Team: O'Donnell, Davidson(Manson), Mackenzie, Blyth, Ayiku, Serrand(Gray), M.Smith, Fearn, Alexander(Osborne), Robertson, Fleming Subs Not Used: Cunningham

Having played Dickens pre-season in a farce of a friendly, there was a little edge to this match-up, with both sets of players viewing the game as a great opportunity for 3 points. The pitch was only just playable, and if the 2nd half downpour of hail-stones had happened before k.o then I doubt the game would have started. Add into the mix the fact that it was blowing a gale and the fact that the pitch is on a slope, we knew it was going to be tough. We lost the k.o and had to play with the wind in the 1st half, going down the slope, this was not good, as it meant an actual “uphill” struggle for the 2nd period.

The game kicked off, and there wasn’t too much between the sides in terms of possession for the 1st 10 mins. With the wind behind us, our passes were going too far ahead of Keith, and were getting mopped up by their backline. Likewise with the wind against them, Dickens were finding it tough to get forward with the ball holding up badly in the air.

The 1st notable happening in the game came in the 2nd minute, when Bridge Captain Barry Fearn earned a caution from the Ref for destroying their CB with a body-block on the edge of their box.
The first and probably best opportunity of the game fell to Dickens around 15 minutes into the game. A simple through ball looked to be heading safely to Barry in goal, but as the ball held up in the wind it was clearly not going to reach into the box. Barry was a little slow to react and as he reached for it with his feet, their Striker nipped in front of him to knock it beyond his outstretched leg. The forward had the simple task of taking a touch inside the box and knocking it into the empty net but amazingly screwed his shot wide of the far post for a real let-off for the Bridge team. The Dickens back four were being well marshalled by their no’4 who was also their skipper. Keith was being kept under a good watch by him and he put in several great tackles to prevent our top scorer from extending his goals tally as the half wore on.

Dickens opened the scoring with around 20 minutes gone and unfortunately it was another bad one for us to lose. Their striker was slow coming back from an offside position, but put his hands up and made no attempt to interfere with play. Our 2 CB’s watched him coming back rather than the midfield runner, and the attacker ran through on goal, rounded Barry, and knocked it into the empty net despite Chris’s attempt to get back and block it. It was a rather poor one to give away, and showed that if the concentration is not there at all times, you will get punished. Prior to the game we had talked about what to try at corners, and despite us getting several in a row, the new formation at the set piece didn’t quite come off which is something that WILL be worked on at training. Keith had a half chance to try and test their keeper with a free-kick around 25 yards out on the right, but with the under-footing being unsteady, his shot hit the wall and was cleared to safety.

There wasn’t too many chances as the half continued, and it was from a scruffy period of play that Dickens extended their lead to 2. We had 3 half-chances to clear the ball in our box, and when it fell to their no’7 at the corner of the box he showed quick feet to cut inside Lee before lofting a wind assisted effort over Barry and into the top far corner for 2-0. It was a little against the run of play, especially as were going down the slope and had the wind in our favour, but we were not really making any clear-cut chances. Barry was then called into action with a great block from a low effort just minutes after their 2nd goal as the Dickens side threatened to disappear over the horizon. This stung the Bridge into life, and when Anthony set Keith away through the middle, he cut inside their CB into the box and fired off a low drive off the base of the post. Agonisingly for the Bridge though, the ball ran along the line and out to safety past the opposite post. We then had another great chance moments later when another poor clearance by their Keeper was knocked back into their box 1st time by Chris. Their keeper chose to punch it away rather than catch it and only ended up clearing it directly to Capt Barry on the edge of the box. Barry’s 1s touch took the ball a little too far in front of him though, and it allowed their towering CB to slide in on the edge of the 6 yard box and prevent Barry a goal scoring opportunity.
We really needed a goal before half time, and with only seconds to go before the whistle we got our rewards. Mark cottoned on to another poor clearance and after taking it past one midfielder, he hooked the ball up and over the CB for Keith to run onto. Keith was his usual clinical self in front of goal and dispatched a finish into the opposite bottom corner for a real life-line prior to the whistle going for end of the 1st period.

Half time 2-1

Everyone knew that the 2nd period was going to be far harder on the legs than the 1st, we were uphill now and into the howling wind. Our objective was to get the ball out to the wings for Ian and (Dave), and to get up and support Keith as much as possible. Their Keeper had looked a little dodgy in the 1st half and we talked about testing him as much as possible, although the conditions were making that a tough request. We didn’t make any changes at the break, and we set out a little deeper to help with the distance that the wind would carry their punts forward. Dickens fired in a few early efforts that flew wide, and Barry came out to collect a couple of through balls, but other than that there wasn’t too many chances.
Lee had to come off early into the 2nd period with an ankle injury, so Sean Manson came on and went straight into the LB slot. The winger that was up against him went past him on the next attack, but from then on he had a good battle against the nippy forward and tried to prevent him getting in behind too often. A great chance fell to Dave(!) on our left wing as the hour approached, Mark picked the ball up inside his own half and went on a mazy slalom run past 4 Dickens players which culminated in the ball being sent down the channel inside their RB. Dave(!) got onto the ball inside the box, but with only their keeper to beat he scuffed his shot wide of the near post. We were on the front foot now and got our equaliser only minutes later.

Sean did well to come and meet their midfielder as he collected a clearance from their back 4, he showed great footwork to find some space and when the ball made its way across the pitch to Ian we had a great chance. Capt Barry ran ahead of Ian looking for a little pass to be slipped inside to him, This made some space for Ian who turned their LB inside out, before looking to feed the ball across the goalmouth, he looked up and saw the gap before placing a great finish into far corner for a well deserved goal and more importantly, and equaliser for the Bridge.

Keith had started the game with a slight ankle knock and after taking another sore one he had to be replaced by Matty Osborne. Matty went into the LM slot, Dave(!) went over to RM, and Ian went up top as we looked for that vital 3rd goal. With Lee no longer on the pitch, Chris took over the goal kicks, and from the next one taken we lost the 3rd goal and 2nd bad one of the day. With the wind against him, we had warned the players not to expect it to go too far, but with Chris taking it nobody covered for him in the central area. His attempted kick only went around 30 yards and was quickly passed into the box for their sub to latch onto, both Chris and Johnny tried to get to him in time, but he took a couple of touches before placing a low shot past Barry for 3-2 Dickens. It was a real sore one to swallow after all our efforts, and time was now running out to once again get back into the game.

In order to try and get the equaliser again, we changed formation and Anthony came off from the middle 3 and was replaced by John Gray on the 75minute mark. We went 4-4-2 with John going up front to try and make more space for Ian. We had a couple of great chances to fire the ball into the back post for Bridge players who were making runs, but the pitch was cutting up badly and causing the ball to bobble everywhere. Barry then did well to hold onto a corner that was swung right in on top of him, and Johnny put a great headed clearance over from a whipped free kick after Chris had brought down their sub right on the corner of the box.
With the clock ticking away we had one last great chance to get the goal, some interplay in the middle of the park saw the ball dinked in behind their CB for Mark to surge onto between 2 players. The ball seemed to take an eternity to come down to a decent height, and his powerful volley was too close to their keeper, who was able to palm it away for a corner. The resultant corner was cleared away and the Ref blew for full time before another chance could be created.

FINAL SCORE– 3-2

Managers Comment:
After our good win last week against The Stand, we were in good spirits going into this game against a team very much equal to ourselves. We were confident of matching them in all area’s and hoped that our passing game would be the difference between the teams. The weather and marsh-like pitch put paid to our chances of playing any real football, but we battled well against a physically strong side, and were very very unlucky not to grab a deserved point in the end.

We have to concentrate on not giving away poor goals at the back, this will probably stop in time, given that it is happening a lot less than at the beginning of the season. Our defenders have to learn to talk to each other constantly during a game to ensure that each of them know who is picking up which striker or runner from the middle of the park.

At the other end of the park, our midfielders have to start taking their chances with more controlled finishes rather than going for power, Ian’s finish was a great example of not lashing the ball at goal, but placing it with power. On another day we could have had another 2 or 3 goals easily, but these things will come with practice.
Best in the Tangerine yesterday were: Johnny at RB, it was his first game in a while but he did well against a speedy winger, and tried to link up with the midfielders, Capt Baz worked hard in the middle of the marsh, and has won the award for fastest booking of the season, and both Ian and Keith put in a great tireless shift each on an energy sapping pitch.

However there can be only on M.O.T.M, so this week’s award goes to MARK SMITH. Markyboy had another great game in the centre of the park, and although he found it a little tough in a more reserved role in front of the back four, he was still able to make his trademark bursts from the middle and was very unlucky not to get a last gasp equaliser for us. His willingness to take the play to the opposition is something that we need from the midfielders, and his run in the 2nd half typified that determination when he skipped past 4 Dickens players.

M.O.T.M. – Mark Smith

(Man of the Match)



Teamsheet:
GK – Barry O’Donnell (6 out of 10)
RB – Johnny Mackenzie (7)
CB – Chris Blyth (6)
CB – Isaac Ayiku (6)
LB – Lee Davidson (6) (Sean Manson 6)
RM – Ian Fleming (7) (1G)
CM – Mark Smith (8)
CM – Anthony Serrand (6) ( John Gray 6)
CM – Barry Fearn (7)
LM – Dave Robertson (!) (6)
STK – Keith Alexander (7) (1G) (Matty Osborne 6)