Iguanas
Matches
Sun 21 Nov 2021
Sporting 77
Iguanas
0
0
Tillingham Tigers
Another stinker

Another stinker

Andy Murphy29 Nov 2021 - 21:18
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Where have our Iguanas gone?

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

A cold but bright day. Would it be enough to blow away the memory of last week’s performance?

Oliver, Rui, EthanR, Rokas, Travis, Lewis and Thomas started the match off for the Iguanas. The teams were new to each other and it showed with a cagey, tentative start by both. An early Iguanas’ corner was put wide, and a Tigers’ break from a goal kick was snuffed out by good defensive play by Rui. Travis was pushing the Tigers wide to limit their opportunities, and took a solid throw which Lewis put wide with a header. A number of Iguanas’ corners couldn’t be converted, Thomas coming closest but the Tigers’ keeper saving the attempt quite easily.

The Tigers also had their share of breaks, showing the need for hard work from the Iguanas and prompting a great reaction save from Oliver from one well struck shot. Rokas was also getting stuck in, and Thomas was helping defend well from corners, of which there were quite a few.

Isaac, Stanley, EthanT and James came on to replace Travis, Rokas, EthanR and Rui, but the Tigers were now proving to be the stronger team, really working together, tracking back when the Iguanas managed to break and then using that to apply pressure back into the Iguanas’ half.

A number of Tigers’ corners were handled OK, and both Isaac and Oliver were showing good defensive awareness, watching the ball out when needed and getting hold of it when not. One corner brought a fabulous catch from Oliver, snatching the ball away from a Tigers’ attacker.

Thomas, Stanley and EthanT were working well together when the Iguanas managed a break, and bringing Lewis into the mix they managed a couple of decent looking shots but both were well saved. A long-range speculative shot from James just went wide.

Half time.

Oliver, Rui, EthanR, Lewis, Travis, Thomas and EthanT started the second half and it didn’t go well. As the first half progressed, an increasing number of passes from the Iguanas were going straight to Tigers’ players. And the Iguanas unfortunately picked up where they had left off from the starting whistle. The Tigers didn’t wait to take advantage of this – breaking through our defensive line creating a two on one situation and the Tigers were ahead.

From the restart the Tigers’ were given the ball again, ultimately winning a couple of corners. Fortunately for the Iguanas the Tigers handled the ball from the kick, which gave the Iguanas chance to break. A corner was won, but put wide from the kick which reversed the pressure. The Tigers also managed to win a corner, which whilst well struck wasn’t met well by the Iguanas who took their eye off the ball, turning backs towards it and resulting in an own goal that couldn’t be kept out.

This pattern started to repeat itself. Poor passing from the Iguanas gave the Tigers a lot of opportunities to break. They won a number of corners from these breaks, and despite the odd solid defending (including a great defensive header from Thomas), the Iguanas’ tackling was getting more and more ragged and loose.

The Iguanas did manage a few breaks, but these were generally either wasted (shots wide or the ball given away with too many touches) or saved by the Tigers’ keeper pretty easily.

Isaac, James, Stanley and Rokas came on to relieve Lewis, Rui, Thomas and EthanR, shortly after which the Tigers managed a strong break down the right-hand side. Unchallenged a strong shot beat Oliver to make the score.

The remaining quarter of the game was all Tillingham Tigers. Iguanas’ passing went to their opponents more than it did to their own teammates. When the Iguanas managed a sniff of a break, the Tigers were well organised and tracked back very well to ensure they had the numbers to get the ball back, and the Iguanas failed to do the same in reverse, leaving the defensive line too stretched and the keeper exposed.

Thankfully, by the time of the final whistle the score wasn’t extended. But it very much could have been. Pretty much all of the same mistakes the Iguanas made last week were made again, and energy levels seemed markedly down once more. The Iguanas seem to have lost their mojo at the moment, which makes them a hard watch as we all know they are capable of much more.

Iguana of the Match : NONE – no stand out performances this week and a second week on the bounce where the Iguanas were well off the pace. Hopefully better service resumes soon.

Match details

Match date

Sun 21 Nov 2021

Kickoff

TBC
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