Saturday January 3rd, 2008. Beeston Weirfields, Notts.
Team: Dale Webster, Sheldon Miller, Frazer Barron, Dave Smith, Rocky Bennett-Bull, Micky Evans, Matt Reeves, Andy Creswell, Chris Fish, Liam Bates, Mark Middleton. Subs: Bez and Dave Grantham (used).
Wollo Goal: Mark Middleton.
After a 7-2 drubbing away at the hands of TVFC in our last game of 2008, we were looking to open our account of 2009 with a clean slate. No one connected with Wollaton Thirds expected to see a New Year with us at the bottom of the MAA Premier Division table but that’s the reality that dawns after such a disastrous result just before Christmas.
Nick Evans has been away on a month long honeymoon jaunting across South America , so was naturally a big loss for the game away to TVFC and also for this game at home to FC05, a sobering first fixture after a break of festivities, frolics, food and drink.
Nick returns this Saturday. We hope the street kids of Rio have taught him a thing or two when it comes to keepy uppies with various out of date fruit, working on his first touch. In return, I expect he’s shown them a thing or two on how to decapitate a keeper from 12 yards.
So no Nick last week though Mark returned from a three week lay off having recovered from man flu. Left back Joe Lewis was (and still is) away in Kaula Lumpar though still finds time to e-mail us all asking if we want tickets for this season’s QMC panto. After his performance last year as ‘Wishy Washy’ I’ll give that one a miss – fortunately his performances on the field have been markedly more self respecting than those on the stage, so Joe was also a tangible loss last week. And the list continued…..Burts was unavailable with a swollen ankle and the keeper, Rhys, was away too. So that’s four key senior players away.
I’d hazard a guess that in the light of such absences other teams would have looked at last weekend’s fixture, would no doubt have felt their backsides mildly contract and perhaps subsequently called the game off citing some reason or another. It’s good to have people around like Frank and Bill who provide a gentle nudge at such times, not forgetting the support also of ressies Manager, Tony Alvey, who helped us by passing Frazer back down to fill in at left back and passing Reevey to bolster the midfield after a lay off with a torn hamstring.
We have had no problem scoring goals this season (though without Nick it’s always going to have an effect), the problem has been conceding them at the other end and up against one of the best sides in the league in FC05 we had to do something different, so Rocky paired up with Smithy in the centre of defence and we played 4-2-3-1 with Micky and Reevey mostly holding in front of the back four and Cressy, Liam and Fishy playing higher midfield roles supporting Mark up front. Dale did the honours by donning the keepers gloves after getting a pass out, convincing his better half that the chance of ending up in hospital again with a cracked head needing 14 stitches would be remote.
It took 20 minutes for everyone to find their feet and their positions but once we settled the personnel complemented the system quite well. The main message before the game was to get players behind the ball whenever we lost possession and the penny dropped all round. We wasted no time in setting down a marker for FC05 with some strong challenges, with Smithy in particular making his presence felt which ruffled some feathers. Rocky and Smithy were quick to develop a solid partnership and were dominant in the air and Dale was a real bonus, providing a clear voice behind the back four. Young Frazer kept cool under pressure too, playing the ball out of some tight spots well early doors under pressure. We’d dealt with corners well all through the first half until FC05 beat us at the far post to head home and take the lead, Dale got a hand to the ball but it wasn’t enough to keep it out.
The reaction from Wollo was steadfast, we showed no signs of giving up and the work rate was spot on as we continued to press in all areas of the pitch and fought as hard as we have done all season for the spoils. Smithy came very close on two occasions with free kicks, one a real pile driver from 30 yards that the keeper only just managed to push over the bar. Half time: 1-0 to FC05.
At the start of the second half Bez stepped in at left back after Liam came off with a pulled groin and Frazer went up to right mid to demonstrate his versatility. Micky and Reevey worked well in the second half, breaking up a lot of FC05’s play. We retained the ball a lot better than of late as we played the way we were facing, with Micky pulling the strings in midfield. We got our reward halfway through the second half when Mark scored a superb equaliser after we’d put FC05 on the back foot for a period of ten minutes. Dave came on for me (cramp) with 25 minutes to go and we went in search of the winner as the play swung from one half to another. Mark always looked dangerous up front and Cressy put in a great shift giving FC05’s back four some troubles.
We started to get a little stretched with 20 minutes to go as FC05 worked the ball around well and they got the winner with a well worked goal that ended up with a low drive at the back post. Though we lost we have started 2009 as a far better side than the one that finished 2008 and we pushed FC05 all the way with four key senior players missing and amidst wholesale changes. FC05 asked us what we were doing at the bottom of this division. They’re not the first team to have asked us that. Over the next few weeks we can answer that one. The attitude and work rate from the lads was superb. If we play like that every Saturday from hereon in with the other lads to return we’ll show our true potential and proper league standing and may even win some silverware as we’re in the semi final of the league cup. Credit to everyone for starting 2009 with the right attitude.
Man of the Match: Micky Evans. Just pips Smithy and Rocky (who both had good games) with a top midfield performance.
After a 7-2 drubbing away at the hands of TVFC in our last game of 2008, we were looking to open our account of 2009 with a clean slate. No one connected with Wollaton Thirds expected to see a New Year with us at the bottom of the MAA Premier Division table but that’s the reality that dawns after such a disastrous result just before Christmas.
Nick Evans has been away on a month long honeymoon jaunting across South America , so was naturally a big loss for the game away to TVFC and also for this game at home to FC05, a sobering first fixture after a break of festivities, frolics, food and drink.
Nick returns this Saturday. We hope the street kids of Rio have taught him a thing or two when it comes to keepy uppies with various out of date fruit, working on his first touch. In return, I expect he’s shown them a thing or two on how to decapitate a keeper from 12 yards.
So no Nick last week though Mark returned from a three week lay off having recovered from man flu. Left back Joe Lewis was (and still is) away in Kaula Lumpar though still finds time to e-mail us all asking if we want tickets for this season’s QMC panto. After his performance last year as ‘Wishy Washy’ I’ll give that one a miss – fortunately his performances on the field have been markedly more self respecting than those on the stage, so Joe was also a tangible loss last week. And the list continued…..Burts was unavailable with a swollen ankle and the keeper, Rhys, was away too. So that’s four key senior players away.
I’d hazard a guess that in the light of such absences other teams would have looked at last weekend’s fixture, would no doubt have felt their backsides mildly contract and perhaps subsequently called the game off citing some reason or another. It’s good to have people around like Frank and Bill who provide a gentle nudge at such times, not forgetting the support also of ressies Manager, Tony Alvey, who helped us by passing Frazer back down to fill in at left back and passing Reevey to bolster the midfield after a lay off with a torn hamstring.
We have had no problem scoring goals this season (though without Nick it’s always going to have an effect), the problem has been conceding them at the other end and up against one of the best sides in the league in FC05 we had to do something different, so Rocky paired up with Smithy in the centre of defence and we played 4-2-3-1 with Micky and Reevey mostly holding in front of the back four and Cressy, Liam and Fishy playing higher midfield roles supporting Mark up front. Dale did the honours by donning the keepers gloves after getting a pass out, convincing his better half that the chance of ending up in hospital again with a cracked head needing 14 stitches would be remote.
It took 20 minutes for everyone to find their feet and their positions but once we settled the personnel complemented the system quite well. The main message before the game was to get players behind the ball whenever we lost possession and the penny dropped all round. We wasted no time in setting down a marker for FC05 with some strong challenges, with Smithy in particular making his presence felt which ruffled some feathers. Rocky and Smithy were quick to develop a solid partnership and were dominant in the air and Dale was a real bonus, providing a clear voice behind the back four. Young Frazer kept cool under pressure too, playing the ball out of some tight spots well early doors under pressure. We’d dealt with corners well all through the first half until FC05 beat us at the far post to head home and take the lead, Dale got a hand to the ball but it wasn’t enough to keep it out.
The reaction from Wollo was steadfast, we showed no signs of giving up and the work rate was spot on as we continued to press in all areas of the pitch and fought as hard as we have done all season for the spoils. Smithy came very close on two occasions with free kicks, one a real pile driver from 30 yards that the keeper only just managed to push over the bar. Half time: 1-0 to FC05.
At the start of the second half Bez stepped in at left back after Liam came off with a pulled groin and Frazer went up to right mid to demonstrate his versatility. Micky and Reevey worked well in the second half, breaking up a lot of FC05’s play. We retained the ball a lot better than of late as we played the way we were facing, with Micky pulling the strings in midfield. We got our reward halfway through the second half when Mark scored a superb equaliser after we’d put FC05 on the back foot for a period of ten minutes. Dave came on for me (cramp) with 25 minutes to go and we went in search of the winner as the play swung from one half to another. Mark always looked dangerous up front and Cressy put in a great shift giving FC05’s back four some troubles.
We started to get a little stretched with 20 minutes to go as FC05 worked the ball around well and they got the winner with a well worked goal that ended up with a low drive at the back post. Though we lost we have started 2009 as a far better side than the one that finished 2008 and we pushed FC05 all the way with four key senior players missing and amidst wholesale changes. FC05 asked us what we were doing at the bottom of this division. They’re not the first team to have asked us that. Over the next few weeks we can answer that one. The attitude and work rate from the lads was superb. If we play like that every Saturday from hereon in with the other lads to return we’ll show our true potential and proper league standing and may even win some silverware as we’re in the semi final of the league cup. Credit to everyone for starting 2009 with the right attitude.
Man of the Match: Micky Evans. Just pips Smithy and Rocky (who both had good games) with a top midfield performance.
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