Cotgrave
Colts 4 Wollaton Hall Yellow 0 |
6th
January 2008 |
Team:
Match Report: I know that normally new years resolutions are set prior to the 1st January but if its ok, I would like to set one today; lets make all of our performances during 2008 as good as this one. Wollaton are a good side, they have some good individuals and their goalkeeper (like ours) is one of the best in the Division. We played them on the 3rd of November in the Cup and managed a 1-2 win but it was a battle and we knew that today was going to be the same. Not having played a game since the 2nd December it was going to be interesting to see how our players responded to “getting back to football”. Wollaton pressed early doors and to be honest they shaded the early exchanges. We needed to play Max in central defence as both Tom and Richard were unavailable, this meant that our central midfield, although full of skill and talent (in Macaulay and Connor) we lacked a ball winner. As a result of this our defence was a little exposed on occasions. However, when we went forward the obvious talents of both Macaulay and Connor paid dividends and a number of chances were created for the forwards. With 5 minutes gone, Dylan scored his first of 2008. Running on to an excellent pass through from Connor, Dylan coolly took the ball on and despatched it into the goal. One nil up was how the half stayed until right on the stroke of halftime when Macaulay scored with an excellent right foot drive from the edge of the box. The Wollaton keeper had done fantastically well in the first half but he had no chance with this one. Football is not just about goals and the time between our two in the first half demonstrated this. Our defence was holding very firm and Wollaton were reduced to only a handful of chances. When they did get through, Liam (carrying an injury) was alert and pulled off a save that had the chance gone in could have turned game. Craig, Ryan S, Robbie and Max were proving to be a strong wall in front of our goal; not only were they resolute in the challenge they also used the ball intelligently when getting the ball away. This is a particularly strong aspect of Craig’s game. Half-Time: 2-0 At half-time we had to work out how we could stop Wollaton from pressing in midfield; to this end we moved Max into a defensive midfield role, Ryan S moved to centre half and Jack was introduced at right back. Connor moved out left. Right from the kick-off Colts set about their task superbly. Within 1 minute of the re-start Ryan B scored to make it 3 nil. A good through pass from Dylan was intercepted by “Birchy” who finished with great confidence. Dylan and Ryan B are forming a good partnership upfront and although there is still work to do in order to improve their understanding there is signs of a productive strike partnership. George was introduced to the play after 10 minutes to play upfront. Being left footed meant that we looked very balanced when attacking down the left; Robbie (at left back), Connor (left midfield) and George (left side of attack) are all left footed and they linked up very well and produced some excellent football. Like the first half the game was fiercely contested; if you ask Max he will tell you that it was a bit too fierce at one point when he went down under a very heavy challenge. Being the type of player that he is (100% get stuck in) means that he will occasionally get a kick but he is a strong lad and he soon bounced back. After his introduction at halftime, Jack had a very sound second half at right back; he defended and challenged well and cleared the ball effectively when under pressure. We are sometimes guilty of trying to overplay the ball in our defensive third when under pressure but all 4 defenders stuck to the task well today. Special mention to Will who worked tirelessly up and down the right side of midfield; one minute looking as though he was the going to score and the next stopping Wollaton from doing the same at our end. 2 minutes from the end of normal time, Colts got a deserved 4 th goal scored by Dylan. The build up was “total football”. It was the sort of goal that my kids score against me on the Playstation. Liam played the ball short to Robbie, who took the ball on before playing it to Chris (I think it was Chris). The ball was then played into George who went on a mazy run before putting in a ball for Dylan to crash the ball into the net. Even the Wollaton supporters around me applauded the goal and commented on the great football that had led to it. Well done to all of the lads involved in that move – pure magic. Fulltime – 4 – 0 Summary: That was our first “CLEAN SHEET” of the season; well done to Liam and the defenders. I am more pleased by that (in some ways) than I am about winning the game. We have conceded a number of bad goals this season but not today; keep it up. I thought we played some fantastic football today. Our passing and movement (when going forward) was some of the best we have played for a long time. Wollaton have some good players and this was not an easy game. Anyone watching today could not fail to be impressed. At the beginning of this report I drew reference to the enforced break we have had from football recently and I wondered how the lads would respond. Well, I think they responded brilliantly and Mark and I could not be more pleased. I am away with work next week and will miss Sunday’s game which is away at Clifton AW. I will pass on details as soon as I have them. Neither Mark nor I are available for training on Friday so there will not be any this coming week. Special thanks to Ian Goulding for refereeing. He changed shifts at work so that he could help me out and I am very grateful. Also thanks to John for running the line and to the Wollaton parent who did the same. I thought all officials did very well and that the game (although very competitive) was played in the right spirit. Thanks also to Ian B for helping pack away after the game. Finally, well done (again) lads. You deserved your win and that was the best way to start the new year. Good luck against Clifton – I will be phoning to get a full match report. Alan and Mark. |
Feedback: name: Alan Involvement: Cotgrave Manager Just to rectify an obvious error. The full-time score was 4-0 so the half-time score could not possibly have been 3-2. It was in fact 2-0. Thanks to the observant individual that noticed my mistake. |
Did you see things differently? Do you have anything to add? We will add feedback to the bottom of the report, but PLEASE refrain from personal criticism, whether it is players, referee, linesman, managers etc. If you do, then it will not be added. Try as much as possible to keep it positive.