Rutherford were on the road today and travelled to Ford Hub to play Foundation of Light. Facilities at the Hubs are always decent but the lack of warm up areas is an issue but it's the same for everyone and you have to adapt. The pitch was a good size if not a little bumpy and the grass overdue a good cut but again, it's the same for both sides and you have to adapt.

Rutherford were beset by injuries and absences, Joe still out with a hand injury, Mason and Michael with feet injuries and Aodan unavailable saw a change in goal and midfield with Jack and Jacob coming into the team and Elliott moving to a central midfield role.

The game kicked off with FoL on the front front, a central midfielder ran the length of the Rutherford half and forced a corner which prompted a Bruno Guimarães style roar and big fist pumps. I'm more in the Roy Keane category and think that carry on is a bit strange but it takes all sorts I guess. Anyway, FoL were up for the game, that was clear.

The early stages were controlled by FoL, they moved the ball well, played to feet and looked a decent outfit, however it was Rutherford who created the early chances. Max Billingham was put through on goal and had a few chances to hit the target but a combination of pitch, defender, wayward finishing and decent goalkeeping kept the scoreline level. However it wasn't long before Max found his range and score a good goal after being put through by Elliott after 20 minutes or so.

The rest of the half played out in the same manner, FoL had more possession than Rutherford but the best of the chances coming Rutherfords way via through balls and cut backs but our finishing just wasn't up to our usual standard today. Another worrying aspect of our play was how deep our midfield was in relation to our forward players, it was far far too big and FoL were able to play through our press and into central midfield, allowing their players to turn and run at our backline.

Just before half time, FoL scored an equaliser through their wide forward. He cut inside and fired a shot into the top corner. It was a well taken goal and wide forwards playing on opposite flanks (left footer on the right and vice versa) was a feature of their game which we struggled to get to grips with.

At half time we tweaked the formation and line up to add bodies to the central areas and make the gaps between the lines smaller. Finlay and Mason came on and we moved into a 1-4-2-3-1 formation. This worked ok to a point but our passing was still off and we relinquished possession too easily for my liking. That said we still created loads of chances when we didn't combine and break the FoL backline. We missed numerous good chances to hit the target through Max, Max, Jacob, Joseph and James. The effort was there and we kept plugging away but it increasing looked like the missed chances would cost us.

After 50 minutes or so FoL took the lead through a scrappy goal which we should've cleared and almost did but the ball was fired home from close range. Prior to that Jack had made an excellent save and we managed to scrabble the ball clear so the warning signs were there. 10 minutes later we were 3-1 down from the right winger cutting in to score.

Rutherford didn't quite and had two brilliant chances to score, one from James who beat the FoL keeper to the ball to knock the ball around him goal wards but the long grass took the pace off the ball and the defender got back to clear. Then, a few moments later, James got to the byline and cut the ball back towards the six yard box only for the ball to be taken off a Rutherford toe and cleared to safety.

3-1 was the final score. Rutherford had enough chances to win 2 matches but for large parts of the game second best. Strange game football, you get days like this.

Man of the Match today was Max Johnson who covered an awful lot of ground and looked like our main creative threat. He battled extremely hard and his efforts deserved more reward. Well done Max.

Away to Cleveland Hall in the cup next week and I'm hoping for a response.