Down To Earth With a Bump

Team Sheet : EthanR, EthanT, James, Lewis, Oliver, Rokas, Rui, Stanley, Thomas, Travis

Down to earth with a bump against the Valley Green Jaguars, and we are all expecting this home game to be the last with half decent weather for a while!

Oliver, EthanR, James, Rokas, Travis, Thomas and Lewis got us under way and the Iguanas were immediately under the kosh by some neat passing and good awareness from the Jaguars.

On top of some skilled pressure from the Jaguars, a shaky start from the Iguanas saw the ball passed across their own penalty area frequently in the first 10mins of the game, which the Jaguars were quick to seize on, forcing a couple of good saves from Oliver.

Travis picked up the goal kick and showed some good ability to travel up the wing, and good awareness of where his team mates and the opposition players were. The final ball was just a little too strong for the Iguanas’ forwards, however, and went harmlessly out of play.
This pressure was short lived with the Jaguars breaking quickly from their own box. Neat passing led to a very good shot which unfortunately beat our keeper to the left despite a big dive and stretch to try and get to the ball.

The Iguanas created a little pressure from the restart, but again the Jaguars got hold of the ball and played it well through the field. This was going to be a long game! EthanR was on hand to snuff out the danger and cleared the ball well. A bouncing ball was collected nicely by Thomas who quickly fed the ball to Lewis, a tidy shot just hitting the post. Thomas was also then involved in a rapid break through the Jaguars’ defensive line and played a lovely cross into the box which Lewis’ head only just failed to connect with.

The Jaguars were quick to break once more, and with the Iguanas slow and cautious into tackles the Jaguars set up a shot. The Jaguars’ striker let loose with a very strong shot, but Oliver kept his hands strong and tipped the ball onto the bar.

EthanT, Rui and Stanley came on for Thomas, James and Rokas to see if we could find a combination to give the Jaguars more sustained pressure. But again the Jaguars pressed on and released another shot that was seen onto the post of the Iguanas’ goal.

A little spell of pressure from the Iguanas led to a couple of corners, but both were put into the Jaguars’ side netting. The Jaguars managed to break clear, but the Iguanas counter attacked with EthanT and Stanley running at their defence, but despite being three players up our shooting boots had deserted us today and we couldn’t convert.

The Iguanas’ keeper was called upon for more saves with another strong Jaguars’ break and a bit of a defensive mix up just outside our own half, just ahead of the Iguanas’ final break of the half. This forced the Jaguars to put the ball out for a corner, which Travis took nicely. Unfortunately nobody could quite connect with the ball that was nicely placed into the box.

Half time.

Oliver, Rui, EthanT, Rokas, Lewis, James and Thomas came on for the start of the second half.

The Iguanas started this half more brightly, with Thomas and Lewis linking up well again into the box, Lewis just putting his shot wide. This was a much better spell for the Iguanas with much more of the play in the Jaguars’ half, and when they did manage to break, James and Rui dealing with the danger more assuredly than in the first half. A shot/cross went just wide from Lewis, A corner was well delivered but nobody was available to convert and Rokas was strong with his right foot, the ball unfortunately going harmlessly wide. Thomas was showing some great battling and dribbling with the ball, just losing his touch at the last moment and the ball going wide.

The pressure was being maintained, with the Jaguars being forced to get the ball into touch for a reasonable spell now. Iguanas’ throw-ins were allowing us to break, but our corners were wasteful with the ball going into the side netting. The efforts from last week’s game had possibly taken their toll as moves and techniques we would have put away last week just weren’t falling our way this week.

The Jaguars broke at this point but were again forced to put the ball wide. The resultant goal kick was delivered to Rui who played a nice pass to Thomas. Thomas played a first-time pass to Lewis which the Jaguars’ keeper came out to meet, but wasn’t quick enough to beat Lewis to the ball, and this time Lewis wasn’t going to miss. The ball was slipped past the approaching keeper and the scores were levelled.

This woke the Jaguars up from a quieter spell and they broke quickly from the restart. Running clear of our defence, one of their attackers was brought down just outside the box for a free kick. Oliver set his wall well, and despite a very strong free kick which evaded the wall, Oliver saved it and the resultant rebound, taking the ball in the face in the process as it was turned out for a corner. The Iguanas’ defence was well set for this, but somehow the Jaguars managed to find a gap at the front post and the ball was in the back of the net from an unfortunate Iguanas’ defensive foot.

The game was much more back and forth for the remainder of game time. EthanT just shot wide after a good break. As did Lewis. But the Jaguars kept on pushing, especially down the wings, constantly looking threatening with good passing and not losing their composure.
Travis, Stanley and EthanR came on for Rui, Thomas and Rokas, in time for further Jaguars’ pressure. Another hard tackle led to a Jaguars’ free kick, but EthanT blocked this bravely. The Jaguars managed to pick the ball up, however, and their cross was left unopposed. The Iguanas were slow to close the ball down, and a good shot from the right was lofted over all the Iguanas’ players for a third goal.

The Iguanas seemed to go back into their shells after this, being reticent to attack the ball and get into tackles. This was compounded by some poor choices of passing in our own half, which the Jaguars didn’t wait to take advantage of. But the Iguanas’ keeper was up for the challenge and prevented any more goals despite a good bit of pressure.

The last minute of the game saw the last Iguanas’ break, Thomas picking up a longer through ball and forcing a decent save from the Jaguars’ keeper just before the whistle blew.

In some respects the Iguanas were lucky today that the scoreline wasn’t worse. A good 10min spell after half-time showed glimpses of the fabulous performances in the previous two games, but the Jaguars were the stronger team today for the majority of the game. At our best/usual levels of play, it’s doubtful they would have beaten us, but sometimes it just isn’t to be. Hopefully energy levels will be back to what we’ve seen before from our brave team.

Iguana of the Match : Oliver – on fantastic form today and saved a potentially much heavier loss with athletic dives, tipping the ball onto the bar or round the posts from some very strong shooting.