Hi Pythons
Our 5th home league game
Kick off is at 11:15 on St James Park pitch at Westmorland Park. Please be there 20 minutes before kick off so we can warm-up. The Cobras and the Vipers teams are playing before us.
Please tell your parents that we have to take down the goals & corner flags after our game as we are the last team on this pitch.
If you're unable to play, please let me know asap.
See you all on Saturday.
John
Saturday saw you play Ascot Panthers in our final home game of the season. Our last game against Ascot an away fixture saw you play some of your best football of the season and given you were unbeaten at home we were looking forward to a good game. We were missing Haydn and Mathew F.
Toady we wanted you to play with belief and determination to finish off our home games with a win. We wanted you to pass the ball around and take your opportunities to score by taking a touch and making sure you made good contact with the ball.
1st half saw Luke in goal with Ben, Cameron and George in defence with Michael, Kieran and Alex in midfield, Mathew L was sub. Kieran was captain this week. On a bitterly cold day the game started evenly with both teams battling hard in midfield. Ascot pushed on first and Luke was called into making a couple of saves early on but then you found your feet and started to look dangerous yet you defended well with Mathew L and George keeping Ascot at bay. Ben making some great tackles on the left slid in Michael who passed to Kieran for our first effort but the keeper made a great save from the long range effort. Again we attacked down the left and Michael and Kieran got in each others way before Kieran got his shot away but it went well wide. Alex and Michael both had close efforts well defended by Ascot as you guys looked like you were going to score. However with some poor defending you allowed Ascot an opportunity to score and as Mathew L and Cameron were dragged out of position a desperate covering tackle from Ben merely deflected the ball to the Ascot striker who shot low and the ball creped under Luke in goal, 0 – 1. Your heads dropped a bit but you still managed to create another great opportunity but Kieran shot early and the ball went wide. Halftime and losing 1 – 0.
The halftime talk focused on better control of the ball instead of merely kicking it away particularly upfront. Alex needed to get his head up more and Michael and Kieran to take a touch before deciding to shot or pass and to keep in your positions upfront as you were getting in each others way. But more importantly to win the tackles as we were now playing into the wind and we needed to be strong.
2nd half
Alex went in goal, with Luke, Mathew L and George in defence with Ben, Cameron and Michael in midfield. As the second half started sleet and snow began to fall and you guys really looked like you were struggling. Early Ascot pressure saw tackles being missed as you really let the weather get to you. Ben and Cameron looked to push forward when they could and you still created some good chances but it was hard work. Ascot’s 2nd goal was really bad luck as a long range shot was saved by Alex, but the ball hit the post and bounced back onto Alex and into the goal, 0 – 2.
It was from this point on that we started to suffer. To cap it all, we had the weather against us as well. Severe snowy blizzard conditions occurred making it very difficult to see the ball with the wind blowing directly against us. Several of you informed me after the game that you had problems seeing the ball when the blizzard was at its worst. Unfortunately the ref did not halt the game and so we have to respect the ref's decision to play on. Ascot made the most of the advantage of the wind and pushed you back with wave after wave of attacks. Kieran, Ben and Cameron tried to get things working down the right, but too often good work was followed by poor shooting. George had to depart with a foot injury and Michael dropped into defence. Alex made some good saves, but was struggling to see the ball like everyone else. Ascot helped by the very bad weather conditions dominated the remaining part of 2nd half to score 2 more goals to finish off a 4 – 0 win.
Guys this was a lesson on who wanted to win the game more than the other, yes it was very very cold but it was the same for both sides. Yet one team wanted to win the ball more than the other and that was Ascot. It’s very rare when your coaches have been so disappointed by the effort you all put in but today too many of you were ready to give up in the 2nd half and that was the difference. Football is a winter sport it’s played in all weathers; you don’t see Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard or Cesc Fabregas wanting to come off because it’s too cold or wet. Oh NO they fight till the end of the game and try and win every ball. Ascot ended up just as cold and wet as you yet they won and went home happy and you lost and went home sad, so who had the best deal?
Congratulations to Ben who won Man of the Match today with a real battling performance.
It’s the last game of the season next week against Lower Earley who will be looking for revenge so let’s really try and win it and finish on a high.
Come on you Pythons!
John, Ian and Paul