3 game run of defeats ends

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

A rainy and cold day at home. This match should have been away, but the Giants’ pitch was waterlogged!

A minute’s silence was well observed (in respect of baby Arthur) and then Oli, Isaac, Rui, James, Travis, Lewis and Thomas got the Iguanas underway for what would turn out to be their last game of 2021.

The Iguanas might have been better travelling to the game, as the Giants were much the quicker out of the blocks, and a couple of early corners netted them an early goal from a deflection that was poorly defended against.

Despite having no substitutes today, the Giants kept up the early pressure, countering Iguanas’ attacks well, the Iguanas being too loose on the ball to deserve much possession. Two more Giants’ corners were better defended this time, the Iguanas seizing the ball and breaking into the Giants’ half. Thomas had a decent shot saved, but the resulting corners could not be converted.

EthanT gave Travis a break from the action.

A few minutes of play in the centre of the field were interrupted by another Giants’ attack, winning them a corner. The Iguanas were made to pay again for a lack of desire to get the ball as the Giants’ fired in another very good shot.

EthanR gave Isaac a well-earned rest from defensive duties, which paid off shortly afterwards as he made a lovely defensive clearance, setting Rui free down the middle of the pitch. Rui carried the ball through and made sure of his final shot, putting the ball past the Giants’ keeper. The Iguanas were back in the game.

Travis came back on the pitch to relieve James.

Rui made another strong break and went close, the Giants’ keeper saving the attempt. Lewis collected the ball but couldn’t convert, the ball going wide. The Giants’ tried to clear their area, but the Iguanas were beginning to put their training into practice with some nice passing. EthanT, Rui, Lewis and Thomas hooked up extremely well together, and this time Thomas made sure of his shot. A lovely team goal.

The Iguanas were now fully in their stride and the Giants were finding it difficult to contain them. Thomas, particularly, was causing them all kinds of mischief on the right wing, and broke quickly. His shot was cut out by a Giants’ defender, but straight into the path of EthanT who had been tracking the run. Without breaking stride, he rocketed the ball into the net.

Rui and Travis were sub’d for Stanley and Coby, Coby making his first start for the Iguanas and getting stuck in as soon as he came onto the pitch with some very assured defensive work.

The Giants were by no means out of this game, despite the balance of play being firmly with the Iguanas now. A long range, well struck shot was caught calmly by Oliver. And Coby was in constant action, blocking Giants’ attacks.

Thomas was given a well-earned rest by James, and Stanley by Rui.

As the half drew to a close, the Giants underscored that they could still be a danger, one shot being tipped onto the post by a finger tip save by the Iguanas’ keeper. The Iguanas were getting a little complacent, passing the ball across their own goal too often, but their lead was held to the whistle.

Half time.

Oliver, Isaac, James, Rui, Travis, Lewis and Thomas got proceedings under way in the second half. The rain had started to come down harder and it was getting colder by the minute. Iguanas clearly don’t like the cold as they were on the back foot once more from the whistle, but Travis was quick to come back and help cover defensively and Oliver’s comms were loud and to the point, so Isaac and James were in no doubt of where they needed to cover.

Some good clearances from our own half saw Lewis have a couple of shots, but both were saved, and the resulting corners were too long for anyone to latch onto. The Giants also had their share of dead ball situations, one particularly good throw causing confusion between the Iguanas’ defenders which a Giants’ attacker was quick to pick up, only to be beaten by a great reaction save from Oliver who picked himself up quickly to stop the rebound, Isaac then helping clear the ball confidently. Rui and Lewis combined with the free ball but couldn’t add to the goal tally.

EthanT came on in place of James to add some fresh legs. A couple more dead balls saw the Iguanas giving away possession from a throw in, but then having won the ball back a semi-attack led to a corner for the Iguanas. This time the delivery was accurate and Thomas was ever present to slot the ball home.

The Iguanas were warming up again in this half, and applying a lot of pressure on the Giants who were being forced into defensive clearances that often went out, allowing the Iguanas to keep pushing for another goal. But the accuracy of our corners wasn’t great today, letting the Giants off the hook, and our shooting in the box wasn’t as sharp as we saw at the start of the season. If both had been to the Iguanas’ original standards, the score line would have been much heavier in our favour.

Coby and EthanR gave Isaac and Travis some respite. And fresh defensive legs were now needed as having soaked up the pressure, the Giants started to fight back.

A Giants’ corner was superbly saved by Oliver, Rui backing his keeper up in defence. And Coby once more showed his battling strength, taking on Giants’ attackers and showing brilliant determination in running back for the ball if a tackle didn’t come off.

James came on for Lewis to add to our defensive line, but the Giants were pushing hard. Whilst they were being pushed wide, they were looking more and more dangerous from corners, and the Iguanas were starting to look more disorganised again. Oli managed to save one shot from a corner, tipping the ball wide, but the follow up corner came to the edge of the box, the Giants unchallenged and a strong shot couldn’t be saved.

Then, from the restart, the Giants pushed hard again. In a move that didn’t look to be troubling the Iguanas at all, a long shot was pulled from nowhere. Oli had missed the strike and the ball was in the back of the net before anyone really knew what was happening!

In an effort to get back on the front foot, the shape of the Iguanas was moved to attack from a more defensive feel, with Thomas and Lewis brought on for Rui and James. The Iguanas pushed hard, and some good passing saw EthanT through on goal. He pulled the trigger at long range and was massively unlucky to hit the crossbar.

The Iguanas continued to try and push, but the clock was running down and the full-time whistle blew before we had chance for any more clear attempts on goal.

As a major positive, a run of three straight defeats was ended today. But this was a game that got away from us in most respects. As per in the previous three games, we need to be finishing the chances we are creating more cleanly – the game would have been over not long into the second half if we had. Communication was better, but still needs improvement, as does our organisation and alertness to set piece/dead ball moves.

But after the opening 15mins the game was looking in trouble and the Iguanas fought back really well. If we can play that way for a full game, we’ll be back to our best!

Iguana of the Match : Oliver – some great saves, keeping us in the game.