaps just as well it’s the last game.
It isn’t all over of course with Moretonville at time of going to press still have to play Harrold & Carlton, but in all honesty, it would seem highly unlikely that H&C will beat M/Ville or draw with them, I know that sounds a little negative but probably reality, and no disrespect intended to H&C.
So this is the last mach report of the season, and as usual we have, like all teams, suffered the highs and lows of this game. And I know there will be the ah well that’s football, or there’s always next year, but deep down it should mean that the Lions have missed over the course of the season, not just on Saturday, a great opportunity to win Division 1. Undoubtedly as a team our overall football has improved, but we’ve collectively got to find some bottle when we need it.
Thanks go to the players who have had a long season, with only the bare 11 playing at times, and some of that will have taken it’s toll I’m sure. Thanks to all the parents that have supported the team throughout, and of course a huge thanks to Thorpy and Boothy this season, well done to all.
And so shortly when we have had a break or a holiday, when wounds have been licked, we’ll dust ourselves down, regroup, and start all over again.
See you next season
23/05/09:
U14 Lge Div 1
MK Wanderers 2
NPTFC Lions 2
Squad:
Luke Parker, Tom King, Matty Cullis, Jack Croxford, Mitch Tofts, Liam Scott, Jack Westbrook, Alex Collard, Haig Stringer, James Sage, Jack Allen, Marcus Bayley, Daniel Booth.
Goal Scorers:
Liam Scott 1
Luke Parker 1
“ Lions live in hope, as title chances start to fade”
Well this was the last match, and the last chance the Lions had, where they could influence matters to try and pick up the Div 1 title, a chance that came and went without a big fight for it in all honesty.
It came down to the last 70 minutes of the season to try and achieve what they had been working towards for the last 9 months. It was an opportunity that dawned on some but not all. The Lions collectively just didn’t play to their potential during this game, and we keep saying that. It always comes down to how much desire do the Lions have, some of the team seem to have it in bucket loads, while others, I’m not so sure based on Saturdays performance.
It is often said that you find out a great deal from your team in these sort of situations, and I’m sure much learning will be taken from this defeat, as it may prove very costly. Yes it’s massively disappointing, and I’m sure that Thorpy and Boothy will be mulling it over, and look to see what can be improved upon as we move forward. We have a good bunch of players this year, the vast majority of which have great skills, good technique and can play this game really well when we want to. The trouble is this season, we have turned up at too many games, even the ones we have won, not mentally focused, at vital moments we lack that desire and drive, and ultimately in my opinion, it is this ingredient that has been the undoing of a good footballing side.
I hope the team as a whole can learn from this. It wasn’t the draw in this game that may have cost us the title, yes we have been low in numbers sometimes, yes we have been affected by injuries, but it’s in times of adversity that some of these lads need to find some character at their age, or hopes of playing Senior football at a good standard in 18 months time will fade for some.
The team has the off season to consider how to move forward, with the addition of more players to improve the squad will be helpful, particularly as we need competition for places, ideally the comfort zone, should be a very uncomfortable place to be.
The match on Saturday was all about winning, forget the performance, MKW played their part and took advantage of our hesitancy as we looked off the pace right from the off, vocally we went quiet as along the sidelines the sense of foreboding filled the air. We didn’t have to wait to long as an MKW player from somewhere deep in the midfield just lobbed a long range ball up that went over Marcus’s head and dropped in to take the home side into the lead, a set back yes, but not something we shouldn’t be able to overcome as it had happened in the first 5 minutes of the match.
We tried to get our game together, but too many times we looked second to the ball, if we got their at all, it was seen very early on that several players needed to up their game, it is at times like this that having a small squad can really work against you in terms of trying to effect some changes. Crox and Luke were as passionate as ever, both lads worked there socks off but they couldn’t be everywhere, others needed to take there lead, this was our season on the line, but it just didn’t dawn on some as we played as if it we were a pre-season kick about.
We tried a couple of chances with Liam just going wide and Matty hitting the bar from a free kick, but other than that the team that had scored 154 goals this season, hardly troubled the winger from MKW that stood in to play in goal, increasingly we looked to go direct to a 50% fit Liam who had been suffering with a bad back for ages, he needed more support. The half petered out with us 1-0 down and frankly we wondered where the gaol was going to come from, we had limited, very limited, for most of the game supply from our flanks, and so we were looking to feed off scraps and hoping that MKW would make a mistake, in short we were not in charge of events. MKW were ok, but with several players missing we couldn’t step up.
HT1-0 to MKW
With much needed liquids on board as the morning heated up, we got under way and looked a little brighter, Luke had switched to the right wing, and we looked to get the ball out there, Luke found himself in space and ran with the ball towards goal, struck the ball hard, under the keeper in it went and we had grabbed ourselves a much needed equaliser, at last some cause for optimism.
All we needed to do now was from the back to the front just get switched on, and drive yourself for the next 30 minutes or so, but for some reason we looked to not take that initiative, we dropped back into the “something will come along our way in a minute mode”. And then surprise, surprise, MKW started out from their back, just moved the ball around with this new fangled approach called passing, we in the meantime sat back and watched this, no tackles, no attempt to stop it, the final ball was passed and the lad just looped it up and over Marcus and in. 1 step forward 2 back.
Surely now it must have dawned on everyone that matters were slipping away, yes it did to some but not all unfortunately. We moved the ball out to an advancing Liam who found himself to the right of the goal and with a good strike across the keeper it went in to grab the equaliser again. Now we had to push on, a draw was no good, the clock continued to tick down, there were one or two injuries stoppages and so added time was going to be inevitable, and may prove extremely valuable to us, and so with a minute left on the clock in regular time Liam was up ended just inside the box, the ref blew his whistle and pointed to the spot, unbelievably we had a pen in the last minute of the last game to give us a great opportunity to win this match somehow.
Obviously this was a hugely pressurised situation, and fair play to Luke Parker who offered along with maybe one other to take the pen, ideally everyone should have been busting a gut to take that pen, given the situation.
The pen was set up, people on the sidelines could hardly watch as Luke stepped up, struck the ball to the keepers left, it beat the keeper and hit the post, came back to an MKW player tipped it out for a corner. A massive blow yes, but we had to get ready for the corner, minds surely were still racing and whirling around about the missed pen as the ball came in and went out for a goal kick.
We could hardly believe it but that’s how the game more or less ended. Luke obviously felt devastated, but no blame was laid of course, at the end of the day he had the bottle to go for it and penalties can go either way, everyone got around Luke and he will be the stronger character for it.
The final whistle went and it was a crushing blow for all, our moment had come and gone, perhaps just as well it’s the last game.
It isn’t all over of course with Moretonville at time of going to press still have to play Harrold & Carlton, but in all honesty, it would seem highly unlikely that H&C will beat M/Ville or draw with them, I know that sounds a little negative but probably reality, and no disrespect intended to H&C.
So this is the last mach report of the season, and as usual we have, like all teams, suffered the highs and lows of this game. And I know there will be the ah well that’s football, or there’s always next year, but deep down it should mean that the Lions have missed over the course of the season, not just on Saturday, a great opportunity to win Division 1. Undoubtedly as a team our overall football has improved, but we’ve collectively got to find some bottle when we need it.
Thanks go to the players who have had a long season, with only the bare 11 playing at times, and some of that will have taken it’s toll I’m sure. Thanks to all the parents that have supported the team throughout, and of course a huge thanks to Thorpy and Boothy this season, well done to all.
And so shortly when we have had a break or a holiday, when wounds have been licked, we’ll dust ourselves down, regroup, and start all over again.
See you next season