Game Week 14 v WASHINGTON AFC PUMAS

Tonight Rutherford faced Washington Puma’s in Saturday’s rearranged fixture and what is likely to be the first of many midweek games between now and the end of the season.

The fixture was at Washington Hub on 3g which was funded by Washington which was a very generous offer as the hire of 3g pitches are very expensive, so thanks to Darren and team for that.

On to the game and I’m pleased to say that our approach was exactly how I hoped it would be after an under par performance in the previous game against Deerness Valley, the players were really excited about the game, determined to put into practice the areas we’d been discussing and working on in previous team meetings and training session, specifically defending as a unit and positional discipline when both in and out of possession.

The game started with Rutherford keeping the starting line up the same as previous fixture, with Aodan in goal being the only change, with the intention of making changes early and frequently. Rutherford where on the front foot, attacking well against the strong breeze, keeping the ball on the floor and looking to score early. Our build up play was good, playing out from defence and through the thirds but a combination of decision making (i.e. shooting when should pass, dribbling when should release and vice versa), bad luck and good goalkeeping/defending, the scores stayed tied for the majority of the half.

Max Billingham came closest on two occasions, denied by a good save and the crossbar.

A few changes were made, new players Sam and Joesph making their debuts for James and Elliott, in addition to Amir for Mason and Jacob for Max Billingham. It wasn’t long before the new players made their mark; Amir winning the ball in central midfield who played the ball wide to Sam which saw him dribble in field and pass to Jacob who turned and fired a low shot into the bottom left corner. It was a nice move and well taken goal.

1 nil at half time.

A feature of the first half was how aggressively we closed the ball, all over the pitch and how compact we were. Admittedly, I think the 3g pitch was smaller than most grass pitches we’ve played on this season but that didn’t detract from the other area we were focusing on, positional discipline. By which I mean, how and when a player will move. It was really good and the “shuffle and screen” method we’d practiced the previous Wednesday seemed to stick, Callum and Joe covered Taylor well and the midfield diamond remained intact.

A few more subs at half time, Connor on for Joe, Jack on for Sam and the earlier changes coming back in throughout the half.

The game continued in the same pattern as the first half with Rutherford dominating possession, playing 1:2s and “bouncing” ball a lot. It was a feature of our play that we never went long once from a goal kick and more importantly, we were never caught in possession or lost the ball in the dangerous area as a result. We also played the majority of our corners short which resulted in multiple changes and a disallowed goal for offside. The woodwork was struck once more and another good save made from the replacement keeper, both attempts coming from Sam. Washington did make more chances this half but mainly from set pieces, one header from a corner going wide and another forcing Aodan into a good save.

Rutherford ran out 1 nil winners and it was no more than we deserved. I only wish I’d have recorded the game correctly!

Really difficult to single out any one player tonight, the whole squad played very well. The back 5 (Callum, Taylor, Joe, Connor and Aodan) concentrated throughout, attacked everything and won a lot of headers. The midfield worked very hard and moved the ball extremely well, with Joesph and Sam fitting in seamlessly. The two strikers caused problems all night, Max B coming in for praise from the opposition coach who decided to double up on him and Jacob scored the winner. Excellent performances all-round but I think I’m going to go for Callum this week due to the fact he didn’t put a foot wrong all game and came off the back of a 6-0 defect and tough game in the previous round of fixtures. Well done Callum.

Brandon at the weekend and we’ll need a similar, dedicated and concentrated performance to get a positive result.