Oh Dear

Team Sheet : Coby, EthanR, EthanT, George, Isaac, James, Jasper, Lewis, Oliver, Rui, Sam, Stanley, Thomas, Travis

Oliver, Travis, Lewis, Coby, Sam, Isaac, Ethan, Thomas and Rui kicked off for the Iguanas, against a team we let slip away at the start of the season.

The game started, briefly, evenly matched. The Warriors won a couple of corners, but they couldn’t convert. A good run by Thomas saw Rui put through on goal, but brought down in what looked for all the world like the penalty area, but no penalty given. Travis also had a shot go wide, and then a further shot saved.

Rui was strong in defence, as was Ethan in collecting the ball and pushing forwards. Isaac joined in the action with some big, strong tackles.

The Warriors then made a very good break, leaving our defensive line standing. The first shot hit the post, but the deflection was quickly met by another Warriors’ player to open the scoring.

Rui was replaced by EthanT after a couple of heavy challenges caused him some niggles.

Coby showed some nice tracking back, and Isaac was being very watchful of the attacking side. But the Iguanas were struggling containing attacks. There was decent press for the first ball, but most players were then not following up for a second bite, and the tackles were not strong or decisive enough to stop the Warriors from mounting their own attack or continuing forwards.

Sam, Travis, Coby and Lewis were switched out for George, Stanley, Jasper and James. The Iguanas only had 8 players on the pitch initially until the supporters frantically got the attention of the manager – the last thing we needed, with the Warriors attacking strongly, was to give a player advantage!

Coby was replaced by Jasper after picking up a knock.

Then the Warriors beat our defence again. Oliver saved the first effort, but the Warriors were first to the rebound again to score.

The Warriors pushed from the restart. Our defence again failed to make decisive enough tackles, and the score would have been increased but for a great double save by Oliver off the ground.

Coby and Jasper switched out again.

The Warriors broke once more, this time winning a corner. At sixes and sevens, the Iguanas failed to mark their back post at all, and the Warriors converted easily for a bigger lead.

In the final move of the half, the Warriors pushed again. A mix up between Oliver and Isaac, in terms of who was to get the ball, left it free for the Warriors to strike.

Despite a reasonable first few minutes, everything that could go wrong for the Iguanas did go wrong in this half. Compounded heavily by a lack of energy and accuracy in pretty much everything they were doing.

Half time.

Oliver, Lewis, EthanT, Travis, Jasper, Thomas, Rui, Sam and Ethan picked up the challenge of the second half.

Lewis battled hard in the middle from the kick off, releasing Jasper through on goal. Jasper ran at the keeper and released a solid shot past the Warriors’ keeper.

The Iguanas were quick on the restart and won a corner, but nothing could be made of it. The Warriors then broke strongly once more, Sam covering well and Oliver intercepting the long ball neatly. Rui was also tracking back and defending well, but the Warriors were regrouping and attacking at every opportunity. On the next break, Oliver was forced into another decent save, but the ball remained in play and the Warriors were once more able to convert, in a theme that had dogged the whole match for the Iguanas.

For whatever reason, the intensity levels simply were not there for the Iguanas today. The team were stopping and ball watching whenever the Warriors picked it up, and too slow to break down attacks. On the occasions the Iguanas did manage to break into the Warriors’ half, they were being caught offside frequently.

The Iguanas won a free-kick, which Rui struck really well, only for there to be nobody to collect the ball and have an effort on goal.

EthanT was showing more energy than the rest of the team combined, and managed a number of jinking runs. But with few players keeping pace, there was little he could do with it as he progressed up the field. This gave time for the Warriors to close him down in numbers. One move led to an Iguanas free-kick once more, but this was put wide.

Sam was given a breather by George. Jasper and EthanR by James and Coby.

Still the Warriors pushed, and pushed hard. Rui defended well, and Oliver came in for a heavy tackle, both showing how this needed to be done. But it still wasn’t enough to stem the flow. A later, solid attack by the Warriors wasn’t closed down at all by the Iguanas, and they managed a final goal of the game.

Thomas was replaced by Stanley.

The Iguanas managed to steady the ship a little for the last 10 minutes, but this was a poor game for them, and everyone was grateful when the final whistle blew.

By far the poorest game for the Iguanas for a very long time. Energy levels were non-existent, matched by desire for the ball, accuracy and commitment in tackles and organisation. The second half was a stronger display from the team, and the score in the second half was probably more representative of the difference between the teams had the Iguanas put in a more usual display. But the Iguanas were beaten by the better side today. A game to forget.

Iguana of the Match : EthanT – a battling midfield performance, as usual, on a very difficult day for the team.