MAA Premier Division League Match
Team: Dale Webster, Sheldon Miller, Steve Burton, Joe Lewis, Andy Creswell, Rocky Bennett-Bull, Micky Evans, Dan Uber, Chris Fish, Nick Evans, Mark Middleton. Subs: Andy, Martin & Fraser (all used)
Wollo Goals: Woodborough OG, Nick Evans & Chris Fish (2).
I've put off writing this match report for almost two weeks. But now's time to despatch some sort of account of one of the strangest games we've taken part in and are ever likely to take part in. It's extremely rare to score five goals away from home and end up on the losing side but that's what happened when we faced Woodborough two ago.
There's no love lost between the two teams and for these fixtures Woodborough raise their game to their highest level on their home turf. We did exactly the same last season when we played up at the club and beat them 4-1. On their day they're very hard to live with but, like ourselves, they blow hot and cold through lack of availability and a lack of focus. Just look at their results over a season and you'll see that. They don't always play to their full potential.
Their pitch is unlike any in this league, a small school pitch with hardly any space between the edges of the penalty box and the sidelines and adequate shooting range from most places within the attacking half. It's so small it makes Weirfields, with its vast open spaces, look like the Nou Camp.
Never matter because for the first 20 minutes we got to grips with the game quicker than they did. We took the lead early on through a well worked goal which ended up with their defender getting the last touch. That shook them up after 10 minutes and they hit us on the break to equalise. But we had them on the ropes again soon after, forcing most of the play into their half with Nick and Mark looking dangerous and Dan carving out some good wing play on the right. We were awarded a stonewall penalty when Nick was hacked down in the box and Fishy netted with a text book bottom corner finish.
Then the defensive rulebook was well and truly chucked out the window for the rest of the game as attackers had a field day at both ends. Woodborough started to test Dale a little more from all angles and got a second on the break and started to find their rhythm. They got a third but we soon drew back level with another Chris Fish penalty after Nick was hacked down for a second time. Woodborough really started to stretch us across midfield though and we were caught in possession a few times and paid the price, conceeding a fourth.
We drew level again after a low driven free kick from the right by Muller found Nick at the far post, who smashed the ball home but we couldn't hold level for long as Woodborough delivered a sucker punch before half time to make it 5-4 at the break.
Probably the most decisive moment of the game was straight after half time when they got a second early on and that gave them a two goal cushion which we never really recovered from. We had a decent share of the play in the second half but struggled to make as much capital as we'd done in the first and Woodborough delivered some decisive blows and we could only manage one goal in reply to their three in total in the latter 45 minutes. The plus points were the debuts of three new players in Andy, Martin and Fraser, who we'll see more of over the next few games.
No matter which way you look at it, it's not a pretty score line but the test of character is how you bounce back from a Saturday afternoon like this. Losing 8-5 is ropey but in the grand scheme of things whether you've lost 1-0 or 8-5 you've still lost three points. Beating yourself up about it will achieve nothing. What we need to do is lay the demons to rest with a positive result. We've made some tweaks to the team this Saturday which will hopefully achieve that.
Man of the Match: Nick Evans.
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