GAME Week 9 v VELOCITY EAGLES (A)

A very early start on a cold February morning at Downhill Hub to play Velocity Eagles, last seasons Division 9 champions.

Mason and Shaun were missing today, Mason had a skills bout and wanted to stay fresh for that and Penny was playing for the girls. These decision are something Shaun and I 100% support, we like and encourage the players to play different sports and for different teams as it helps player development and ultimately the team development which is what we’re all about.

We’ve played Velocity a number of the times over the last 2 seasons, the games have always followed a similar pattern, close, high scoring affairs and today was no exception.

The game was played on 3G which fits well with our passing style and today’s objective to the players was to perform a minimum of 2 “Lending” passes, 2 “Around the corner” passes and a minimum of 3-6 shots in the first half. I can’t guarantee results, I’ve said this in the past but I think if we play a certain way, strive to achieve the goals I set, we have a very good chance of achieve the outcomes the players want.

I have to say that the first half was the best football I’ve seen us play this season, possibly since I’ve coached the team. The players totally bought into what we’re trying to do, they all wanted the ball and passed it around beautifully. I lost count of the the amount of times Aodan caught the ball, sprinted to the edge of this box, rolled it out to Callum, who combined with James, who then moved the ball into the attacking third. On the other side, Joe was overlapping Elliott who would combine with Joe, Amir or Max to play Joe in as a third man running. These are complex and complicated moves, way beyond a division 8 “development” team and it was brilliant to watch.

The first goal came through Max Billingham following a good passage of play and it was no more than we deserved and if truth be told we could’ve had 4 by this stage. 1-0 and we continued to press, a standout moment was when Amir fired a balling Max Billingham’s feet, who first time “Cruyff’d” the ball around the corner first time to Elliott who burst through and narrowly shot wide under pressure. There were multiple examples of this type of things, Amir was ticking the game over lovely, acting like a fulcrum, with chance, after chance being created. I’m sure you have your own favourites. The second goal came through Max Johnson after some positive pressing from Jacob who forced the goalkeeper into an error, allowing Max to score into an empty net. The keeper actually handled the ball well outside his area and the defender fouled Jacob but the ball broke to Max who scored. The referee didn’t give either of these decisions and fortunately it didn’t cost us but I feared the worst and worried that we might not be so lucky later on in the game. How right I was.

Into the second half, we’d achieved all our targets and reset them, the players knew the second half would be tougher but the first 5 minutes followed the similar pattern and Max Johnson added a 3rd goal, his second. We were cruising it truth be told but the game turned on a Referee’s decision. Elliott bounced the ball into Callum’s path in our own 18, the ball was slightly under hit but I’m assured by literally every player, spectator and Velocity coach that Callum cleared the ball upfield and the Velocity player tackled Callum late. It was probably a Rutherford free kick if anything but the Ref gave a penalty which was scored.

Velocity had their tails up and added a second quite quickly. This goal came as a result of a Velocity defender winning the ball through the back of a Rutherford player, it was a foul, it was quite clear but wasn’t given. The ball was then passed and the shot came in and squirmed through Aodan’s hands.

The equaliser came shortly after and this goal had not one but two infringements in it, first the Velocity player handled the ball which the linesman signalled for and then the ball ran out of play which was again signalled. The Referee ignored this and the ball was pulled back for a shot into the roof of the net. 3-3 out of absolutely nowhere.

The game settled for a period and then Velocity scored the 4th which, at least to my memory, was a “clean” goal but I can’t be sure of anything at this point.

Into the final few minutes and the game fell into absolute chaos, which I’m not going to go into on this report. 2 players were given their marching orders when only one should’ve and then to add injury to insult, James was taken out when clean through. The Referee didn’t give a foul but did end the game 2 minutes early.

This was a really difficult report to write, I should be telling you all about how pride I am of the team, how brilliantly they played and how far they’ve come. These things are all absolutely true but the bitter taste of the way the game finished is still fresh and those things are difficult to remember, especially when I feel we were let down by those who are placed in charge of upholding the laws of the game.

Callum, Aodan and James Lee linked up incredibly well and the two Max’s played well, both getting on the score sheet. I could’ve picked any player as player of the match today, they were all brilliant and they all deserved more than they got but on reflection I’ve decided to give Amir the Player of the Match today, he was brilliant in midfield and really played well.