Match report: Crosspool Juniors U9s vs Eckington Oct. 28th 2007
I was a little disappointed after today’s game because I felt we let ourselves down a little and really deserved at least a draw. Although everyone played well, we did not take our chances and there was a slight lack of sharpness on many occasions which contributed to a few of their goals and the fact that we had just a few good chances. It is difficult to get consistency at any age and I guess we must accept that this one got away. They are a very good team, defended well in numbers and with consistently well-timed tackles and yet we matched them and certainly deserved a draw, but we have got to score more goals because errors (and conceding goals) are almost inevitable on most days.
Game 1 (Lost 3:1) [Luke H]
This game started with a superb passing move, finished off with Jack giving Luke a simple lay off, followed by a good shot and a goal. Unfortunately it was a false dawn in that our play never really gained any cohesion after that. Everyone worked hard and really the opposition had few proper shots, if any, apart from their goals. We on the other hand should have had a least three more with both Jack (twice) and Said mis-hitting one-on-ones when they had ample time and a keeper not far of their line. It is difficult to put a finger on exactly wasn’t working today; at times players were not keeping their position well enough, but to be honest the defence was mostly very solid, Nathan as ever won a lot of loose ball in the middle, players were looking for passes, but we just didn’t make the most of the possession we had. When players dribbled, they nearly always got tackled; Jack did not get much clean possession but also seemed a little slow to anticipate and in Steve’s words, “we didn’t get the rub of the green today”.
What I would say is that I thought decision making and sharpness were a little off today. Players did not always control first when they had space, thus giving a wasted knock on and other times just gave poor passes or throws. Their first goal came because we did not close a player down quickly on the edge of the box, their second was just an accident with James dropping a slippery ball, and the third was also poor with several players not ready to attack James’ goal kick, giving their player too much time to meet it first and then kick a long and slightly lucky shot into the net. Of course, a good opposition will make us look worse and we should give them credit for never giving us space to play and always keeping 2 or even 3 on whoever was near their box.
Game 2 (Drew 1:1) [Ahmed 1]
This game had fewer chances than the first but once again they seem to have conceded fewer goals – is there a pattern here? I thought Ahmed worked very hard up front, but too often was pushed out wide, partly by good defending, and unable to be effective. He did work some magic a few times and had two shots from narrow angles, one hit the post and one scored. For the third he had only the keeper to beat and then fell over – it just wasn’t our day! Ezra had a good first half and was beginning to battle the way midfield players need to, winning quite a few loose balls and headers, but he still needs to be a bit quicker moving the ball on once he has it. Luke Jackson and Henry both played well in goal and kept a tight ship. As with the first team this game never really gained any cohesion and throughout it was a battle neither team won. Again I thought we were sometimes a bit off the pace in attacking the ball, especially in the middle, we don’t make the most of our throw-ins with players being too static and too slow to move. James A showed good attempts to look up and pass the ball and his smart play, followed by two more passes, led to Ahmed’s goal, but overall we did not connect enough passes. Dennis had a good game today and, in addition to being involved in the goal, was more involved in attacking play than previously. It was a pity that with his one clear chance to shoot, he decided to take an unnecessary touch and in doing so knocked it to the defender,
Their goal came from a lack of concentration with a player dribbling past several of our players, each of whom dived in rather than standing their ground.
Game 1 (Lost 3:1) [Luke H]
This game started with a superb passing move, finished off with Jack giving Luke a simple lay off, followed by a good shot and a goal. Unfortunately it was a false dawn in that our play never really gained any cohesion after that. Everyone worked hard and really the opposition had few proper shots, if any, apart from their goals. We on the other hand should have had a least three more with both Jack (twice) and Said mis-hitting one-on-ones when they had ample time and a keeper not far of their line. It is difficult to put a finger on exactly wasn’t working today; at times players were not keeping their position well enough, but to be honest the defence was mostly very solid, Nathan as ever won a lot of loose ball in the middle, players were looking for passes, but we just didn’t make the most of the possession we had. When players dribbled, they nearly always got tackled; Jack did not get much clean possession but also seemed a little slow to anticipate and in Steve’s words, “we didn’t get the rub of the green today”.
What I would say is that I thought decision making and sharpness were a little off today. Players did not always control first when they had space, thus giving a wasted knock on and other times just gave poor passes or throws. Their first goal came because we did not close a player down quickly on the edge of the box, their second was just an accident with James dropping a slippery ball, and the third was also poor with several players not ready to attack James’ goal kick, giving their player too much time to meet it first and then kick a long and slightly lucky shot into the net. Of course, a good opposition will make us look worse and we should give them credit for never giving us space to play and always keeping 2 or even 3 on whoever was near their box.
Game 2 (Drew 1:1) [Ahmed 1]
This game had fewer chances than the first but once again they seem to have conceded fewer goals – is there a pattern here? I thought Ahmed worked very hard up front, but too often was pushed out wide, partly by good defending, and unable to be effective. He did work some magic a few times and had two shots from narrow angles, one hit the post and one scored. For the third he had only the keeper to beat and then fell over – it just wasn’t our day! Ezra had a good first half and was beginning to battle the way midfield players need to, winning quite a few loose balls and headers, but he still needs to be a bit quicker moving the ball on once he has it. Luke Jackson and Henry both played well in goal and kept a tight ship. As with the first team this game never really gained any cohesion and throughout it was a battle neither team won. Again I thought we were sometimes a bit off the pace in attacking the ball, especially in the middle, we don’t make the most of our throw-ins with players being too static and too slow to move. James A showed good attempts to look up and pass the ball and his smart play, followed by two more passes, led to Ahmed’s goal, but overall we did not connect enough passes. Dennis had a good game today and, in addition to being involved in the goal, was more involved in attacking play than previously. It was a pity that with his one clear chance to shoot, he decided to take an unnecessary touch and in doing so knocked it to the defender,
Their goal came from a lack of concentration with a player dribbling past several of our players, each of whom dived in rather than standing their ground.
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