Unfortunately again this week luck was not on our side as we lost 2-1 in a big game against Wickhambrook. This week was a very frustrating result and I am sure a lot of players feel likewise. The match was generally an open contest with neither side particularly having the majority of chances of possession. We started the game slow yet again and were made to pay for it very quickly. From a poor corner delivery two players failed to react, allowing the cross to hit a Wickhambrook player on the hip and the ball to carry over the line.
This should have been the wake up call to get things going but for some reason we really did not seem up for the match in the opening 20 minutes and this allowed Wickhambroom to find a second. Again a very routine free kick was headed in as a player was allowed to run on to the cross totally unchallenged. Set plays are the absolute basics of football and this week we did an awful job of dealing with them and it is ultimately those two incidents which cost us this match. There is no need for a finger pointing exercise but everyone does need to learn from this quickly as if we want to push for promotion we simply can not allow the opposition to score such simple goals with no challenge from our players. The remainder of the first half we started to up our performance, with Bates heading just over the bar and Rhino's well hit shot being scrambled clear following a save.
Second half I believe we played better and overall Wickhambrook only created a few chances and were kept relatively quiet. The main difference seemed to be that we started to work as a unit, the passing become more decisive and players were actively looking to take the game to Wickhambrook. It is through this effort that we rightfully got ourselves back in the game following a crap cross [superbly placed shot - Ed] by Charlie. We created several half chances following our goal, the best of which fell to debutant Ben Gathercole who lost his marker well before just dragging his shot wide of the far post. But it was not to be and unfortunately our failure to deal with two very simple set pieces early in the first half cost us this match.
Must gutting of all from the fixture is that Wickhambrook have been gifted a victory without being the better side. We have 7 matches remaining this season and we now need to pick up at least 6 wins if we are to guarantee a promotion spot. This season we have played some great football but the last two weeks we have not been at our best and have allowed the opposition too much time on the ball and not threatened the opposition’s goal.
Next week we face Elephant and Castle who are a real hit or miss team, on their day I think they are probably the strongest opposition we face. Last time we played them we again gifted a 2-0 lead and had to fight are way back to a 3-2 victory. This week lets make sure we grab the first goal and put E&C on the back foot from the off, we are easily capable of getting the promotion we want but everyone needs to be ready to give 100% from start to finish. Lets hope we have seen the back end of a little blip in our season and we can get back in the promotion hunt with a big win on Saturday.
Hugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble & Plummer
Fighting Trumpton's fires since 1967
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