Post by stevewood on Sept 1, 2013 22:16:00 GMT
After just reading Tad's superb match report for the Sunday team, I thought - with yesterday's solid performance in mind - the Saturday team should have a regular match report this season too (last year's reports only appeared following a victory, hence there weren't many of them!). So, this won't be as good as the seasoned (excuse the pun) writings of Tad, but here goes:
Rovers Line-Up:
1. Big Rob
2. Anto
3. Nathan
4. Ade
5. White
6. Mo
7. Woody
8. Ian
9. Manu
10. Pricey
11. Yousef
Subs:
Dennis
Weaver
After what had seemed like an eternal summer break and a long pre-season, Rovers Saturday team began season 2013-14 against last season's Division B winners, Staly Lions. This also marked the start of a new, if only temporary, era playing home games at the University pitches in Wythenshawe. After a bit of difficulty for some (Anto) in finding the ground, The Greens (though kitted out in blue) got out early onto what was actually a very good pitch for the warm up. We knew after last season's escape from relegation we had a point to prove with this game against a side full of confidence after a successful league-winning season.
The game started well for Rovers with some good early phases of possession. The ball was being blown around by a strong cross-wind but we kept the ball on the ground playing the nice simple passes drilled into us by G all pre-season. Staly were restricted to pumping long balls up to their quick forwards for the opening 10 minutes, which the Rovers defence and Ade especially dealt with emphatically. The early pressure paid off when a quick Rovers attack resulted Pricey playing a superb return pass through the heart of Staly's defence for Manu to latch onto in his stride and place the ball into the bottom right corner from just inside the box. Season 2013-14 was up and running!
The rest of the first half was much more evenly contested, with Staly showing some glimpses of why they won Division B last year, though rarely troubled the disciplined Rovers defence. Rovers looked dangerous in almost every attack with good link up play between defence and midfield causing Staly problems in dealing with the extra man down both flanks. Rovers were an inch away from going two up when Staly struggled to deal with Anto's deep cross from the right following a quick one-two with Woody, and Nathan's instinctive curling effort flew just the wrong side of the far post. This seemed to bring Staly to life who then had some good chances of their own, with a number of corners in succession causing a few problems for Rovers, and almost resulting in an equaliser when a looped effort struck the bar after a couple of failed clearances and a well-struck effort was destined for the top corner was brilliantly tipped wide by Rob. Still, half time came with Rovers deservedly 1-0 up.
The second half started brightly again for Rovers, with an attacking run by Manu down the right drawing Rovers' first corner of the season. Unfortunately few players were at training when the set-piece routines were practiced, but as it turned out it mattered not after Woody (by my own admission) scuffed the corner low into the area. Few chances were created by either side for the opening period of the half, with the exception of a couple of long range and non-threatening efforts from Staly which never troubled Rob in goal. A flowing counter attack by Rovers was stopped when Pricey was brought down just outside the box and, after last week's agreement, the Scouse whizz-kid stepped up ahead of Manu to take it. It wasn't the best of strikes but, on target, it went though the gap in the wall created by Woody's disruptive positioning and unsighted the keeper who reacted too late to stop it sneaking in the net. 2-0 Rovers after an hour, and confidence was high.
Credit to Staly though, they kept plugging away and began to dominate possession after a couple of changes saw them put 3 up front and bring on a skilful central midfielder named Raul. Again, Rovers defence stayed strong with Ade and Whitey dealing with all the high balls being thrown at them. However, Staly pulled one back with roughly 20 left on the clock when 'Raul' acrobatically hit a bouncing ball across the penalty area where an unmarked man slotted in at the back post. This seemed to draw memories of last season for Rovers where a game could turn in a matter of minutes due to heads dropping. Thankfully that wasn't the case this season and we were determined to hold onto our lead. A barrage of crosses, corners and pressure was putting everybody under pressure but for the most part didn't really trouble Rob. The introduction of Dennis and Weaver helped ease the pressure on some tired Rovers' legs, with Dennis in particular holding the ball up exactly as was required of him. The final few moments saw Rovers uneasily defend three consecutive corners but after being headed wide the ref blew the final whistle.
All-in-all it was a fantastic start to the season for Rovers against a side who will undoubtedly trouble many teams in this league and, hopefully, a very good sign of things to come. Definitely room for improvement but a solid victory to put all memories of last season's 8-game point-less start to bed.
Man of the Match: as voted for by the players and manager, Ade. A rock in central defence, never giving their strikers an inch despite having to deal with a lot of attempted through balls.
Disclaimer: this game was 30+ hours ago and I've had a drink, accuracy is not 100% guaranteed!
Rovers Line-Up:
1. Big Rob
2. Anto
3. Nathan
4. Ade
5. White
6. Mo
7. Woody
8. Ian
9. Manu
10. Pricey
11. Yousef
Subs:
Dennis
Weaver
After what had seemed like an eternal summer break and a long pre-season, Rovers Saturday team began season 2013-14 against last season's Division B winners, Staly Lions. This also marked the start of a new, if only temporary, era playing home games at the University pitches in Wythenshawe. After a bit of difficulty for some (Anto) in finding the ground, The Greens (though kitted out in blue) got out early onto what was actually a very good pitch for the warm up. We knew after last season's escape from relegation we had a point to prove with this game against a side full of confidence after a successful league-winning season.
The game started well for Rovers with some good early phases of possession. The ball was being blown around by a strong cross-wind but we kept the ball on the ground playing the nice simple passes drilled into us by G all pre-season. Staly were restricted to pumping long balls up to their quick forwards for the opening 10 minutes, which the Rovers defence and Ade especially dealt with emphatically. The early pressure paid off when a quick Rovers attack resulted Pricey playing a superb return pass through the heart of Staly's defence for Manu to latch onto in his stride and place the ball into the bottom right corner from just inside the box. Season 2013-14 was up and running!
The rest of the first half was much more evenly contested, with Staly showing some glimpses of why they won Division B last year, though rarely troubled the disciplined Rovers defence. Rovers looked dangerous in almost every attack with good link up play between defence and midfield causing Staly problems in dealing with the extra man down both flanks. Rovers were an inch away from going two up when Staly struggled to deal with Anto's deep cross from the right following a quick one-two with Woody, and Nathan's instinctive curling effort flew just the wrong side of the far post. This seemed to bring Staly to life who then had some good chances of their own, with a number of corners in succession causing a few problems for Rovers, and almost resulting in an equaliser when a looped effort struck the bar after a couple of failed clearances and a well-struck effort was destined for the top corner was brilliantly tipped wide by Rob. Still, half time came with Rovers deservedly 1-0 up.
The second half started brightly again for Rovers, with an attacking run by Manu down the right drawing Rovers' first corner of the season. Unfortunately few players were at training when the set-piece routines were practiced, but as it turned out it mattered not after Woody (by my own admission) scuffed the corner low into the area. Few chances were created by either side for the opening period of the half, with the exception of a couple of long range and non-threatening efforts from Staly which never troubled Rob in goal. A flowing counter attack by Rovers was stopped when Pricey was brought down just outside the box and, after last week's agreement, the Scouse whizz-kid stepped up ahead of Manu to take it. It wasn't the best of strikes but, on target, it went though the gap in the wall created by Woody's disruptive positioning and unsighted the keeper who reacted too late to stop it sneaking in the net. 2-0 Rovers after an hour, and confidence was high.
Credit to Staly though, they kept plugging away and began to dominate possession after a couple of changes saw them put 3 up front and bring on a skilful central midfielder named Raul. Again, Rovers defence stayed strong with Ade and Whitey dealing with all the high balls being thrown at them. However, Staly pulled one back with roughly 20 left on the clock when 'Raul' acrobatically hit a bouncing ball across the penalty area where an unmarked man slotted in at the back post. This seemed to draw memories of last season for Rovers where a game could turn in a matter of minutes due to heads dropping. Thankfully that wasn't the case this season and we were determined to hold onto our lead. A barrage of crosses, corners and pressure was putting everybody under pressure but for the most part didn't really trouble Rob. The introduction of Dennis and Weaver helped ease the pressure on some tired Rovers' legs, with Dennis in particular holding the ball up exactly as was required of him. The final few moments saw Rovers uneasily defend three consecutive corners but after being headed wide the ref blew the final whistle.
All-in-all it was a fantastic start to the season for Rovers against a side who will undoubtedly trouble many teams in this league and, hopefully, a very good sign of things to come. Definitely room for improvement but a solid victory to put all memories of last season's 8-game point-less start to bed.
Man of the Match: as voted for by the players and manager, Ade. A rock in central defence, never giving their strikers an inch despite having to deal with a lot of attempted through balls.
Disclaimer: this game was 30+ hours ago and I've had a drink, accuracy is not 100% guaranteed!